Confession… I’ve never seen a single episode of Yellowstone (until today)

I have a confession...

I am literally the key demographic for one of the most popular television series of all time and somehow, I managed to avoid the craze entirely. It's a moral issue. I simply cannot follow a bandwagon - good or bad. If something is wildly popular and/or all of my friends tell me I need to do it, the odds of me doing it diminish to basically zero.

Yet, here we are. And why, you ask? Let's be honest. I never avoided it on purpose. I could make a million excuses. I didn't get into it early on. I don't watch that much TV. I like it when cable plays reruns of Law and Order. To sit down and actually pay attention to a show? Yikes.

Still on the fence and like a true millennial, I sent a message in the group text. "Real life debate. I ain't seen a single episode of Yellowstone. Watch? Or no?" And immediately received, "Holy drama! I want to be Beth when I grow up!" and "Beth is my fav!"

So tonight, I tucked myself into my little sauna blanket (this is another topic entirely, but trust me - you need one) and turned on the first season of Yellowstone.

If you haven't ever seen Season 1, Episode 1 - LEAVE NOW. STOP READING. DO NOT LOOK DOWN.

Okay, I tried. If you're carrying on, this is officially spoiler territory.

My thoughts on Season 1, Episode 1

I wasn't even 30 seconds in when I sent another text, "Holy **** this thing starts dramatic!!!!"

The first episode opens with a brutal accident scene and John Dutton (Kevin Costner) euthanizing his own horse roadside. We start to jump around a bit, capturing bits and pieces of who and where we find our main cast.

The Wind River Indian Reservation is home to me, so it's always interesting to see what spin each TV show will throw on the rez. I don't yet have a solid opinion on what I think of Sheridan's take, but don't worry - I'll report back.

I obviously knew I was getting into the soap opera version of ranching, but they do it up well. The Duttons are on a generations-old family ranch and things are... well, pretty fancy compared to most operations. You also immediately catch on that family matters have never been simple for the Duttons. Call it a "complex dynamic."

It's different joining in now, when you have a bit of an idea of who the characters are, the memes, etc. My first thought was, "Hmm, I like Lee. Why have I never heard of Lee?" I didn't have to Google it - the reason I've never heard of Lee is because he doesn't even survive episode one.

I was thinking the sauna was getting to me - no, it turns out the premiere with commercials on Peacock is about an hour and a half long. A LOT happens in episode one. We come in during the heat of a battle between the Dutton Family and land developers. There is tension with a new chairman for the Broken Rock Reservation and the Duttons over cattle that "accidentally" find their way onto reservation land.

We gather that Beth and Rip have some history. Many storylines begin to surface and you find yourself with a lot of questions about how we got here. Ultimately, John Dutton decides to fight two battles in one night and things reach a dramatic pinnacle, with a shooting that ends in two deaths and a massive explosion.

So while the rest of the world is anxiously awaiting Season 5, Part 2 to drop on Sunday, I'll be fully engrossed in the first season adventures of the Dutton family. Better late than never, right?