Something worth fighting for: The definitive ranking of Yellowstone mustaches
By Ian Levy
4. Thomas — 1883
Played by: Lamonica Garrett
Mustache Style: A little pepper to go with that salt
The mustache that Lamonica Garrett’s Thomas sports in 1883 is, technically, of the same style as James Badge Dale’s John Dutton Sr — a mustache dark enough to distinguish itself from a silver beard. But a closer examination of the nuance and details reveal them to be worlds apart.
As Thomas, Garrett is stunning in his stoicism, his broken-hearted quest for space, for peace that is met at every turn by the responsibility he didn’t ask for but can’t turn his back on. The rough, unkempt, uneven state of his facial hair tells and sells his backstory, it gives us the broad strokes of the ugly things he’s seen in his life, without making us carry the specifics the way he so obviously has to. It is a remarkable performance, by both man and mouthbrow.
3. Young John Dutton Jr. — Yellowstone
Played by: Josh Lucas
Mustache Style: Chevron/Walrus
Josh Lucas appears intermittently throughout Yellowstone, appearing in flashbacks as a young John Dutton Jr. (Kevin Costner). He does a credible job of emulating Costner’s steely belligerence, suppressing his own rakish charm thanks to the help of a splendid Chevron/Walrus hybrid.
Because he appears in so many disconnected scenes, the mustache takes a lot of different forms — sometimes accompanied by a scruffy beard, sometimes lighter and thinner than others. But it’s a reliable constant and one of the more remarkable props and visual cues in the entire YCU. Even though Costner doesn’t sport a mustache playing the same character in the present, the mustache on Lucas helps him disappear into the role and makes him infinitely more believable as not just a young Costner but a younger version of this particular Costner character.
The show doesn’t work without these flashbacks and Josh Lucas doesn’t work in these flashbacks without the mustache. End of story.