Alright, Outsiders. It’s time for another round of Yellowstone Fandom: What If?! Today’s topic? Where the hell is Lee’s legacy?
You read that right! Over on Reddit, the Yellowstone fandom stays ever-active in analyzing our favorite show. It’s the best damn Modern Western there is, after all. Redditors keep the discussion interesting, too, as posts alternate daily between praise and criticism. Nothing’s perfect – especially Yellowstone. But damn, it it close.
Fan’s latest discussion comes courtesy of u/quinnmode63, who wants to know: “Did anyone else think that Lee’s death was a bit overshadowed and moved on a little too fast?”
Yes. 100%. The legacy of Dave Annable’s Lee Dutton is painfully absent. As the Redditor points out, “Beth, Jamie, and Kayce lost their brother and John lost a son. I felt like that loss wasn’t really felt. They always talk about their mother and how much it changed their family dynamics, but with Lee it was like, “oh well”…”
Ouch. True! But ouch. Re-watching the show really drives home how absent the eldest Dutton child is from… Everything. From flashbacks to family photos, Lee is nowhere to be found after his death. It’s honestly one of the most glaring shortcomings of Season 1.
Sure, no one needs to wallow in grief forever, but the Duttons cannot let go of the loss of their matriarch, Evelyn. So how has it been so easy to blow past Lee’s untimely death right as the story began?
‘Yellowstone’ Fans Still Shocked Over Lee’s Absence from Dutton Legacy
Yellowstone fan SalemBlack1692 illustrates this perfectly with their response:
“The first I saw of the show were the later episodes of Season 1. I then watched on and off to season 3 before I went back and started from the beginning. I was shocked to find out there was an older brother who had died, in the show!” they cite.
“In other words,” SalemBlack says, “I completely agree! Also he’s never in the family photos!”
Exactly! That’s the one that gets this Outsider most. There should at least be visual reminders of Lee, let alone more of his story in flashbacks. He seemed a true front-runner to continue his father’s legacy in one form or another. Perhaps Lee’s legacy, then, is how lost John feels without a true heir.
” John loses his first born and heir and they don’t even talk about Lee much after the next couple of episodes. They talk about the mother more than Lee,” echoes Yellowstone fan mrherkyj.
But perhaps it is Redditor H2oHomie that truly gets it. In their words: “Lee’s whole arc in the show is getting killed in the pilot episode to raise the stakes and essentially make sure Yellowstone got picked up for more episodes.”
Can’t argue with that. Time – and Taylor Sheridan – will tell if Lee’s legacy gets its due diligence come November 7’s Yellowstone Season 4.
