WEBVTT - Preserving History and Protecting the Future with Gil Birmingham 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:16.640 Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Official Yellowstone Podcast. It's 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:20.040 Jefferson White here. I am joined as always by my 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:24.720 incomparable co host Jen Landon. Hey, Hey, we are so 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:28.120 glad to have you with us today. We are also 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:31.480 very very lucky to have with us Chairman Rainwater himself 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.680 Gil Birmingham. So grab a snack, buckle, your seatbelt, depending 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:47.160 on where you are, We'll be right back. So, Jen, 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.919 I would be remiss if I didn't mention you are 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.080 once again in a different state than the last time 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.080 we recorded. What state are you in now? What brought 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:58.240 you there? Where are you in your sort of incredible 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:02.160 nomadic tour across the American West. 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:06.600 I like that you framed it as my nomadic tour 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.319 across the American West. I have made my way to 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:14.880 the last West before we hit the sea. I am 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:15.760 in California. 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.840 I am far west as it gets, as far west. 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.319 As it gets. I'm still not home. I'm in Palm 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:28.200 Springs visiting my grandma, who is eighty three and just 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:32.679 a wonderful, wonderful fun lady. And I was in Vegas 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:36.199 just before this. I got to see nineteen twenty three, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.280 which I don't know if we're allowed to talk about 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:40.840 it all, I won't say anything about it, but what 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.800 I will say is that it is phenomenal. I had 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.800 one of the experiences in the theater where I got 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:55.840 emotional just because something was so good and I loved it. 0:01:55.840 --> 0:02:02.200 It shot beautifully. I saw Helen Mirren Harrison Ford from 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.800 about fifteen feet away, and then I sort of just 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:11.959 blacked out, not from alcohol, to be clear, And that's 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:12.480 where I'm at. 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:16.040 What about you, Jeff, I am so excited to see it. 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.640 So many of my favorite actors are in that cast. 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:22.800 So many of the brilliant minds that make Yellowstone look 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:27.200 the way it does are behind that Ben Richardson, who 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.600 was the DP for the first season of Yellowstone. It's 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:35.119 so many of the ingredients that have made Yellowstone and 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:40.000 eighteen eighty three so spectacular just being brought to bear 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.120 on I think one of the most interesting periods in 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:44.240 American history. 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.720 I felt the same way in terms of the period 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:53.600 being something that was so rich in and of itself, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:58.200 and Ben really shot the hell out of it. A 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.720 big part of my emotional reaction was the way he 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.560 shot it. There are images I usually think of. I 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.680 usually consider something art if a week later, the images 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:12.359 are still floating through my mind, and images from that 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:17.280 are floating through like painting standalone pieces. He's incredible. 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:19.600 I feel the same way about some of his work 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:21.760 on season one of Yellowstone. I feel the same way 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:23.679 about a lot of his work in eighteen eighty three. 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.560 I am so excited to see that. And it's such 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:30.000 a cool thing. You know, Like every week on Yellowstone, 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.839 there's this idea that's been a part of the show 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.000 since the beginning of this history, this culture that we're 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.680 fighting to preserve. In this week's episode of Yellowstone, we 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:45.600 spend some time in this graveyard, this history, these ghosts 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.600 that haunt this family, and that John Dunton's life feels, 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.960 to a certain extent like an homage to what came before. 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:55.960 So it's such an amazing thing to jump back in 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.920 time and be immersed in that history and see what 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.000 it is they're fighting for. So I really cannot wait 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.960 for that show. Okay, yeah, digging it. So we're clearly 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:07.520 we're clearly excited to jump into it and talk about 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.840 this episode of Yellowstone. Speaking of the Dutton Ranch, a 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.040 recurring theme on the show Yellowstone, believe it or not. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:18.160 This episode opens up deep deep into the Dutton Ranch, 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.000 up deep in the mountains, and it starts with JD, 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.880 Beth and Rip on a gather. So at the end 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:28.280 of the last episode, we witnessed everybody riding out, riding 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.640 out into the wilderness, into the furthest reaches of the 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.800 Dutton Ranch to gather up all of the cows, all 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.479 these these pairs they call them right so moms and 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.200 calves and bring them back to the ranch in order 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:44.320 to branch and right. 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.240 What we see throughout this entire sequence is that everybody, 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:54.520 everybody benefits from this adventure. Everybody needs it. I think 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.720 there's a line that Casey says where he's talking about 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:01.120 Tate to John and he says he needed this and 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:05.560 John says, we all do, Son, And that sort of 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:11.839 need and enthusiasm continues through with the Clara character, just 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.000 like riding up and since we can cuss on this podcast, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:18.159 she's like, this is fucking awesome, and that smile never ends. 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:20.360 And John says something to be effective, like if you 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:21.920 could only bottle it up and sell it. 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.560 Yeah, there's that amazing line where John says to Casey, 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:27.719 you could sell it, Son, you could bottle it up 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:29.919 and sell it. And Casey says, there's no one to 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.039 sell it to Dad. The only people who know what 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.280 it's worth are already doing it, which I think is 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:36.120 so funny. 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.760 Which is funny and also so true. And I feel 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.840 like you have had this experience as an actor. I've 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.720 had this experience as an actor, which is, horses were 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:46.719 not a part of my life. Ranching was not a 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.159 part of my life. And I have become one of 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.760 those people who sometimes will say the difference between a 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.320 good day and a great day is riding a horse. 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:01.240 And so it's something that you don't really know until 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.479 you experience it. And we've been lucky enough to be 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:11.160 forced into a situation and paid handsomely to experience it. 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.080 Yeah, we've had the incredible privilege of getting put on 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.320 the best horses in the world and being taught by 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.400 the best trainers in the world, such that we can 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.560 sort of brush up against the grandeur of this experience. 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.080 So what was this like? So you guys are there, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.719 You're doing this massive gather. In practical terms, that basically 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:36.240 means forming a huge dragnet of cowboys and combing through 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:40.880 miles and miles and miles of trees and ravines and 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.839 rivers and lakes to gather all these cows. Will you 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.040 just talk about the experience of riding out and doing 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:47.480 that gather. Yeah. 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:51.440 We shot this whole sequence from sort of the moving 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:55.839 down Mount Chisholm and pushing the cattle into the Dutton ranch. 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.080 I feel like over a course of three months and 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.599 many different shoot days and trying to tie it all 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.520 together in my brain as I looked over the episode 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:14.320 was fascinating. My favorite days are cowdays. You oftentimes never 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:20.000 see your crew. You're so far away and so immersed 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.239 in the pushing of the cattle you forget cameras are there, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:27.480 except that when you see one really close. Often times 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.360 you'll sort of use your horse to shield said camera 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.040 from cattle that may or may not be moving too 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.320 quickly towards it and the innocent crew standing behind it. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.120 The fact that we got to shoot this over so 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.600 many days meant that I got to hang with the 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:50.560 wonderful Buck Taylor, And because we got shut down due 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:54.640 to air quality for many days trying to grab this 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.880 sequence because the wildfires were so bad in the valley, 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.360 meant that I got even extra time with Buck Taylor, 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.400 and we know, based on what happens in this episode 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:10.800 extra time with Buck Taylor is precious time because it 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:18.520 is the last time. So Taylor, besides bringing in these 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:22.080 mamas and these babies, of course for this branding the 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:28.040 sort of newness of life, we also come to the 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:34.800 end of life with the passing of Emmett Walsh, which 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.880 I know is more plot oriented than process oriented, but 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:38.800 it's where we landed. 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:44.360 Yeah, that duality as always, Taylor really hitting us with 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:48.040 that duality, as you said, the joy, the sort of 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:54.680 joy and kind of spark and fire of like birth youth. 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.800 You know, there's so much sort of rebirth happening in 0:08:57.840 --> 0:08:59.880 this sequence. It feels like a bit of a rebirth 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.720 for Clara as she participates in this. It's about a 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.080 rebirth for Casey who's been grieving the loss of his son. 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.240 It feels like there's so much rebirth happening. And then 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.559 on the other side of that, always with the duality, 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:17.240 the dialectics, the passing of Emmett Walsh, who is a 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.319 character that's been in Yellowstone from the very beginning. He's 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.400 sort of been peppered throughout the series. He's been a 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:26.240 part of the backbone of the series, a huge support 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.120 structure for John. It feels like a bit of a 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.760 north star for John as he's made political decisions, he's 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.800 turned to Emmett Walsh to sort of say, hey, you know, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:40.400 is this right? Are we doing the right thing? Am 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.600 I doing the right thing by my constituents, by the 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.560 ranchers around me? And so for him to lose that 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.920 north stars, really it's a development. 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.760 It's a huge moment. And I love that he has 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:56.120 that interaction with John before they fall asleep where they 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.800 talk about how it's a perfect day. And I found 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.120 that so moving because if we could only be so 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:06.440 lucky to have that perfect day on our way out. 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.960 And there's also this theme that Taylor hits on in 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:14.400 the sort of following sequence when he's coming back with 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:19.120 Landy Wilson's character Abby, who's waiting for Ryan. I always 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.760 get the names confused, because I feel like we all 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:22.960 have our names overlapped somehow in the show and some 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.120 people but Abby is waiting there, and there's this theme 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:32.760 obviously of a cowboy you'll never really have them. And 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:36.600 I was so moved by the fact that Emmett passed 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:41.080 away away from his wife, and that as sad as 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.800 that might be on one level, like how poetic and 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:48.080 beautiful that even in death they sort of belong to 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:51.040 the land. The cowboy belongs to the land and belongs 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.120 to the herd. And when John delivers that news of 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:59.240 his passing, though she collapses in grief, there isn't a 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.839 sense that any thing bad or wrong has happened. That 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.600 it's that it is so beautiful, and even her helping 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:10.320 out later in the episode, she doesn't want Emmett's passing 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:14.559 to overshadow anything about the beauty of this branding. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.800 Yeah, this cycle of life, you know, the cycle continues, 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:23.280 and this sort of tradition continues. Yeah, which has been 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.760 a huge motif this season, right, Like, it's also these 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.920 rippin Beth stuff in this episode, I think is incredible 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.199 because it's these quiet moments between the two of them. 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.599 So much of this season feels like it's been dominated 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.040 by Beth getting ripped away from home, getting sort of 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:40.120 put on the camp, well not on the campaign trail, 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.000 but into this new sort of arena. She's kind of 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.559 fighting further and further away from home. Every episode. She's 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.280 getting in a private jet or a helicopter, and flying 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.760 off somewhere else. So it's also feels so precious that 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:57.200 Beth goes along, you know, against perhaps her usual instincts, 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.240 she decides to go along on this gather and it 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.520 means that the two of them have this time together 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:04.320 in the mountains. 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:09.120 Yeah, and we get to see Beth the Beth the cowboy. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.680 I could say cowgirl, but I'll just say cowboy, you know. 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:16.400 And in some ways she's she was more cowboy to 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.040 me than anyone when she was like, give me whiskey 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:23.079 and cigarettes and the person I love and I'm good 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.439 and I loved. Like you said, she gets pulled further 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.319 away from home. I feel like she's always being forced 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:34.200 out into these situations where you know, she's having to 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:38.320 engage with big forces. But in many ways, Beth at 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:43.080 her core just wants that small, tiny, you know, patch 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:45.720 of peace to call her own with someone she loves. 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:51.680 And that the juxta, that dichotomy is what makes the 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.559 audience and me, it's part of what makes me love 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:55.240 her so much. 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.040 Yeah, her philosophy we're getting, so we get so many 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:03.480 nice little snips of her philosophy this season, which God 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.400 bless her as it is with all of us is 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.640 sometimes a little contradictory, you know, is often sort of 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:10.720 whatever wins are the argument. It feels like sometimes her 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:13.280 philosophy is just whatever's gonna win her the argument. But 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.839 she has a great line in this episode that I 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.360 think you and I both flagged, which is she says, 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:20.440 you know, they're talking about how beautiful. You know, Rip 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:22.480 and JD are talking about how beautiful it is to 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.960 be out there in the mountains, and Beth says, this 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.719 isn't beautiful. It's too big to be beautiful. It's too 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.480 much space to comprehend. Give me a little meadow and 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.520 a creek. No one knows about that. I understand. I 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:35.520 have it to myself. You can see this from a 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.600 fucking airplane. I don't share the things I find beautiful, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:43.680 which is such an interesting it's interesting beth philosophy. And 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.280 it also I can't help but wonder if that's a 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.160 bit of a tailor. It was just to it. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.040 I was just gonna say, like, it's the most it's 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.880 such a sneak. It's such a reveal of tailor conscious 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.040 or not. I'm so glad you just said that. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.559 Yeah, so funny, because you know, I think Taylor could 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:03.520 talk about this much more eloquently than we ever could. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:04.880 But I think there's a little bit of tailor in 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:06.960 a lot of these characters. And I think there's a 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.840 little bit of tailor in Beth. And sometimes she says 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.000 something in him like I feel like that's just tailor talking. 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.960 Because as he's built this empire that we all know 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.280 are lucky to be a part of, as he kind 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.080 of builds this massive, huge thing, he also what he 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.960 loves is horses. He loves these simple moments. He loves 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.480 the little things. Some of the happiest times I've seen 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.400 him is not on set. It's when he's working at 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.600 his ranch, when he's just sort of participating in real 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:35.040 life on a cattle ranch. 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.320 You know, he feels so much to me like that. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.000 And the guy loves to cook. He's an amazing cook. 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:43.680 The first night I ever stayed over on the ranch, 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.040 at like seven am, I had gotten in late the 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:49.240 night before. He's like, get up. I'm like, huh. He's like, 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:54.040 we gotta go move cattle. Let's go so and pushed cattle. 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.280 I feel like we've sat through a few good comedies together. 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:02.960 He's just a really uh He's certainly not a simple person, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.880 but the things that soften his heart are simple. 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:09.880 Yeah, it's a little bit like if Jeff Bezos was 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.560 in the Amazon warehouse, like taping up boxes, you know 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:15.560 what I mean. It's a little bit of like Elon 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.480 Musk is down at the Tesla Factor, like screwing wheels 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.760 into a car. You know, Taylor, like he's really out 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.920 there living this life. Everything he's ever asked us to do, 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.400 he fucking loves doing. And if he could choose, I 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.240 know he would be you know, yes, wrestling a calf 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.000 on the ground trying to hold it down instead of 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:35.080 instead of writing. 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.280 There were days when he would be directing and producing 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.480 and also like writing other shows in his head, and 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:43.040 he'd like grab the hose to like water down the arena, 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.480 like because he just loves those things to the point 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.680 where I'm like, I think, like union wise, like someone 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:48.520 else has to do that. 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.200 Yeah, hey, mister Bezos, do you mind I'll tape that 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:56.080 box up. You're gonna get a paper cut. Listen. Another 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:57.600 thing I can't help, but notice is you said that 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.640 while you guys were shooting this gathering sequence in the 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.200 branding with you guys were shut down by forest fires, 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.880 which has also been a sort of image that's recurred 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:06.920 in the show this season. In the narrative of the show, 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:08.120 will you talk about that a little bit? 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:12.400 Yeah, the fires showed up in We ended up shooting 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:16.080 this whole sequence in bits, again, spread out over a 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.760 course of a few months. There were a few pieces 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.680 that just became impossible for us to grab because the 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:27.360 fire season in Montana starts usually in like in the 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.080 one hot month that Montana has, the air quality was, 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.880 I believe the worst in the country. It started in 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.000 northern Idaho and up through there, and a part of 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.360 why we can't shoot is for our health, but also 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:44.320 for the well being of the animals more than anything. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.280 I do believe the horses shut us down before the 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:52.200 people do. But adjacent to smoke, I think, I think 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.040 it's a bit of a sidestep. But the actual flanking 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.200 and branding of these cattle, all of the actors that 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.800 you saw flank, all the does you see flank in 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:05.800 the episode are flanking in real life. The branding was happening. 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.200 My snot was gray brown for many many days. 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.680 And yes, so just for a little cowboy glossary moment 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.720 once again that the flanking is is grabbing a calf 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.160 and throwing you know, it gets dragged. A cowboy lassos 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.760 a calf's back legs drags it so sort of to 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.520 kind of make it spread eagle. Two cowboys grab them 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.080 and flip them on their back and pin their legs 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:32.679 down so a third cowboy can brand them. And I 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:34.919 think you're referring to the fact that when you brand 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.960 a cow cow that's functionally made of leather and fur, 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:40.959 there's a lot of smoke. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:42.399 There's a lot of smoke that. 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.760 Just washes right over your face. So by the end 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.600 of the day of branding, Yeah, you're you're really it's 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:51.640 like you've been working in a coal mine all day. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.919 But it's not. It's not coal dust, no, you know, 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.159 to say the least different. 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:56.920 A different kind of dust. 0:17:58.920 --> 0:17:59.160 Yeah. 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.080 It anyway, shooting that entire sequence was amazing. That is 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.600 one that I'm sorry that you missed because it was 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.360 so beautiful and the locations that we got to go 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:14.200 to were majestic. And sometimes at the end of those days, 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:18.639 after you've got your last shot, but the sun is 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:20.760 still out and the horses need to get back to 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:25.639 where they go instead of just jumping off and handing 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.800 them to a wrangler and getting back in your van 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.760 and taking the twenty five minute van ride back or 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:35.280 thirty minute van ride back to civilization. Sometimes some of 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.400 us would just ride as the sun was going down, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.560 after the cameras were done, and we'd just be sitting 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.240 and talking and it was like we didn't want to 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.679 let go. We didn't want to let go of the 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:48.720 world we had just been in. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.280 Oh, it's beautiful. It's what you said. It's the difference 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:53.680 between a good day and a great day. 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:54.800 Hm. Totally. 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:56.520 Let's take a quick break and then we're going to 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.080 dig into the rest of this episode because there's a 0:18:58.080 --> 0:18:58.959 lot of other stuff going on. 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.560 Okay, So jumping back in here, I want to talk 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:17.439 a little bit about what happens with Potus coming to 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:21.400 the Reds and that whole sequence. There were a few 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.760 things that stuck out to me in particular, one of 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.600 them being the dogs, and I wanted to talk a 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:30.800 little bit about that and hear your thoughts, Jeff, and 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:32.440 bounce that back and forth. 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:37.520 Yeah, what an incredibly chilling image about two completely different 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:42.720 relationships to nature, right to nature and community. You know, So, Mo, 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:45.520 we love a good MO episode. This is a great 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:51.680 MO episode. Moe is sort of discovers these black SUVs, 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.080 these helicopters, this sort of operation going down, is trying 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:56.800 to figure out it's trying to get to the bottom 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.640 of whatever's going on here and ends up witnessing these 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:04.720 secrets service agents killing these dogs, which is such a 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:08.920 strange you know, you know, a stray dog, a quote 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.480 unquote stray dog that could be perceived as a threat 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.359 or just a sort of you know, it's something that 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:20.119 could be discarded so thoughtlessly by one person. Is somebody 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:23.600 else's pet, is somebody is like a beloved part of 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:27.600 somebody else's community. What an enduring image. 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:33.080 I felt like it was such a brilliant device for 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:36.280 that Taylor uses when he does that, because one of 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.080 the things that's irredeemable is the killing of a pet. 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.520 That's something that in movies. I can watch humans die 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:47.000 in movies. I'm like, yeah, whatever, but you kill a dog. 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:47.679 It's like that. 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:51.840 In Independence Day, the entire globe died, but then we 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:54.760 thought the Golden Retriever died in the tunnel and we 0:20:54.760 --> 0:21:00.280 were like, fuck this, I'm out. So these dogs, though, 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.080 the things I mean for me my pets are I 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:04.800 don't have children. They are the things that are sort 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:06.800 of nearest and dearest to us. 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:11.800 Yeah, it's fascinating. It's this outsider's perspective on what safety 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:16.199 means here. It's this outside force coming in and telling Mo, 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:21.120 daring to tell MO what safety means or what security 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:24.359 means on the reservation. And it's like, oh, nice of 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:26.640 you to show up. You know, when was the last 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:28.800 time you checked in on our safety and security? 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:29.480 Absolutely? 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:32.880 Oh, here, we are living our lives every day, confronting 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:35.239 this difficult circumstance, and you're going to come in and 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:38.359 tell us what represents safety and security. This sort of 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.240 arrogance and tone deafness of that, I think is a 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:45.159 really clear image. And then you know, it's sitting up 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:49.439 as there's this kind of interesting political struggle going on 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:53.720 in John Dutton's world, this interesting political struggle fomenting between 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:57.440 John Dutton and Jamie and his political opponents. There's also 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:00.440 this interesting political struggle being set up on the red. 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.040 So there's this, for the first time, this sort of 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:07.520 threat from within. For five seasons, we've seen Rainwater navigate 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:13.399 threats from without, you know, outside forces coming to strip 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:16.119 away what belongs to his people. Now we're seeing this 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:22.520 interesting threat from within. So we're seeing angela blue thunder, yeah, 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:26.879 setting up kind of propping up a political opponent for Rainwater, 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.440 a young politician on the res named Martin kills Many. 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:36.199 And I think that's a really interesting expression of the 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.600 fact that, hey, this is this community is not a monolith. 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.840 There is not only one idea of how this place 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:46.440 should operate, just like any other government, just like any 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:49.920 other place on Earth, there are many conflicting ideas about 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:52.680 how the Reds should operate and how it should be run, 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:55.480 and what their priority should be. And it's fascinating to 0:22:55.520 --> 0:22:58.280 see that play out and to see Rainwater confronted with 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:00.239 that for the first time. You know, he's now got 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:03.520