This Oscar-Winning Director Didn’t Hold Back in Criticizing 'Yellowstone' Ahead of Season Finale

If you’re a fan of Yellowstone, then we’re guessing you’ve already been going through a lot this week. After all, the series is sadly coming to an end this Sunday, Dec. 15, after six years and five drama-packed seasons. But, while you and your Yellowstone-loving friends might already be in your feels, Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino didn’t shy away from sharing his not-so-positive feedback after watching the show.

In an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Pulp Fiction director talked about how his experience with the Taylor Sheridan-created series changed over time.

“I didn’t really get around to watching Yellowstone the first three years or so. Then I watch the first season and I’m like ‘Wow, this is f— great!’” Tarantino said initially, per IndieWire. “I’ve always been a big Kevin Costner fan, he’s f— wonderful in this.’”

After watching more of it, however, Tarantino’s opinion began to change. “And I get really caught up in the show, I’m having a great time watching and the first season, I’m kind of talking like, ‘Oh, this is like a big movie,” he said. “While I’m watching it, I’m compelled. But at the end of the day it’s just a soap opera.”

According to Tarantino, Yellowstone not being a movie, and instead being a longterm series, actually hindered how good the show could be. “They introduce you to a bunch of characters, you learn their backstories, you know everybody’s connection with everyone else… and then everything else is just your connection to the soap opera,” he said.

“I’ll see a good Western movie and I’ll remember it the rest of my life,” he stated. “I’ll remember the story, I’ll remember this scene or that scene. It built to an emotional climax of some degree. There’s a payoff to it.”

In Yellowstone, however, the plot and major bombshells weren’t enough to grab him. “But there’s not a payoff on this stuff,” he added. “There’s just more interconnectional drama. And while I’m watching it, that’s good enough. But when it’s over… I don’t remember any of the details of it.”

In other words, while Tarantino was pleasantly surprised by Yellowstone at first, the show’s persistence on having relationships, friendships and rivalries last so long means that the climax isn’t as impactful as it could’ve been. In a movie, on the other hand, having only one storyline means that the climax will be on full-effect, and will be remembered by viewers for years to come.

Knowing that Costner left Yellowstone to work on his Western movies, Horizon Part One and Part Two, maybe he agrees?

Before you go, click here to see celebrity co-stars who allegedly hated each other in real life.