The checklist of upcoming Yellowstone reveals stays prolonged, although the variety of episodes of the flagship sequence is now non-existent, with a lot of the characters’ tales closing out with the Season 5 finale. (Beth and Rip have their very own spinoff coming, however that’s one other story.) One character whose story was left open-ended was Taylor Sheridan’s horse wrangler Travis, who popped up greater than regular within the ultimate six episodes, and never simply to emasculate Jimmy.
Sheridan’s recurring smack-talker additionally wasn’t simply utilized to indicate off his horse-riding expertise, however to assist Rip and Beth dump the ranch’s horses and different aftermath duties following John’s loss of life within the midseason premiere. After which there was “Give the World Away,” the place Travis hosted a clothing-optional pool get together the place strip poker and being sleazy went hand in hand, with visitor star Bella Hadid additionally within the combine.
The co-creator confronted barely extra criticism than regular for these on-screen antics, and govt producer Christina Alexandra Voros, who additionally directed a number of episodes in Season 5, talked with Selection about why Sheridan selected to write down his personal character into the ultimate episodes as usually as he did, with it serving as a option to steadiness what was misplaced when Kevin Costner exited the present earlier in 2024. As she put it:
I additionally suppose that should you ask him about it, this was a really miserable season of tv. Bringing Travis in allowed for somewhat little bit of comedian reduction in a season that you just didn’t get a lot of that. That’s all the time been a part of Yellowstone. Horrible issues occur, you lose folks, however then there’s a humorous scene within the bunkhouse, or there’s an incredible nation musician that folks don’t learn about who will get found on this cameo. That’s all the time been a part of the DNA of the present.
Voros was initially requested to check and distinction Taylor Sheridan and Travis Wheatley, and he or she had nothing however good issues to say in regards to the present’s huge boss and his expertise as a author and director, in addition to an on-set normal. She additionally famous that each Sheridan and Travis had been “large” at being salesmen and at beating the system.
And in that approach, it seems like he needed to shake up the in any other case melancholy vibe for almost all of the characters coping with emotional fallout. (And never only for John, but in addition for everyone mourning Colby’s shock loss of life.) Granted, he may have achieved it in a approach that didn’t contain clueless card gamers’ gratuitous nudity, however I assume there are solely so some ways to make Jimmy really feel dumb.
Christina Alexandra Voros continued, saying it made extra sense for Sheridan to step in as Travis and get somewhat goofy versus forcing that form of conduct onto characters who wouldn’t be feeling so naturally mirthful. In her phrases:
So I believe folks had been so wrapped up within the tragedy of this ultimate season that some people forgot that there’s all the time been a component of comedy on this. It’s all the time been current, and he simply solid himself because the factor that introduced a few of that levity as a result of everybody else was so completely devastated in regards to the lack of John Dutton. It might be onerous to search out the comedy from Beth and Rip and Kayce. I believed it was a reasonably daring transfer on his half, however I believe it served the story.
I completely get how all of that makes full sense, and I nonetheless really feel the necessity to return and level to that strip poker and scene and say, “However that?” Moderately than being genuinely amusing as most of his fast in-and-out scenes are, this extra candid take a look at Travis’ life revealed somewhat an excessive amount of that we did not have to see. It is not as if I ever thought he was a complete bookworm at dwelling with out anybody else round him, nevertheless it was all nonetheless a bit a lot.
Will Travis present up in Beth and Rip’s spinoff, or within the slow-moving 6666 spinoff that’ll be set on the titular Texas ranch? We’ll hopfully discover out lengthy earlier than it airs through the 2025 season or past, so keep tuned.