Miss Yellowstone? There's No Better Replacement Than This Western Starring Pierce Brosnan

The Son with Pierce Brosnan, divided into two seasons, seems to be everything at once: a sweeping novel of the 20th century, an industrial family drama about business, and even the game Red Dead Redemption.

The versatility of the project is due to the merits of the excellent source material. The Son is based on Philipp Meyer's work of the same name: he also wrote the famous American Rust, which was also adapted for television.

The Son is a stylish Western that will certainly be appreciated by connoisseurs of the genre and especially by fans of Taylor Sheridan 's Yellowstone.

What Is The Son About?

Eli McCullough (Pierce Brosnan) has lived a hard life. As a young man, he lost his family in an Indian raid and was captured by the Comanches. But he survived, won his freedom, and became a successful cattle rancher.

Now, in the early 20th century, Eli realizes that his business is not bringing in the same income as before, and that the future of Texas is not cattle, but oil. So he starts looking for investors to explore for black gold on his land.

But his plans are thwarted by Mexican rebels who cross the border, raiding ranches and destroying the property of Texans like McCullough.

The Son Is a Large-Scale Saga That Spans Several Generations of One Family

Philip Meyer decided to write a story about life in the American South in three generations. The first is represented by the old man Eli. The second is his son Pete, who does not accept his father's cruel methods.

And the third is Pete's granddaughter Jeanne Anne. The woman becomes an oil baroness and inherits the principles of her great-grandfather Eli, stopping at nothing for the sake of profit.

Philipp Meyer Personally Supervised the Production Process

Perhaps the most important change in the series is that only the male side of McCullough – Eli and Pete – is in focus. The action unfolds in just two time periods: first we see how the Eli ended up with the Indians in the 19th century, and then we are transported to the early 20th century, where industrial passions are boiling over.

This apparently bookish technique of dividing the narrative into several parallel segments was adopted in the series for a reason.

Philip Meyer wrote several episodes himself and supervised the writing of all the others. He spent months on the set making sure the adaptation was as faithful to the book as possible, from the elaborate structure to the costumes and sets.

The Son Is Both an Impressive Western and a Thoughtful Drama

The Son is like Succession meets Yellowstone: it is a slow, rather cynical show with horses, old taverns, and oil exploration instead of flashy cars, high-rises, and stock swindles.

The McCullough family tries to take over their neighbors' land, defends their own parcels from cattle thieves, and tries to make shady deals at fancy restaurants.