Between Paramount+ and CBS, viewers aren’t experiencing a total Taylor Sheridan drought, and with so many shows spread across the board, we typically don’t have to go too long without getting sucked right back into one of Sheridan’s universes. Still, while Tulsa King is giving us that Sheridan-style action and grit and Marshals is doing its best to scratch the Western itch, that Yellowstone-sized void is still there.
As viewers, some of us are guilty of always looking for the next shiny, new thing to fill that void, but sometimes the best answers are lurking in the past, in shows that flew more under the radar. The Son is that show.
‘The Son’ is the Perfect ‘Yellowstone’ Replacement
The AMC Western premiered in 2017 and ran for two seasons, putting Pierce Brosnan at the center of a sprawling family saga about the McCulloughs, a powerful Texas ranching and oil dynasty. The series jumps between 1849 and 1915, following Eli McCullough’s transformation from a young boy trying to survive the frontier into a ruthless businessman determined to build an empire.
Like Yellowstone, The Son revolves around a family whose power is tied to its land and business interests. There’s a complicated patriarch at the center, generational conflict, competing interests, and plenty of violence along the way. The major difference is that The Son takes that formula back to the early days of the American West, showing how the McCullough family’s empire came to be rather than dropping viewers into the middle of an established dynasty.
The show also has another connection that makes it an especially good fit for Landman viewers (not just the Texas oil aspect): Jacob Lofland.
Lofland plays young Eli McCullough in The Son, sharing the role with Brosnan as the character ages. The younger version of Eli is at the heart of the show’s 1849 storyline, giving Lofland plenty of opportunity to play a character shaped by survival, violence, and the harsh realities of the frontier.
The Son gives viewers the chance to see him much earlier in his career in a very different kind of Western drama.
‘The Son’ Has a Strong Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes
Critics were considerably less enthusiastic about The Son when it premiered. The series currently has a 52% Tomatometer score from 27 critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, however, have been much kinder (so it goes), giving the series an 86% Popcornmeter score from more than 100 ratings. Season 1 has an 84% audience score.
The Son has developed something of a second life among viewers who appreciate its slower, more expansive approach to the Western genre. Some audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have even directly compared the series to Yellowstone, with viewers praising its combination of family drama, violence, and Western storytelling.
The series isn’t a carbon copy of Yellowstone, and that’s ultimately part of its appeal. It’s more historical, more sprawling, and more interested in showing the brutal forces that shaped the McCullough family over generations. But if what you’re missing is a complicated family fighting to protect and expand its empire, The Son gets surprisingly close.
And unlike some newer Yellowstone alternatives, you won’t have to wait for another season to find out where the story goes. The Son has already completed its two-season run.
