883, released in 2021 written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, manages to differentiate itself from the usual franchises being released these days, such as “Law & Order” for example, which has been ongoing for years and follows mostly the same plotline (Alston, 2021). 

The show is a prequel to Yellowstone, following the origins of the Dutton family. The show is released on Paramount +, another streaming platform similar to Netflix. While the show can be considered “bingeable”, as the series was released all together as a whole, the story line, dialogue and cinematic aspects of the show manages to differentiate itself from the usual shows that are released on streaming platforms.

For example, Jason Mittell explains that series characters don’t often truly change; instead-through repetition, elaboration, and backstories- viewers merely get an impression of change because we learn more about them. However, in 1883, the characters don’t go through any repetition or any backstory – Sheridan gives us a clear representation of the characters, where in the first episodes we think we have an idea of what they are, but going through the episodes we can observe how the background of Western America in the 1880s manages to change these characters and make them evolve in a way the audience wouldn’t expect. The Native Americans are an integral part of the historical period the show is set in and are often misrepresented in historical shows. Sheridan seeked to create an accurate representation and represent their characters as separate individuals rather than a stereotyped group, such as Elsa’s second love interest, Sam.

Mittell also mentions how daytime soaps relied on a great deal of narrative redundancy to crank out five episodes a week. Instead, as we can clearly observe, 1883 is far away from this ideal. The incredible landscape of Texas (where the show was shot) mirrors the deep, meaningful and well thought out dialogue that Sheridan clearly wanted to stand out. Elsa, who is the narrator of the show, transports the audience through the story with poetic dialogue: “Freedom is running wild through untamed land.” The show features themes of love, loss, grief, and courage, all showcased in the background of Western America. What could’ve been a simple bingeable American western on another streaming platform, Sheridan managed to take an historically miserable period and morph it into a deep heartfelt story about humanity. 

Reference List

Alston, J. (2021). ’1883’ Review: The ‘Yellowstone’ Franchise Has a Winning New Addition. [online] Variety. Available at: https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/1883-yellowstone-review-1235134962/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2024].

Kozloff, S. (2016). Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling by Jason Mittell. Cinema Journal, 55(3), pp.159–164. doi:https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.2016.0034.

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