There’s a spiritual sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s firstYellowstonespinoff on Netflix, and you can watch it in just seven hours. Considered by many to be the franchise’s best installment, the firstYellowstoneprequel,1883,tells the story of the earliest-known members of theDutton familyas they journey from Texas to Montana on a variant of the Oregon Trail.
While Sheridan followed the first prequel with anotherYellowstonespinoff called1923,there’sno direct continuation of1883,which is just a single season consisting of 10 episodes. There is, however,another miniseries on Netflix that looks and feels a lot like1883,with a lot of the same outstanding elements. The story takes place a year later, in 1884.
Netflix’s Western Miniseries Godless Is The Perfect Sequel To 1883
Godless Is Like A Sequel To 1883
Netflix’s Western miniseries,Godless,is the perfect follow-up to1883.Released in 2017, Frank Scott’sGodlesstakes place in 1884, which is actually when1883ends.Godlessdepicts a group of people living in the mining town of La Belle, New Mexico. However,Godlessis a female-driven Western, since most of the men in the community are gone.
Godlesspaints the harsh realities of the American West, but from a different angle.
Like1883,Godlesspaints the harsh realities of the American West, but from a different angle.The Duttons traveled as pioneers in covered wagons along the Oregon Trailto claim free land in Oregon. During this period, other settlers followed the Santa Fe and California Trails to establish mining towns throughout the West, which is whereGodlesspicks up.
While most of the wagon train led byShea Brennan (Sam Elliott) in1883is committed to making it to Oregon, the party considers other options after a series of tribulations.Toward the end of the show, Brennan suggests that the wagon train divert to Colorado, spending the winter in the mountains and potentially settling in mining towns.
If at any point the party had followed Shea’s wiser instructions, thecast of1883would have ended up in a mining town the following year. Therefore,Godless, which portrays pioneer life in a mining community in 1884, isn’t far off from what a continuation of1883could have looked like. Plus, the series has the same outstanding elements.
One of the best aspects of both1883andGodlessis their diversity, depicting people from all walks of life to paint a complete picture of the American West. For instance,Godlesshas two Paiute characters at the heart of its cast, Truckee (Samuel Marty) and Iyovi (Tantoo Cardinal), and the Dutton family encounters Comanche, Lakota, and Crow Native Americans.
Yellowstone And Godless Both Have Strong Western Female Leads
Alice Fletcher & Mary Agnes McNue Rival Elsa & Margaret Dutton
Fans of1883would also enjoy watchingGodlessbecause it boasts powerful female leads that rival those in Sheridan’sYellowstoneprequel.The cast of1883features captivating female characters like Elsa (Isabel May) and Margaret(Faith Hill), the daughter and wife of James Dutton (Tim McGraw), the distant relative ofJohn Dutton (Kevin Costner)who established the family’s Montana homestead.
While Elsa was just an adolescent in1883,she is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding characters in the show.Elsa rises to the challenges of surviving in the untamed American territories better than anyone, while also balancing coming-of-age experiences like falling in love and learning essential life and survival skills. While more traditional, Margaret is also a capable pioneer.
Godlessalso gives its audience headstrong female characters to root for.
Godlessalso gives its audience headstrong female characters to root for, with Mary Agnes McNue (Merritt Wever) and Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery) leadingGodless’ cast.McNue and Fletcher have also risen to the challenges of surviving in the Westwith hardly any men around and have proven themselves to be just as capable and fierce as their male counterparts.
Like Elsa and Margaret, we witness how gritty and adept Alice and Mary Agnes are as the plot intensifies. However,Mary Agnes and Alice’s arc is far more satisfying. The women inGodlessaren’t green pioneers; they are settlers who have already experienced the worst that the American West has to offer, and have been sharpened by its challenges.
Godless Has A Better Ending Than 1883
The End Of Godless Doesn’t Disappoint
That said, those who would love1883might enjoy the Netflix show even more, becauseGodlesshas a better ending. While theend of1883sets up the rest of theYellowstonefranchise, it is objectively heartbreaking. Some characters succeed, but many of1883’s most captivating characters are gone by the end, succumbing to the harsh circumstances of the time.
Godlessis no less ruthless to its characters, and we witness many of them fall. However,the end of Netflix’s show is better in the sense that many of the fan-favorite characters survive, their stories all intersecting in meaningful and enjoyable ways by the end ofGodless.The Western doesn’t have rose-colored glasses, but it prioritizes the most satisfying victories.
Regardless, both series show gritty, non-traditional, weapon-wielding women who outshine their counterparts. In that sense, the stories are subversive within the Western genre, centering on the types of female-driven narratives absent in traditional Westerns. WatchingYellowstone’s1883orGodlessbecomes about whether the female characters will succeed. And they hold their own in the American West even when they don’t.
