7 Reasons Why 1883 Might Be Your Jam (Even If You Don't Love Yellowstone)

I know pretty much everyone who watches even one episode of the western primetime soap Yellowstone instantly loves it. But that (really, really large) number doesn't include me.

I've got nothing against Taylor Sheridan's juggernaut Paramount Network series, which stars Kevin Costner as the patriarch of a Montana ranching family. I'm glad people like it! But the horses and the power plays and the horse-related power plays just never hit my TV-viewing sweet spot, and I thought Yellowstone would just get filed away in the same, foggy part of my brain where all of the NCISes are: There's a dim awareness of the premise, sure, but little more.

But then came 1883, Yellowstone's post-Civil War prequel, a series whose premiere I watched on a whim on a slow day. And to my surprise, faster than you can say "saddle up," I was ALL. IN.

So in the effort of pulling some Yellowstone averse folks (c'mon, there's gotta be more of you out there) into the 1883 fold, I've pulled together a bunch of reasons that you might actually love the Paramount+ prequel. And if you do happen to think, "Yes, this does kinda sound like my jam!," good news: You've got a week to catch up before 1883's Season 1 finale starts streaming on Sunday, Feb. 27. Giddy up!

I grew up loving Ma, Pa and Laura Wilder. 1883 gives me the same pioneering feel as Little House on the Prairie — except it's much less G-rated. (Yep, there's a "f—k" every now and then.)

Much to my surprise, the bulk of Season 1 has centered on — and been narrated by — Elsa, the headstrong teenage daughter of James and Margaret Dutton. Don't worry: There is surely enough typical macho Western content to sustain those of you who want it. But watching Isabel May play the plucky, sassy blonde getting her first taste of freedom as her family travels the Oregon trail has been an unexpected pleasure throughout the first season. (Though, uh, after this week's episode, we're hoping that it's not also a pleasure with an expiration date.)

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill rule. (C'mon, have you heard "Let's Make Love"?!) Watching the real-life married country singers play James, a Confederate Civil War soldier looking to make a fresh start, and Margaret, James' wife who deeply disagrees with making said start a zillion miles from their old home, is a real treat.

The series follows a wagon train as it makes the treacherous journey from Texas to Oregon in 1883. And in order to make everything look believable, much of the footage was shot outside, on location in Texas. The result? Vistas that'll make you weep, they're so beautiful. And thankfully, the show's not afraid to let the camera linger on a sunset or a startling blue sky.

At first glance, you'd think Sam Elliott's character — a Pinkerton agent named Shea Brennan, who's leading Dutton & Co. along the trail — was as hardened as the horn on his saddle. But then you learn the untimely deaths of his wife and young daughter have caused him a grief that drives every move he makes. And then you learn that he's one of the most emotionally intelligent characters on the show, unafraid to weep when sad and unbothered by having to give a pep talk when one is needed. Pretty soon, he's become one of your (and my) favorite characters.

Even though pretty much everyone on the wagon train is just hoping to reach Oregon alive, that doesn't mean there's not room for a little romance among the sagebrush. I'm particularly taken with the relationship that's evolving between Noemi, a newly widowed Romani woman, and Thomas, Brennan's fellow Pinkerton agent and former slave. (You can read more about that quiet, moving romance here.)

So far, 1883 has featured guest stars like Billy Bob Thornton (who played a take-no-guff Texas lawman), Rita Wilson (who played a tipsy general store owner) and Tom freakin' Hanks (who played a sympathetic Union officer who comforted James Dutton after the Battle of Antietam) — not bad for a show that's just getting started.