In the 12th episode of Yellowstone In season five, Taylor Sheridan’s horse trainer character Travis Wheatley solemnly explains that John Dutton is dead. This elaborate metafictional immersion YellowstoneKevin Costner, ex-protagonist of Sheridan’s ex-leading man and Sheridan’s ex-leading man, follows the collapse of their professional relationship through the head that can pull off a bigger cowboy hat. (It was about money and schedules.) Reasonable people might assume that after this display of personal grace, Sheridan would be done writing smug victory laps on his flagship TV series.

Reasonable people would be wrong. Episode 13 represents an almost unimaginable feat of self-mythologizing, a fictionalized act of fantasy world-building that borders on masturbation and operates on a level that far exceeds the expectations one has to face. Is Taylor Sheridan OK? Or is this a cry for help, an expression of Sheridan’s suppressed feelings of frustration and lack of self-esteem and unresolved desire for revenge, translated into a barely fictionalized form?

The only way to make a judgment is to examine the evidence. Here, in roughly chronological order, are all the things that happen to Taylor Sheridan’s character Travis in Give the World Away.

She could be a character or the real Bella Hadid – it’s hard to say because she isn’t named and has no characteristics other than “being hot” and “describing her attraction to Taylor Sheridan.” Anyway, she was cast as Travis’ girlfriend and her main job is to explain to Beth Dutton why anyone would ever want to date him. “He is probably the most arrogant man I have ever met in my life. Condescending. Misogynistic. At least 25 years older than you. Can you please explain the objection?” Beth asks her. In response, Hadid cocks his head thoughtfully, staring at Travis and grinning slightly. “Have you ever seen him ride?” she says. Unfortunately, no one looks directly into the camera and winks like Lucille Bluth.

At first he plays strip poker even though he should be showing an expensive horse to Brazilian buyers because he is a bad boy who ignores the rules. Shirtless, smoking a cigar, surrounded by awestruck looking men and hot women in various states of nakedness, he leans against a poker table and laughs at exactly how many aces are on the table while Hadid wraps herself lovingly around him. “What do I have?” asks a woman, covering her bare breasts with a cowboy hat. “Well, Mackenzie,” Travis says, “there’s a reason you’re naked, and it’s hands like these.” Everyone laughs appreciatively.

He drives it a lot. AndJust in case anyone doubted whether Hadid knew what she was talking about, he is a very impressive, very experienced rider! Travis shows potential buyers a Yellowstone horse on his own ranch, and his horsemanship is impressive So It’s impressive that everyone cheers, nods and cheers him on. To make sure there is no doubt, the camera takes several close-ups of the meticulous footwork, but then pulls back into a wide shot so everyone can see for sure that it is Really Sheridan on that horse. No stunt guys. No fancy cuts. He is. A. Cowboy.

Far be it from me to disparage Sheridan’s ability to ride a horse. From what I understand, controlling such a horse requires countless hours of dedication, patience and effort, and it obviously resulted in a truly exciting display of skill and talent. I assume that the amount of time and effort required to achieve this mastery must be significant, unlike, for example, the time required to write and produce dozens of television episodes across multiple television series.

His remarkable horsemanship obviously piques Brazilian buyers’ interest in this horse, but Travis is so smart and cheeky that he tricks the maintenance team into acting like another group of interested buyers, convincing the Brazilians to spend an extra million dollars . He is So charismatic and effective and good at his job! Of course, Bella Hadid is his girlfriend.

Don’t worry about Travis being on the wrong side of justice, because a cowboy at Travis’ pool party takes a few minutes to explain to Beth Dutton that the pricing of all horses is based on luck. Maybe the Brazilians overpaid, but that’s not Travis’ fault. He just did his best, which, for the record, was really, really good.

There are lots of hot women too, and Travis, shirtless, leans suggestively along the edge of the pool so you can see all his arm muscles.

Not content with just a strip poker scene, Travis challenges Beth Dutton to a game shortly after she tells him he’s “such an asshole it’s almost attractive.” The problem is that Beth – no, needs -Travis is supposed to return to Yellowstone so he can prove his sales skills at a full auction, but she doesn’t want to pay him for it. Travis tells her they can play for it; For some reason, Beth agrees. Because she needs him! “I don’t have anyone who can do it,” she says. “I don’t knowledge anyone who can do it.”

Because he is also one very Being a good poker player, Travis wins and Beth sighs in disgust. Just as she starts to take off her bra, Travis tells her he was just kidding and she doesn’t need to take off her clothes. He’s a bastard…but you gotta love him!!

We know this because he offers to make Beth corn dogs and then adds, “There’s a stripper pole in the garage.”

This is the penultimate episode of the season. The Yellowstone Ranch, the most important thing in the world of this show, has never been in a more precarious position. John Dutton is dead, in case you haven’t heard. Everything is in danger! But after the two strip poker scenes and the pool party and the long sequence of Sheridan’s horse riding skills and Hadid is the top priority for Yellowstone consists of Rip telling Beth the long story of how he and Travis became friends. Wouldn’t you know? That’s because Travis was a very Cool guy who stood up for Rip in a drunken bar fight, made a few funny jokes in the middle of it while he was getting the shit kicked out of him, and then went back to the bar to get their hats! What a guy! What an absolutely amazing guy that everyone always wants to spend time with and be impressed by, even if he was previously in love with another guy who was also on this show but is now dead.

Although Sheridan declined to write any further dialogue to show how important Travis is at the auction, he arranges for Travis to ride around the auction itself, once again performing extremely challenging maneuvers such as spinning the horse in endless circles .

Overall, about a third of this episode is about Travis Wheatley. What should we make of it? If only the horse scenes were what Yellowstone introduced before, it would simply be Sheridan rightly bragging about how much work he put into riding. If it were just the “Travis helps save the Yellowstone Ranch” storyline, Sheridan’s role in the endgame would seem much more egregious, but it could also be understood as a mostly sweaty, self-aggrandizing effort to right the ship before going in afterward Costner debacle sails the harbor. But overall – the horses, the plot, the strip poker… Bella Hadid is his girlfriend?! – This isn’t just a fun little subplot. This is something more serious. Sheridan is trapped in a prison of his own making, and the only way out is for everyone to finally tell him that he’s a great guy on par with Kevin Costner.