Three of the very biggest shows on right now (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian and Yellowstone) are western inspired

Submitted by RusevReigns t3_11b3nc1 in television

May have been obvious to some but it finally clicked to me last episode that the Last of Us is a western, joining those shows as western inspired smashes.

Does this mean anything? Is there something about our current era that's making people long for attach themselves to this type of storytelling? Pedro is also the perfect guy to lead those of those, he looks so much like an old school Western actor (and a lot like Burt Reynolds, who himself was a guy that would've been the #1 western actor a few decades earlier and ended up succeeding most doing the same stories with a car substituted in, but still did some horse westerns too I think)

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jeremy-o t1_j9vqeh9 wrote

I'd say that TLOU is less broadly "a western" than the particular setting of this part of the game/show leans into that. Though I would say the spare lawlessness of most American post-apocalyptic media finds Western tropes easy to appropriate.

What does it mean? Look out for Red Dead Redemption on premium streaming soon.

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Lil_Mcgee t1_j9yjsgk wrote

Yeah people are equating Mandalorian and TLoU because both feature Pedro Pascal travelling while protecting a child but the former is far more western inspired than the latter.

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AashyLarry t1_j9vr6ny wrote

Why/how is The Last of Us a western?

Keep in mind I haven’t seen the show at all yet - I’m just curious because I thought it would be a zombie show similar to Walking Dead or World War Z.

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WACK-A-n00b t1_j9vrtzo wrote

They ride horses.

But to defend the point, western genre is about the struggle against a frontier without a justice system, with disjointed or no support of authoritative body, hostile locals, tryically set in the American West which is usually depicted as hostile difficult to live off of land.

Yellowstone is not a western, I think.

Mandalorian and Last of Us would be I think.

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acosmichippo t1_j9vtgoz wrote

> But to defend the point, western genre is about the struggle against a frontier without a justice system, with disjointed or no support of authoritative body, hostile locals, tryically set in the American West which is usually depicted as hostile difficult to live off of land.

you could say that about any post-apocalyptic media.

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9vuv4j wrote

I agree Yellowstone may actually be the least western, it's more of a mob show at heart and appealed to the people watching Godfather reruns on the former Spike TV. But it still has a lot of horsey and cowboy hat guys so I think it's still a bit of a western.

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WeDriftEternal t1_j9wbl3c wrote

Yellowstone is Sons of Anarchy, but cowboys instead of motorcycles

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Skavau t1_j9vrsza wrote

Neo-Western road vibes, especially last episode.

Not sure it would be accurate to describe it in whole like that though

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nomorepartiezz t1_j9zj204 wrote

if you ever watch the show please dont go in expecting anything like the walking dead or world war z lol.

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AashyLarry t1_j9zk4vj wrote

I honestly don’t know what to expect lol. Never played the game either.

I just know it’s about zombies and those are the two zombie shows/movies I’ve seen. And 28 days later

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nomorepartiezz t1_j9zkqpm wrote

i think its something closer to the road. not to spoil but the show takes place a lot further in than most shows. its not about the fall of civilization its a very intimate/character focused story about how people deal with their trauma and learn to live again after spending a long time just surviving. its not super action packed. i know that makes it sound cheesy but its not lol

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9vv6hy wrote

I think the western hero on horseback with a girl he's saving is a trope that has been used in the genre. Joel in general is very western lead character-y I think with his rugged old school loner vibes. Maybe I'm putting too much on episode 6 being western like compared to the early ones.

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55Branflakes t1_j9w0mjb wrote

By that logic, GOT is a western with the hound saving Arya and putting in front of him on a horse.

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Nessie t1_j9w7smb wrote

>GOT is a western

"Westeros". It's right there in the name!

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9wgwfq wrote

The Hound and Arya plot is like 5% of the show

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SlimShadyM80 t1_j9w0ba5 wrote

I definitely get the 'western vibe' you are describing with The Last of Us. It might not tick off the boxes for what technically makes a western, but it definitely has that same sombre tone as a Johnny Cash song.

Maybe 'western' isnt the right word, but it definitely feels 'country'.

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Dear-Ninja-6400 t1_j9vrz5q wrote

But Westworld is cancelled. It. Ain't. Right.

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CheesyObserver t1_j9wlvjy wrote

I wouldn't say Last of Us is western inspired.

I also wouldn't say Yellowstone is one of the very biggest shows on right now, either.

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cityonahillterrain t1_j9vud9m wrote

Very excited for the Taylor Kitsch project coming American Primevil

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VelvetElvis t1_j9w3ldu wrote

So far, The Last of Us is more like a post-apocalyptic road trip movie. Easy Rider with zombies.

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Shotgunsamurai42 t1_j9w4nf0 wrote

Mandalorian is a western, in that westerns are largely influenced by Japanese Ronin movies. Mandalorian is pretty much Lone Wolf and Cub like Magnificent Seven is Seven Samurai.

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9wjjfh wrote

Mando is definitely due a western/samurai thing. D+ likes old school tv homages as seen by Wandavision's sequence of them, and some other stuff like Willow feeling like a 90s fantasy show, Andor has some noir elements, etc.

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Negligent__discharge t1_j9x3s1z wrote

>lLone Wolf and Cub like Magnificent Seven is Seven Samurai.

Magnificent Seven is a great Westren, totaly based on Seven Samurai.

Dude is saying you think it is western, but it is not.

Lone Wolf and Cub is great, check it out.

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RedditGGGB t1_j9y7lcr wrote

TLOU is not a western

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ReadyProposal t1_j9zs9so wrote

No, all it means is there was a long lull with no western stories and a bunch of screenwriters thought, "Maybe I can make something cool with those tropes from that show I liked when I was a kid." Hollywood has been like this for literal decades, in many genres and sub-genres. This is, by my count, the 3rd or 4th time there's been increased interest in westerns just since the 80s.

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RusevReigns OP t1_j9zx1eg wrote

Hollywood has always taken a stab at trying to revive Westerns however what stood out to me is the massive popularity of these three.

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chicagoredditer1 t1_ja1wmi6 wrote

Isn't Yellowstone just Dallas or Knots Landing (or any 80's prime time soap) but set in the west, not in any way an actual western?

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RunningToStayStill t1_ja6etuq wrote

The English flopped so you're not on to anything special.

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