Again, a move to Texas may be the best thing for a Rip and Beth story, as it would give the series its own unique identity. More than that, it

would allow Sheridan the chance to write about the world that he knows best: Texas. Funny enough, it would also help explain Beth and

Rip’s further absence from the upcoming CBS series Y: Marshals, especially if Kayce (Luke Grimes) ends up traveling across the state while

 

 

on the job as Montana’s latest lawman. Who knows, Rio Palo could just be a detour that Sheridan is taking the sequel series for the sake of personal convenience, or maybe it’s just a step in a bold new direction for the franchise. Either way, there is a lot of potential for the Yellowstone Universe down in Texas, a state rife with Western and cowboy history that could easily be the launching point for several new Dutton-branded adventures.

 

 

It’s no wonder that Sheridan continues to film in Texas. It seems that, these days, the filmmaker is always coming up with clever reasons to film in Texas or the surrounding states. There’s a reason that every Yellowstone show to date has found itself traveling down south (or starting one’s travels from down south) before returning to Montana, and even shows like Lioness manage to make pivots for the Lone Star State. Likewise, Sheridan’s new hit Landman is short exclusively in West Texas, while Tulsa King shoots just north (or east if you’re in the panhandle) in Oklahoma. In fact, Sheridan’s only Paramount-based drama that didn’t shoot anywhere near Texas is Mayor of Kingstown, as even Lawman: Bass Reeves (which he produced) shot in North Texas. However the new Rip and Beth series plays out, we can rest assured knowing that at least part of the project will likely be set in Sheridan’s home state, and that seems to be for the best.

Again, much of Yellowstone‘s final season flirted with the idea that Rip and Beth could one day leave Montana and venture further south. We see this especially in the episode “The Apocalypse of Change,” where Beth challenges Rip to wonder about “all the things that we could do if we’re not shackled to that ranch.” With the two getting their own sequel series, now seems like it may be the perfect time to see that concept through. Whether they’re run out of Montana after being rejected by the Western Montana community or they choose to move to the Lone Star State on their own accord, either option could be interesting ways to frame this continuation as something different from its predecessor. All the land-grabbing plots got old after a while, so however Taylor Sheridan decides to continue their story beyond the flagship series, it’ll have to be unique somehow.