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The committee that chose the 12 contenders for college football's national title was only worried about one thing — ranking the teams. Where those teams landed in the College Football Playoff bracket was based on a formula created by conference commissioners. That jumbled up the pairings — there are some big gaps, for instance, between where a team is seeded and where it's ranked — and made a strong case for tinkering in the future. “I think the process to rank the best 25 teams is a great process,” said selection committee chairman Warde Manuel. “I’ve heard debates and discussions about how the seeding of the tournament should go. I will leave that up to the commissioners.” Among the choices the commissioners made months ago that set the template for the bracket released Sunday: • Favoring conference champions by giving four of them byes and one more an automatic spot in the field, no matter where they were ranked in the CFP's top 25. • Not reseeding the bracket after the first round, a move that could have given the best teams more favorable early matchups. • Making no attempt to avoid regular-season rematches early in the playoffs. There was also the issue of the 12-team bracket, which could very well be expanded in the next year or two. All those choices led to a field full of possibilities, but also one containing head-scratching matchups. The choices could, in some eyes, undermine the College Football Playoff's main mission, which is ( making more money while) providing more “access” — in other words, a fair shake to more than four deserving teams. For instance, top-seeded and undefeated Oregon could play its first game against Big Ten foe Ohio State, which was ranked No. 2 for much of the season and lost to the Ducks by a point earlier this year. And Boise State, from the non-power Mountain West Conference, is the third seed, even though the committee ranked the Broncos ninth. Here is how things might have looked if certain rules that could come into play in the future were already in place: Ariona State head coach Kenny Dillingham, left, and quarterback Sam Leavitt celebrate after the team's win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Conference championship game on Saturday in Arlington, Texas. First things first — there's not a single tweak that would've placed Oregon at anything other than the No. 1 seed. The Ducks are the only undefeated team in major college football and winning a title this year would leave them a jaw-dropping 16-0. Had the rules called for simply slotting in the top 12 teams, though, Alabama would be in the bracket and Oregon's path would be wildly different. A look at the coulda-been matchups: — No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Notre Dame: Big 12 champs would've made it because they rose three spots after that big win over Iowa State. — No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Ohio State: Without automatic berths for conference champions, Tide would have been in, not at the ReliaQuest Bowl against a 7-5 Michigan team. — No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Tennessee: Mustangs could've slept soundly despite that heartbreaking loss to Clemson. And the Vols would have had a home game instead of a trip to Ohio State. — No. 9 Boise State at No. 8 Indiana: Hoosiers would've gotten the home game their coach thought they deserved, with the winner facing the Ducks. The third and fourth byes would have gone to Texas and Penn State, both losers in their conference title games — a turn that would have furthered questions as to whether those games have outlived their usefulness. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel celebrates after beating Penn State in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday in Indianapolis. As things stand, Oregon will face either Ohio State or Tennessee at the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals. Reseeding or avoiding regular-season matchups in the early rounds would likely have given the Ducks an easier game to start. Under a reseeding scenario, the Ohio State matchup could only happen if every home team — Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame and the Buckeyes — were to win its first-round game. This tweak also would prevent this year's possibility of Clemson vs. Arizona State in the quarterfinals — two teams that weren't in the top 12 a week ago. Or the prospect of two bye teams — ASU and Boise State — being big underdogs against teams, think Texas or Penn State, that have to win a game to play them. This one is a loaded question, because when the playoffs expand they will do so with different rules. One formula kicking around involves giving three automatic spots to the Big Ten and SEC, two to the ACC and Big 12, one to the best-ranked champion of a Group of Five conference and three at-large spots. This, too, would cause problems and shuffling and teams getting passed over. But where it really breaks down is that 18th-ranked Iowa State of the Big 12 would land in this bracket as the 14 seed despite losing to Arizona State by 26. Hard to see that going over well at Miami, or Ole Miss, or Colorado. Then again, nobody ever said this was going to be fair. Stiliana Nikolova, of Bulgaria performs in the rhythmic gymnastics individuals all-round qualification round, at La Chapelle Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India reacts as he collides with San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano during the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. India was safe and Campusano was charged with an error. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Kimberley Woods of Britain competes in the women's kayak cross time trial at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Mike Tyson, left, fights Jake Paul during their heavyweight boxing match, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus plays a forehand return to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte) Noah Lyles, of the United States, jumps as he limbers-up ahead of the men's 100-meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) A member of the Seattle Mariners tosses a ball against a wall during drills at spring training baseball workouts, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Peoria, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia waits to receive serve during her first round match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Czech Republic's Jiri Beran, left, competes with France's Yannik Borel in the men's team epee bronze final match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) France's Adrien Truffert jumps over Argentina's goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli during a quarterfinal soccer match between France and Argentina, at Bordeaux Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Bordeaux, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) Fans interfere with a foul ball caught by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 4 of the baseball World Series against the New York Yankees, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Italy's Sara Curtis splashes her face with water before a women's 50-meter freestyle semifinal at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Ivory Coast 's Seko Fofana, top, duels for the ball with Nigeria's Victor Osimhen during the African Cup of Nations final soccer match between Nigeria and Ivory Coast, at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) Costa Rica midfielder Jefferson Brenes, from left, Alvaro Zamora (21), Francisco Calvo (15) and Joseph Mora (8) are pelted with drinks and trash after celebrating a Brenes goal in the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League Play-In soccer match against Honduras, Saturday, March 23, 2024, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Gabrielle Thomas, of the United States, celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 200 meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Tyrrell Hatton, of England, reacts on the 11th hole during a practice round in preparation for the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Augusta, GA. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Quincy Hall, of the United States, celebrates after winning the men's 400-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Tim Tszyu, of Australia, hits Sebastian Fundora in a super welterweight title bout Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers takes the field prior to an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) Workers peep through curtains to watch a match between France's Gael Monfils and Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Amy Yang, of South Korea, is doused after winning the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Sahalee Country Club, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Sammamish, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Workers remove snow from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/ Jeffrey T. Barnes) United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Gurgl, Austria, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti) Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, left, scores his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue ) Czech Republic's Michal Kempny, right, punches United States' Brady Tkachuk during the quarterfinal match between Czech Republic and United States at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) Turkey's Taha Akgul, left, competes with Georgia's Geno Petriashvili in a men's freestyle 125 kg category gold medal wrestling match during the European Wrestling Championships, in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith cries after winning the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Carles Coll Marti of Spain competes in the men's 200-meter breaststroke heat at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots between New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III and guard CJ McCollum in the second half of an NBA basketball play-in tournament game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New Orleans. The Lakers won 110-106. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) A man in a monk's robe waves the French flag as the peloton passes during the sixth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 163.5 kilometers (101.6 miles) with start in Macon and finish in Dijon, France, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) Belgium's Jeremy Doku, left, challenges for the ball with Romania's Andrei Ratiu during a Group E match between Belgium and Romania at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Cologne, Germany, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) A spectator walks through a water mist sprayer on her way to Eiffel Tower Stadium to watch a beach volleyball at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Gabriel Medina, of Brazil, kicks off of a wave as he warms up prior to the quarterfinals round of the 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, is reflected on a surface as she performs on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics all-around finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Wyndham Clark waits to hit on the 17th hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Kolkata Knight Riders' wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz dives to make an unsuccessful attempt to run out Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abhishek Sharma during the Indian Premier League cricket final match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, May 26, 2024.(AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the qualifying session of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Serbia's Novak Djokovic embraces his daughter Tara after defeating Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the men's singles tennis final at the Roland Garros stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Spain's Dani Olmo clears the ball from the goal line during the final match between Spain and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) A fleet of boats compete in the mixed multihull sailing race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) A horse watches from its stable ahead of the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race at Saratoga Race Course, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Silver medalist Simone Biles, of the United States, left, and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles, of the United States, right, bow to gold medalist Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, during the medal ceremony for the women's artistic gymnastics individual floor finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Denver celebrates after winning the championship game against Boston College in the Frozen Four NCAA college hockey tournament Saturday, April 13, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. Denver won 2-0 to win the national championship. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan (13) and cornerback Elijah Jackson (25) break up a pass to Eastern Michigan wide receiver Terry Lockett Jr. (3) in the end zone during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Seattle. Washington won 30-9. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Milwaukee Bucks' AJ Johnson, right, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Jared McCain, center, and Adem Bona during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Elise Mertens, of Belgium, serves against Naomi Osaka, of Japan, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Italy's Giovanni Tocci competes in the men's 3m springboard diving preliminary at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Wearing a device that measures his energy consumption, the Israel Amputee Football Team player, Ben Maman, left, fights for the ball with a young soccer player from a local team during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) A soccer fan dressed as Spiderman watches Brazil play Uruguay in a Copa America quarterfinal match on a screen set up for fans on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Brazil lost in a penalty shootout and Uruguay qualified for the semifinals. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Men dressed in traditional clothes try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, kicks the ball after double faulting against Jessica Pegula, of the United States, during the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Water is sprayed on the pitch as the ball boys and girls walk along the center line before the start of the men's Group A field hockey match between South Africa and Germany at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Colombes, France. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) Cleveland Browns defensive end Isaiah McGuire (57) reaches for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens (12) during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Morocco's Widad Bertal celebrates after defeating Thailand's Jutamas Jitpong in their women's 54kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher) Brazil's Priscila eyes the ball during a women's semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, at Marseille Stadium in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Simone Biles of the United States competes on the balance beam during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) New Orleans Saints linebacker Willie Gay Jr. signs autographs for a young fan before the start of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga) Real Madrid's players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Mozambique's Deizy Nhaquile battles rough seas during a women's dinghy race, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) People watch the cauldron rise at sunset by the Olympic rings during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) kisses Taylor Swift after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22. (AP Photo/John Locher) A light show is projected from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Kateryna Tabashnyk, a high jumper, sits for a portrait Sunday, June 9, 2024, at the athletics arena of the "Polytechnic" sports complex, which was destroyed by a Russian rocket attack, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Get local news delivered to your inbox!“Gladiator II” asks the question: Are you not moderately entertained for roughly 60% of this sequel? Truly, this is a movie dependent on managed expectations and a forgiving attitude toward its tendency to overserve. More of a thrash-and-burn schlock epic than the comparatively restrained 2000 “Gladiator,” also directed by Ridley Scott, the new one recycles a fair bit of the old one’s narrative cries for freedom while tossing in some digital sharks for the flooded Colosseum and a bout of deadly sea-battle theatrics. They really did flood the Colosseum in those days, though no historical evidence suggests shark deployment, real or digital. On the other hand (checks notes), “Gladiator II” is fiction. Screenwriter David Scarpa picks things up 16 years after “Gladiator,” which gave us the noble death of the noble warrior Maximus, shortly after slaying the ignoble emperor and returning Rome to the control of the Senate. Our new hero, Lucius (Paul Mescal), has fled Rome for Numidia, on the North African coast. The time is 200 A.D., and for the corrupt, party-time twins running the empire (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger), that means invasion time. Pedro Pascal takes the role of Acacius, the deeply conflicted general, sick of war and tired of taking orders from a pair of depraved ferrets. The new film winds around the old one this way: Acacius is married to Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, in a welcome return), daughter of the now-deceased emperor Aurelius and the love of the late Maximus’s life. Enslaved and dragged to Rome to gladiate, the widower Lucius vows revenge on the general whose armies killed his wife. But there are things this angry young phenom must learn, about his ancestry and his destiny. It’s the movie’s worst-kept secret, but there’s a reason he keeps seeing footage of Russell Crowe from the first movie in his fever dreams. Battle follows battle, on the field, in the arena, in the nearest river, wherever, and usually with endless splurches of computer-generated blood. “Gladiator II” essentially bumper-cars its way through the mayhem, pausing for long periods of expository scheming about overthrowing the current regime. The prince of all fixers, a wily operative with interests in both managing gladiators and stocking munitions, goes by the name Macrinus. He’s played by Denzel Washington, who at one point makes a full meal out of pronouncing the word “politics” like it’s a poisoned fig. Also, if you want a masterclass in letting your robes do a lot of your acting for you, watch what Washington does here. He’s more fun than the movie but you can’t have everything. The movie tries everything, all right, and twice. Ridley Scott marshals the chaotic action sequences well enough, though he’s undercut by frenetic cutting rhythms, with that now-familiar, slightly sped-up visual acceleration in frequent use. (Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo are the editors.) Mescal acquits himself well in his first big-budget commercial walloper of an assignment, confined though he is to a narrower range of seething resentments than Crowe’s in the first film. I left thinking about two things: the word “politics” as savored/spit out by Washington, and the innate paradox of how Scott, whose best work over the decades has been wonderful, delivers spectacle. The director and his lavishly talented design team built all the rough-hewn sets with actual tangible materials the massive budget allowed. They took care to find the right locations in Morocco and Malta. Yet when combined in post-production with scads of medium-grade digital effects work in crowd scenes and the like, never mind the sharks, the movie’s a somewhat frustrating amalgam. With an uneven script on top of it, the visual texture of “Gladiator II” grows increasingly less enveloping and atmospherically persuasive, not more. But I hung there, for some of the acting, for some of the callbacks, and for the many individual moments, or single shots, that could only have come from Ridley Scott. And in the end, yes, you too may be moderately entertained. “Gladiator II” — 2.5 stars (out of 4) MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence) Running time: 2:28 How to watch: Premieres in theaters Nov. 21. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.There’s only one more episode of as we know it remaining. The currently airing season 5B was announced to be the final season in the Paramount Network flagship series. But since then, with fan-favorite stars and has been in talks, leaving the state of TV’s No. 1 series up in the air. But if one thing is for certain, next week is sure to define the legacy of the Yellowstone ranch at the heart of the show. Related Stories The penultimate episode that aired on Sunday, “Give the World Away,” was written by co-creator and directed by executive producer Michael Friedman. The , who recurs on the series as Texas horse trainer Travis. This week, Sheridan returned as Travis when he received a visit from Beth Dutton (Reilly) at his Texas ranch (which was filmed at Sheridan’s real-life Bosque Ranch). Beth wants to ensure that Travis is doing right by the Yellowstone, and the visit from the daughter of (departed star ) brings viewers into Travis’ world where he hosts strip poker games that include his girlfriend, played by guest star , shows off his horse-riding prowess and, in the end, delivers Beth and the Yellowstone the big, fat check the struggling ranch needed. “It was wonderful to see Taylor have fun in a way that is such an incorporation of life imitating, art imitating life in terms of it being shot in a place that he has built,” executive producer Christina Voros, who directed the four earlier episodes of season 5B, tells of the visit to Bosque Ranch. Voros also adds that Hadid, who now lives in Texas, was the only person eyed for the role to play his onscreen girlfriend. “[Taylor is] known as this writer of these great American Western TV sagas, but he’s also a cowboy and a tremendous horseman, and spends as much time doing that part of his personality and his life as he does writing the stories about that.” Below in a chat with , Voros talks more about Sheridan’s onscreen cowboy sendoff, reveals how they filmed those huge Yellowstone ranch scenes while avoiding any big spoilers leaking, and unpacks the Dutton family chess moves made this episode to tease how they will come together in the end: “It all makes sense looking backwards. But looking forward, you never would have seen it coming.” *** I was there a lot, mostly because we were getting so close to the end and everyone wanted to be there as much as possible. Michael Friedman is a dear friend and a tremendous director; he’s been part of Taylor [Sheridan]’s close, creative family from the very beginning. He’s been involved in the show since the first season and has been a producer and post-production guru/storyteller through all of Taylor’s shows. He started producing this past year on [Sheridan shows] and , and then did this episode of . It was such a wonderful homecoming to have him directing since he’s been part of the show’s DNA from the very beginning. It was a little hectic [for me when filming], because we were cross-boarding. Because I had directed the first four episodes, I hadn’t had any time to get ahead of stuff that was coming because we didn’t really shoot things in order; Michael did this episode, and then we still had parts of episodes 509, 510 and 511 that we still had to shoot. So I was able to use this as a little bit of prep time but I wanted to be on set as much as possible, partially because it was such a wonderful, full-circle moment with Michael and also because it’s such a magnificent centerpiece of the season. The elements of [this episode] 513 are everything that draws people to . It’s big, it’s cinematic. It’s horses. It’s emotion. It’s all of the poetry that the show has become known for really beautifully showcased. This was one of the big examples. There are elements throughout the season, like in Jamie’s [ ] world where there are press conferences where that also came into play. But yes, this was the biggest swing we took at asking: How do we bring in all the wonderful background performers that we really need to be able to tell these stories, and how do we do it in a way where no one is going home at night and accidentally let it slip about something they saw on set? So Michael and his first AD on the episode, Kristina Massie, did a really remarkable job in terms of finding the ways to divert the attention of folks who were coming in for background, and it had more to do with strategy in how it was shot. They were very smart about what absolutely had to be done in front of hundreds of extras and what could be shot in such a way where, when it’s cut together, it would feel like all of those people were there, but in fact, at that moment, they were not. This is probably the shining example of the lengths that everyone went through, and Michael and Kristina making sure that the secrets to the story stayed locked. That had to do with what the production sound sounds like in the show versus what it sounded like when it was being recorded, and not allowing the extras to hear everything that was being said. I believe there was also an alternate script that was used in some of the wider shots that was absent of information. Then in the closer coverage, they recorded the real track. For Colby’s, we called it “Colby’s arrival.” And for Sarah’s, it was “Sarah arrives.” We continued working with the term “arrival,” because it’s so innocuous that you could read it on a call sheet and no one would ever think that there was anything wrong. In the show, Travis runs Bosque Ranch, which is Taylor’s ranch in Weatherford, Texas. I actually wasn’t there when they filmed those scenes. A couple of those scenes were the very last scenes [filmed] of the show. They were shot in August and I was already prepping on [the ]. But as far as the role of Travis, it was wonderful to see Taylor — again, in a full-circle moment — have fun in a way that is such an incorporation of life imitating, art imitating life in terms of it being shot in a place that he has built. He’s known as this writer of these great American Western TV sagas, but he’s also a cowboy and a tremendous horseman, and spends as much time doing that part of his personality and his life as he does writing the stories about that. So it was kind of wonderful to see the collision of the fictional world he’s created with the actual world he’s created as himself and as a man and as a horseman. To see those two things braided together was really fun. It all comes back to his sort of obsessions with authenticity. You can’t teach an actor to get on a horse and do magnificent things on horseback. He’s a firm believer that there are more cowboys who can act than there are actors who can cowboy. So he’s given roles to so many people. You see it in the Four Sixes work [on ]: Dusty Burson is a tremendous cowboy and a pretty decent actor; Kory Pounds is an incredible cowboy, and a pretty decent actor! He’s done this with my husband [Jason Owen], who has been a wrangler on the show for many years. Taylor gave him a part as a detective — he’s the sidekick to the main detective. So he is the detective in the opening of the who shows Kayce (Luke Grimes) where John Dutton (Kevin Costner) has been shot. One of the consistent things about Taylor is that he understands how fun it is to be a part of something like this. I think he’s looking for opportunities to bring on some of these cowboys because they are who they are, and you can’t get more authentic than that. But it’s also really fun to say, “Let’s give [ actor] Cole Palfreyman, another one of the wranglers and horseman that Taylor has worked with for years, a part on [Sheridan’s Paramount+ series] .” He does that a lot. I remember back in season four during COVID, there were a lot of crew members he gave parts to. My key grip for years, Craig Sullivan, was cast as a glass repair guy. He’s done it from the very beginning and I think in an episode like this, there’s even more reason to cast the people you know as horsemen as horsemen. All I know is that when that part was cast it wasn’t like there were casting teams. By the time I knew it was cast, we knew it was her. So I don’t know when that decision was made, but again, it goes back to sort of keeping it in this family. She was great, and also could not be a lovelier human being. You bring in someone who is a celebrity in their own right and sometimes you are just floored with how marvelously kind and down to earth they really are, and she was really that. That’s a hard question, because the story is the story and the scripts are the scripts. I think one of the things Taylor does, and has done from the beginning of the show, is that there are issues with characters and thoughts that come up and whether they are red herrings or whether they are part of a shorter storytelling element versus a longer one, it happens organically. Going from season to season, the writing comes through him and out onto the page. It’s not something that has been strategically plotted out on Excel spreadsheets from the beginning. So I think every season what the story is and what the threat is and what the drama is, is coming out of the characters themselves as he writes him. This season is not about Jamie as a father; this season is about Jamie as a son. Jamie is usually the smartest guy in the room, and I think he has succeeded in staying afloat through all of these ups and downs, and potential near-finalities of his life as a politician, by the insight of, in many cases, the women around him. The people who have believed in him at times when he hasn’t believed in himself. But ultimately, he is a master spokesperson. He is a master at rhetoric. Once he knows what to run with, he’s very good at spinning that web, and he’s always been good at spinning that web. So I think what you see here is an example of finding that lifeline and spinning something very elaborate out of it that may give him the room to pull himself from a place that we didn’t think he had a lifeline from. This hasn’t historically been a show about happy endings ( ), but also, Taylor has taken and he has turned it into an intergenerational story. There are complexities that exist by virtue of doing that that I think make the world of the Dutton story so much richer and more interesting. ( ) I think it’s hard to say how much to read into it because there are so many threads dangled between these worlds that one could follow the path of. So I think the context of , within the historical saga that Taylor has been creating, is sort of the centerpiece. But the storylines are extending from it in many different ways. You many have stumped me! I think what you are feeling about it all seeming to happen so fast and how we’re at the final episode is testament to how many different ways things could go. I also think it’s testament to how much there is to wait for in the finale. Crafting a final episode to a six-season arc is something really difficult to do, and I think what people have to look forward to, in some ways, is that as much ground is covered in the finale as it has been the moments leading up to it. It has that kind of weight and complexity that a story like this deserves to go out with. I was surprised and I didn’t see it coming. I may have said this in one of our earlier interviews, but I think the conclusion to any great story is both surprising and inevitable, but you don’t realize it was inevitable until you get there. It all makes sense looking backward. But looking forward, you never would have seen it coming. That’s the magic place in storytelling and I think Taylor has done that with the finale. When I read the script, it took my breath away. And I’m someone who has been living in this world since season one. I know the characters intimately, I know the creator well, I know the story better than any story in my life, and I was sort of kicking myself that I didn’t see it coming. But, I didn’t see it coming. Let’s talk about Luke for a second. Because I think you are right: I think this season for him was magnificent. I think what Taylor wrote for him was magnificent, but I also think that Kayce has been the quiet hero in his father’s shadows from the very beginning. And there’s something that’s happened this season, that we talked about earlier, where in the absence of the patriarch everyone has to step up. And in the absence of Kevin [Costner], the rest of the cast really had a large stage to fill, and they did such a phenomenal job stepping in to fill that space, and Luke especially. So much was weighed on his shoulders this season ,and to be able to step into that and carry the story and the legacy in the way that he has, it’s been beautiful to watch. The burden from a performance standpoint that he has shouldered — he has done it so deftly and effortlessly — it’s a profound, profound performance from him this season and I love that people are in love with where his character has gone this season, because I am too. You’re going to have to watch next week. *** Yellowstone
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