24/25
The Duttons faced new challenges in the early 20th century, including the growth of western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. Although America’s Great Depression began in 1929, it began earlier in Montana. The Great Depression began in Montana in 1918, almost 10 years before the rest of the country. While the rest of America prospered, Montana struggled. Due to the drought and reduced demand for agricultural products due to the end of the “Great War” (also known as the First World War, from 1914 to 1918), many farmers suffered greatly. As a result, Montana farmers were unable to pay their war loans, which led to widespread bank failures across the state. Between 1921 and 1925, half of the farmers in Montana lost their land. By 1925, 70,000 of the 82,000 settlers in Montana had left. In addition, 200 banks in Montana went bankrupt. The drought not only affected the harvest, it was followed by an invasion of locusts and the death of livestock from infection. Dame Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. Sounds like a winning recipe. And so it is. The Duttons are once again struggling to preserve their image of Montana farming life. Patriarch (Harrison Ford) Jacob Dutton is fighting roughly the same battles as John Dutton (Costner) in Yellowstone. Very entertaining. There are two very interesting arcs in this story. One of them is Spencer Dutton. A disillusioned veteran of the First World War. Now a hunter in Africa. Spencer meets an English girl he likes. Suddenly, these two find out that they need to go from Mogadishu to Somalia to Montana. It should be easy… The second arc is told in a school where Turkish girls are abused by Catholic priests and nuns. This part was extremely unpleasant to watch. There was a little bit of revenge that made it more or less watchable… I usually rate TV shows after 1 season. Not this time. I didn’t like the last episode. Explain why it would be a spoiler. But I’m going to watch the second season. I have to…