Ever wondered what the best episode from each Taylor Sheridan show is? We’ve got you covered.
Sheridan is one of the most prolific creators in all of entertainment. Though he’s often times said that he doesn’t do any of it to please critics (he’s even gone as far to say that he does certain things to get under their skin), some of the series – and specific episodes from them – that fit underneath the Taylor Sheridan umbrella have been widely praised.
And let’s be honest… when’s the last time you went to a movie or dove into a TV show without looking at the IMDB rating or Rotten Tomatoes score first?
In this story, we’re going to look at the IMDb ratings of Sheridan shows, and specifically apply them to any show that the Yellowstone creator has had a hand in as an executive producer, creator, writer or director (no acting roles). IMDb ratings are calculated using a confidential formula that can be best described as a Weighted Average System, and we’ll be looking at each individual show’s highest rated episode according to that rating.
Shall we?
Yellowstone
Taylor Sheridan’s flagship series ended its ratings-dominant run at the end of 2024. Some say it ended with a bang, while others will tell you that it limped to the finish line. Kevin Costner starred as John Dutton in all but the back half of the finale season, and the rest of the cast – including Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes and Wes Bentley, among others – helped create a show that will stand the test of time.
The series highest rated episode? That would be Season 4’s premiere: “Half the Money.” It explored the immediate aftermath of assassination attempts on the Dutton Family, and scored a 9.2/10 rating on IMDb. The Season 3 finale also scored right around a 9.2/10… so those back-to-back episodes can easily be considered the best of Yellowstone‘s run.
1883
This show, which only ran for one season and starred Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliot and Billy Bob Thornton, acted as an origin story for the Dutton family. It revealed how they settled in the Paradise Valley of Montana after making their way north from Texas, and it was very much critically acclaimed.
1883‘s highest rated episode ended up being the second to last episode of Season 1: “Racing Clouds.” It was an emotional episode that helped the Dutton Family draw closer to Paradise Valley, and scored a 9.1/10 on IMDb.
1923
This other Yellowstone prequel – which starred Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford along with impressive supporting actors and actresses like Brandon Sklenar, Jerome Flynn, Darren Mann, and Michelle Randolph, among others – let fans see how the Duttons handled Western expansion, the Prohibition Era, and the Great Depression.
1923‘s highest rated episode was Season 2’s “A Dream and a Memory,” which acted as the series finale and is now recognized as the best episode of the entire series. The conclusion of the spinoff received a 9.2/10 on IMDb.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves
This period piece was set in the 1880s and starred David Oyelowo, who played Bass Reeves: the “first African-American marshal west of the Mississippi, policing the entire Oklahoma territories.” The series was a smash hit when it premiered in November of 2023, and many fans wanted to see more from the Lawmen universe.
That unfortunately never came to be (at least not yet), but fans still have the phenomenal first season that started out with a bang with Episode 1. “Part I,” which explored the beginning of Bass Reeves’ story, is actually the highest rated episode of the series, scoring a 7.8/10 on IMDb.
Tulsa King
Sylvester Stallone stars in this mafia show that premiered in 2022 and will soon air its fourth season. Stallone plays a mafia man named Dwight “The General” Manfredi, who gets out of prison in New York and gets sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma to set up shop and resume his mafia ways.
The highest rated episode of the series, according to IMDb, comes right in the middle of Season 1. Episode 5, titled “Token Joe,” featured Stallone’s character traveling to New York for his brother’s funeral, and scored a very respectable 8.3/10 on IMDb.
Mayor of Kingstown
The show – which stars Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky – follows the McLusky family in Kingstown, Michigan; a city where prison is the only real industry. Acting as the mediators between the street gangs, prisoners, guards, cops and politicians, the McLusky family battles to keep the peace in Kingstown, and has done so for decades.
The Jeremey Renner-led series will soon conclude, and if the final season wants to claim that it has the best episode of the series, it will have to beat out the penultimate episode of Season 2. Episode 9, “Teeth and Tissue,” follows McLusky recovering from tragedy as tensions in the prison reach a breaking point. It sits at 9.2/10 on IMDb.
Lioness
Lioness centers around a CIA operative named Joe (Zoe Saldana) who tries to balance work and personal life while on the frontlines of her agency’s war on terror. It’s an underrated action series of Sheridan’s, and also stars Nicole Kidman, Laysla De Oliveira, Morgan Freeman and Dave Annable.
Its best episode (at least according to IMDb)? That’s be the final episode of Season 1: “Gone Is the Illusion of Order.” Saldana’s Joe has her undercover operation finally conclude, and chaos ensues. It came in at an 8.7/10. And I do have to point that it’s still very early in terms of IMDb’s rating process… but Season 3’s first episode currently sits at a 9.0/10 rating.
Landman
Landman was the hit Taylor Sheridan show that seemingly came out of nowhere at the end of 2024. Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris, plays an oil fixer in Texas, and the business and family stories that the series explored in its first two seasons have been wild and unpredictable.
With another season on the way, the bar that Sheridan will be trying to surpass is set by Landman’s Season 2 Finale: “Tragedy and Flies.” It was in this episode that Billy Bob Thornton’s character regroups with his son, Cooper, and laid out what’s to come for Season 3. IMDb gave it a 9.4/10.
The Madison
This series, which was originally set to be a Yellowstone spinoff before a late-developing change, stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, and explored grief, loss, family, and nature’s healing power. It’s set in Three Forks, Montana, and is widely considered to be Taylor Sheridan’s most poignant pieces of work.
And it’s impossible to narrow down The Madison’s highest rated episode to one, because IMDb has three episodes that are tied at 8.4/10 ratings. Episode 3 (“Watch Her Fall”), Episode 4 (“Tomorrow Is Goodbye”), and Episode 6 (“I Give Me Permission”) all stand together as the highest rated of the series.
Marshals
I almost didn’t include this Luke Grimes-led Yellowstone spinoff on this list, simply because it’s difficult to consider it a Taylor Sheridan show. He’s technically an executive producer on the show, but it’s widely known that he has been producing from afar (and not much at all) with this one.
Marshals is a CBS procedural drama that continues Kayce Dutton’s story after it had been wrapped up with a bow at the end of Yellowstone. Season 2 is on its way, even after Season 1 had mixed reviews. That explains why its highest rated episode only reaches a 7.8/10. IMDb says that Seasons 1’s finale – “Wolves at the Door” – is its best.
Dutton Ranch
This Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler-focused spinoff series is considered to be the closest thing to a Yellowstone Season 6 that fans will ever get. It certainly felt that way when it premiered on Paramount+ earlier this year, and quickly got the attention of Taylor Sheridan faithful.
Its highest rated episode? That would be Season 1, Episode 9: “El Padrino.” The season’s finale where Beth and Rip band together to make sure Carter can become the best man he can be was given an 8.7/10 by IMDb, and it set the table for a second season that has since been confirmed to be on its way.
