Men's Lifestyle March 21, 2026 0 Comments

Taylor Sheridan’s The Madison Part 2 Hits New York — But This Unexpected Crisis Threatens Its Entire Future!

Grief. It hits everyone differently, right? Some bottle it up, others throw caution to the wind, and then there’s Stacy Clyburn—portrayed by the ever-compelling Michelle Pfeiffer—whom we meet in Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount drama, The Madison. Losing her husband, Preston, Stacy embarks on an exhausting journey to unravel the enigma of the man she thought she knew inside out, only to discover there’s a whole lot left beneath the surface. But as her family unravels, with spoiled daughters and a fractured sense of normalcy, I can’t help but wonder: when the facade of a “perfect marriage” crumbles, what does it really take to move on? And more intriguingly, why does the cold chaos of New York trigger such Sheridan-esque disdain, forcing therapy sessions that teeter between poignancy and outright hostility? If healing’s on the horizon, it sure looks like Montana’s wide-open spaces and rugged charm hold the key—though, frankly, I’m skeptical leaning into clichés to define a city’s soul. Join me as we dig into the tangled mess of grief, place, and what it means to honor love lost.

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3 min read

Everyone grieves differently. Some people shut themselves away, others act out, and some—like Stacy Clyburn (Michelle Pfeiffer) in The Madison—are only able to see their relationship with that person with new eyes once they’re completely removed from them. So, when Stacy loses her husband Preston (Kurt Russell) in the first half of Taylor Sheridan‘s latest drama on Paramount, she dedicates the rest of her life to understanding the parts of her husband she never knew.

It’s a simple task, really. Even though everyone tells her that she had a “perfect marriage” and a happy family, it’s all torn apart the second Preston leaves the picture. The patriarch spent a significant amount of time away from Stacy and the family vacationing in the Madison River Valley in Montana, and Stacy’s two daughters are both spoiled and directionless. Their lives are all completely upended by the time season 1 closes its doors, and for good reason. But while Stacy ends the series collapsed in grief at Preston’s grave, it’s tough to pinpoint just what message this second installment of The Madison is even working toward anymore.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Stacy (Pfeiffer) starts seeing a therapist in ’The Madison’ episode 5. It doesn’t go well… sort of.

The problem began once Stacy returned to New York halfway through episode 5, which I’m sure was somewhat intentional. Living in the space they both used to live in, now alone, is no easy feat. So, Stacy seeks professional help. It arrives by way of Will Arnett’s Dr. Phil Yorn, who may be the first therapist character I’ve ever seen written by Taylor Sheridan.

You might imagine, after the introduction of cowboy healer Cade Harris (Kevin Zegers) in the last three episodes, that Sheridan would feel nothing but utter contempt for the big-city therapist. Real life is out there in those mountains, fishing in those waters. What the hell could this four-eyed, pen-pusher teach me that Cade couldn’t?

He starts off a bit with Shrinking logic—offering Stacy whiskey during their session and trying to level at her like a friend instead of a client. Grimly, he tells her that talking will help her heal—to live once more—but she will likely never feel whole again. “Are we gonna do trust falls next you fucking quack?” she responds. “This is grieving,” he says. Still, after a few sips, she’s fully bought in.

It’s as if the script, and where the series needs to go to progress, is at war with Sheridan’s contempt for New York. If the first three episodes were about learning to cherish the time you have with your loved ones, then these next three are about what the hell you do with your time now that they’re gone. How do you honor them in death, and how do you move on? Hell, is it even right to move on? Instead, we’re watching the Clyburns act out every cliché of New York hatred—from scenes of getting assaulted and robbed the second you step onto the streets to Stacy asking for “milk, straight from the utter” at a coffee shop that offers her dairy alternatives. It’s so blatant that it’s useless.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

How did we get here?

So, when Stacy returns to her second session with Dr. Yorn, she’s even more hostile than before. He literally bombards her with “How does it make you feel?” questions over and over, and she cracks. He’s getting her to talk–but it’s like pulling teeth. It’s impossible to tell if any real healing is happening here. Then, after her husband’s memorial in New York, Stacy wakes up passed out by her husband’s grave in Montana.

Cade finds her, and he helps her up right before the credits roll. If any real healing is going to happen, of course it must go down in Montana. From what Sheridan’s written so far for the character, he can certainly do it a heck of a lot better than Dr. Yorn in the second season next year. It’s just a shame that Sheridan felt so compelled to knock New York down just to prop Montana up.