From Heartache to Hustle: How The Madison Season 1, Part 2 Sets the Stage for a Game-Changing Move to Montana
So here’s the thing—grieving a loved one isn’t exactly a straight path, right? And if you think handling loss is tough in your own backyard, try unpacking decades of family history, secrets, and emotions in a whole new place that your late husband held dear. That’s exactly what the Clyburns are wrestling with in the latter half of The Madison Season 1, as Stacy, Abby, Paige, and the whole crew navigate life after Preston’s sudden death. This isn’t your average family drama—they’re juggling raw heartbreak, complex relationships, and even a touch of Montana wilderness that feels as much a character as any of them. I mean, when your grief involves private jets one minute and river fishing the next, you know it’s gonna be a wild ride. Curious about what unfolds in episodes 4 through 6? Let’s dive into the ups, downs, and unexpected moments that make this series as gripping as your favorite binge-watch, with a few surprises that’ll stick with you long after the screen fades to black.
9 min readThe first half ofThe Madison season 1 introduced us to the Clyburns, a wealthy Manhattan family faced with the ultimate heartbreak. After learning that patriarch Preston (Kurt Russell) has died suddenly in a plane crash, his wife Stacy (Michelle Pfeiffer) travels to Montana to deal with the aftermath. Accompanied by her daughters—Abby (Beau Garrett) and Paige (Elle Chapman)—along with Abby’s daughters, Bridgett (Amiah Miller) and Macy (Alaina Pollack), and Paige’s husband Russell (Patrick J. Adams), Stacy immerses herself in her husband’s favorite place on earth, which she resisted visiting while he was still alive.
In the final installment of Taylor Sheridan’s The Madison season 1, the Clyburns come to terms with their life without Preston, and make some important decisions about the future. Here’s what you need to know about episodes 4 to 6 of The Madison’s first season.
Flashbacks reveals Preston’s concern for his brother Paul.
Episode 4 begins with a flashback that shows Paul waking Preston for an early morning fishing session. After the sun rises, Preston expresses his concern for his brother, whose wife Melissa died years earlier, leading Paul to live a solitary existence in Montana.
Preston asks Paul why he never intends to have another romantic relationship in his life. He responds, “Because when I said ’til death do us part, I meant my death. You of all people should understand that.” Preston notes in a journal entry, “I understood exactly, because I feel the same.”
Liliana arrives to support her best friend.
When Liliana (Rebecca Spence) arrives in Montana, Stacy is returning from collecting water from the river. While making coffee, Stacy reads a passage aloud from Preston’s journal and expresses her regret at having never visited his cabin before. “There’s a man in here I barely knew, Lili,” she says. “And he begged me to know him.”
Lili attempts to help Stacy deal with the practical aspects of Preston’s death, including deciding where to bury him. Upon learning that Preston asked to be buried on his Montana ranch, Stacy appears to find a sense of calm. “His soul is here,” she notes. However, Stacy still faces the conundrum of what will happen to the land after she’s gone. “If I sell it, the new owners can exhume the bodies, move them, cremate them, whatever they choose,” she explains.
Later in the episode, Stacy wades into the river sobbing and is comforted by her extremely dedicated friend. “These pants are Chanel, so you know,” Lili jokes while joining Stacy in the water. “Never doubt my love for you.”
Bridgett and Macy grow to love Montana.
Abby’s daughters, Bridgett and Macy, start to explore their late grandfather’s ranch and become acquainted with the neighbors. Firstly, Bridgett goes horseback riding with Cade (Kevin Zegers) and Kestrel (Danielle Vasinova) Harris’s daughter Kayla (Najiah Knight), spending the day on their ranch next door. Elsewhere, Macy explores the outdoors with her uncle Russell, with the pair identifying scat samples and realizing that a wolf and an elk reside nearby. Despite the gross subject matter, Macy seems to love learning about the world around her.
In episode 4, Macy accompanies her grandmother fishing for the very first time. Against all odds, the inexperienced pair manage to catch seven fish, which they later serve for dinner, and they’re understandably overjoyed. In the following episode, Macy points out scat samples to her grandmother as they walk around the ranch. They also have a heart to heart about heaven, and what happens after a person dies, showing a growing comfort level with the rustic ranch and its surrounding landscape.
Stacy learns of Preston’s final words.
Sheriff’s deputy Van (Ben Schnetzer) meets with Stacy, Abby, Paige, and Liliana at the station, as the flight data recorder from Paul’s plane has been recovered. Despite Van’s warning about the content, all four women decide to listen to Preston and Paul’s final moments; right before the plane crashes, Preston can be heard shouting his wife’s name.
Back at the ranch, Stacy wades into the river and screams at the sky, “Goddammit Preston. This wasn’t an accident. This was a choice.” She’s shocked when Van appears behind her, having followed them back from the station. “I said the same thing when my wife died,” he tells her. “…And I cursed her for being reckless with her life, which was my life.”
He continues, “Been four years. And in that time, I ain’t learned a single thing that’s going to help you get through this.” He also shares that he has “no idea” what his wife’s “final thoughts” were, which is why he thought Stacy would ultimately want to hear Preston’s last words.
Abby and Van’s first date reveals some difficult truths.
After being caught kissing by several family members for a second time, Abby and Van decide to go on their first date. However, Abby ends up inviting Russell and Paige to crash the excursion, as her sister isn’t dealing well with their father’s death. Van takes the group out on the river in a small boat for a picnic.
Van and Abby spend some time together on the river bank, where they discuss how they’re from totally different worlds and might not have a future together. Van also gets candid about his feelings for both Abby and his late wife. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as pretty as you,” he tells Abby. “[My wife] was skinny, big gap between her front teeth. And if she stood across the river from us right now, I would run to her…She was the love of my life since 8th grade. What are the odds I’ll get two?”
Despite the many obstacles in their romance, Abby and Van sleep together on the river bank, while Russell and Paige have their own romantic moment downstream.
Preston’s funeral is an emotional—but brief—event.
Lili surprises Stacy with coffee creamer and a new dress. “I wasn’t expecting to find Donna Karan in the mountains,” she jokes. While Stacy claims “Preston would prefer [her] in jeans,” Lili persuades her friend that “he deserves a little black dress and that’s exactly what I got you.”
Lili also reveals that she’s scheduled a private jet to take everyone back to New York after the funeral. “They need closure honey,” she tells her friend. “They won’t get it here. They have lives and they need to go live them.”
The funeral takes place on the hillside above Preston’s ranch, and a group of local residents transport the coffins to the site. Neighbors Cade and Kestrel, along with their children and sheriff’s deputy Van all attend, but no-one booked a preacher to hold a ceremony. A stranger says a prayer for Paul and Preston, but Stacy refuses to speak in any official capacity. “I have plenty to say, but I won’t be saying it today,” she explains.
Back at the cabin, a group of local residents have set up a wake to celebrate Preston and Paul. They share stories about the pair, including the fact that Preston had his cabin designated as a mobile home in order to avoid paying taxes.
Van and Abby break up.
In a case of seriously awful timing, Van and Abby have a semi-serious conversation about their future after the funeral. Abby suggests that they could visit one another after she’s left, but Van is dead against ever traveling to Manhattan. “I’m just not going there,” he tells her. And when she insists she’ll visit him, he basically says they have no future.
“I’m a sheriff’s deputy who makes $52,000 a year,” he explains. “I have $12,000 in the bank, and I’m about to spend six of it on a pretty average rope horse. Three nights a week, I’m going to load him in a trailer and drag him all over Montana trying to win back what I spent on him. And in October, I’m going to take my boys in the mountains for a month and fill our freezer with elk. I ain’t never laying on no beach, I’m never going to Europe or San Francisco… Ever. What part of that sounds good to you?”
Abby’s life in New York is just as busy, but couldn’t be more different from the life Van has in Montana. In spite of their challenges, Abby doesn’t want to quit before they’ve tried. “You are tall and kind and fucking beautiful,” she tells him. “So can we just agree to fuck this up together and have as much sex as possible until we can’t?” Unfortunately, Van says he can’t live his life wondering when she might leave. “I think I’d rather just miss you,” he tells her.
The Clyburns return to Manhattan.
Stacy returns home to an empty Manhattan townhouse, which only reminds her of Preston. She agrees to see a therapist at Lili’s behest. Despite initially hating Dr. Phil Yorn (Will Arnett) and his strange sweaters, they develop an unexpected rapport.
After Stacy shouts at Dr. Yorn, he offers her whiskey and tells her she needs “a lot of talking and yelling and crying” following her loss. “And in time, those memories will become fond again,” he says. He also encourages her to criticize him as much as she needs to. “You’re a terrible therapist, you know that?” Stacy says, laughing. “With that smug fucking sweater.”
Across town, Paige can’t stop crying, so Russell enlists the help of Stacy and Abby to support her. Abby arrives with what Russell calls a “disgusting” snack: ice cream, cheap chocolate chips, and milk, all mixed in a glass. While Paige eats her emotional support ice cream, Russell and Stacy go to a local bar, where they drink cocktails and discuss the future.
Russell says he wants to build a life with Paige, move to the suburbs, and have kids: “Honestly, I always thought of you and Preston as the dream,” he tells his mother-in-law. “So did I, Russell,” Stacy says. “But that dream is over.”
Life just isn’t the same in New York.
Throughout episode 6—which is the final episode of The Madison season 1—the Clyburns wrestle with life in New York City without Preston. Returning to the office, Paige discovers her boss is clueless about what loss really feels like, and her colleagues are downright callous. “He deserved to crash,” one employee says in the break room, referencing the environmental footprint of flying in a private plane. Paige overhears, and after her colleague says, “Sorry, truth hurts,” she responds, “You know what hurts?” and punches her in the face.
While having cocktails with her friends, Abby receives a phone call telling her that Paige has been arrested. Abby phones Van to ask for his advice. After speaking to a police officer on site, Van tells Abby her sister needs a lawyer “right now.” Luckily, Stacy arrives and manages to diffuse the situation. After learning that the victim lashed out because she also lost a father, Stacy manages to persuade her not to press charges. But it’s clear that Paige is no longer the same girl who got mugged at the start of episode 1.
Preston’s memorial confirms Stacy’s future plans.
With their townhouse filled up with a large group of people who seemingly knew Preston, Stacy decides to hide out in her closet. There, she asks her therapist for advice on whether she needs to mingle at the memorial. “You are a compassionate and intelligent person who has known the answer to every question you’ve asked me,” Dr. Yorn tells her. He continues, “The permission is not mine to give. It’s yours.”
Stacy informs Abby that she doesn’t want to be there, to which her daughter replies, “We can handle the party, mom.” After Stacy hurls some joking insults at Dr. Yorn, Abby tells him, “You two have a very twisted dynamic.” He agrees: “It gives her confidence to insult me. It’s a pattern I really regret allowing her to form.”
Outside, Stacy gets into a taxi, forgoing her own car service. After the guests have left, Abby discovers her mom’s cellphone in her closet. Russell offers to search the neighborhood in case she’s in a nearby bar or restaurant. After hours have gone by, Abby calls the police and reports her mother missing.
In Montana, cowboy Cade finds Stacy lying down on Preston’s grave holding a gun, making him concerned she’s intending to end her life. Luckily, Stacy only has the gun in case any wild animals appeared while she was waiting for the sunrise. “I missed this,” she says, referencing Montana’s incredible landscape. “I missed the space of it. The quiet.”
Before walking back to the cabin, Stacy asks Cade for his recommendation of where to get new clothing. By suggesting she’s going shopping for a new wardrobe more appropriate for living on a ranch, it seems that Stacy is ready to start a new life on Preston’s ranch. As season 2 has already been filmed, it’s safe to say that the Clyburns aren’t done with Montana just yet.
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