Taylor Sheridan has always had an interesting relationship with critics. He seems to delight in thumbing his nose at the people who insist they just don’t understand what he’s doing, and to a certain extent, I get it. I enjoy most of his shows. At the same time, enjoying something and believing it belongs in the conversation for the year’s best television are two different things. Awards are about narrowing the field to the very best, and that inevitably leaves a lot of good, even great, television on the outside looking in. Sheridan doesn’t always clear that bar for me, and while The Madison is another solid entry in his catalog, I don’t think it’s one of his very best. Michelle Pfeiffer, however, is absolutely worthy of the conversation.
Sheridan builds the series around Pfeiffer’s character after her husband, played by Kurt Russell, dies in the premiere. That’s not really a spoiler so much as the entire premise of the show. The story follows a woman who spent her life embracing the comforts and excitement of the city before suddenly finding herself forced to navigate the quieter life her husband always loved. Russell still gets plenty of screen time through flashbacks, and Matthew Fox also factors into the story more than I expected, but this is Michelle Pfeiffer’s show from beginning to end. She could have carried it even without all the supporting players.
We’re living through a pretty wonderful Michelle Pfeiffer renaissance, and I’m all for it. She elevated Margot’s Got Money Troubles, she made Oh, What Fun far more enjoyable than it had any business being, and now she’s wandered into Taylor Sheridan country and fits right in. Watching her slowly adapt to this world is easily the best part of The Madison.
Unfortunately, Sheridan saddles her with a pair of daughters who never quite work. One is married to the severely underused Patrick J. Adams, who somehow went from carrying Suits to mostly standing around waiting for scenes to happen. The other is dealing with a divorce and custody issues while raising two daughters who apparently have never seen a snake before. Sheridan is clearly trying to make a point about city people being disconnected from nature, but there are moments where he pushes that idea so hard it becomes unintentionally funny.
I found both the daughters to be insufferable. Abigail (Beau Garrett) starts out a bit more level headed as the seemingly more together sister, who is in a custody battle with her ex over their kids, and and seems to understand the gravity of the situation a bit more. However, her character goes rapidly downhill as she gets into literal fights with her sister, and is given a love interest she can’t possibly expect to follow her back to New York. The scene where she does seem to think their worlds overlap made me laugh. The other sister, Paige (Elle Chapman) is your typical airhead city dweller who enjoys city life, her husband, and getting punched in the face. She straight up gets punched in the face when we meet her, like someone jumped into the show after watching her over the whole season, and was trying to Marty McFly the situation early on. Paige is the obvious odd girl out in the wild, and was insuffferable to sit through. Both women need better writing in the second season, which happened a little for the ladies of Landman, so I remain optimistic.
That theme runs throughout the entire series. Sheridan has built an empire on stories about people reconnecting with the land, embracing simpler lives, and rejecting modern excess. His version of America always seems to exist somewhere between a ranch, a mountain cabin, and the middle of nowhere, even when the show technically takes place in a city. The Madison is no different. Fashion, expensive dinners, high heels, and busy urban lifestyles are contrasted against open skies and rural living. Whether you agree with his worldview or not, Sheridan knows exactly what kind of stories he wants to tell, and he keeps telling them, whether you like it or not.
What I find fascinating is that his audience is much broader than the stereotypes suggest. His work clearly has red state appeal and often feels like it’s advancing a conservative conservationist philosophy, but I think Sheridan underestimates how many liberal, city-dwelling viewers happily tune in every week for what is essentially his brand of homesteader fan fiction. Yellowstone didn’t become a cultural phenomenon because only Middle America watched it. Everybody watched it. Since then, Sheridan has spun that success into a television empire, and every series carries some variation of that same DNA.
The Madison succeeds because it follows the Sheridan formula while also recognizing that Michelle Pfeiffer is exactly the kind of actress who deserves a showcase like this. Too many actresses of her generation are quietly disappearing because Hollywood stopped writing substantial roles for them. Sheridan deserves credit for giving Pfeiffer one. Then again, this is also the guy who never seemed to know what to do with Diane Wiest on Mayor of Kingstown, so the track record isn’t exactly perfect.
I’ve often joked that Sheridan’s shows make me wonder whether there are any women in the writers’ room, but The Madison feels different. Pfeiffer’s character is written with far more nuance than I expected, and the emotional journey feels authentic in a way some of his previous female characters haven’t. If the writers can figure out what to do with her daughters moving forward, this series has the potential to become one of Sheridan’s best shows.
The supporting cast is a little uneven, and that’s where the gap between seasoned veterans and newer performers becomes obvious. Pfeiffer and Russell are operating on an entirely different level from some of the younger actors surrounding them. I noticed a similar issue during the first season of Landman before that cast settled into their roles. Here, it becomes even more noticeable because every scene with Michelle Pfeiffer reminds you just how good she is. I also loved Will Arnett’s late-season arrival as her therapist. He rarely gets opportunities to stretch dramatically, and his scenes with Pfeiffer hint at a much larger role that I hope carries into future seasons.
The audio description, provided by Media Access Group, is exactly what I’ve come to expect from a Taylor Sheridan series. They seem to have found the perfect narrator for his shows, someone with the kind of rugged, weathered voice that fits this world perfectly, and I appreciate that consistency across his productions. With a second season already renewed before the first even premiered and work already moving ahead on future episodes, The Madison hardly needs another glowing review to find an audience. Still, if you’ve been waiting for your next Taylor Sheridan fix, this is one worth watching. I may not always understand the overwhelming love for every Sheridan project, but The Madison earns its place among his better recent efforts. If nothing else, watch it for Michelle Pfeiffer. She’s simply divine.
Fresh: 7.8/10
