‘Rutherford Falls’ Team on the Story Behind That ‘Yellowstone’-Esque Episode

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 2 of Rutherford Falls.]

Rutherford Falls Season 2 was filled with its fair share of hilarious moments, but one of the most memorable has to be Reagan (Jana Schmieding) and Terry’s (Michael Greyeyes) visit to the set of Adirondack, a hit TV show in their universe.

Invited to serve as consultants, Reagan and Terry are tasked with offering their take on what’s appropriate and appropriation of culture in the drama which seems to resemble another popular TV title, Yellowstone. Needless to say, the trip doesn’t go entirely as planned as Reagan and Terry’s suggestions are barely considered.

“We spent a year doing press for Rutherford Falls Season 1, and people had so many questions about native representation. At a certain point, you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I can answer this question anymore,’” co-creator and showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas says of the inspiration behind sharing this story onscreen.

(Credit: Randy Shropshire/Peacock)

“We never really got to talk about how absurd that experience is and how crazy it feels when you’re in it. So we were like, ‘We should do an episode about it.’ This is our answer to a lot of those questions that were constantly being answered,” Ornelas says of the installment, which is co-written by Schmieding.

“That was one of my faves,” Greyeyes muses, adding, “I get a chance to play with Jana, who’s so brilliant this season.” On top of that, the episode “pokes fun at the shows that we’ve been in and shows that are incredibly popular right now.”

Neither Ornelas nor Greyeyes specified the exact inspiration behind Adirondack, but the show is clearly pulling from some of TV’s other hit series right now. When Reagan and Terry realize their suggestions aren’t being taken seriously, they work to destroy Adirondack by offering offensive suggestions.

“It was the easiest week for our production departments,” Ornelas acknowledges, “because, on our show, everything has to be so accurate. And they were like, ‘Oh, this was the easiest episode to do art direction for or production design or costumes.’ It was very easy to find the props that week.”

What did you think of the episode that pokes a little fun at other shows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, below, and don’t miss Rutherford Falls on Peacock.

Rutherford Falls, Season 2, Streaming now, Peacock