Between funerals and flashbacks, The Madison moved from Montana to New York City and back again, and introduced Michelle Pfeiffer as the matriarch of a wealthy family brought low by tragedy. Or, exactly the kind of centerpiece character Madison creator-writer Taylor Sheridan loves for his stories. And especially so, considering this series began life as Yellowstone spun out. Remember all of the drama surrounding star Kevin Costner and his contract? We were actually glad, once The Madison appeared and it wasn’t connected to the Duttons.
Presented in two three-episode blocks, and quickly renewed for a second season, The Madison began with a shocking plane crash, brought a New York City family to Big Sky Country via private jet, and set to shocking their systems with fly fishing, outdoor plumbing, and folksy neighbors offering help. But how did The Madison end? What happened to Kurt Russell on The Madison? And as Stacy Clyburn, did Michelle Pfeiffer stay in NYC? Or did she end up back in Montana as a resident of the Madison Valley? Decider has your answers.
***Do not fish here if you don’t wanna catch Madison spoilers!***
First: Did Taylor Sheridan Really Start The Madison By Killing Off Kurt Russell And Matthew Fox?
Yep, totally. Episode 1 of The Madison introduces Kurt Russell and Matthew Fox as Preston Clyburn and his younger brother Paul Clyburn, who find as much time as they can to fly fish for Yellowstone cutthroat trout amid the sparkling waters of the Madison River. Paul has made the riverside plot of cabins they purchased together his year-round home. But for as much as Preston loves the freedom, natural allure, and fishing of his time in Montana, his life is in New York City with Stacy (Pfeiffer), his wife of 39 years. Preston is Stacy’s center, the love of her life. But she never got down with roughing it out west.
When the call comes in from a forestry officer in Idaho, where Preston and Paul died after their Cessna crashed during a huge storm, Stacy is utterly devastated. But she gathers her daughters Abby (Beau Garrett) – divorced with two little girls – and Paige (Elle Chapman) – married to Russell (Patrick J. Grant) – for a private flight from their ritzy life in NYC to the wide open spaces of Montana. In her husband’s cabin, as she reads the journal she didn’t know he kept, Stacy realizes the place meant even more to him than she thought.
Sounds like Stacy’s fam were fish out of water in Montana.
For sure. Paige and Russell leave their common sense in SoHo, and are repeatedly stung by hornets. Abby tries to expand the food horizons of her daughters Bridgette (Amiah Miller) and Macy (Alaina Pollack), but they poo-poo elk sausage for breakfast and declare the local favorite of “Indian tacos” as racist. And with the journey west only causing outbreaks of bickering and even physical fighting, Stacy is dismayed to learn that Preston’s untimely death has only drawn out her family’s longstanding differences.
Wow. Was there an adjustment period?
Well, Stacy herself begins a pretty intensive “back to the land” movement. The Madison frequently features her in flashback conversations with Preston – which are a great showcase for Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell’s chemistry – and we learn a lot about their life together. But in Montana, with every page of Preston’s journal she reads, this New York City lady becomes more enamored of her husband’s way of Out West thinking. She screws down his greasy Simms fishing cap on her expensive salon blowout, locates all of the beautiful spots from where he sent her photos, and not only decides to bury Preston’s body on the Madison River land, but that she will stay there, too.
And Stacy isn’t the only one enjoying some local seasoning. The sparks are immediate when Abby meets Madison County sheriff’s deputy Van Davis (Ben Schnetzer), and they choose a “kiss first, details later” approach to their New York-meets-Montana meet-cute moment.
So was Preston’s Montana funeral full of private jets and rich guests from Back East?
No way. It’s just Stacy and her family, Deputy Van, Stacy’s neighbors at the riverside camp, Cade Harris (Kevin Zegers) and his wife Kestrel (Danielle Vasinova), and a whole lot of empty space, none of which can hold Stacy’s heartbreak or her giant sense of disillusionment over what Preston’s death has displaced. She barely makes it through the ceremony before declaring that the entire family will fly back to New York City.
OK, what is The Madison Ending Explained? Does it happen in Montana or New York City?
Here’s what’s up. Stacy accepted what Preston loved about the Madison Valley, and allowed the place into her heart, something she could never do when he was living. But she still felt like the family could find their closure in New York City. Stacy goes to see a slick therapist – Will Arnett as Dr. Phil Yorn – and both Paige and Abby re-enter their lives, to varying degrees of success. While they grieve, they can’t seem to process their father’s death without creating more trouble for themselves.
When Stacy’s friend Liliana (Rebecca Spence) plans a memorial service at the Clyburns’ lush white marble townhome, it’s exactly what Stacy did not want. She can’t bear the crush of disingenuous well-wishers when all she’s thinking about is the loss that ripped her apart. With some encouragement from her therapist – “Give it,” Yorn says; as in permission to herself – she leaves her phone and family, hops in a Yellow Taxi, and high-tails it alone back to the Madison Valley.
Cade Harris, her cowboy neighbor out there, isn’t sure what to think when he discovers her stretched across Preston’s grave. But while she’s still wearing her outfit from the memorial service in New York, it seems like Stacy’s return has made her ready to become a Montanan. Back east, Abby’s filing a missing-persons report on her mother. But out west, Stacy Clyburn is no longer a visitor. There, she feels closest to her center.
Like we said, The Madison has already been renewed for Season 2. And honestly, its six-episode first season felt more like a prelude. Now that we’ve officially met Taylor Sheridan’s latest TV family, we’re interested in what they will do next, now that their New York horizons have been Big Sky expanded.
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.