The first episode of The Madison introduces us to Preston, who occasionally travels from New York City to his cabin near the Madison River to go fishing with his brother, Paul. Preston is married to Stacy, and they have known each other since the latter was 19. Preston and Stacy have 2 daughters, Abigail and Paige. Abigail has 2 daughters of her own, Bridgett and Macy, and Paige is married to Russell. They run their family business together, and although they don’t see eye to eye with each other at all times, they function like a solid unit. They face their greatest hurdle when Preston and Paul die in a plane crash in the mountains, thereby forcing Stacy and the rest to travel all the way to Idaho and then to Preston’s cabin in Montana to perform his last rites. Abigail, Paige, and Russell assume that they are gonna stay in the woods for a couple of days, let Stacy mourn Preston’s death, and then return to the city. However, with each passing second, they start to realize that Stacy has other plans. What are they? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Stacy Doesn’t Know What to Do
After identifying Paul and Preston’s bodies, Stacy and her family check into a hotel. While freshening up in her room, Stacy gets on a call with her friend, Liliana, whose primary concern is if the family is going to do alright financially after Preston’s death. Stacy says that they are going to be fine because, well, they are rich enough to not work another day and still live luxuriously for the rest of their lives. Liliana wonders what Stacy wants to do about the funeral, and Stacy snaps, because she’s still processing the loss of the love of her life. After she calms down a little, Stacy opines that she should bury Preston and Paul somewhere on the ranch. Liliana says that if she does that, she’ll never be able to visit her husband’s grave; hence, it’s better to bring his corpse, as well as his brother’s, to NYC and bury him in a cemetery there, so that all of his loved ones can “meet” him whenever they miss him. Stacy again gets overwhelmed by the thought of taking all of these decisions without Preston and hangs up and tries to cry herself to sleep. But Abigail hears the sound of her sobbing through the walls and goes over to her room with her kids so that she doesn’t feel lonely. Paige and Russell join them too; well, Russell is tasked with getting some pizza and ice cream, and once he has done that, he’s allowed to join them for movie night.
Stacy Remembers Preston’s “Simplicity.”
Stacy gets to pick the film they’ll watch, and she chooses A River Runs Through It (a movie made by the late great Robert Redford, which seemingly serves as inspiration for this show) because it was Preston’s favorite movie, with his second favorite being Rudy. While everyone else goes to sleep, Stacy and Abigail watch it all the way to the end. Stacy says something along the lines of men being so simple that they can cry about fishing and football. Now, look, I am aware of Taylor Sheridan’s style of writing and the type of audience that he’s catering to. I know what he means by this line, and to be honest, I respect his dedication to pushing dumb stereotypes like this in 2026. I love the fact that despite witnessing all the complicated nonsense that men are capable of and seeing how men and their politics are destroying everything that this show seems to romanticize (the nature), he can still unironically write a line like this. Good for him (and his audience). Anyway, getting back to the plot, Stacy says that she was married to Preston for almost 4 decades, and they never had a fight; they had conflicts and falling-outs, but they never thought about going their separate ways. Death, fate, destiny, or just poor decision-making on Preston and Paul’s part has put an end to their marriage, but Stacy doesn’t really mind that, because Preston died doing what he loved instead of being tethered to a hospital bed due to some illness or old age.
Stacy and Her Family Reach Preston’s Cabin
The following day, Stacy and her family drive up to Preston and Paul’s ranch. While everyone surveys the main cabin, Stacy goes over to the one that Preston used so that she can go through his belongings and remember him. She recalls a conversation she had with Preston, several years ago, about making coffee at 5:30 AM, listening to the bugling of a bull elk, the lack of electricity, and an attached bathroom (there’s an outhouse). Preston wanted her to come live with him there, at least for a few days, but Stacy was too attached to the comforts of city life to heed his request. And now that he’s gone, Stacy regrets not making some memories with him at his ranch. However, that doesn’t stop her from wearing Preston’s clothes and making coffee exactly how he used to. Abigail notices and gets a little concerned, because she thinks that her mother has started to lose her bearings. But instead of straight-up questioning what she’s doing, Abigail just keeps her company, which causes Stacy to punish herself for not quite listening to Preston. Abigail understands that Stacy is in mourning, but when she senses that her mother is going a little overboard with her self-flagellation, she puts a stop to it because she couldn’t have anticipated that Preston was going to die one day in a plane crash. If Stacy had seen the future, and she still decided to not spend time with Preston in his cabin, then she could have freely blamed herself into oblivion. Since that’s not the case, Stacy has to stop beating herself up until she can’t stand straight. Stacy accepts Abigail’s advice and enjoys her coffee.
Stacy Decides To Stay At Preston’s Ranch
Later on, when Paige begins yapping about going back home and mourning there, because “the great outdoors” isn’t exactly conducive for her brand of grieving, Abigail reprimands her for not having some basic empathy and prioritizing her comfort over what their mother needs currently. At night, Paige gets into a disagreement with Stacy about grits versus polenta, and even though it seems like Paige can fight about it until the sun rises again, I guess she remembers Abigail’s words and gives her mother a break. Stacy kind of gets back at her by hiding the fact that the meat-based dish that Russell has cooked isn’t beef but elk until a few pieces have gone down their gullets. Paige overreacts once again, and that finally causes Stacy to lash out. She says that she is trying to integrate a piece of Preston into their lives, so that missing him actually amounts to something more than a phrase. In the ending of The Madison episode 1, Stacy tells Abigail that she is going to stay in Montana and explore all the places that Preston has mentioned in his diary, especially the valley that he named after her, so as to make up for the fact that she never explored this patch of land with the love of her life. The next day, she gets ready to go for a hike on her own, but she’s pleasantly surprised to see that her whole family has decided to join her on this journey. Whether or not they’ll stick with her all the way to the end is something that remains to be seen.
