After breaking tradition in episode 5, The Madison, episode 6 returns to its established format of starting the proceedings with a flashback. A very drunk Paul seems to be missing his wife, Melissa, a lot, and Preston is trying his best to make sure that Paul’s anger at the universe for taking away his wife too soon doesn’t lead him to self-harm. Eventually, Paul tires himself out and goes to sleep so that he can wake up the next day to catch some fish. Preston looks at Paul walking away, and then he writes in his diary that he wishes he could have hugged Paul in that moment, because it seemed like they both needed it. But since they are manly men, and manly men never hug each other, especially when they are feeling vulnerable, they just listen to each other’s sob stories and stoically walk to their respective cabins to sleep away their pain, I guess. Well, how do the family members of Preston deal with his passing during the memorial service that’s being held in his memory in New York? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Paige Gets Into A Fight With Her Colleague
Liliana takes up the responsibility of decorating Stacy’s apartment while Stacy takes off to get some coffee from her favorite coffee shop. Unfortunately, the barista at that shop, who is familiar with Stacy and Preston, is unaware of the latter’s death and talks about him like he’s still alive, which causes Stacy to spiral a bit. So, she shows herself out of the shop before she has a meltdown in front of the barista. Paige’s day turns out to be a disaster because, firstly, she is summoned by her boss, Ellen, who essentially tells her to forget about mourning the deaths of her father and uncle and focus on work, and secondly, she overhears one of her colleagues, Harmony, say that Preston and Paul deserved to die because they were rich White millionaires who were adding to the planet’s carbon footprint.
While Paige can’t do anything about her boss’ insensitive behavior, she does give Harmony a black eye. There’s some kind of dissonance in the portrayal of Preston and his family. The show wants us to empathize with Preston’s death because he was such a down-to-earth guy, even though he bathed in opulence and luxury every single day. Taking a break from all that wealth and going off to Montana to live like an ordinary fisherman was a privilege. Which is why, despite seeing so much about Preston and his family’s personal lives, it’s hard to empathize with them. I kind of do agree with Harmony; looking at the state of our economy and the environment, the best that a millionaire can do is die. Sure, you can say that she could have chosen another time to deliver her hot takes, but rich people have all the money in the world to protect themselves from any unsavory jabs.
Paige Is Fired From Her Job
Abigail is seen to be having a relatively good time with her girlfriends, largely discussing her escapades with Van, but that’s disrupted by Paige, who calls her to tell her that she has been detained. What does Abigail do? She gets to the “crime scene” and then calls up Van to talk to the cop and “sort it out.” Van is in Montana; the arrest has already happened; and Abigail thinks Van communicating with an NYC cop is going to do what? Free her sister? Even if this is supposed to be a flimsy attempt by Abigail to get in touch with Van again after their breakup, it’s a horribly scripted scene. There’s a limit to making your characters act stupid in the name of romance, and Taylor Sheridan seems to have surpassed every such limit.
I mean, Van just says that Paige needs a lawyer. Did Abigail really need to call him to know that? Didn’t she already know? If Abigail had called Van when she had run out of options, then that call would have made more sense, but this? This is nonsensical. Anyway, Stacy arrives at the scene too, and she has a chat with the arresting officer as well as Harmony. Stacy guilt-trips Harmony into realizing that she is in the wrong and she was merely processing her own father’s loss by hurting Paige; Harmony doesn’t press any charges, and Paige gets to walk out of this situation unscathed. Well, she’s jobless, but looking at her family’s opulence, does she even need a job? While Paige probably pontificates on that, Stacy heads to Yorn’s office for her daily therapy session. They chat about Paige, the memorial service that’s happening later in the day, and how much she misses Preston. As the session comes to a close, Stacy invites Yorn to the memorial, and he accepts the invitation.
Stacy Goes Missing
Jeff, the family’s chauffeur, picks up Abigail, Bridgette, and Macy to take them to the memorial service. Russell and Paige join them too, and while they are on their way to fetch Dallas (Abigail’s ex-husband), the story about Paige’s latest stunt comes up, which surprises Russell, because Paige hasn’t told him about it. I was so distracted by that discussion that I couldn’t fully prepare myself for Dallas’ first on-screen appearance. I mean, what the hell is that creature? Which stage of a mid-life crisis is he going through? And what kind of father describes his daughter’s dress as “hot” (a certain world leader has, but I am not going to risk naming him)? Well, at least all of them reach Stacy’s apartment for the memorial without tearing each other apart. Speaking of the memorial service, it’s filled with “Wall Street people,” who aren’t exactly there to remember Preston but to assess his wealth. The comments passed by the guests seem to be a critique of that crowd, but if the Clyburns are associated with them, what does it say about them?
At the cost of sounding repetitive, Taylor Sheridan’s idea of “nice, rich people” is very warped, and he has been peddling this warped notion for around a decade now. Initially, it was more nuanced, and he managed to show that wealth guarantees the erosion of your soul. However, as time passes, all that nuance has been sanded down to, well, whatever this show is. Anyway, while everyone is busy gobbling up the food that’s on display, Abigail goes to check in on her mother, who is not exactly doing well. Stacy asks Abigail to call Yorn so he can help her face all those people, and he obliges that request, even though they are not in a session. It seems like Stacy’s chat with Yorn is going to motivate her to join the party, but instead, she chooses to leave altogether. She takes a taxi and just heads south. When her family notices that Stacy hasn’t returned even though the party is over, they begin to worry, and Abigail even files a missing persons report.
Stacy is back in Montana
In the ending of episode 6, Cade finds Stacy lying beside Preston’s grave with a gun in her hand. Cade assumes the worst, as he thinks that Stacy has killed herself after failing to cope with the death of her husband. Thankfully, that’s not the case; she had the gun just in case she was attacked by animals while roughing it in the great outdoors. Stacy asks Cade where she can get some stuff, and Cade recommends Murdoch. What does that mean? Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Stacy is permanently moving to the Clyburn ranch in Montana. She gave New York a try, but it didn’t work out. The noise of the city, the overall chaos on the streets, the cold opulence of her apartment, and the hollow support of her “friends”—it’s all meaningless to her.
After getting a taste of Montana, she enjoys the space that comes with that place. Even though the system is a bit inconvenient, she likes how the people are ready to help her without judging her. She likes the openness and silence that comes with the ranch. And, most importantly, since the ranch, the river, and Montana are so intertwined with Preston, being there probably makes Stacy miss him a little less than when she is in the city. In case you are wondering whether we are going to see more of Stacy, her family, friends, and probably enemies, well, get prepared for 2 more seasons of The Madison. Yes, Season 2 was greenlit a long time ago and has probably completed a major chunk of its filming, and the team is already gearing up for Season 3.
Seasons 2 and 3 Expectations and Theories
Given how Stacy has only covered a few pages of Preston’s diary, I think the next 2 seasons are going to focus on the rest of the pages. It’s like a serialized version of P.S. I Love You, where Stacy will be learning something new about Preston in every single episode. Ideally, it’ll bring her closer to Preston, but there’s a distinct possibility that there might be some unsavory information in there. We already know about Preston’s wedding band situation and how he used to leave it behind in New York before heading to Montana. He justified that by saying that he didn’t take it to Montana because he was afraid of misplacing it (losing a wedding band in New York is the same as losing it in Montana). I think that’s a pretty big hint that Preston isn’t the “ideal, goody-two-shoes man” that Stacy thinks he is. It’s possible that Preston used to live a secret life in Preston that wasn’t as idyllic as we’ve seen so far, and when Stacy finds out about it, it’s going to really test her.
I predict that there are more diaries that Preston has written that Stacy hasn’t found yet. So, currently, even though she thinks that being in Montana is allowing her to stay connected to Preston, maybe eventually she’s going to detest the place and wonder if she’s done the right thing by investing so much money into it (remember, she has apparently set up a trust fund to take care of the ranch). In addition to this, Paige, Abigail, Bridgette, Macy, and Russell’s personal arcs are definitely going to add to the drama in Stacy’s life. I can foresee Abigail, Bridgette, and Macy moving to Montana too. I don’t think Paige’s and Russell’s relationship is going to last. As for any possible crossover with the Yellowstone franchise, I don’t believe that’s happening, so don’t keep your hopes up. That said, if you have any theories about the next 2 seasons of the show that you’d like to share with us, the comments section is open for you.
