The Yellowstone And Reacher-Inspired Crime Thriller Series

If you like Yellowstone and you like Reacher, then you are going to love Blue Ridge: The Series, a Western/crime thriller mashup. For all the action and criminality of Yellowstone and Taylor Sheridan’s other TV shows, it’s certainly more of a drama than an eyebrow-singeing, explosive action series.

It’s those Western roots of Yellowstone that don’t allow it to go to the same incendiary lengths of something like Prime Video’s Reacher, but it’s a good bet that a lot of the same people who watched Yellowstone also watched Reacher. For those people looking for a combination of the two, Blue Ridge has you covered.

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What Is Blue Ridge About?

Elli (Sarah Lancaster) looking confused in plaid shirt in Blue Ridge. — Sarah Lancaster Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge: The Series is a 2024 action series on the Cowboy Way Channel show, which is available on Amazon Freevee, and the six-episode series stars Johnathon Schaech as Justin Wise, a former Green Beret and now sheriff of a small mountain town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia.

There, he mends his relationship with his ex-wife, Elli (Sarah Lancaster), and his daughter, Maddie (Taegen Burns). It’s a crime-of-the-week show, with constant new cases for Justin, but season-burning tensions grow hotter each episode until the dramatic finale, which ends on a cliffhanger. Luckily, Blue Ridge season 2 is on its way (via TVInsider).

How Blue Ridge Ties Into The 2020 Movie

Johnathon Schaech as Justin Wise staring angrily at someone in Blue Ridge.

Blue Ridge: The Series is not an original idea; it’s actually a sequel to 2020’s Blue Ridge. In that film, with many of the same actors, including Schaech and Lancaster. The film depicts Justin moving to a small mountain town in order to be closer to his ex-wife and child.

When a murder happens in town, Justin realizes there are generations-old resentments in town, and a long-held family feud could threaten to upend everyone’s lives. The series picks up right after the film. Things may be a bit better in town, but Justin now knows not to let its sleepiness lull him into a false sense of security.

Yellowstone And Reacher Fans Should Check Out Blue Ridge

Greg Perrow (Deputy RP Ericsson) in cop uniform smirking in Blue Ridge. — Greg Perrow Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge combines the sprawling vistas and “man against the world” aspects of a show like Yellowstone, with the police work and action of a Reacher. Schaech is capable of playing both the brooding, contemplative scenes and believably feeling like a force to be reckoned with.

There’s a bit of bite to Blue Ridge that will feel familiar to fans of Yellowstone, and Schaech plays Justin with a sense of fun that is reminiscent of Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher character. Blue Ridge is only six episodes, and with another season on the way, it’s a great time to try out the series.