‘Yellowstone’ Fans Think This 1 Scene Was Taylor Sheridan Taking a Dig at ‘Sons of Anarchy’

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan didn’t start writing scripts and producing TV shows until just a few years ago. Before scoring an Oscar nomination for his Hell or High Water screenplay and creating Yellowstone in 2017, Sheridan worked as an actor in Hollywood for over two decades. The biggest credit on his resume was Deputy David Hale in Sons of Anarchy — the role he ultimately quit to start writing. Is it possible that a Yellowstone Season 3 scene was Sheridan taking a dig at Kurt Sutter’s biker drama?

‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan abruptly left ‘Sons of Anarchy’ in season 3

Sheridan’s acting career began in the early 1990s, but he rarely got more than small one-off roles in TV shows. He finally landed a recurring role in 2005 when he was cast as Danny Boyd on Veronica Mars. Then, in 2008 he landed his biggest part to date — Deputy David Hale on Sons of Anarchy.

But after appearing in 21 episodes over the first three seasons, Sheridan abruptly left the series and his character was killed off. The Texas native told Deadline that he quit the show because Hollywood was telling him that a career in front of the camera wasn’t going to happen. He says the Sons of Anarchy execs were offering him what he thought was “a very unfair wage.” 

However, money really wasn’t the reason Sheridan quit. An exec said that Sheridan would never be more than 11 on the call sheet, and there’s 50 other actors just like him. That’s what Sheridan was, and “all he’s ever going to be.”

“That’s really when I quit. It wasn’t so much over money. It was so much more that that’s how the business saw me,” Sheridan said. “I’ve always said Hollywood will tell you what you’re supposed to be doing, if you will listen.”

Did Taylor Sheridan take a dig at ‘Sons of Anarchy’?

Considering Sheridan’s history with Sons of Anarchy, some fans wondered if the creator was taking a dig at his former series during a scene in season 3 of Yellowstone. Of course, the scene in question is the famous ranch hands and bikers brawl in the season’s fourth episode “Going Back to Cali.”

In the scene, there’s a standoff between ranch hands from the Dutton Ranch and a biker gang from California after the bikers make a temporary home on the Dutton property. After being told to leave by Teeter (Jen Landon), Colby (Denim Richards), and Ryan (Ian Bohen), the bikers refuse and a fight breaks out. 

Ranch hands vs California bikers in a memorable ‘Yellowstone’ scene

Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) arrived just in time to chase the bikers off, but they returned later that night with cans of gasoline and a goal of destroying the ranch. John and his cowboys are ready for them when they arrive, though, and he forces them to dig their own graves before giving them a final chance to leave.

It’s a terrific scene that is one of the most memorable in Yellowstone history. And some fans believe it was Sheridan’s way of taking a dig at Sons of Anarchy.

“Does anyone else think Taylor Sheridan was taking a subtle dig at SOA with how easily the cowboys handled the bikers?” a fan asked on Reddit. “I guarantee it was his way of talking a little s*** to Kurt Sutter, so to speak. Like you think bikers are bada**? Ain’t s*** compared to some ranch hands.”

All seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy are now playing on Hulu. New episodes of Yellowstone air Sundays on the Paramount Network.