Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys’ Season 2 On Bravo, Where The McBee Sons Clean Up Their Dad’s Messes After He Leaves

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways

Last year, The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys premiered on Peacock and was well-received mainly because it showed that rugged white dudes could have as much interpersonal drama going on around them as anyone in the Real Housewives franchise. The show was so successful that Bravo picked up the second season to air on linear TV.

THE MCBEE DYNASTY: REAL AMERICAN COWBOYS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Tessa Lollar, who is called the “fuel woman and den mother” of McBee Farm & Cattle, recaps Season 1 in her deep, folksy drawl. The season with the Steve McBee, the Gallatin, Missouri ranch’s owner and father of Steven Jr., Jesse, Cole and Brayden, driving off after $100 million in VC funding falls through, leaving the mess in CEO Steven Jr.’s hands.

The Gist: The senior Steve didn’t just leave because of financial issues, though; he cheated on Galyna Saltkovska, the company’s CFO and the person who was trying to land the VC money, with a “newer model”, as Tessa puts it. The younger woman, Masha, also happened to be Galyna’s best friend. Masha comes back to Steve’s empty house on the ranch to get a few things and take care of the chickens.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R15ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R25ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe

Galyna still works for the McBees, though, and she and Steven Jr. are now trying to figure out how to service the massive debt that Steve Sr. put the ranch in. They have a $6 million payment due in November. Steven Jr.’s idea is to start scaling back on growing crops and concentrate on the ranching aspect of the company, which he thinks is a bigger moneymaker.

He runs into an issue when his brother Cole leases a new plot of farm land without consulting him first. Cole disagrees with Steven Jr.’s desire to wind down the farming operations, since that is what built the company, and given he owns the same percentage of the company as his brother does, he thinks he has equal say in how it’s being run.

Meanwhile, Steven Jr. is on-again with his off-and-on girlfriend, Calah Jackson. There’s a family barbecue being planned and she’s not eager to go because she hasn’t spoken to her former BFFs — Cole’s girlfriend Kacie Adkinson and Jessie’s fiancée Alli Ventresca — since her sister’s untimely death. For some reason, neither Kacie or Alli reached out to Calah after Calah’s sister died, which for obvious reasons hurt her tremendously. Kacie and Alli, for their part, felt that it was not a good idea to get in touch with Calah since she had broken up with Steven Jr. at the time. It also doesn’t help that their respective SOs are terrible at maintaining mature family relationships.

In the meantime, Calah meets up with Galyna and tells her that Masha has returned to the ranch. Galyna immediately drives off, cursing at Steve Sr.’s voicemail about “that f—king whore” coming to the ranch. Soon after, Galyna presents Steve Sr. a bill for damage on Masha’s Porsche, denying she had anything to do with it.

Photo: Paul Andrews/Bravo

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The McBee Dynasty is essentially Yellowstone combined with The Real Housewives franchise.Our Take: What we thought was a refreshing aspect of The McBee Dynasty in its first season was the fact that rugged white dudes were doing all of the bickering, arguing, gossipmongering, and other goings-on that are catnip to reality TV fans. The first season was about the ranch and farm, sure, but it was mostly about Steve Sr. not being able to keep it in his pants (let’s just say he has a “type,” as they boys’ mom Kristi looks similar to Galyna and Masha, except for the Russian accent the younger two woman have) while rolling the dice on the prospects a massive VC investment.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1cekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2cekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe

Sure, there was the ups and downs of the sons and their WAGs, mostly involving Steven Jr. and Calah, but those were mild compared to what Steve Sr. was up to. Now the rivalries and bickering are amped up, mainly due to the messes Steve Sr. left behind. Why he decided not to participate in Season 2 is anyone’s guess, but his presence looms large, both when it comes to his personal life and his business.

There are parts of the first episode that feel like set ups, like when Steven Jr. confronts Cole about leasing more farm land. We hear breaks squeal in the background, signifying that Steven Jr. is “pissed,” but it feels really fake. The family barbecue also feels like a setup, though we’re pretty sure the panic attack a pregnant Kacie had there was real, especially given the fact that Calah was standing right in front of her.

Photo: Paul Andrews/Bravo

Sex and Skin: We see Steven Jr.’s bare butt as Calah eyeballs him coming out of the shower.

Parting Shot: Cole leaves with Kacie — Alli also goes with them — as she reports that she’s having chest pains.Sleeper Star: Someone needs to do a reality show about Tessa. Her honey-dripping voice and folksy, warm manner makes her much more watchable than any of the McBee boys or their partners. Also, from the season highlights we saw at the end of the episode, Galyna’s particular brand of crazy is going to be featured a lot in Season 2.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1iekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2iekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe

Most Pilot-y Line: Not sure why Steven Jr. decided to fry up some bacon and potatoes while wearing only a towel after his shower, but that’s what we see as he talks to Calah about her feud with Kacie and Alli.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys has all the hallmarks of a classic Bravo reality series: Lots of arguments, lots of personal drama and lots of scenes that look about as real as a mechanical bull.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.