Reviewer Rating: 3/5.0
3
This review was originally published in conjunction with the Paramount+ premiere of 1923.
As per usual, the power of the Dutton women was on full display in the first episode of Season 1 in 1923.
Cara Dutton promises to be a character to watch in the new series, and Helen Mirren is firmly in her element.
A new era for the Dutton family shows that even though it’s been 40 years since the Dutton family arrived and established their home in Montana, things aren’t getting any easier.
In a surprising twist, Isabel May returns as Elsa to narrate the latest adventure in the sweeping saga of a family who travels to and thrives in the West.
May’s voice acting may be my least favorite thing about 1883, but the actress breathes life into this vibrant young lady whose blood soon soaks the land, after winning our hearts , she is a welcome addition.
This time around, we quickly warm to Kara, who has the same fighting spirit. She has held the family together for years, ever since Carla and Jacob moved west to help Margaret (who they discovered had died before they arrived).
Carla and Jacob raised James and Margaret’s children as their own and created an empire with them. Then the empire collapsed. That’s where we find ourselves today, with the Dutton family trying to hold on to their land and keep their livestock alive during one of the toughest times in American history.
Five years have passed since the end of the world war, in which the soul of the world was destroyed. Veteran Spencer Dutton has been unable to shake off this fear. He spends his days doing what the Dutton family does best – bypassing danger and inviting death to his doorstep.
Kara wondered why he hadn’t come home yet, and who could blame her. Now they don’t live life like Riley. They engage in internal strife with the townsfolk and other ranchers as the land they walk on has also lost its zest for life, leaving them struggling to survive every day.
Drought robs the land of life, meaning fewer crops and little left for cattle and sheep to graze. The biggest battle facing Jacob and other town leaders is finding the means and means for ranchers and shepherds to coexist.
Over the past few episodes of Yellowstone , John and Rip have been moving cattle and collecting them for branding. Even today, keeping cattle alive and ensuring the land they inhabit is reserved for them is a fairly high skill.
The battle has raged for generations since the Dutton family first set foot in what is now Yellowstone, and it shows no signs of abating. But today, we have technological advances that make it easier to move water from one place to another.
That was the difference between life and death, and that wasn’t the advantage Jacob and his sons had in 1923.
The biggest fight was brewing between Jacob and Benner Dayton, who lost his sheep, which were killed when they were found grazing on another man’s lease.
Banner acts like he believes the land belongs to them all, but it’s a safe bet that if the shower were on the other foot, Banner would put his flock on another man’s herd.
When Jacob and Banner went toe-to-toe over the issue, Banner raised the issue.
With his flock—his livelihood—at stake, Banner once again clashed with Jacob. In Yellowstone, the Duttons find themselves in a similar situation every season.
Characters like Banner rarely get happy endings, and it will be interesting to see where he ends up. Things are bad all around, and there are no winners when the rain is scarce and death is always dancing on your doorstep.
What’s worse is that the little people who demand the intoxication of prohibition demand it when drinking to drown their sorrows might either lessen their troubles or exacerbate them.
Jacob and their friends made their way through the pickets effortlessly, washing the dust off with drinks, but it was just one more obstacle to getting through the day.
Perhaps the promise of excitement beyond everyday life drew Spencer to his rather unique job of hunting and killing man-eating animals in Africa.
Like his sister Elsa, he answers the call of the wild.
This remote location is new to the Dutton saga, and it shakes things up a bit. Just as 1883 didn’t shy away from the fact that the Dutton family dropped like flies on their way to Montana, 1923 didn’t shy away from the reality of the bloodthirsty beast Spencer hunted.
A woman on a hunting trip ignores Spencer’s warnings and gives up her life for a lion’s dinner. It’s brutal and bloody, proving that Spencer is now putting himself in the line of fire just as he was during the war.
The question is why and if he will come home.
Thomas Rainwater’s family is also explored with the introduction of Teonna Rainwater, a teenager at the local Catholic school for Native American girls.
She’s not taking any chances, but danger still surrounds her. She has a wild, free spirit that she must suppress in order to survive.
The scenes in the school are harrowing and should make every one of us pale at the thought of the treatment of Native Americans. To make them like us, we pull them from their homes and force them to obey.
It’s an ugly mark on history that we’re still not sure how to fix.
Heartbreakingly, they thought they wouldn’t live long enough to get married. Still, they dream of the day it can happen, even as they wonder that their families have seemingly given up on them.
Like so many times, it’s heartbreaking and brutal, especially how the sisters control every aspect of the young girl’s life, which is shown disgustingly in the shower.
It’s enough to make you pathetic, and it also makes us see how ignorant we have been in our past behavior when we have so many other options.
I know very little about that history and how Native American children were forced into our white world, but I’m confident that the creatives behind 1923 will do the story justice.
We only have to look for the bright spots among the Dutton family, including Jack and his fiancée Elizabeth.
Jack seemed like a happy young man, so it was no surprise that he captured Elizabeth Stratford’s heart. They are the epitome of young love, just as Jack himself is the epitome of a man who knows very little about it.
The cattle needed tending, which meant the wedding had to be postponed for at least a week. Jack fails miserably in delivering the news, but Elizabeth remains unwaveringly loyal, even if she feels the sting of waiting to have little effect on Jack.
Kara tried to intervene in time, but thankfully, she was a little late. This gave her time to read from Elizabeth the realities of being a ranch owner’s wife.
Jack and Elizabeth are crucial to our story because they were the grandparents of John Duttons of Yellowstone.
After their argument, Elizabeth nearly jumped out of a moving carriage and into Jack’s arms, standing with Beth Dutton to express her love for Rip.
As direct descendants of the family we all love, their love story will be one to watch.
Jack’s parents, John Sr. and Emma, don’t get to do much in the premiere, and I hope that’s not representative of their character’s overall development. In every iteration of The Duttons, there are always some who are more beloved than others, even by the writing team.
For much of the premiere, Kara and Jacob are concerned with different aspects of their busy lives, and their days likely follow a similar pattern where they have to make time to see each other.
There is so much to do and so little time. But, as the story goes, they created an empire once and we know it will again.
What’s incomprehensible is the opening scene, in which Kara shoots a man after chasing him in the dark. Is this roughly the same fate we await for Elsa and the Carriage?
I think we’ll find out.
Featuring two successful predecessors and an acclaimed cast, the 1923 premiere had a lot to live up to, and it didn’t grab my attention the way 1883 did.
“1923” is broader in scope than both “Yellowstone” and “1883,” introducing several different locations and incorporating multiple stories and disjointed characters. Although it’s not in the book, I remember hearing that the story they were telling was so huge that they were already considering adding a second season.
At this point, it’s hard to imagine we’d have a closed-ended story in ten episodes. The premiere is relatively introductory in nature, with no clear direction. In 1883 we knew they would reach Montana. Here, I’m not so sure.
Dutton’s saga is the story of the American West, but 1923 may have been the first time such a dramatic shift went unrewarded.
What did you think of the premiere? Did it meet your expectations? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Watch 1923 online
