Reviewer Rating: 3/5.0
3
This review was originally published on December 23, 2022, coinciding with the episode’s release on Paramount+.
More happens in 1923 Season 1, Episode 2.
The series is still all over the place, feeling aimless and unsure of its direction other than introducing a new generation of Dutton just to introduce them.
“1923” may have too many characters and diverse plots to succeed.
What we’ve learned so far is everything Yellowstone’s John Dutton thrives on, and it comes straight from Jacob. In 1883, the same lesson might have been widely preached, but with a different outcome thanks to a solid plan to bring the Dutton family to Montana.
After Jack found the sheep on the other side of the hill, time was up and Banner’s men just started shooting, leaving Jack pinned beneath his dead horse and his next target.
So Jacob taught Banner and his men a lesson. It was a painful lesson, and four of them ultimately did not survive.
Jack: Do you think any of them succeeded?
Jacob: Depends on the loyalty of their horses. Give a person enough time and he can come up with a solution to any problem. I think a few people will make it. I hope a few do.
Jack: Why?
Jacob: One day, you’re going to run this place, and in order for your son to someday run it, you have to understand what your ranch’s greatest enemy is. It’s not wolves, drought, snowstorms or Texas fever. It’s another man. People will choose to accept what you build rather than try to build it for themselves. Every civilization in this world is built on the civilizations they conquered. You go to Rome or Jerusalem or Paris, France, and there are cities stacked on top of towns, stacked on top of villages, stacked on top of one man’s house, and one man’s house on top of a man’s cave. You wish it weren’t so, but that’s the way it is. Your enemies must be so afraid that their fear is greater than their greed. I gave those people a chance because I wanted them to tell the world what happened when they met me.
🔗 Permanent link: One day, you will run this place, and in order for your son to one day run it, you have to…
But it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. We hear it said in the same way in Yellowstone when John uses another such scene as a teaching moment.
It’s so strange that just a hundred years ago, vigilante justice was served without any consequences. No, you won’t set foot on other people’s land, but when the world around you is dying, you want to have some wiggle room. Jacob had no leeway.
What I find particularly interesting is that this is a product of a bygone era that the authors of Yellowstone Universe not only understand but care enough about to bring it into the present.
In this universe, it is what it was and what it is now. Just like ranching is hard work, they get to choose which laws to follow. This is funny in Yellowstone because the show itself is attuned to the comedy that can arise in these dangerous situations.
Yellowstone in 1823 was much more serious, and adding Teonna Rainwater’s story took the fun out of what was happening in Montana.
Teona’s story deserves to be told, as unpleasant as it is, but would be better placed in a spin-off devoted to Native Americans so the two worlds don’t have to coexist.
On top of both plots is Spencer, the famous Dutton who hunts man-eating beasts and makes a mess out of all the girls’ panties.
As far as I can tell, these three stories don’t intersect in any way, and their tones are too different to weave a good story into the first two hours of Season 1 of 1923 (which would be the only One season, albeit longer than the first) we’re used to in this universe).
It doesn’t seem fair that John Dutton Sr. and his wife Emma are still just filler characters. But I guess some characters don’t deserve a dedicated story and have to live in someone else’s story.
Yellowstone works because every story is adjacent to the Dutton family in some way, and Yellowstone is home base. This is the touchstone around which all other stories revolve.
Here, the Yellowstone house was like a big, empty box, so lonely that Kara would rather hold a rifle outside than feel miserable inside.
Ranching in Montana at that time required different lives for men and women, the men were on the ranch and the women were tending the stoves, but without the stoves to take care of there wasn’t much for them to do.
Teonna’s story is so hard to tell. What is there to say other than the horrific treatment of young Native American women (and all Native Americans)?
Nothing that happened to her warranted any discussion other than “no.” This should never have happened and it is an embarrassment that this country was founded on such abuse.
Yet this is exactly what James details in his speech on how the world came to be. Here’s the thing, even though we know we should do better, even now the likelihood of that changing is slim.
Conquer, assimilate, prosper.
Maybe that’s why Spencer’s experience in Africa works better this time around. He stayed away from the Montana trial and became something of a myth for facing death so many times.
As Elsa is acutely aware, Spencer knows that you never feel quite as alive as you do when you face death. It gets the adrenaline going into overdrive and for a moment, you know why you exist.
Spencer doesn’t take life for granted and refuses to allow others to do so. When his friend was killed, he wanted those responsible to feel ashamed of their role in the incident.
Not only did Spencer often defeat death; He was going through something deeper because of the war. He tried to understand what it all meant.
As Alexandra discovered, this made him very interesting and very sexy.
Their meeting was fate, and their attraction was electric.
As they stared into the crowd and looked directly into each other’s eyes, the longing on their faces stood in stark contrast to the death and torture taking place in Montana.
Their adventures are what I want to see. Interestingly, neither they nor the African locations appear in the key 1923 artwork. It’s like they’re actually performing their own show.
But what about you? Which part of the 1923 story interests you more than others? Do three different storylines work?
Share your thoughts below!
Watch 1923 online
