In fact? In fact?
Several cliffhangers torn in two in the middle of the 16-episode first season weren’t on my 1923 bingo card.
Yet 1923 Season 1 Episode 8 ran for 68 minutes without a dent in the story.
I certainly couldn’t be alone in hoping that 1923 Season 1 would end with Spencer being reunited with his family at Yellowstone.
The way this story is going, he will arrive at the end of 1923 season 2 episode 16, followed by an epilogue about his fate (it doesn’t really matter because a century later Yellowstone is in the hands of the Dutton family) Or teasing a prologue before the next iteration of the family saga.
Either way, this abrupt ending leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
I’m glad Teona has a spark of happiness in Pete. But I’m not thrilled that she’s still on the path to where she’ll eventually land.
If it really is a Cherokee reservation and Marshall and the loathsome Father Renaud are waiting for them there, then what’s the point? Just as Dutton’s place in the future is cemented by Yellowstone, so is Rainwater’s legacy.
And suppose Teona is not Thomas Rainwater’s ancestor. In that case, the story is less interesting and more pointless except to say about how poorly the Native Americans were treated.
I’ve said it before. It’s a story worth telling, but it deserves its own spinoff, especially if the two stories never meet during 1923. As Teona is headed to Wyoming and away from Montana, it’s a safe bet this is a generation of Duttons and Rainwaters with no interactions other than a similar mindset.
They’ve been trying to kill me since they took me. I don’t believe in later. I still believe
Teona
Another story that didn’t need to be told in this special episode? Zen’s. He’s barely been on the radar for the entire season, and all of a sudden he’s enjoying his happy family and laying down.
When he asked for the night off, I thought he would be murdered. It’s a trope I could use less of in television – getting to know someone only to push them away.
In this case, it was not a complete fugitive, but it was enough to make Zane less able to fight for Dutton’s cause. Simply because he fell in love with an Asian woman and married her.
It’s gross that misclassification was a word, let alone outlawing it. But it’s unfair that we didn’t get to naturally get to know Zane’s family over the course of the season so a scene like this would have had more impact.
Just like losing John Sr. and Emma, our shoulders rolled, their fates carry no weight if we don’t know the characters.
Sure, what’s up with Zane and Alice and their seemingly adorable kids, but that’s more useless to us since her attention would be needed elsewhere besides Yellowstone.
Instead of getting to know Zane and his family, we got to know Whitfield. Oh, it’s been fun. Why is it more interesting to know how evil someone is for an extended period of time than it is to know how much damage Zane suffered?
I find it far more interesting that Zane unexpectedly married someone and kept it under the radar and has such a loving family but still spends his time with the Dutts. Just because he isn’t one of the two largest landowners in Montana doesn’t make his story any less plausible.
Conversely, I would have preferred that Whitfield not be drawn with cartoon villainy. I mean come on. Casting Timothy Dalton is about as close as you can get to living and breathing snidely Whiplash on the scene.
Sure, he’s using the belt now, but how long before he ties Lindy and Christy to the train tracks?
There is nothing attractive about a corrupt person who corrupts others just to get off their rocks. He has no redeeming qualities. It would have been shocking if she had been portrayed differently throughout the season, only to reveal her true nature when everyone least expected it.
Instead, it was a real head-scratcher that Kara, who has a keen sense of character, asked if he had no sense of decency and wondered what they did to justify his behavior. Does she not listen to her husband when he talks?
It was only a few episodes before they explained how people were grabbing the land around them, that they were and always would be a target, and that the gentrification of the West would do them no favors.
It’s more likely that her awareness of her fellow man was swept under the rug in order to make the scene work.
Whitfield: As I’m sure you know, if I’m not repaid by the end of the year, the deed comes back to me.
Kara: We haven’t done you any harm. Why would you do this to us?
Whitfield: Because I can. I am a businessman. The word civilized does not apply to me.
Her question allowed Whitfield to speak on behalf of big business even in the 21st century. Business is not good. It’s all about the money, and the two often don’t match.
The laws in the Yellowstone universe are bent in many directions, but it shouldn’t take too long to figure out that a banker gave away personal information and allowed a complete stranger to pay taxes he had no right to pay. Was.
Did that even matter? Doesn’t seem like it, so if anyone has research from that era that suggests people could swoop in and pay taxes that weren’t late in an attempt to steal their land, I’d like to see it. .
As if all that doom and gloom weren’t enough, Elizabeth miscarried, which gives Dutton fans everywhere something to chew on when it comes to the Yellowstone family tree.
But before we jump to that, Jack’s personality shines through during “Nothing Left to Lose.” He was overjoyed during dinner discussion in 1923 Season 1 Episode 7, and his comforting words for Elizabeth after her miscarriage showed that this was not a one-time thing.
Jack: Maybe that’s your objective as well. Be a mother to those who don’t have one. A teacher for those who need lessons. We choose our purpose. The word you’re looking for is destiny, and if you want to give God a good laugh, you tell him what you think your destiny is.
Elizabeth: And if I can never have children?
Jack: Then you can’t have kids.
Elizabeth: And you’ll never be a father.
Jack: I guess it’s not my destiny. you are my destiny
Elizabeth: You just said that you can’t choose your destiny. You chose me
Jack: One look at you, and I had no choice. destiny. Look at all the things God had to give you to choose me. Bad judgment in men, poor vision, terrible taste. We take what life gives us. That’s all we can do.
Jack was partially raised by a woman who had more maternal instincts than his own mother. Cara raised Margaret and James’ sons and cared for the wounded after the war. She didn’t need to give birth to find her purpose, and Jack assures Elizabeth that if it were to happen, she wouldn’t either.
Of course, the question now will be whether or not Elizabeth and Jack will have children, especially since Alex was suffering from morning sickness, not motion sickness, aboard the ship.
It was awkward to take with Alex and Spencer without seeing how Arthur reacted to their presence, but they were captured when they were on the ship. The royal snit had her tight whites when Spencer was deemed slight for stealing his lady.
It’s bad enough that men back then (and now, in fact) treated women as their property, but add royalty to the equation, and it’s even worse. Did Arthur live under a rock? How can he be the only person in the world who isn’t aware of Spencer’s skill for killing?
Well, what have you done to my family. And what an embarrassment you have brought upon yourself.
Arthur’s father
If Arthur’s father thought Alex was an embarrassment to his family, how on earth would he get on after the over-the-top debacle that left his son, a renowned swordsman, defeated by quick wits?
As if we needed one more moment to extoll the dangers of the powerful. The funny thing is that the Dutts don’t have power. They are landowners without mortgages with sterling reputations. Even though they are tough and strong, they are not seen as cowards.
Therefore, absolute power does not corrupt outright, only when in the hands of people who do not work for it honorably and run it responsibly.
Spencer and Alex didn’t need any more barriers. Being a world away from his family when he needed him the most was quite a deterrent. Their love for them doesn’t need to be tested at every turn or we need to know it’s the real deal.
You can question the marriage, sir, but it’s difficult to question their integrity.
captain
But their fighting spirit and how the family is counting on Spencer to lead the charge against those who harmed them, makes us hope that our family line is wrong, and that John descends from Spencer, who is the son of his late sister Elsa. matches more closely with and his parents, who conquered the mountains to find their home in Montana.
If we had more than one eight-episode season ahead of us, I think most of this anger would go away. But the pacing here doesn’t exactly lend confidence in reaching a worthy conclusion.
It seems Taylor Sheridan’s prequels are more about the journey than the conclusion, which makes sense to a point.
After all, we know where the family is in 2023.
For 1883, it was a trip to Montana. Is Spencer’s trip to Montana the finishing line of 1923, or is there another point in the story we don’t know about yet that will mark the end?
And if this is a journey related to Dutton, how does Tiona’s story fit into it? What is its endpoint that will start the next part of the Rainwater story?
Hopefully, dear readers, you can add your thoughts on the matter. Were you as disappointed as I was with this finale?
Please take a moment to drop by below and leave a comment. I share my opinion in the reviews. Now its your turn!
carissa pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. A member of the Critics’ Choice Association, she enjoys mentoring writers, chatting with cats, and passionately discussing the finer points of television and film with anyone who will listen. follow him Twitter And email him here at TV Fanatic.