The first season of the Yellowstone spinoff 1923 featured a sprawling narrative and its ending left viewers with a lot of unanswered questions. From Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, 1923 catches up with the Dutton clan in the early 1920s and explores the family’s hardships as they live through the years leading up to the Great Depression and the end of the proverbial “Old West.” With established stars like Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, 1923 rivaled the original series in its star power and managed to deliver the same Western charm that made Yellowstone so appealing in the first place.
With season 2 of 1923 now arrived, many fans are looking back at the first season in preparation. Indeed, there is a lot to remember with 1923’s large cast of characters and their connection to the overall Yellowstone universe. The season 1 finale took the story to some unexpected places while also setting the stage for how the rest of the series will unfold. It has been confirmed that 1923 is ending with its second season, making the events of the season 1 finale all the more important.
Spencer’s Journey Home
Spencer Dutton Has Faced Many Obstacles In His Attempts To Return To His Family
Besides the troubles faced by the Dutton family members on their Montana ranch, 1923 also chronicled the harrowing journey of Spencer Dutton as he tried desperately to return to the United States to help out his struggling kin. Spencer was introduced in the first episode working as a hired big game hunter in Africa, a profession that saw him have several brushes with death. Obviously affected by his experiences during World War I, Spencer eventually found solace in the love of Alexandra, an engaged woman he met in a bar.
News of his family struggles drew Spencer toward home, but the couple’s path to Montana wasn’t easy. Spencer’s prolonged journey home in 1923 season 1 saw him attacked by a rogue elephant, shipwrecked, and eventually arrested, but he never made it back to the States. Spencer and Alex’s blossoming relationship was given a massive cliffhanger when, following a duel with Alex’s ex-fiance Arthur, Spencer was forcefully removed from the passenger ship and deposited on mainland Europe.
With Alex seized by her opulent family, the ending of 1923 set up their potential reunion in season 2 as Spencer promised to reunite with Alex in Bozeman, Montana, as soon as he could.
Alice Was Arrested Due To Her Illegal Marriage
The Duttons’ Enemies Used Dirty Tactics To Fight
Not afraid to tackle the darker side of American history, 1923‘s ending was anything but a glamorized look back at the past. Besides the awful treatment that Teonna suffered at the hands of the Catholic reform school she was forced into, 1923‘s finale also saw Alice Chow arrested for breaking a racist law. Though she was a somewhat peripheral figure in season 1, Alice Chow was Zane Davis’s wife, and she was seen around the Dutton ranch supporting her husband and raising her children, Matthew and Madelyn.
Even when the family tries to fight fair, 1923 used Alice’s plight to show that even legal channels were horribly skewed in those days.
After being spotted in bed with Zane by one of Banner Creighton’s men, she was taken into custody for breaking Montana’s anti-miscegenation law. Unfortunately based on fact, the Anti-Miscegenation Act of 1909 made it illegal for a white person to marry someone who was African American, or of Chinese or Japanese descent. That Montana iteration of the law would stand until 1953 when it was eventually repealed.
While Alice’s arrest was due to the misguided thinking of the time, in the context of the show, it was used as a nasty measure of revenge by Creighton to show that he could use the legal system just as effectively as the Dutton family. Even when the family tries to fight fair, 1923 used Alice’s plight to show that even legal channels were horribly skewed in those days.
Whitfield Made Big Moves To Take The Ranch
The Villain Showed His Clever And Legal Means Of Fighting
Though Banner Creighton was the obvious heel of the season, the ending of 1923 season 1 showed that his business partner, Donald Whitfield, was a dangerous and cunning foe as well. The debonair mining magnate was often seen to be the polar opposite of Creighton and preferred to use his magnificent wealth to put the screws to his enemies through legal channels. However, as his treatment of the two sex workers proved, Whitfield had a violent mean streak that made the gruff sheepherder Creighton look meek by comparison.
In the final episode, it was revealed that Whitfield paid off the Dutton ranch’s tax debt, which put the family in arrears to him. The looming Great Depression made money tight on the Dutton ranch, and Jacob Dutton had spent the entirety of the first season trying to raise the money to pay what he owed. When Whitfield paid off the family debts, he put even more pressure on Dutton because the ranch would default to the sadistic aristocrat if he wasn’t paid back in a timely manner.
Whitfield had often scolded Creighton for his violent methods of exacting revenge against the Duttons, and the ending of 1923 proved Whitfield’s adage that “the pen is mightier than the sword,” though in his case the dollar was mightier than Creighton’s all guns blazing approach.
What Did The Last Scene Mean?
Cara Dutton’s Tough Facade Finally Breaks
Of the characters in 1923, Helen Mirren’s Cara Dutton was perhaps the most complex of all. Shown to be a no-nonsense pioneering woman, Cara was the rock of the family and held things together when they seemed the bleakest. However, the final scene of 1923 season 1 offered a glimpse of her vulnerability, which made Cara a more interesting character overall. After trying to correspond with Spencer all season in order to compel him home, Cara had seemingly reached the end of her rope when she decided not to send her last pleading letter.
Cara was the unshakable pillar of the Dutton family, and her breaking down truly showed the audience that things had gotten serious
The Dutton matriarch broke down and cried while leaving her letter to Spencer unsent. The placement of Cara’s vulnerable moment was no accident, and the choice to end 1923 season 1 on the image of Cara breaking down showed that things had reached rock bottom for the Duttons.
Like the typical act two low point of any three-act story, the ending of 1923 placed the Duttons firmly in the so-called dark night of the soul that typifies the harshest moment of the classic hero’s journey. Cara was the unshakable pillar of the Dutton family, and her breaking down truly showed the audience that things had gotten serious.
The Real Meaning Of 1923’s Ending
The Prequel Gives Context To The Dutton Family Struggle
Though 1923‘s ending was certainly purpose-driven, it also spoke to the overall themes that pervaded the entire season. Like its predecessors, Yellowstone and 1883, 1923 never showed the Duttons enjoying the fruits of their labors, and only featured their constant struggle against outside forces. While that may seem bleak, it represents the real-life harshness of the American West and stuck closely to the complicated web of American history.
The spinoffs of Yellowstone not only expanded the franchise, but they showed that the American experiment was never easy, and was often darker than the glossy Hollywood Westerns made it out to be. No matter what generation of Duttons was showcased, life was never easy, and that is where the intrigue of 1923 comes into play.
What makes the spinoff unique is that it was the first series to show that life was hard for everyone in the early 20th century by contrasting the Duttons’s experience with the unfair treatment many people faced through racist policy. Far from merely a snapshot of American history in the eponymous year, 1923‘s ending was actually a rich tapestry that made an ardent attempt to show the real story, warts and all.
How The 1923 Ending Was Received
Some Felt Season 1 Was Simply A Prelude To The More Exciting Half Of The Story
1923 season 1 received generally positive reviews from critics as well as an enthusiastic reception from fans. However, the season 1 finale highlighted some of the flaws of the show that both fans and critics have come to identify. One of the main issues brought up by fans is something that all prequels have to deal with, which is that the audience knows the outcome of the story to some degree. Indeed, the Duttons’ storyline in season 1 ended with a cliffhanger that they might lose the ranch, but one Redditor pointed out it is hard to get much tension from that storyline:
It’s hard to care or feel worried about the prospect of them losing the ranch. I get that it’s just used as a way to show how they fight to keep it, because obviously they do, but sometimes it feels like they’re acting as if this isn’t a prequel and the Yellowstone ranch isn’t still currently in the family. It’s just not a great cliffhanger.
Some critics felt that the 1923 season 1 ending was not an overly exciting conclusion to the first half of the story, but did seem to offer some promise of more excitement to come (via CBR):
Episode 7 and Episode 8 are an average finale, yet there’s enough left open-ended to bring the Paramount+ audience back for Season 2.
Indeed, there were a number of critics who took issue with the fact that the season 1 ending seemed to be more like a setup for what was to come than a satisfying conclusion to the season. A review at Den of Geek suggested the lackluster finale was a sign of a bigger issue with the suggested decline in Taylor Sheridan’s writing and that it could indicate the showrunner is not completely aware of where the story is going:
The harsh truth is Sheridan’s writing has been floundering for quite some time now, undoubtedly because he simply has too much on his plate. So instead of believing in “right now”, he’s merely biding his time with a lot of his shows, and not only was “Nothing Left to Lose” indicative of that, but it can be argued this entire premiere season reflected that as well.
How 1923’s Ending Sets Up Season 2
Seeds Have Been Planted That Connect To The Yellowstone Universe
While the reception for 1923 season 1’s ending might have been somewhat mixed, there is no denying that it sets the stage for an epic final season. One of the biggest things that fans will be waiting for in the new season is finally seeing Spencer Dutton make it back home. The first season was sometimes frustrating in how it took the heroic Dutton family member off course again and again. While it is all but guaranteed that he will make it back to Montana, Spencer must also contend with reuniting with Alex somehow.
Interestingly, season 1 might have also hinted at a big reveal for the Dutton family tree in the Yellowstone universe, as Alex was seen being quite seasick during their journey which could mean she is actually pregnant with her and Spencer’s child, who could very well be John Dutton, making Spencer the grandfather of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton. Another interesting element that can tie to the original Yellowstone series is Teonna Rainwater’s story which will likely converge with the Duttons’ storyline and reveal that she is an ancestor of Thomas Rainwater.
1923 season 2 will be the first story in the Yellowstone universe to come out after the end of Yellowstone. It will be interesting to see how the conclusion of the Duttons’ story in that series, including them selling the ranch, will inform the end of 1923.
