1923 Season 1 Explained - Recap & Breakdown (Yellowstone Prequel & 1883 Sequel)

1923 is the second Yellowstone origin story after 1883 which showed the first on-screen generation of Titans making their way to Montana to establish the Yellowstone Ranch the patriarch of that family James died in 1893 after being shot by a horse thief this was shown to us in a flashback in the fourth season of Yellowstone his wife Margaret apparently died a year later but now before she wrote a letter to James's brother Jacob asking him to move to Montana to save her family Jacob obliged but he was too late to save Margaret he found her Frozen in a snowdrift and her two sons barely made it out alive Jacob and his wife Kara raised these two children as their own all of this information is revealed to us by James and Margaret's firstborn Elsa who died all the way back in 1883 toward the end of the family's journey to Montana in her voice over Elsa talks about how violence is always haunted the duttons from the Scottish Highlands to all the way out here to Montana and this point is made right after we watch Cara kill an injured man who was about to kill her we lack context for this sequence because it is an event from a future episode and even when violence doesn't haunt Elsa's family they seek it that is the case for her younger brother Spencer who she never met because he was born after the journey to Montana we met Spencer in a Yellowstone flashback taking place in 1893 and this was Spencer then and this is him now he's a hunter whose apathy is rooted in his scarring experience during World War One spencer is similar to his father James in that regard because James was a Civil War veteran who also had bad memories of warfare he never talked about it Elsa goes on to mention that only one of James's children lived to see their own children grow up and that lucky fell is John this was him in 1883 skipped 10 years and he's all grown up and in 1923 he is running the ranch with his uncle Jacob John is married to Emma and they have a son named Jack who is also involved in the family business Elsa concludes her introduction by saying that Jacob made the ranch into an Empire and then the Empire crumbled that is when 1923 kicks off Jacob is in Bozeman to attend the town hall meeting with John and Sheriff William McDowell we soon learned that a cattle rancher has killed some sheep grazing on land that was leased to him and so the leader of the sheep herders doesn't want this to go unanswered but why is Jacob conducting this meeting well he is the head of the Montana livestock Association whose purview is obviously lifestyle coming back to Banner he is Scottish and he uses an Irish slur to insult the cattle rancher that shot the Sheep Banner thinks there should be consequences but Jacob is largely indifferent because he points out the fact that the sheep have ruined the grass and so the cattle ranchers animals will die too it's not going to be from a bullet but from starvation because there's no grass anymore Jacob decides there won't be any more grazing on the valley until it rains so far it's been a dry summer he tells Banner he should have leased more land for grazing and when Banner points out that Jacob is a whole mountain range to himself while everyone else fights for every plate of grass down here Jacob responds by saying quote I have what my family fought for you want to fight me for it too I didn't think so and go Banner wants to continue this heated discussion outside because going up the mountains isn't a realistic solution for him bears would just eat his animals and he makes a big mistake by grabbing Jacob so John holds banner and Jacob holds a gun to banish throughout the sheriff gets there just in time and warns Banner that Jacob is an agent of the state so a banner should be careful going forward if he doesn't want to spend a month in jail Jacob leaves after saying that stealing a man's grass is like stealing his steers and he warns Banner that if he grazes another man's lease again he will have banners hold flock Banner makes fun of the term stealing grass he is sort of in disbelief he says man doesn't own the grass the mountains do and God does quote and you're no God Jacob Dutton you're no God end quote Jacob then attends the livestock association meeting where we learn about all of the challenges they're facing firstly there's drought and that problem is made worse by locusts they destroy the grass and lifestyle cannot get fed secondly prices are going down because men have returned from the war and their families are now mostly eating their own beef they don't need to buy it Jacob's plan is to push all the hers together take them up the mountains and protect them from wolves and bears until the fall that will require the help of a lot of cowboys but the alternative is worse there's no grass down here and the livestock would just die of starvation so the Dutton land up in the mountains will be able to feed the herd there is one problem with that before the duttons and other ranchers embark on this two-week long journey banner and his fellow sheep herders cross into the dunland by cutting defense wires the duttons and all the other ranchers start to drive and Jack discovers the Sheep so a herder takes aim and shoots at him that is the main plot line of the premiere and it was able to pique my interest because not only are the duns fighting rough natural conditions but they're also up against this with people who think that these conditions permit them to circumvent rules that are there for a reason you can certainly sympathize with the plight of banner and herders like him but that doesn't give him the right to prioritize his own livestock over others who've actually paid money to lease land those rules are there for a reason and because Banner broke them a range war is about to kick off his Shenanigans will not end well for him because he's playing games with other people's livelihoods time to rewind a little bit and talk about Jack's personal life he is supposed to get married in less than a week but to ride up to Mountain means he won't be back in time when his fiancee Elizabeth finds out that the wedding is getting delayed because the cattle drive cannot wait she tells him to go and do the deal with a cow up in the mountains Kara knew that Jack wouldn't be able to handle this situation so she arrived soon afterward to patch things up and she explains to Elizabeth how things work around here Elizabeth's father Bob owns the neighboring Strafford Ranch but she's been away from home for a while to study Kara says that if Elizabeth truly wants to spend her life with Jack she's gonna have to get used to stuff like this because it's just the beginning the herd always comes first this way of life isn't easy but the plus side is the freedom it brings the kind that most people don't even know about Elizabeth says that Jack makes her dizzy when she's with him and she can't breathe without him so she will learn this life and embrace it to be with him Cara brings Elizabeth back to Jack and as they kiss Bob watches from afar with Jacob in the meantime Jack's Uncle Spencer is busy in Africa he starts off by tracking down and killing a specific lion he then Travels by train to Nairobi Kenya to kill a leopard that is causing some trouble at a campsite there's a flashback in here showing Spencer during the Great War his leg is broken and he can't retreat with his fellow soldiers we see him kill a whole lot of enemies and he eventually wakes up on the train and pulls a gun on a porter which is a reaction caused by his nightmare Spencer and his two fellow Hunters arrive at the camp and these two serve as bait while Spencer Waits outside the tent with his rifle however we soon find out that there are actually two leopards and one of them meets a British woman Spencer met earlier in the day Spencer shoots the leopard but he is not able to save her he relaxes for a second thinking that the job is done but now his friends shout that there's a second one and that one jumps at Spencer we don't see what happens to him but I'm guessing he survives for me this was the most enjoyable part of the premiere Spencer's PTSD has made him so obviously disillusioned that he can't go back home he probably drums out his War Memories by hunting animals in Africa he constantly puts himself in the middle of wildly dangerous situations because what else is there to do after tasting the feeling of avoiding death and surviving and his mind cannot fathom living a normal life back in Montana Kara keeps writing letters to him from time to time wondering why he's not coming back and she assumes that it's because Spencer's seeking the part of himself that he lost during the war we also pay a visit to a government boarding school for Indians missionaries were sent to reservations to set up these sorts of schools to assimilate Native Americans into society and you know how these things go abuse violence the whole shebang it's horrible and we watch this through Tiana rainwater's perspective she is presumably an ancestor of Thomas from Yellowstone Sister Mary keeps hitting Tiana's hands until she has enough and Strikes Back she beats the living crap out of Sister Mary and they're both taken to the headmaster's room father Renault lashes out and punishes Sister Mary for her lack of compassion he then turns his attention to Tiana and starts whipping her he says he has compassion but no mercy we see the damage when the students take a bath Tiana is badly injured Tiana and Sister Mary agree that they should try to avoid going to Father renault's room from now on and as Tiana speaks to her friend that night she figures that all of their friends and family that have left this school must not have survived because they didn't write letters to Tiana even though they promised to she doesn't think they made it out and she's not sure she will be able to let's begin our episode to discussion in Africa where Spencer tries to fend off a leopard attack which came as a surprise for him because he had already killed the only one he thought was present at the camp so he stabs the second leopard after it jumps at him he then tries to shoot it but it is gone it's not gone too far away though because it latches on to one of Spencer's guides the other guy then Spencer eventually killed the leopard but the guide that got attacked suffers deadly injuries afterwards Spencer finds a doctor to take care of his wounds as he doesn't want to deal with gangrene he's angry at the Camp's leader Richard Holland for not informing him about the existence of another leopard and he notes that Holland did not say he was sorry Spencer fires off a bullet close to Holland's head and he forces him to apologize at gunpoint Spencer goes back to Nairobi in the morning in fact that's why he doesn't do anything to Holland he needs a ride and it's a hotel bar in Nairobi a British Lady by the name of Alexandra flirts with Spencer apparently she and her friends wondered if Spencer was in fact the famous Hunter they all heard about and she was the only one bold enough to approach him she talks about all of Spencer's famous kills some of which are made up and she mentions the one he killed with his bare hands he wants to know if she believes everything she hears and she says only when she wants it to be true Spencer is confused as to why she would want that to be true and she says for the romance of it when he argues that there is no romanciness Alexandra wonders why he would do it then and Spencer goes quote because dying is the most alive you'll ever feel end quote Alexander asks him if he doesn't see the romance in that and the voice inside Spencer's head is like she's got a point Alexandra's friends take her away because guess what she is engaged this conversation further solidifies a point I made in my episode 1 breakdown about how Spencer constantly puts himself in the middle of wildly dangerous situations because there isn't anything else to do for him after tasting the sweet feeling of avoiding death and surviving during the Great War he continues to chase that high we later learned that Spencer works for the protectorate of Kenya and his next assignment is to hunt down a spotted hyena in Tanganyika because that animal is causing trouble for railroad workers Spencer's gonna head out in the morning and he mentions this to Alexandra later that night when she takes a breather from her engagement party and comes across Spencer at the bar she has an adventurous Soul just like Spencer and she regards her upcoming marriage as nothing more than a real estate Arrangement their conversation is interrupted by Alex's fiancee he cannot however prevent Alexandra from running away with Spencer the next morning Spencer tries to warn her that to where he is going is dangerous and she goes quote let's look death in the eye then shall we and go this was an entertaining sequence and what made it fun was the contrast between Spencer and Alexandra's levels of enthusiasm Spencer has seen some things which is why he looks indifferent called stoic while Alexandra hasn't been able to live the way she wants to chasing adventures and putting herself in danger so she comes across as impassioned the opposite of Spencer meanwhile in Montana Spencer's nephew Jack is fine after a bunch of sheep herders shot at him at the end of episode 1. Jacob and Company come to his rescue they kill some of the herders and after the herders yield Jacob teaches banner and his fellow herders a lesson by hanging them from a tree on Horseback while their hands are tied behind their backs Jacob talks about why he did this later on saying that if you give a man enough time he'll figure out his way out of anything so he thinks some of them will make it in fact he hopes they do Jack wants to know why and Jacob explains this ranch's greatest enemy is not wolves or drought or blizzards or Texas fever it is other men because man will choose to take what you've built rather than try and build it for himself that's why your enemy's view of you has to be greater than their greed quote I gave those men a chance because I wanted them to tell the world what happened when they crossed me end code so do any of them make it out alive well it won't surprise you to hear that Banner does he gets a knife from another horse's saddle bag and cuts himself loose at night but something tells me Banner has not learned his lesson and he's gonna double down and seek revenge on the dungeons Jacob and all the other ranchers moved the herd further south close to the park where there is a suitable location with a spring feeding into a lake so that's where the herd will stay three Cowboys will stay with them for now while everyone else goes back home in the meantime the foreman of the ranch Zayn carries out a task given to him by Jacob Zane delivers all the Sheep they got from the herders to the nearby Indian reservation and they give Zane a gift for Jacob and tell Zane to thank Jacob because they needed this jacob kills two birds with one stone here he helps the people at the Rest by giving them food and clothing material while at the same time punishing the trespassing herders by taking their sheep to a place from where they can't be recovered there is also a funny scene back at the ranch with Emma and Kara Emma had always hoped that her son Jack's recklessness would be suppressed by his wife quote I was hoping his wife would take someone to fire out of the Next Generation end code but after spending a few days with Elizabeth Emma realizes that Elizabeth is gonna have the opposite effect and Kara goes quote it seems your son is marrying gasoline my dear and the fire will only get bigger and God at the boarding school in North Dakota Tiana is punished by Sister Mary for speaking her native language the tension builds up throughout the day and they fight yet again and as punishment Tiana is thrown into a solitary confinement box outside the school as father Renault cautions her not to use that language anymore it goes from bad to worst for Tiana when she eventually gets out of the box at first it looks like sister Alice wants to help Tiana bathe but it turns out she's got an ulterior motive she enjoys doing it if you know what I mean and as if that wasn't enough Sister Mary shows up and beats Tiana again promising to kill whatever is left of her original identity if she ever attacks her again we find out that Tiana is originally from Montana where her grandmother isashi is trying to get her back home which is a complicated task because she has to adopt Tiana to accomplish her goal Tiana's mother has passed away and her father works the reservation hers so he's away from home which is why the government was able to take Tiana away if Hisashi adopts Diana she'll be able to come back home because there's a Baptist day school only a quarter mile from isashi's house but first he saw she has to go in front of a judge in Crow agency which is the governmental headquarters of the crow it's one of those census designated places to kick off the third episode The Dutch man raced back to the ranch to their families and Kara is relieved to see Jacob because she had a bad feeling about this trip Jacob confirms that something has indeed went down in fact they'll have to head into town the next day to inform the sheriff about it the duns and their Cowboys do that they go to Bozeman and Sheriff McDowell tells Jacob that he can't be hanging people out in the woods anymore Jacob argues that bringing them here wouldn't have made a difference because a mob would have lynched and hanged them anyway McDowell doesn't want a range war between cattle ranchers and sheep herders he's busy enough dealing with cattle thieves out of Wyoming but Jacob insists that the range War has already begun banner and his men ran their sheep on his ground and attacked them first so he urges McDowell to get some deputies up to the mountains and keep the herders on their own land quote or I'll do it and you've seen how I do it and good Jacob gets back to his family after chatting with a fellow Rancher he hasn't seen in a while and it's too late to travel back to the ranch now so Jacob has already booked rooms at hotel Bozeman to spend the night in town earlier in the day we saw Kara and all the other dungeons going around in town they talked to a Salesman about new appliances like the washing machine and the refrigerator and if they want it they could get electricity to the ranch but they would have to rent these appliances so for now it is a pass at night Jack and Elizabeth find they speak easy and have some fun before going back to the hotel where Elizabeth tells Jack she is worth the wait but then she changes her mind and they do the deer in the morning as Jacob shaves Kara goes on a rant about how Razer companies are the representation of what's wrong with the humankind their greed has led them to come up with products for a woman so now they shave their legs and under their arms all of which she finds unnecessary Jacob says it is a joy to listen to her Babylon about utter nonsense and before they head out Kara catches Jacob looking himself in the mirror and he wonders just when he's gotten this old he has been so busy living his difficult life and surviving that he hasn't taken a moment to stop and think about that Jacob tells all the Cowboys to ride in front and the Dutton men will stay with the wagon we know there is trouble coming at this point because a stranger spotted the duttons in town on their first day and he got on his horse to inform Banner who by this point had found his way home after cutting the Noose in episode 2. unsurprisingly The Dungeons are ambushed gunfire starts coming in from the tree line Elizabeth is shot in the lower chest area and Jack gets hit close to his shoulder while Bob Elizabeth's father seems to be the first casualty everyone is able to get out of the wagon and take cover behind the trunk of a fallen tree but Elizabeth is still on the wagon and it's on the move because the horses are spooked so Jack goes after her and gets her and they hide behind this big rock Banner's men eventually come out and try to hunt them down but the duns hold their own that is until Banner Flags them from behind with what looks like a Tommy Gun Jacob tells Kara and Emma to run and they do towards Jack and Elizabeth Banner says he's a man of his word and starts spraying managing to land quite a few bullets on Jacob and John the Yellowstone Cowboys make their way back to the wagon after hearing the gunshots but they arrive just as banners start shooting and Kara and Emma are running toward the rock so everyone except Bob John and Jacob are saved by the Cowboys some sheep herders are killed and others run away including Banner Kara goes back to the fallen tree to find Jon dead and Jacob badly injured she then sees one of Banner's men he is injured and she goes after him they both have to reload and Kara is quicker so she kills him and this was the opening scene of the premiere during that opening Elsa's voiceover said that violence has always followed this family and this was yet another example the duns arrive back at the ranch with John and Bob dead and Jacob badly injured Elizabeth needing urgent medical attention and Jack with a relatively mild wound Jacob knows that there's no coming back from this for him so his full focus is on keeping his family and this Ranch safe or as safe as possible he orders Zane not to contact the sheriff because that would announce Jacob's death to the world and in turn everyone would come after the ranch including Banks Miners and thieves because of his situation and because Jon is dead Jacob tells Kara that it's time for Spencer to come home now and as a doctor and nurses rush into the house Kara steps out and writes another letter to Spencer quote Spencer your brother has been killed by the time you receive this letter I suppose uranco has been killed as well your nephew has been wounded this Ranch and your legacy are in Peril War has descended upon this place and your family whatever War you fight within yourself must wait you must come home and fight this one end call let's turn our attention to Spencer now he is hunting a spotted hyena in Tanganyika and he goes on an adventure with Alexandra to show her the footprints of a child baked into a lava rock he mentions the spot after Alexandra brings up Darwin's theory of evolution and Spencer doesn't have an opinion on where humans come from but he knows that they've been around these parts in Africa for a very long time and because of that they visit the footprint spot Spencer hesitantly asks Alexandra if he can call her Alex and she's fine with that but she points out how difficult it would be for him to propose to her if it was this hard to ask about a nickname Spencer's like let's do it right now and it takes a while for Alex to realize he is serious Spencer doesn't get why they need to wait he promises her that there are things about him that she won't like so she doesn't need to wait around to realize that and in the end it's settled they're getting married as they make their way back to the camp and have to stop because of elephants Spencer talks about how they don't look real and the way he describes them makes Alex realize that he's not just disheartened man she sees the boy in him now she sees what their boy would be like in him and Spencer feels the same way he sees their child in her but this moment they are sharing is interrupted by an elephant that attacks and flips their car he eventually has to shoot it and they don't have enough time to hike back to the camp so they climb up a tree which isn't high enough so as lions and hyenas surround the dead elephant at night Spencer and Alex are eventually noticed and as they get attacked Spencer has to shoot some of them as Alex freaks out even though Spencer is good this is a numbers game and they're eventually gonna get eaten which is why they are happy to see some cars from the camp riding toward them and rescuing them on the way back Alex admits that she didn't feel alive when she looked to death in the eye which was her goal that was the point of this adventure but all she felt was horror and she never wants to feel that way again for a long time that was the only way Spencer could feel that's how much the war scarred him but that changed after he met Alex he doesn't need to put himself in these dangerous situations anymore just to feel something he feels love whenever he looks at Alex so they agree that Spencer should put this life behind him now which is definitely convenient and will allow him to travel back to Montana but he's not going back to a calm and peaceful land that will give him an Alex a safe spot in this world no he's going back to war and he's going to war with men which is different from hunting down these dangerous animals for the most part he has a playbook in Africa he can follow that and his abilities bring him success he understands how different animals live and hunt and stalk him pray and Ambush but with men its difference more unpredictable and the horror he and Alex feel could be a lot more intense back in Montana as Elsa says violence follows the dungeons wherever they go and Alex will come to understand that sooner rather than later We Begin this one in the aftermath of Banner's attack and find out that Jacob has survived the assassination attempt thanks to Dr Miller's timely arrival at the ranch and Jacob is not completely out of the woods yet but there is hope for him Jack and Elizabeth are fine too in fact Elizabeth's mother Beverly tries to get our daughter to leave Montana and go back East to a hospital but Elizabeth doesn't like that idea because she's still thinking about her wedding Beverly says that the wedding is no more and that it got killed the moment Elizabeth's father Bob got killed Beverly then turns to Jack and says quote if you still wish to have her hand I suggest you pack your things any reason I had for a living in this Godless place is dead end Court Jack responds in a hilarious fashion quote no disrespect Mrs Stratford but I ain't marrying you and Scott and here Beverly slaps him for his poor manners Kara in turn slaps Beverly telling her that she'll be the one disciplining her nephew and Beverly is on the door Kara allows Elizabeth to make her own choice and she does not hesitate for a single second she wants to stay here and be with Jack meanwhile Zayn is going to the post office to send Kara's letter to Spencer and Zayn himself would have preferred a wire because this letter won't reach Spencer for months but this is what Jacob wanted he didn't want the world to know that they were weak because then everybody would come after them that is why they are trying to keep this under wraps and they're using the much slower method of sending a letter but here is the twist the letter reaches Spencer by the end of this episode because we learned that his storyline is approximately three months in the future compared to the ongoings in Montana Alex and Spencer are at an isolated Beach when Alex finds Spencer's letters and apparently he hasn't read any of them that's because missing home and dreaming has killed a lot of soldiers if you want to eat a bullet in the battle you start wishing for a letter so he never read any of Kara's letters during the war and afterward he felt guilty for not doing so which is why he's been ignoring the letters and his family Alex says she's a very jealous lover and she won't share Spencer with his demons so they face them and chase them away together by reading every single letter Alex gets to know Spencer's family and Spencer catches up with what his family has been up to Alex continues to read the letters as Spencer falls asleep but she wakes him up after she reads the last one the one we saw Kara writing at the end of episode 3. The Letter calls for Spencer to come back home because his brother John is dead and his uncle Jacob might be too Spencer is distraught and wants to know when the letter was written and as we've already established it was three months ago back in Montana Emma starts digging her husband's grave and some cowboys help her out while Banner finds out that only two of his fellow sheep herders have made it out alive so he's gonna need to find some Manpower elsewhere which takes him to the mansion of Donald Whitfield Banner says that Jacob and John are dead and soon he'll be able to take over the ranch when he does he will lease tunnel the mineral rights so a banner will have a massive area for his sheep while Donald has the mountains for himself he's gonna make a fortune from Gold Silver and coal mining it's a win-win situation however Donald is a Savvy man and he knows he's got the upper hand in his negotiation Banner doesn't have the means to conquer the ranch without Donald's help so Donald will provide the means and in exchange the lease for the mineral rights will be considered already paid and not only is Donald trude but he's also mightily nasty he warns Banner not to go back on his word and if he does Donald will do unspeakable things to Banner's wife and kids it's around their graphic description which gives you the sense that Donald might have done this before they Shake on his and Donald starts funding Banner Banner quickly pushes new funds to good use by hiring some men and they go after the duttons and other families cattle up in the mountains they killed the Cowboys protecting them and they start riding toward Wyoming they'll put him on a train and sell him at their destination far away from Montana Zayn delivers this news to Kara and he wants to go after the thieves before they get to the train Jack likes that idea and says either we take this fight to them or the fight is coming to us Cara in the meantime regards this plan as rash and she needs a moment to think she goes inside and starts praying next to Jacob she asks for direction which is when Jacob wakes up and tells her you be the leader Jacob is in agreement with his wife he doesn't think they can afford to fight until Spencer arrives so Jacob wants to let the stolen cattle go but the good news is only half of the Dutton heard was at that location which means they've still got the other half Jacob tells Zayn what to do with those the calves will be weaned from their mamas so they'll be separated and the mothers will be sold to raise funds also they'll let Bulls breed with the heifers once they weigh 700 pounds and a heifer is basically a cow that has not born a calf yet or has borne only one cat what is their business plan to keep the banks away but they also need a PR plan because there's going to be a livestock association meeting very soon and people are going to start getting suspicious when Jacob doesn't show up he tells Kara to go to the meeting instead and tell them that he is in Wyoming chasing the cattle thieves and Cara does show up to the meeting in Bozeman but she improvises a little bit she says that the thieves killed Bob Strafford and she doesn't talk about what happened to John or Jacob but mentioning Bob's passing is enough to get people to pay attention she argues that their response must be forceful but also lawful because one mob begets another and this is where the improvisation part comes into play she says it's high time that this Association had the authority to make arrests and have jurisdiction over the entire State the power to issue warrants and to prosecute offenders of lease violations the governor has apparently been made aware of this request and now Kara asks the association for a vote in favor of the creation of the police force nobody bites it first because Kara can't call a vote but she shows the sheriff that her Authority has been written and signed by the commissioner himself Jacob the signature is fake but the sheriff buys it so they have their vote and the eyes have it member dues will increase 27 dollars per year and the police force will be in place after the governor gives them the go-ahead Banner waits for Cara outside and calls her a liar because he knows John is dead and he thinks that Jacob is dead Kara dares him to prove it but he obviously can't because he would have to expose his own criminal activities Banner believes Kara's charade can only last so long because no bank will let a woman carry a note and no government will transfer a lease for her in response to this charade comment Kara spits him Banner's face and says quote when my charade is over so are you men killed with bullets Uranus which is to say men kill quick your fight is with me now I kill much slower and God even though that's a good line it doesn't really face Banner because she hasn't got the army or the money to fight this war however she's got her nephew Banner thinks she's referring to Jack and he's not that impressed to which Kara says not that one because she is referring to Spencer here and you can see that Banner gets a little bit worried because I don't think he knew about Spencer last but not least Tiana is put through yet another hellish experience by Sister Mary but Tiana hatches a plan to take Sister Mary out and Escape she puts a bunch of Bibles into a sack sneaks into sister Mary's room and beats her with the sack as Tiana kills Sister Mary she speaks in her own language and says that these are the words of this land and that she is the land and that the land is killing her let's start our episode 5 discussion in Montana where death and tragedy continue to haunt the duttons as John's wife Emma offs herself leaving their son jack to fend for himself Kara is still waiting to hear from Spencer while Jacob is slowly starting to get better he can walk with some assistance and he can eat some solid foods though his recovery will still take quite a bit of time he doubts that his right arm will ever be fully functional again so he's gonna have to learn how to shoot left-handed Zayn and Jack have to sell some of their cattle to survive the winner and Jack has understandably grown bitter at this point he has lost both of his parents he craves Revenge but Jacob tells him he is too young and inexperienced to lead at this point his heart is filled with hate which means that love has no place in it and his fiancee Elizabeth gives him an ultimatum because of this saying that this is not what she signed up for she has lost both her parents too her father got killed and her mother went back East so she she asks Jack to pay attention to her and open up some room in his art for love because all they've got now is each other Jack wants to get married right there and then they don't need a wedding or a church he says they are standing in front of God right now so they say their vows and that's that Kara watches them from afar and later on in the episode Elizabeth reveals to Kara that they're gonna need an official wedding soon because she is pregnant which was foreshadowed in earlier episodes elsewhere Jacob asks Kara about the new livestock agents and she says that the sheriff is taking care of the interviews but Jacob wants Kara to be there to look them in the eye and eliminate the Charming ones because they're trouble Jacob also suspects that Banner is gonna go looking for someone with a lot of money for assistance and we already know that he is in cahoots with Donald Whitfield in fact there's a great scene in this episode showing a meeting between Donald and Banner in a beautiful house in the city this house has electricity and gas and all of this impresses Banner quite a bit and Donald knows how to keep his allies happy and in check so he gives the keys to the house to Banner and he and his family will live there Donald isn't doing this for nothing of course Banner has come to him with the news about the now vacant Stratford Ranch which is to the north of the Yellowstone he says Donald can sue a pen and buy the land from the bank a big portion of the Strafford Ranch is on mountainous terrain so mining operations there will be very profitable for Donald and Donald's plan is to keep buying all the other ranches in the valley including eventually the Yellowstone later on these two run into Kara on her way to the post office and Donald introduces himself he's smug and acts as though he thinks Jacob is alive but in reality Banner has made him think that Jacob is dead that's why Donald thinks Cara is probably gonna beg him to buy the ranch following a rough winter without Jacob good news awaits Kara at the post office because Spencer has finally sent a cable saying that he is coming home so for once the episode ends on a helpful note or does it we gotta go to Africa to answer that question Spencer and Alex are making their way to Mombasa in Kenya Mombasa is a coastal city along the Indian Ocean however there aren't any ships going to the U.S you can go to London first and go to the US next but the closest Voyage is three weeks away so Spencer is gonna have to find another way oh and all of this happens after an ominous voiceover monologue by Spencer's late sister Elsa who says that this journey to the U.S will be Spencer's last we'll get back to this in a little bit as Spencer looks for a ship a man points him to Luca who is taking a tugboat to the Suez Canal where Spencer can book a ship to anywhere it's a massive Hub he's not able to go on a bigger ship a troller for example because that would be too dangerous for Alex she would be the only woman on board and the deckhands would have their way with her even though Spencer agrees to go with Luca on the tugboat he still tries to leave Alex behind for now and send for her later because he is worried that his voyage is too dangerous for her Alex in turn gives him an ultimatum similar to what happens between Elizabeth and Jack saying quote we have a life together or we live our lives apart you only get to choose me once end code and Spencer tells her to get her things that is a good decision because Alex knows how Spencer can send his wires to Montana he can't do it directly but the message can be transferred from ship to ship until it gets to London and there they can wire anywhere in the states that is how his message reaches Cara all is looking good and they board the tugboat but something smells fishy and I'm not talking about the literal fish no Luca keeps spitting blood and we learned that his ocean liner his big passenger ship was made into a hospital during the war and some of the patients there were affected by mustard gas and who knows what else that is probably why his body is giving up on him Luca teaches them the basics before going to sleep and he takes over after six hours so Spencer and Alex get to sleep for a little bit and Spencer wakes up and realizes that the engines aren't running so he checks up on Luca and realizes that he's dead and that's not all the Ghost Ship they had an encounter with earlier is back Spencer tries to call for some help but he's got to do something about the Ghost Ship the tugboat doesn't get out of the way in time so there's a collision and Spencer and Alex go flying and we don't see what happens to them all we get is this image their Tugboat capsized and they are nowhere to be seen now did Elsa say that this would be Spencer's last journey because he would die during it or did she say it because he wouldn't embark on another Journey after arriving in Montana I'm thinking it's the latter so I believe that Spencer and Alex are alive may be rescued and this image clearly doesn't tell the whole story in the meantime things get ugly in the rest school after they realize that Tiana killed not only Sister Mary but another sister that sexually assaulted Tiana father Renault goes ballistic on Tiana's cousin and close friend she insists that she doesn't know where Tiana is headed and Renault doesn't believe her he beats her and eventually kills her they find Tiana's Footprints and go after her but before they can get to her she runs into a sheep herder by the name of Hank he knows Tiana's father whose name is runs his horse and I think we met him when Jacob gifted Banner sheep to the res because runs is worse is responsible for the rest herd I'm not sure if Hank is from the same tribe or if these sheep are the sheep from Jacob but that's beside the point because Hank agrees to help Tiana he doesn't think it would be a good idea to go to the rest though because they will look for her there so this is not going to be a straightforward Journey for her will begin our episode 6 discussion on the Indian Ocean where Spencer and Alex's talk about capsize on the way to the Suez Canal Spencer is able to swim up to the overturned Hull and call out Alex's name she hears it and starts banging the floor or the ceiling in this case because you know the boat is upside down and she's alive because she's in an air pocket Spencer swims down to retrieve the love of his life and he is successful he Dives back in to recover some items they might need and while he's down there Alex can spot the fine line between boldness and stupidity so she goes after a live buoy and starts drifting away from the boat luckily Spencer comes to her rescue once again and he reassures her that this won't be the end of their Journey because he made contact with another ship before they went down that ship doesn't show up in the area until it's night time and Spencer has to fire a few rounds from the rifle he recovered to make sure they are spotted a couple of sailors fetch our protagonists and bring them to their ship which which is headed to Marseille France Captain Shipley says they can book passage to the US once there in Marseille but he points out how slow the immigration process is nowadays and so Alex might slow things down Spencer is quick on his feet he says that Captain Shipley can officiate their wedding there and then because they're in international waters and captains have that Authority this way Alex wouldn't have any trouble getting into the U.S as she would be Spencer's wife the captain is a bit hesitant at first because a sham marriage would be illegal but he quickly realizes that these two are madly in love and they were gonna get married sooner or later he gives them a box of rings to choose from these belong to dead Sailors whose addresses weren't known and Spencer girls caught the ocean almost took us and now it gives us rings I think I'll keep mine end code Spencer picks one but they're too big for Alex's fingers so Shipley helps her out he gives her his wife's ring saying that she would approve our lovely couple gets married and they immediately get down to business in their tomato-like state after spending a whole day under the sun they are last seen from this episode is on the bow of the ship where Spencer admits that he shouldn't have taken Alex with him because the universe kept warning him at first there were the elephants then the Lions and finally the Shipwreck it's almost like he was being told to put Alex back where she belonged quote I'm just too freaking selfish to do it my dream is that the universe is wrong and you're mine to keep and God Alex argues that the dream has already come true and there's no putting her back now she insists she'll go wherever he goes even if it's the death of her this Series has had a lot of pieces of ominous dialogue and this is one of the scarier ones because following Spencer around could really lead to Alex's demise that would be believable and I think Spencer is right it's like they're not meant to be together but they are incredibly strong emotional bond allows them to override everything else and just be together I think one of the most dishonest excuses people have when they want to break up with someone or when they don't want to be with someone is the timing isn't right or maybe it could have worked out under different circumstances I've used those excuses myself and 99 of the time they are bullcrap wanting to be with someone is quite often a binary choice you either do or don't want to and when you do you are ready to overcome any difficulty and ignore whatever obstacle you come across that is exactly what Alex and Spencer are doing which is what makes their bonds so honest pure and special meanwhile things are calmer in Montana where Zayn is tasked with finding people willing to join the Posse that will go after Banner while Cara and Sheriff McDowell interview candidates for the Recently formed law enforcement wing of the Montana livestock Association one of the candidates is rude towards Kara and he is smacked out of the room literally another one named Clyde gets the job immediately because he has Law Enforcement experience in Chicago and he is charming he Aces the interview that is why care was about to say that she and McDowell would discuss Clyde's prospects but McDowell stepped in and offered the job right away Jacob had warned Cara to be wary of the Charming ones which is why going forward we should keep a close eye on Clyde all in all they've hired three men so far they need 20 of them so there clearly aren't a lot of great applicants and Cara knowing that this process is gonna take too much time time that the dungeons don't have decides to tell my towel what really happened when they were attacked they previously hid the fact that Banner was the one who organized this attack and that Jacob was badly injured they did this in order to conceal their weak State and to keep the banks and the thieves away but people are probably starting to think that Jacob must be dead because he hasn't been seen in public for such a long time that's why Kara feels like she needs to get the sheriff involved this leads to a quarrel between Jacob and Kara they were already in this agreement about Gathering up a posse to go after Banner Kara wanted Jacob to stand back and let the livestock agents handle this matter Jacob contends that his goal is not Vengeance but survival he points to the explosions up North near the Strafford Ranch where Donald whitfield's men are stunning their mining operations and with ranches to the north and south of Yellowstone now in Donald's control Jacob knows they're next which is why he feels the need to take matters into his own hands this is when Sheriff McDowell and his men arrive McDowell's angry that Jacob didn't report what went on with Banner's Ambush even after Jacob was in the clear and the sheriff asserts that he won't allow a range war in Montana so his deputies will take everybody's statements and arrest Banner the next morning the sheriff leaves and Jacob gives Kara the cold shoulder which she can't believe after all she's done Jacob goes to the barn gets on a saddle and rides off on his own he comes back at night to find Kara sitting on the porch and he continues to claim that he's not after Vengeance like she claims he wants to preserve the land and prevent it from becoming just another city he argues that Banner is simply a means to an end he is being used in order to weaken the area which would allow developers like Donald to swap in and capitalize Jacob admits that he knows how much Cara has suffered and sacrificed and he says that his Spanish turn to suffer now as for Tiana Hank gives her his son's clothes and she's gonna pretend to be a boy named Joe when Hank's son comes back with the rest of the flock Hank will send him to Tiana's father to explain the situation so that is in the books and they burn everything from the school except the Bibles because Hank fears the Christian God's Wrath so they don't burn them they bury those just when we think it's a relatively chill week for this portion of the story with no abuse beatings or deaths an officer searching Tiana's grandmother's house pushes her as she tries to stop him she hits her head and dies this officer convinces his partner who was outside to back his version of the story which is one of self-defense the penultimate episode of the Season features Tiana's father runs his horse finding hisashi's body it is not clear if Hisashi was his mother or if she was his mother-in-law but that's beside the point he figures Lawman must have killed her because of the tracks outside thieves usually don't shoot their horses and law men do which means the government must have been responsible for this this is when Hank's son Pete enters the frame with the news about Tiana's escape and runs his horse tells Pete to go back using a different route to avoid detection he will catch up to p21c berries Hisashi and picks up his stuff later that day preached from Tiana's School running to Pete and forcefully detain him when he refuses to cooperate they plan to take him to the school so a priest stays with him while the other two go after the shepherd's tracks because Pete mentioned that that's what he was doing out there herding sheep things get heated between the priest and Peta as the priest keeps scorning the natives while Pete responds by sliding the priest's beliefs the priest can't take it anymore and he's about to kill Pete but that's when runs his horse shows up and scalps the priest we saw him earlier finding Pete's horse and he tracked him here to save the day he kills the priest and eats his quote unquote Soul which I assume refers to his heart before runs his horse and P can get to Tiana and Hank the other two priests find Tiana and go after her Hank is unseen and he's able to shoot them both thinking that both priests are dead Hank puts his rifle down to carry the injured Tiana but it turns out one of the priests lives he picks up Hank's rifle and shoots him he gets closer to Tiana to shoot her next he takes a shell from Hank's Body to reload but Tiana smashes his head in with a big rock and survives Hank on the other hand doesn't appear to be as lucky this was the most consequential and exciting part of the episode and I was sad to see Hank die similar to how I felt when Luka passed away on his Tugboat neither of them were majorly important characters but they helped Tiana and Spencer when they were both in Dire Straits and luckily Tiana's father is on his way to her so hopefully she'll be okay though psychologically I doubt she'll ever get over this much suffering in the meantime Banner gets arrested outside his new house given to him by Donald and the mischievous shepherder learns that Jacob has survived the Ambush Jacob Jack and their men accompanied the sheriff and his deputies as they make the arrest after which Banner tells Jack that he was lucky to survive two different attacks but he will not be as lucky a third time Sheriff McDowell figures that say confession and that's got to be that right Banner will be put away for Good by the justice system no not so fast Clyde who was recently hired as a livestock agent informs Donald who is outside one of his Minds that Banner just got arrested Donald thinks a resting Banner was a mistake they should have killed him if they wanted to get rid of him because Donald has the means to get him freed he gets in touch with his lawyer Chadwick Benton who visits Banner in jail and tells him to not say anything until his arraignment the next day Donald is happy to learn that Josh Rollins will preside over the case and Chadwick will meet Rollins outside his Chambers and make sure that the judge understands how crucial Banner is to Donald's operations Rollins will set pale even though this is a murder case and banner will get out at least temporarily Banner also asks Chadwick to take care of the two prostitutes who were at his house when he got arrested and Donald wants to handle this matter himself we soon learn why as Donald Reveals His deviant side he's a sadistic freak so he enjoys watching one of the hookers spank the other one with a belt meanwhile back at the Yellowstone Kara and Elizabeth anxiously awaits Jack and Jacob's return Cara keeps writing letters to Spencer as an alternative to writing a journal and she urges Elizabeth to try writing too but that's not her style she'd rather do something like baking a cake to take her mind off of things so Kara teaches her how to bake a cake and the men arrive when the ladies are in the middle of their baking session later on as they're enjoying some drinks and cake at the dinner table Jack is reading the newspaper and this starts a political conversation between him and his uncle Jacob they find out about a new commission being formed in Washington to regulate Mining and this will be headed by the bosses of mining companies like Donald and Jacob goes quote that should tell you all you need to know about politics son end quote jack points out that Jacob is no different because he's a Cattleman in charge of regulating cattle he's doing the same thing Donald's doing this prompts a long monologue by Jacob about a scientific study showing how problems start to arise whenever the population of a tribe exceeds 500 people and the strongest people take advantage of the weakest if there isn't a government quote government is man's way of trying to control our Behavior but it can't be controlled it is what we are sooner or later the kind of people who would enrich themselves at your expense will use the government to do it end code Jacob's argument as it relates to his family is this no matter what you do people like Donald will use government organizations to dominate others so why shouldn't we do the same and use those organizations for our benefit Jack asks him about right and wrong and Jacob says there is no such thing there is only what's good for this Ranch and your family this conversation summarizes the entire Dutton family's mindset perfectly all the way from James Dunton in 1883 to John Dutton in the 21st century every single dun we've met prioritizes their own families and ranches well-being over things like religion or general ideas of Ethics or laws or patriotism or anything else you can think of those are not factored in they're only viewed as tools to be used in their single-minded pursuit of protecting their Ranch and their family last but not least Spencer and Alex are dropped off in Italy and they're able to book passage to the U.S and they will leave in a few days the now married couple are enjoying some of the local Delights as well as each other's company when they run into the guy Alex was supposed to get married to things are about to get very awkward in Sicily the season 1 finale puts Spencer and Alex in an awkward position as they bought the same ship to London as Alex's ex-fiance Arthur at first the plan is to stay out of sight to avoid him however they have to go up to the deck when Alex gets seasick and there they run into Jennifer who is the only bridesmaid who didn't go back to London after Alex blew off the wedding Jennifer keeps telling Alex how what she did is going to affect her standing Alex doesn't care she's going to the US anyway they will book a cruise to the us as soon as they arrive in London and Jennifer mentions that Arthur hasn't been doing too well following the embarrassing breakup and we soon learn what she means when Alex and Spencer dine in the grand hall this upsets Arthur greatly even though his father tries to calm him down by saying that at least he avoided marrying a woman who obviously doesn't love him Arthur senior convinces his son to dance with Jennifer and this is the beginning of the end for him the two couples end up colliding on the dancing floor and Arthur gets even more angry when Spencer turns his back to him later on Arthur challenges Spencer to a duel and Spencer urges Arthur to let it go because it will not end well for him Arthur senior tries to get his son to compose himself but to no avail as Spencer and Alex walk away Arthur repeatedly calls Alex a prompting Spencer to return punch Arthur and accept the challenge we briefly meet the captain of the ship early as he's notified of the duel and it is revealed that Arthur is royalty in fact Arthur senior is the prince in succession when it comes to fighting though titles don't mean much and the Earl of Sussex is defeated multiple times in an easy fashion nonetheless he refuses to yield and charge that Spencer with a pistol attempting to shoot him point blank in the head which forces Spencer to react and throw Arthur overboard Arthur's body is never recovered this is is my captain Hurley arrives at the scene and Spencer is taken to the break as no one watching The Duel wants to go against Arthur senior's word Alex insists that Arthur had a pistol in his hand and she actually manages to convince Jennifer to tell the truth this eventually leads to Spencer's release he will not be charged but Arthur senior gets Spencer removed from the ship he has that Authority as a prince they haven't arrived in London yet and we don't know exactly where Spencer is dropped off could be France Spain or Portugal hard to tell really what we do know is they don't let Alex leave with him and she'll have to find her own way to Montana from London both of them shout that they love each other and Alex says she'll meet him in Bozeman she knows about that location from Kara's letters as we watch them get separated Kara reads her latest letter quote Spencer I fear everything your parents fought so hard to build is being ripped from us you are its only hope you are our only hope you must hurry Spencer you must hurry or there will be nothing left to fight for end code this letter won't reach Spencer because Kara tosses it away suggesting that she is giving up hope of seeing Spencer again maybe she realizes they're gonna have to fend off for themselves because Spencer either won't arrive in time to save them or he won't arrive at all so what is going on in Montana that would get Kara all worked up well firstly Banner is released without bail until trial thanks to his lawyer Chadwick who apparently also represents the governor which shows just how well connected Donald is Chadwick argues that there is no physical evidence in this case and the judge buys it we heard Donald tell Chadwick to meet the judge outside his Chambers so this is not surprising to us but it certainly is to the duttons things get heated before Banner leaves he calls Jacob a coward for trying to end this fight in a courtroom Jack steps up and some men hold him back Banner goes quote I'm guessing the blonde didn't make it Encore referring to Elizabeth Jack tries to take a swing after that remark but Banner Dodges and hits back Banner reiterates this point about not ending this in a courtroom telling Jacob that this will end on a field and that he should stop sending boys to do Men's Work Jacob responds said saying that if a field is where he wants to die he's more than happy to help him out and Donald's mansion He and banner discussed their next steps and Donald urges the Sheep murder not to make any ill-advised moves he says they can beat Jacob with a pen instead of a sword and banner might think he is Rich now but all he has is some money he doesn't have generational wealth for that he needs to acquire the Yellowstone how could he do that well luckily Donald is helping him he has sources everywhere and one of those sources works at the bank Jacob deals with Jacob goes there for a loan he needs some money to buy more hay for his cattle to make sure they survive the winner but the bank has been hurt by these kinds of loans before not by Jacob by other ranchers which is why they've stopped giving out these types of loans altogether and to compound the issue Donald Source informs him that Jacob is having money troubles that is when Donald takes a look at the state of Jacob's land what the official documents say and he finds out that the Yellowstone is owned by the duns without any loans so he can't use that as an attack Victor however they are behind on their property taxes and Donald takes the Liberty to make the first biannual payment he reveals this to the duns in front of their house and this is devastating because if an individual pays someone else's late property taxes and if that individual is not paid back by the owner before the end of the year the property deed reverts back to the individual who paid the taxes this is a very shrewd move and Jacob knows it he is cornered because the ranch doesn't make enough money to pay Donald back some of the cattle was stolen earlier in the season and part of what remained was sold to raise funds and his current herd once survived the winter without more hay that is why Kara appears so hopeless at the end of the season she doesn't even bother sending the letter to Spencer wondering if it's even possible to get out of this predicament during the aforementioned confrontation Donald tells Kara that decency doesn't apply to him because he's a businessman and that's why he's doing this he's expanding his business Empire before Montana turns into a state relying on tourism talking of decency Donald continues to fool around with the two prostitutes he hired he reveals that he doesn't enjoy watching people suffer and instead he likes watching people enjoy the power they hold over someone else so he keeps playing these Twisted games and slowly makes the two women hitting each other enjoy it meanwhile Elizabeth has a miscarriage which makes her feel like a failure worthless and without purpose Jack consoles and Comforts her brilliantly using his aunt Cara as an example to say that not being able to have children isn't the end of the world Cara doesn't have children and she certainly isn't without purpose this storyline could turn out to be quite important for the Dunn Legacy previously the most likely scenario was that Jack was the ancestor of the modern Yellowstone family but this miscarriage might mean that he and Elizabeth won't have any children so Spencer and Alex could be the ones extending the Dunn lineage elsewhere Clyde continues to wreak havoc as he discovers that the foreman of the Yellowstone Zayn is married to an Asian woman named Alice the anti-miscegenation law in Montana was in place until the 1950s it was illegal for whites to marry blacks or Asians and Clyde snitches on this couple because he secretly works for Donald Alice is taken away by the authorities while Zayn is beaten as he tries to stop them lastly Marshall Kent the officer who killed Hisashi makes his way to the residential school to track Tiana the three priests who went after her haven't returned and Kent figures they must be dead he insists that father Renault comes with them because he knows what Tiana looks like and they get on their way first they find the priest killed by runs his horse and then they find the other two by this point ranci sauce and Pete got to this campsite and rescued Tiana Kent correctly assumes that they'll be heading down south to Comanche land because it's chaotic down there so they will take the train to get there before Tiana we should also mention that Pete and Tiana ban during their Journey despite runs his horse's warnings thank you for watching my 1923 Season 1 recap in the description box you can find the links to my individual episode breakdowns with more of my thoughts there are also links to every single Yellowstone season recap down there as well as an 1883 breakdown video for now tell me your thoughts on the first season of 1923 leave your comments down below like this video if you've enjoyed it and subscribe for more movie reviews and TV show breakdowns take care and see you in the next video [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Benja TV

Views: 125,622

Keywords: review, reaction, breakdown, explained, ending explained, 1923, 1923 season 1, 1923 season 1 explained, 1923 season 1 ending explained, 1923 season 1 recap, 1923 season 1 breakdown, 1923 season 1 review, 1923 recap, 1923 review, 1923 breakdown, season finale, 1923 season 1 finale, 1923 season 2, 1923 renewed or canceled, 1923 episode 1, 1923 episode 3, jacob dutton, taylor sheridan, yellowstone prequel, 1883 sequel, spencer dutton, yellowstone spinoff, harrison ford

Id: dPL2tUl18Js

Length: 64min 27sec (3867 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 28 2023