After last week’s non-stop action, this week’s episode of “1923,” “One Ocean Closer to Destiny,” felt a bit more like connective tissue of sorts, answering some unanswered questions and setting us up for the ultimate intersection of the individual stories of Teonna, the Duttons, Banner, and Spencer—that is, if Spencer even makes it back to the U.S.
At this point, we have three different stories in the mix, and this was the first episode where Taylor Sheridan gave equal footing to all of them.
Teonna’s Escape
Teonna is with Hank, who plans to send his son to find her father—but first, it’s time to get rid of anything to do with the heinous Residential School. The pair burns her clothes, but Hank pauses when it comes to her copy of the Bible, admitting that he’s afraid of God turning them to salt. He tells Teonna to bury the book down by the river instead. The scene is interesting, as it underscores the fear and intimidation inflicted upon the Native American people during this time. Hank and Teonna are brave and wildly independent, but the possibility of a “curse” is enough to keep them from what they want to do.
Meanwhile, word has spread about Teonna’s escape from school and the murdered nuns, leading to two sheriffs showing up at her grandmother’s house, looking for her. In a heartbreaking scene, the sheriffs ignore her grandmother’s request for an explanation, and she grows increasingly frustrated, slapping at an officer who shoves her back, but not before she hits her head on the stove and falls to the floor, lifeless. The two officers, again displaying a lack of value for Native American life, agree that they were attacked and leave the homestead. It’s unclear if the eldest Rainwater is alive, but I think either way, Teonna will seek to avenge the cruelty inflicted on her grandmother.
The Duttons Defend their Land
Over at the Dutton homestead, Jacob, hobbling around with his cane, is ready for revenge, instructing Zane to assemble a posse. Cara, meanwhile, is handling things above board, interviewing livestock agents in town with Sheriff Will. (One of their hires, a new arrival from the city, struck a chord of suspicion with me, leaving me wondering if there will be a double agent in the Dutton’s midst before too long.)
Cara rats out Jacob to Will, letting him in on the posse plan and divulging details of the attack—remember how that was meant to be a family secret? Will and his men give a stern warning to Dutton at the ranch, ultimately resulting in a dramatic argument between Cara and Jacob. Jacob reveals that his fear lies in the encroachment upon their land. Roads are being built, presumably for mining, and men from cities have zero interest in conservation or preservation. “Justice would be a luxury,” Jacob admits before waxing poetic about salmon swimming in New York’s East River. Jacob is frustrated and surely feels powerless at this station in life, but as a horse girl, I felt his sense of relief and—dare I say?—happiness as he laboriously saddles up his horse and rides off towards the mountains.
Jack and Elizabeth are secondary in this episode. Still, there’s one massively ominous piece of foreshadowing as Jack feels Elizabeth’s pregnant belly and remarks that he can’t feel anything—nor is she showing. Elizabeth seems confident that she’s still pregnant, and I hope that she still is for the sake of the Dutton family.
Spencer and Alexandra’s Struggle Against the Sea
When we last left Spencer and Alexandra in the last episode’s dramatic ending, their tugboat had just capsized somewhere en route to the Suez Canal, putting their journey home to Montana in peril. In this episode, Spencer, our rugged game hunter and all-around outdoorsman, emerges from the overturned vessel but sees no sign of Alexandra, who is trapped inside. (Doesn’t it seem like it’s always Alexandra putting the wrench in Spencer’s best-laid plans?)
After a dramatic rescue from the ship’s interior, the two reunite on board. Spencer, who can survive practically anything at this point, admits to a panicked Alex that they’re not going to make it through the day without water or shade. While this is probably true, it was also probably not the best admission for keeping the mood light. The duo bakes in the hot sun, Alexandra bizarrely clad in riding breeches, watching sharks encircle the boat before night falls. Surely they’re goners now, but the blare of a passing ship’s foghorn cuts through the darkness, with Spencer firing shots from his rifle to draw them near.
Rescued by two sailors in a dinghy, Spencer and Alexandra meet with the ship’s captain to discuss their onward voyage, post their new ride’s arrival in Marseille. There’s one big problem though: Alexandra isn’t American and will have to immigrate to enter the country. (Brief history note: Ellis Island closed for immigrant processing in 1924, and as the captain notes, it wasn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows, with cholera, tuberculosis, and other illnesses spreading rampantly.)
Spencer ultimately convinces the captain to marry the couple onboard, complete with wedding bands of perished sailors, sealing their journey back to Montana, but not before he admits a litany of things: the lack of plumbing and electricity at the Dutton homestead being one, a feeling of guilt for bringing Alexandra along another. Can Alexandra—a perpetual thorn in Spencer’s side so far, it seems—hack it out on the range? We’re going to find out.
