1923 Season 1 came to an end, and it’s safe to say that it didn’t necessarily resolve anything, but it mainly developed and set up what I feel is going to come in 1923 Season 2. It’s a brave approach from the show. But I would say as emotional as the 1923 Season 1 Ending Explained was, and there was a sense of unfulfilled there. But we can get into that later on down the line.
With Spencer’s role in the family needed more than ever and the Duttons looking as though they were drifting deeper and deeper into the past when it came to the modernization of their ranch, all of the stakes were still extremely high. With much more to get into, let’s do a recap breakdown and explain all that was to take away from the 1923 Season 1 Ending.
1923 Season 1 Ending Explained
Let’s start by talking about the 1923 Season 1 Ending. As we embarked on to the ending of the show, we saw that Spencer was separated from Alex due to throwing the Earl of Sussex off of the ship in a duel that occurred that was pretty humorous to watch. The duel occurred due to the jealousy and resentment that he held towards Spencer for Alex running off with him.
Whilst I originally thought that we may have seen the pair finish the season at the Duttons ranch, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Spencer was separated and taken on a dinghy boat to shore, where he would have to make his way back to the Dutton Ranch in Montana. With Alex not knowing where they would be able to meet again, we saw her mention that she’d meet him on the ranch in Montana. She knew of the location due to the letters that Cara had sent Spencer.
As the vast landscape was in the distance, we saw that Cara was writing down her final letter of 1923 Season 1, as she didn’t know of Spencer’s location. We saw a couple of episodes back that her reason for doing this was so that she could let all of her thoughts out, but she directed it toward Spencer. It finished as the season started, with the importance of Spencer’s role in the family being made apparent.
With the Dutton family on the cusp of potentially losing the ranch if they don’t make a payment to the bank after Whitfield paid for their taxes, which would ultimately mean that the deed to the ranch and all of the land would be transferred over to Donald, Spencer is needed.
Jacob Dutton getting older, being out of touch with the times, and not being willing to adopt modern advancements are what’s contributing to the struggles that the ranch is experiencing. So Cara knows that a young, strong, level-headed man like Spencer will be the main thing that can solve their problems in more ways than one. I’m just hoping it won’t take all of season 2 for him to end up there.
Now let’s breakdown the 1923 Ending for the other characters:
Jacob Dutson
Jacob’s main struggle since 1923 Season 1 kicked back off after the midseason finale was the adoption of modern technology. He’s an aging man in a growing world. His place to pitch horses in the town had been replaced by car parking spots. The deals that he used to make now had to have regulations and processes in place. And his body was slowly giving up on him, something which, when his ranches struggling, isn’t good for him or his family. He’s not the man that he was or still is inside of his mind.
With Banner being let off the hook, we all thought that revenge was going to be on the cards through the means of violence, but in actual fact, it wasn’t. Whitfield was his worst enemy, and we saw that he paid Jake’s taxes, which basically meant that the ranch could be transferred over to him if Jacob didn’t pay by the end of the year.
So it’s looking like something that could prove to be difficult for them to do. Jacob’s battle has only just begun. Banner was the beginning, but Whitfield is the main event. He wants to ensure that the Duttons suffer, and Jacob knows that. So how he deals with it in 1923 Season 2 will be crucial to the survival of the ranch.
Teonna Rainwater
Teonna has had the most heart-wrenching and sad story to watch develop over the course of season 1 of 1923. After the priests found her and she managed to fend them off, but sadly lost Hank in the process. We saw that at the End of 1923 Season 1, her father and Hank’s son were located here.
They were en route to head down South to another reservation where they were hoping to evade the authorities that were looking for them. We saw that Teonna and Hank’s son was growing closer and started to develop a relationship in this 1923 Episode 8, and with Teonna breaking down, when he embraced her, it showed that she hadn’t felt comfort or a caring touch from somebody in a long while. Highlighting that the feeling was alien to her.
Again, like the Dutton story, I thought we would get a sense of resolution with this arc, but it also feels like it’s only really just beginning. The sheriff and the father have bad times coming their way, but it’s just a shame that we didn’t get to see any of it really happen in the 1923 Season 1 Ending.
I feel like with the sheriff, the officers, and the father heading down South, and we may see an encounter in the future. But it’s going to be a little while to wait until we see vengeance acted.
There was a haunting moment at the start of the 1923 Season 1 Episode 8 between the father and the sheriff, where the father mentioned how enough of the children die every year to warrant a graveyard. They showed us the brutal, horrible fate that was met for many of the children that would be at these boarding schools. It was a harrowing moment for sure, and it showed just how evil the father and the sisters were.
Jack Dutton And Elizabeth
I thought 1923 Episode 8 was going to be the episode where we saw that Jack was going to die at the hands of Banner, but it wasn’t the case. I still feel as though it’s going to be on the horizon in 1923 Season 2, especially with there being a focus on destiny and purpose between the pair as well as Banners speaking directly to him in the courtroom.
Elizabeth sadly lost Jack’s baby that she was carrying in the season finale, and she started to question her own purpose. It was here where we saw the value of Cara Dutton to the family and Jack drawing up similarities between the both of them. Cara has been the single thing that has kept the family together In the course of three generations and none of the children were hers. She merely adopted them, raised them, and loved them as if they were her own.
Cara has been at the center point of this season, and it was even made apparent in episode 8 when she stepped in the middle of Jacob and Donald and got them to hold fire. Jack and Elizabeth are the next generations of the Dottons, so I’m intrigued to see if they are going to be able to have children again in season 2.
Donald Whitfield And Banner
Banner didn’t have that much involvement in the 1923 Season 1 finale. We saw that he was let off of his charges at the start of episode 8 and he was let go. He wanted to round up a posse and attack the Duttons. But we saw that Donald Whitfield talked him out of it, going for a more diplomatic approach and acquiring the ranch. The thing that Jacob cares most about more than anything in this world.
We saw Whitfield express the mental manipulation that he holds and how he values power more than anything in this world. We saw him express it on the women when he was power-tripping over them and then caused the victim to act on the pain that they were feeling when the tables were turned. And we also saw it when he paid off the Dutton’s taxes. He has the money and means to do what he wants and for his family with the generations to come. He’s a smart man, as he predicted tourism being the main thing in Montana in years to come. And as we’ve seen in the Yellowstone series, which is set in the present day, it definitely is.
The battle has only just started and with the threats that Donald was making at the start of the season towards Banner, we are yet to see his true evil side come out. We’ve only had glimpses of it.
Also Read: Is Yellowstone Ending After Season 5? Is John Denton Actor Leaving The Show?
