Jacob and the Yellowstone cowboys save one of their own before deciding their next move.
Here are some random thoughts prompted by “Nature’s Empty Throne,” Episode 102 of 1923, which premiered early Christmas Day on Paramount+. Please keep in mind: There will be scads of spoilers here, so consider yourself warned.
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- Great to see Amelia Rico, the fearsome witchy woman from Dark Winds, demonstrating her range here as Issaxche, the determined grandmother of Teonna (Aminah Nieves), the poor girl enduring a living hell at the Catholic school where nuns and priests are determined to beat the Indian out of her. But I have to admit: When that Indian Bureau official was so disrespectful to her, I immediately hoped she’d revert back to Ada Growing Thunder mode and sic a spider on the guy.
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- Speaking of Teonna: Do you hope she winds up killing the brutish Sister Mary (Jennifer Ehle) and the cruel Father Renaud, like, real soon? I don’t think God Almighty would view such violence as anything more sinful than self-defense.
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- Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) already is working on scoring a high body count of his own. You might think it was a tad, ahem, ahem for him and the Yellowstone cowboys to set up those sheepmen to more or less hang themselves as punishment for trespassing on his land and taking a shot at his great-nephew Jack (Darren Mann). But, you know, maybe Jacob didn’t go far enough. Banner (Jerome Flynn), leader of the sheepmen, managed to survive, thanks to his patient horse. And he almost certainly will be out for revenge — especially when he realizes Jacob has donated his sheep to a nearby Indian reservation.
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- Remember the original ad tagline for Hang ‘Em High: “They made two mistakes. They hung the wrong man, and they didn’t finish the job.” That just might wind up being appropriate here.
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- Jacob obviously was self-serving during his moment of reflection as he maintained: “Every civilization in this world is built on top of the one they conquered.” But it’s kinda-sorta hard to argue that point. And it’s very easy to see why he has adopted that as incentive: Ain’t nobody gonna conquer what the Duttons have already conquered.
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- Meanwhile, off in Africa, Spencer (Brendan Sklenar) continues to fascinate as a taciturn Great White Hunter (and battle-traumatized WWI vet) with a private code of honor. So far, 1923 as a whole seems designed to bring out the bloodlust in viewers — I for one wanted him to inflict grievous bodily harm on the guy who “neglected” to tell him that more than one leopard had been feasting in the area. On the other hand, it was pretty damn satisfying to see Spencer forcing the SOB at gunpoint to apologize for inadvertently causing the death-by-leopard of Spencer’s friend and guide.
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- Turns out Spencer is employed by the British protectorate, rather than plying his trade as a free-lancer. That’s a bit disappointing — I was hoping he would be the wild game-hunting equivalent of Josh Randall on Wanted Dead or Alive. Still, he remained irresistibly enigmatic enough to capture the fancy of Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) during his rest-and-recuperation interlude in Nairobi. It helped that his reputation as a fearless hunter of maneaters proceeded him. (Nice touch: He quickly disabused Alexandra of the notion that he killed a leopard with his bare hands.) But it helped even more that Spencer appeared as a larger-than-life manly-man alternative just in time for Alexandra to consider him as a preferable alternative to her bland-vanilla fiancé.
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- Some great meet-cute dialogue here. Alexandra: “You’re rude.” Spencer: “Us Americans are renowned for our lack of manners.” Alexandra: “True. Do you drink champagne?” Spencer: “When I’m celebrating.” Alexandra: “And whiskey when you’re down?” Spencer: “Whiskey when I’m down.” Alexandra: “Here’s to something worth celebrating. May it find you soon, sir.” No wonder that, a few scenes later, he couldn’t refuse to take her along for the ride as he was driven off to his next assignment. Spencer gave her fair warning: He’ll be hunting a ravaging spotted hyena. Undeterred, she replied: “Let’s look death in the eye then, shall we?”
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- In the Taylor Sheridan universe, there are no weak women.
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- Unfortunately, Helen Mirren’s Cara Dutton didn’t have much to do in this episode. I’m looking forward to seeing the violent clash we saw previewed at the start of the series premiere.
