The tables are violently turned as priests from the Indian School pursue Teonna Rainwater.
Here are some random thoughts prompted by “The Rule of the Five Hundred,” Episode 107 of 1923, which premiered early Sunday on Paramount+. Please keep in mind: There will be scads of spoilers here, so consider yourself warned.
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- Michael Spears rode into the 1923 narrative — cast as Runs His Horse, Teonna Rainwater’s father — and wasted little time establishing his badass bona fides. He already appeared mightily peeved when he discovered the dead body of his mother, Issaxche (the sorely missed Amelia Rico), and was preparing to pursue her killer when Pete Plenty Clouds (Cole Brings Plenty), son of sheepherder Hank (Michael Greyeyes), showed up to warn him that Teonna was on the run because “something happened” back at the Indian School, and currently hiding out with Hank. Almost immediately, Runs His Horse went back to his home base and took his guns out of storage — just like your classic retired gunfighter in an Old School Western who needs to strap on his six-guns one last time. Cool.
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- As it turned out, however, Runs His Horse really didn’t need heavy artillery to start his very own body count. Three priests from the Indian School indulged in ungodly brutality when they came across Pete in the wild, and ganged up on him as he took issue with their intention to indoctrinate him back at their headquarters. One of the priests made the big mistake of volunteering to escort Pete back to the school, then compounded his error when, during a rest stop along the way, he announced his intention to beat the poor boy to death when Pete dared to question what the priest and his kind were doing to Native People. But then along came Runs His Horse, who scalped the priest, slit his throat, and then “ate his soul.” Heaven help the lawman who killed Issaxche if and when this dude catches up with him.
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- Things didn’t work out much better for the other two priests pursuing Teonna (Aminah Nieves). She had tried to disguise herself as a boy, but panicked when those bad men of the cloth arrived and started asking question. During the resulting tussle, she managed to gouge an eye out from one of the priests before being subdued. Fortunately, Hank appeared just in time to shoot both priests. Unfortunately, one of the priests – the one-eyed one — survived long enough to fatally wound Hank. (Good-bye, Michael Greyeyes — sorry you couldn’t stick around longer.) It was left to Teonna to smash the SOB’s head in with a rock. Hey, he had it coming.
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- OK, we’ve already had two nuns and three priests killed on this show. And once again, I wonder: When will Catholic pressure groups start raising a ruckus?
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- Jacob (Harrison Ford), his Yellowstone cowboys, Sheriff McDowell (Robert Patrick) and a host of deputies rode off to the fancy new house Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) had bestowed to Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn), and interrupted the latter’s early-morning frolic with two naked prostitutes to arrest him for murders, attempted murders, and assorted other crimes. But the charges may not stick. Whitfield hired a crafty lawyer to defend his partner in crime, and suggested that he could easily sway the judge in charge of the case. Think Creighton will be out on the street again before next week’s season finale episode?
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- And just in case there was remaining doubt that Whitfield is a bad, bad man, writer/showrunner Taylor Sheridan had the conniving Mr. Moneybags mosey over to the aforementioned fancy house to have his own sort of fun with the prostitutes. Fun that included having one strike the other’s bare bottom — hard — with his belt. Damn. And we though Beth on Yellowstone was kinky. Whitfield seems determined to make her look like a demure schoolgirl.
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- By the way: Remember Clyde (Brian Konowal), the politely spoken fellow who was hired in Episode 106 to join the new crew of livestock agents? Turns out he is a rat fink informer employed by — yes, you guessed it — Whitfield. Maybe Cara (Helen Mirren) and Sheriff McDowell aren’t as good at judging people as we may have thought. Of course, the sheriff was a lot more eager to hire the guy than Cara was. Could he possibly be on the take as well?
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Brandon Sklenar as Spencer and Julia Schlaepfer as Alexandra
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- Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) and Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) made it to Sicily, the latest stop on their trek to Montana, and were acting all lovey-dovey at an outdoor restaurant when who should pass by but the stuffy Brit fiancé Alexandra dumped to run off with her Dutton stud muffin. We’ll have to wait until the next episode to see what comes of this. But I suspect some sort of scene will be made. Hope that scene won’t involve any of the mafiosos who were casually mentioned as local nuisances.
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- Harrison Ford got another shot at an Emmy Award with another meaty monologue to deliver as Jacob, this one involving the need for governmental regulation, and the inevitable corruption of same. Perhaps he, too, does not feel Creighton will keep his appointment with the hangman.
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- Once again: No narration in this episode by Isabel May’s seriously deceased Elsa Dutton character from 1883. Maybe they’re saving her for the season finale?
Photography: Emerson Miller/Paramount+
