1923 Season Finale Recap: “Nothing Left to Lose”

Here are some random thoughts prompted by “Nothing Left to Lose,” Episode 108 of 1923, which premiered early Sunday on Paramount+. Please keep in mind: There will be scads of spoilers here, so consider yourself warned.

• • Must admit: We figured something in this Season Finale episode would wind up delaying Spencer and Alexandra on their globe-spanning journey to Spencer’s Yellowstone ranch home in Montana. But “Spencer Throws Alexander’s Ex Off the Side of a Ship” most certainly wasn’t on our bingo card. Sure, ex-fiancé Arthur (Rafe Soule) — a.k.a. the Earl of Essex — had it coming, after refusing to get out of Spencer’s face during their England-bound luxury liner cruise. To his credit, Spencer refrained from accepting Arthur’s challenge to a duel until the scorned fellow started calling Alexandra bad names. And even then, he tried to end the skirmish after disarming Arthur — twice! — during swordplay. But when Arthur charged at him with a gun, well, it was time to send that bad boy to sleep with the fishes.

• • Unfortunately, because Arthur was a member of the British royal family, his well-connected father (an effective cameo by the always-welcome Bruce Davison) was able to pull a few strings and have Spencer escorted off the ship in a dinghy and dropped off… well, who knows? Back aboard the HMS Majestic, Alexandra yelled words of love and encouragement, and promised to somehow follow her husband home to Montana — despite what likely will be major impediments introduced by her own family. Guess we won’t be seeing these two at Yellowstone until Season 2. Maybe.

• • Taylor Sheridan made a special point of emphasizing in his Season Finale script how often Alexandra was prone to seasickness while aboard HMS Majestic. Because this has never been a problem for Alexandra before — not even while she was perched atop a capsized tugboat — and because Sheridan almost never introduces any plot element that doesn’t have a payoff, I can’t help suspecting: Is Alexandra, well, you know, pregnant?

• • Speaking of pregnancies: Poor Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) miscarried, adding yet another calamity to the seemingly endless list assigned by fate (and Taylor Sheridan) to the Dutton family. And while her doctor didn’t specifically state that she and husband Jack (Darren Mann) couldn’t take another shot at parenthood, the couple sure did spend a lot of time talking about what a childless life might be for them. (Like, Cara sure has managed to have a fulfilling life without having children of her own.) All of which raises the provocative question: Just who will be the one to carry on the Dutton bloodline? Alexandra? Elizabeth? Or maybe a character we won’t meet until Season 2?

• • By now, we should be used to the idea that no one on a Taylor Sheridan series is allowed to remain happy for very long. But tarnation, buckaroos! Sheridan waited until the Season Finale to reveal that ranch foreman Zane (Brian Geraghty) is happily married with an Asian wife, Alice (Joy Osmanski), and two adorable children — but then brutally doused the joy of Zane’s family reunion just a few minutes later by having lawmen show up at the doorstep of his happy home and arrest him for breaking Montana’s infamous anti-miscegenation laws. At least Zane and Alice got a chance to share a shower together (just like Spencer and Alexandra did a while ago) before Alice was carted off to the hoosegow. After Zane was viciously beaten, of course.

• • Not at all surprisingly, it was an employee of the sleazebag Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) who tipped off the cops about Zane’s domestic situation. Even less unexpectedly, Banner managed to get released without bail during his arraignment on murder charges, thanks to the clever tactics of the lawyer hired by Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) — and, apparently, the presiding judge Whitfield has in his pocket. Banner can’t keep himself from repeated promising, in front of anyone, anywhere, within earshot to use, ahem, extralegal measures to rid himself of Jacob Dutton. But Whitfield cautioned him to think of a possible — probable? — future in which his children and Whitfield’s eventually control of Yellowstone through perfectly lawful means.

• • The more Whitfield talks about legacy and landowning, the more he sounds like Jacob Dutton, doesn’t he? (Which doubtless is Taylor Sheridan’s intent: The classic screenwriting ploy of having protagonist and antagonist mirroring each other.) Trouble is, Whitfield has a firmer grasp of tax laws and other legal matters, which he revealed by informing Jacob, Cara and Jack that he had purchased the lien on Yellowstone — yep, the bank is in Whitfield’s pocket as well — and will own the property if Jacob can’t pay his tax debt by year’s end. Evidently, Whitfield has seen the future — and it involves tourism, not cattle ranching.

• • Also: Whitfield continued to get his freak on while watching prostitutes beat each other with his belt. He said he enjoyed the displays of absolute power more than being turned on by kinky sexual activity. At least, that’s his story, and he’s sticking with it.

• • Some good news to tide us over to Season 2: Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) continues to avoid the posse on her trail with help from her father Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) and the newly orphaned Pete (Cole Brings Plenty). Better still, there’s a romance blooming between Teonna and Pete as the three fugitives make their way to Wyoming. Runs His Horse disapproves, noting that they should “Fall in love later” — like, when they’re not being chased by Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché) from the Indian School and a passel of lawmen. But Teonna can’t hardly wait. “They’ve been trying to kill me since they took me,” she told her father. “I don’t believe in later.” And really, after all the misery she has endured so far on this show, who can blame her?

• • One more time: No narration in this episode by Isabel May’s seriously deceased Elsa Dutton character from 1883. Perhaps Taylor Sheridan came to his senses, and realized the voiceover should be deep-sixed. Of course, he could always bring it back for Season 2...

  Photography: Emerson Miller/Paramount+