As Jacob and Cora brave the winter in Montana, Spencer and Alexandra continue separate journeys toward their reunion.
Here are some random thoughts prompted by “The Killing Season,” the Season 2 premiere 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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- The Season 2 premiere starts on a somber note, first with an In Memoriam photo of former cast member Cole Brings Plenty, who died last April, then with a reintroduction to the defiant but increasingly distressed Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cora (Helen Mirren), who are enduring a cruel winter at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and eagerly — if not desperately — awaiting the return of their nephew Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) from his far-flung travels.
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- Just how cruel is this winter? Jacob announces early on that he’s already “sold the last of our herd” just to get by, and figures no one else at the ranch — including Jack Dutton (Darren Mann), his and Cora’s grandnephew, and Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph), Jack’s wife — will “go anywhere until spring.” None of that, however, will keep Jacob from eventually traveling to town (with a handful of well-armed companions, of course) for a court date keyed to his ongoing legal clashes with Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton), the pervy tycoon who covets the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, and Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn), the Scottish sheepherder and longtime Dutton adversary who has aligned himself with Whitfield.
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- Again, just how cruel is this winter? One morning, Jacob steps out onto his front porch and finds a mountain lion there seeking warmth. If this were almost any other show, produced by almost anyone else but Taylor Sheridan, we might expect this to be nothing more than fleeting comic relief. Especially after Jacob, although armed with a shotgun, simply waves off the big cat. (“I don’t want to shoot you! And you don’t want to be shot!”) But as we’ve learned by now, Sheridan rarely plants anything in an episode that doesn’t have a subsequent payoff. Sure enough, the lion returned — only to encounter a far less merciful Cora.
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- In the world of classic theater, you often hear the expression “The Law of Chekov’s Gun,” meaning that you never introduce a gun in the first act without someone firing it in a subsequent act. Maybe we should refer to the aforementioned incident as enforcing “The Law of Sheridan’s Mountain Lion.”
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- Meanwhile, Whitfield continues to demonstrate a predilection for kinkiness, keeping one prostitute on hand for early-morning close encounters in his bathtub, and another chained and held prisoner in a room until she’s beckoned to join in for a threesome. Banner’s wife Ellie (Sarah Randolph Hunt) presumably knows little or nothing about Whitfield’s sexual proclivities — but still doesn’t trust the guy as far as she could throw him. “When you lay down with dogs, Banner,” she warns her husband, “you stand up with fleas.” But Banner dismisses her warning, claiming that siding with Whitfield will enable him to provide a better life for her and their son.
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- Across the ocean, Spencer is doing his darnedest to make his way back to Montana after being escorted off the ocean liner that was taking him and his wife Alexandra “Alex” Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer) to America. (The reason? He inadvertently tossed Alex’s ex-fiancé off the ocean liner, and into the ocean, during a tussle.) We’re reintroduced to him as he toils aboard a cargo ship bound for Galveston, shoveling coal in the engine room. That’s he befriends Lorenzo (George Gallagher), an Italian fellow worker who’s such a novice that he needs coaching from Spencer to shovel the right amount of coal at precisely the right time.
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- Turns out Lorenzo also needs Spencer’s help outside of the boiler room: A burly badass in the crew’s quarters has been routinely raping him at night. Spencer expresses his disapproval of the predator’s action by beating the living hell out of the guy. The ship’s captain bursts onto the scene, angry that Spencer has taken it upon himself to discipline other crewmen. But after the captain is brought up to speed regarding Lorenzo’s mistreatment, he issues his own judgment by shooting the predator dead.
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Helen Mirren as Cora Dutton
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- Lorenzo may be diminutive, but he’s also a crafty wheeler-dealer. He convinces Spencer to engage in a series of bareknuckle, no-rules-allowed fistfights with other crewmen while others place huge bets on the outcome. Spencer isn’t happy about any of this, but what the hell: He needs all the money he can get to make his way back to Montana. This could be the start of a beautiful, or at least mutually beneficial, friendship.
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- There has been a lot of loose talk about who should play the next James Bond now that Amazon/MGM has assumed complete control of the 007 franchise. Might we humbly suggest… Brandon Sklenar?
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- Looks like we were correct in deducing from the broad hints offered in the Season 1 finale that Alex is indeed pregnant. She reveals as much to her buddy Jennifer (Jo Ellen Pellman) when the latter drops by Alex’s family mansion in England, where her image-conscious well-to-do parents have been more or less holding her prisoner after being separated from Spencer. Alex convinces Jennifer to help her escape and book passage on a New York-bound ship. To avoid being spotted by other members of her circle, Alex insists not traveling on the first-class level, but instead with common folk. Yeah, right. Like, what could go wrong?
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- And what about Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves)? She remains on the run after killing two brutal teachers at the Indian Boarding School where she was held against her will, all the while pursued by the cruel Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché) and two lawmen. Fortunately, she’s accompanied and protected by her father, Broken Rock Reservation chief Runs His Horse (Michael Spears), and the newly orphaned Pete Plenty Clouds (now played by Jeremy Gauna). Runs His Horse can’t help noticing the romantic attraction blooming between Pete and Teonna, and he initially objects to their possible dalliance. But, it should be noted, not too strenuously. As for Pete — well, take another look at his expression when Teonna drops her blanket while they’re alone together. Yeah, he’s interested, all right.
