While Mother Nature makes her cruel presence known in Montana, Spencer reluctantly makes a new ally in Galveston.
Here are some random thoughts prompted by “The Rapist is Winter,” Episode 2 for Season 2 of 1923. Please keep in mind: There will be scads of spoilers here, so consider yourself warned.
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- Near the end of Season 1, Elizabeth suffered a miscarriage. In the Season 2 premiere, she was nearly attacked by a mountain lion, and was saved only because Cora was in the right place at the right time with a shotgun. This week, she was bitten by a possibly rabid wolf. It’s hard if not impossible to argue with Cora’s observation: “I swear, girl! Mother of God, if it weren’t for bad luck, you’d have none at all!”
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- Given the havoc caused by the brutal winter weather in their part of Montana, Elizabeth was pretty dang lucky that Cora was able to summon Dr. Miller (Mark Daneri) from town just before a blizzard set in to give her rabies shots. But Elizabeth didn’t see it that way: She turned positively hysterical in her objections, and had to be physically restrained while Dr. Miller gave her the first in what will be a series of injections. At the end of the episode, she promised that, as soon as she was able and the weather cleared, she would leave the Dutton ranch — permanently — because she could no longer shoulder the demands of being a rancher’s wife. Especially during times when she had to cope with, as unseen narrator Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) warns, “the merciless, loveless nature of cold.”
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- And really, who could blame her for wanting to skedaddle after all she has been through?
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- Meanwhile, Jacob and his great-nephew Jack are still in town, trying to free Dutton Ranch foreman Zane Davis (Brian Geraghty), who’s been arrested on trumped-up charges of miscegenation for being married to Alice (Joy Osmanski), an Asian woman. (It’s obvious that the villainous Donald Whitfield and his cat’s-paw Banner Creighton are the ones behind the trumping.) By-the-book Judge Roy Garrett (Patrick Burch) initially rebuffs suggestions made by Caleb and Sherriff McDowell (Robert Patrick) — whom Caleb wisely brought along for his visit to Garrett’s office — that Zane, his wife and their two children be released into Caleb’s custody at his ranch. But after Caleb and McDowell discover Garrett has been hoarding (and drinking) whiskey in his office, enabling McDowell to threaten him with arrest — Prohibition is going on, remember? — the judge signs off on the deal.
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- Of course, Garrett isn’t the least bit happy about this, and warns Jacob not to take too many victory laps. Not to worry: “Ain’t no winner among us on this deal, Roy,” Jacob responds. “Not one.” And sure enough, by the end of the episode it appears tragedy, not victory, may be in store for Jacob, his men, Zane and his family as they’re caught in a blizzard on their way back to the Dutton Ranch. They’re forced to free their horses and seek refuge from the storm in an overturned wagon. Think of this as this episode’s Cliffhanger No.1.
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- Meanwhile, Whitfield finds yet another reason to claim the Dutton Ranch and surrounding areas for his own: While being driven with Creighton along a backcountry road, he spots some Norwegian immigrants skiing down the side of a mountain. At first, someone has to explain to him exactly what skiing is. But it takes Whitfield only seconds to realize he could make a fortune off tourists eager to enjoy “the euphoria of peril, the exhilaration of danger.” Sounds like he wants to turn the place into a ski resort, something that would be more profitable than mining. Isn’t that the sort of thing John Dutton of Yellowstone was always worried would happen?
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- Creighton seems to be a great deal less than gung-ho about this plan, but he wisely — fearfully? — keeps his misgivings to himself. Later, he admits to Clyde (Brian Konowal), his buddy and co-conspirator: “I am a sinner who will never see the gates of heaven. But I know they exist.” And he knows that Creighton won’t make it past Saint Peter either. “The man scares me, Clyde,” he says. “He bleeping scares me to death.”
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Brandon Sklenar as Spencer Dutton
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- Teonna Rainwater remains on the run, accompanied by her father Runs His Horse and the recently orphaned Pete Plenty Clouds, and are quite surprised when they realize they have wandered into Texas. As they consider laying low on a possibly sympathetic rancher’s spread, Father Renaud and Marshall Thomas (Ross Crain) continue their pursuit, following a trail that leads them to Oklahoma. (Along the way, another marshal is killed after Thomas viciously shoots a few Comanche youths who get in their way.) The pursuers seek help from a local lawman, and are startled to discover the marshal is a lawwoman, Mamie Fossett (Jennifer Carpenter). Not surprisingly, Thomas condescendingly questions whether Fossett has enough grit for her job. Even less surprisingly, Fossett calmly but firmly cuts him off. We’re looking forward to seeing more of this no-BS woman.
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- Spencer and his new friend Luca disembark in Galveston, where Luca promptly introduces his buddy to members of his obviously mobbed-up family. (Note the cargo being unloaded from the ship — contraband whiskey, right?) Sal Maceo (Gilles Marini), head of the clan, warmly greets Spencer, and offers him hospitality in the form of great food — much like Whitfield has to be told what skiing is, Spencer gets introduced to the delicacy known as pizza — and a posh suite in a luxury hotel. But when Spencer insists he must depart immediately to make it back to Montana in time to help his family, Sal and his henchmen “convince” the desperate Dutton to stick around for a while. Or at least long enough for the bootleggers to load up a truck with illegal booze, and direct Spencer where to deliver it in Fort Worth. Spencer agrees because, hell, how else will he ever get back to Montana?
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- Since nothing is ever planted in a Taylor Sheridan-produced series without a payoff of some sort, we can’t help wondering: Will Spencer eventually enlist Sal and his associates to help him battle Whitfield and his minions?
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- And here is Cliffhanger No. 2: We get a fleeting look at Alexandra in a lower-level birth of New York-bound ship where she and other passengers are being tossed about by the stormy sea outside. Alex somehow manages to calm herself by envisioning her return to Spencer and their happily-ever-aftering together while raising “a little army of children.” She already one baby on the way. Will she survive to deliver that one and many more? Stay tuned for further developments.
