A Recap Of 1923 Season 2, Episode 6

Here are some random thoughts prompted by “The Mountain Teeth of Monsters,” Episode 6 for Season 2 of 1923. Please keep in mind: There will be scads of spoilers here — even more than usual — so consider yourself warned.

• • Well, OK, we kinda-sorta suspected that, since this is the second-to-last Season 2 episode, producer Taylor Sheridan would start tying up loose ends. But holy smokes! We didn’t expect corpses to start piling up like cordwood.

• • Truth to tell, we were relieved that we didn’t actually see poor Pete Plenty Clouds get shot by the sadistic Marshal Kent. But Father Renauld sure did — and this evidently was the tipping point for him in regard to witnessing the lawman’s wanton slaughter of Indians. Renauld: “Why did you kill him?” Kent: “Because he ran.” Renault: “Running is not a crime” Kent: “Well, running from me is.” That wasn’t nearly a good enough reason for Renauld: “You have been tasked to bring justice to a murderer. But the murderer is you. It is you who needs justice.” And since the priest wasn’t in a particularly forgiving mood, he shot the lawman. Repeatedly. “Now,” Renaud said, “you go scream with the devil.”

• • Be honest: Did you cheer when Kent got what was coming to him? Or shake your first to express approval? Or both?

• • Unfortunately, none of this kept Renauld from continuing his pursuit of Teonna and Runs His Horse. The fugitives set up camp for the night — and were insufficiently alert when Renauld crept up on them. The priest shot Runs His Horse, and offered Teonna the opportunity to make an act of contrition for her killings. When she refused, he aimed his gun at her — and was greatly surprised to discover that, after plugging Kent, he had no more bullets in his gun. Tough luck, padre: Teonna had time to burn his face with embers from a campfire, stab him, and then, for good measure, shoot him with her father’s gun. Yes, he had it coming, too..

• • Before his demise, Runs His Horse surmised that, with Kent out of the way — they had found his body lying alongside Pete's  — Teonna was safe: “[Pete] gave his life to free you.” Maybe so. But aren’t there still a zillion wanted posters out there with Teonna’s face on them?

• • Just as we feared, someone on the switchboard in the Bozeman telephone office overheard Sheriff McDowell’s long-distance conversation with Spencer Dutton. Beans were spilled, and pretty soon that slimeball Banner Creighton scurried over to Donald Whitfield’s mansion to warn him that a bona fide war hero was on his way back home to settle copious amounts of hash. Whitfield was mildly miffed by the interruption ­— he had been enjoying the kinky live sex show Lindy was performing with Mabel, the replacement prostitute she’d hired — but pulled himself together long enough to (a) ascertain Creighton had dumped the body of Mabel’s accidentally murdered predecessor in Wyoming, and (b) order Creighton to make sure Spencer and the rest of Team Dutton soon joined her there. After that, he, ahem, refocused.

• • Meanwhile, back at the Dutton Ranch, Sheriff McDowell arrived to (a) tell Jacob that Spencer was on his way home, and (b) warn Jacob that some gossipy switchboard operator probably had already alerted Whitfield about the prodigal nephew’s return. Jacob and McDowell decided they should maintain a vigil at the train station, along  with a few trusted Livestock Agents, to ensure Spencer’s safety once he stepped off the train.

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  Augie Prew as Paul and Janet Montgomery as Hillary

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• • Unfortunately, Jack took it upon himself to ignore Jacob’s order to stay at the ranch and protect the womenfolk. Even more unfortunately, Jack was shot dead by the turncoat Clyde (Brian Konowal) — obviously, one of the untrustworthy Livestock Agents. Poor Elizabeth: Looks like she will wind up being a single mother. Assuming, of course, that she lives long enough to give birth.

• • The other pregnant lady in our drama, Alexandra, seemed to be finally on the verge of a long-overdue reunion with Spencer, thanks to Paul and Hillary, the well-to-do Chicago couple that came to her rescue when she was about to be arrested. Paul was so impressed by her adventures — which he found worthy of inclusion in an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel — that he offered to drive her all the way from the Windy City to Montana, with Hillary along for the ride.

• • Not at all surprisingly, this turned out to be a major mistake. While driving through a blizzard, they ran out of gas. Worse, when Alexandra awoke from her slumber in the backseat, she found Hillary had frozen to death in the front seat — and Paul had apparently joined the choir invisible outside the car, apparently while seeking help. Alex remained alive (for the time being, at least) while the ghostly Elsa Dutton underscored the obvious in her narration: “Life is a constant state of battle for survival.” No kidding.

• • As for Spencer: Despite having to change trains, he appeared to be homeward bound. What sort of reception awaits him in Montana? We’ll have to wait until next week’s Season 2 finale to find out.