‘1923’ Season 2 Premiere Brings Violence, Intrigue + Death

1923 Season 2 premiered on Sunday (Feb. 23) on Paramount+, and the first episode of the new season brought violence, struggle and death to the show’s beloved characters.

Episode 1 is titled “The Killing Season,” and the season opens with the Duttons mired down in a brutal winter at the Yellowstone, where they are mostly snowed in until spring.

What Happens With Jacob and Cara Dutton in 1923 Season 2, Episode 1?

Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) writes to Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) to tell him that they have had to sell almost all of the livestock to survive, and that he will have to rebuild the herd when he gets home and their troubles with Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) are behind them.

Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) is headed to Bozman on business, but before he leaves, he becomes very concerned when he sees a mountain lion on the porch, though he does not shoot it, which turns out to be a mistake.

Later in the episode, as Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) heads outside to bask in the first sunlight she’s seen in a while, Cara sees that she is frozen in fear, as the mountain lion is back and menacing her. Cara ends up killing it with a shotgun as Elsa from 1883 (Isabel May) provides a dramatic voiceover, saying that only the strongest survive the winter.

Jacob and Jack (Darren Mann) go to Bozeman, where Zane (Brian Geraghty) and his wife are in legal trouble because she is Asian and it’s illegal for them to wed. She refuses to divulge who performed the ceremony and is therefore subject to possible arrest.

Sheriff McDowell (Robert Patrick) is convinced that Whitfield is behind the trouble, and he warns Jacob that he’d better pay his land taxes on the Yellowstone, or Whitfield will leverage his wealth and power to seize the land.

What Happens With Spencer Dutton on 1923 Season 1, Episode 2?

As the new season opens, we find Spencer working shoveling coal in the engine room of a ship to earn his passage back to America.

He steps in and stops a sexual assault from one of the other men on the ship toward another, and then ends up saving the man a second time when he is poised to jump overboard after admitting the assaults have been going on since they left port.

His new friend convinces Spencer to begin fighting the other men on board for money, which he is reluctant to do, since he believes you should only fight to defend your life. However, he changes his mind after his new friend points out that earning the money to get back home is fighting for his life and family, and it turns out he’s very good at it, earning hundreds of dollars on his first night.

After his fights are over and he is on deck looking out over the water, lights come into view, meaning that he is about to land back in America.

What Happens With Teonna Rainwater in 1923 Season 2, Episode 1?

Teonna is still camping with her father and Pete (now played by Jeremy Guana after the death of Cole Brings Plenty, who originated the role). They are trying to stay one step ahead of Father Renaud (Sebastian Roche), who has been hunting for Teonna since she killed the nuns who had been abusing her at the school for Native Americans.

She wants to offer Pete her hand in marriage, and they nearly consummate their relationship before they are interrupted by a man on horseback, who turns out to own the land they are on. He does not mind, but he tells them they are in Texas, rather than Oklahoma, where they had intended to be.

Meanwhile, Father Renaud and his posse are not afraid to use force in trying to find Teonna. They come across a Comanche encampment and kill the men who step out with rifles to defend their families, but even Renaud thinks it’s too far when Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane) puts his pistol to the head of a child to force the tribe to give information.

When it turns out they don’t have any to offer, Kent runs the child down with his horse and kills him out of sheer spite as they ride away from the camp.

What Happens With Banner Creighton and Donald Whitfield in 1923 Season 2, Episode 1?

Banner Creighton and his family are now living in a very nice house and have access to money for the first time in their lives as a result of his association with Whitfield, but his wife does not approve of his work with the ruthless businessman.

She’s absolutely right not to trust him, too. As the episode progresses, we see that one of the sex workers Whitfield was abusing last season has now become a partner of sorts, and together, they are holding the other sex worker hostage and abusing her in a horrifying manner.

What Happens With Alexandra in 1923 Season 2, Episode 1?

Alexandra (Julia Schaepfler) is back living with her parents amid her forced separation from Spencer, but she’s harboring a secret: She’s pregnant, but she does not want to tell her family, who are already very upset with her due to her running off with Spencer in the first place.

She convinces a friend to sell off her jewelry to book her passage to America, and as the episode comes to an end, Alexandra is headed off to America, where she intends to join Spencer in Montana … though the dodgy nature of her lodgings makes it look like it will be an eventful trip.

What Happens Next on 1923 Season 2?

There are many questions still hanging as the show heads into its second season.

Will the Duttons be able to hold off the twin attacks of winter and Whitfield? Will Spencer make it back home in time to save his family? Will Alexandra manage to find her way back to Spencer? Will Teonna escape Father Renaud’s wrath?

1923 airs new episodes every Sunday on the Paramount+ streaming service.