EXCLUSIVE: ‘1923’ Cast Reflects on Shocking Season 2 Finale, Plus What’s Next
We sat down with Julia Schlaepfer, Brandon Sklenar, Michelle Randolph, and Aminah Nieves to discuss the finale. Read the exclusive interview at the link in the comments below.
Lauren Smith/Paramount+
Fans of the Dutton saga are still reeling after last night’s 1923 Season 2 finale. While the supersized, 2-hour episode surpassed many fan expectations, it also left viewers with more than a few questions.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
In the 1923 Season 2 finale, viewers watched in jaw-dropped suspense as Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) made his way back to Montana. By the end of the action-packed episode, we learned that he and Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) are John Dutton II’s parents—AKA modern-day John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) grandparents—but that Alex succumbed to her frostbite not long after his birth. We also learned that Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph), while pregnant, was leaving the ranch in the wake of Jack’s death, begging the question of what’s to come of that line of the Dutton family tree. Separately, we saw Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) finally find the freedom she so desperately sought and deserved—though, now all alone, she was unsure of where to go next.
All in all, it was a lot to unpack. To make the process a bit smoother, we sat down with the 1923 cast to discuss the heartache, the hope, and the drama of it all.
The Power of a Mother’s Love
Spencer and Alex eventually reunited in 1923 Season 2, Episode 7, and it was an emotional moment that will live on in TV history. While barreling home toward Montana, Spencer was sitting at a dining car window seat. Alex saw the train coming—not knowing it was Spencer’s—and quickly jumped outside the deceased couple’s car, lit it on fire, and began waving her arms like mad. When Spencer caught sight of the stranded car ablaze within a snowbank, with a woman waving for help from the site, he knew it was Alex and proceeded to jump off the train. There was yelling, there was embracing, and there were plenty of tears—on screen and at screens.
Eventually, the train backtracked for Spencer and Alex and, once onboard, Alex was seen by a doctor, at which point it was determined that she had severe frostbite and was mere minutes from death when Spencer had found her. The doctor (and subsequent doctors) told her she should abort the child—that it would never survive prematurely—and undergo amputations to prevent succumbing to her frostbitten limbs. Alex refused, went on to have John Dutton II, and passed away not long after. As much as she adored Spencer, Alex’s enduring strength came from being a mother, Julia believes.
“It was the baby—of course, it was Spencer; I think she would have fought her way there for him, but then you have this added layer of she’s a mother and she has a child,” Julia tells Country Living. “You know, they talk about moms being able to lift cars to save their babies. It’s that type of superhuman strength that is incomprehensible, but it’s real. And that’s what keeps her going through all of it. That’s what kept her body alive in the cold for so long. It’s just so important that she gets there and has that child and then when she does have that child, she wants to spend every second of the life she has left giving to that child—and I think it’s just the ultimate, most beautiful sacrifice and display of a mother’s love.”
A Love Story Cut Short
As beautiful as Alex’s self-sacrifice was, it was heartbreaking to witness such a tragic loss after Taylor Sheridan offered us all an ounce of hope.
“I will always wish that Spencer and Alex could have had their happily ever after,” Julia admits. “I kind of felt it coming, [though]; since I was cast, like before we started filming season one, I would say it to Brandon and I would say to Taylor Sheridan, I’d be like, ‘Alex is going to die’—not that I wanted that, I just know how these things go. It’s too good to be true. But you know, if it was going to end this way, I feel like it was the most beautiful, perfect version of that, and I feel so honored to have gotten to tell this love story with Brandon. It’s so heartbreaking, but I love it. I love the story that Taylor’s written for us.”
Brandon agrees. “It meant so much to us personally and as the characters—it was a wild journey and a lot of emotion, and such a beautiful experience,” he tells Country Living. “There’s just not love stories like this very often anymore for whatever reason. You don’t really see pure love without any sort of cynical nature to it, you know? It’s just so damn beautiful and the way he concluded it was just unreal.”
Becoming a Dutton and Parting Ways With the Ranch
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Elizabeth faced her fears to help protect the Dutton’s home and land from Donald Whitfield’s (Timothy Dalton) men. She wielded a rifle during the shootout, doing her part to help safeguard the family’s legacy in Jack’s absence. Eventually, Spencer came to save the day and the cowboys returned to the ranch. When Elizabeth learned that Jack didn’t make it, she decided it was time to pack up and leave. Michelle doesn’t think that takes away from Elizabeth’s arc, resilience, or earned title as a Dutton though.
“It’s wild when you think about how Elizabeth started in season one and kind of that young, blind love, and then to see where she ends when she leaves,” Michelle tells Country Living. “I mean, her entire life has changed. Her dad has died; her husband has died; she’s basically abandoned her mother; she’s pregnant—I think Elizabeth’s whole season two arc is just learning how to survive on this ranch. She’s learning how to tough the elements in Montana. I love that she has this new strength in her that we haven’t seen because we’ve seen the sunshine and the hope, and I think that by the end of the season, she really earns the title of a Dutton. And even when she’s leaving, she’s leaving [with her head held high].”
A Fierce Pursuit of Freedom
Beyond the Dutton family and ranch, Teonna Rainwater was brought before a judge in the 1923 Season 2 finale. Given Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane) and Father Renaud (Sebastian Roche) were dead, the judge decided to dismiss the case, granting Teonna her long-sought freedom. While she had no idea where to go or what to do next, Teonna’s tenacity will guide her home, Aminah believes.
“From what I know about Thomas Rainwater, he is such a strong force in Yellowstone—the Yellowstone saga is not the Yellowstone saga without the Rainwater story in it,” Aminah tells Country Living. “And I think it was my duty to carry on and to show people where he got that strength from. You know, we navigate our communities mostly from matriarchal points of view and the matriarchs are our everything within our communities. So it only makes sense for Teonna to be even more tenacious than Thomas, you know?”
(Speaking of strength, Aminah hopes that the lesson we can all take from Teonna’s character arc is to “always use your voice even if it shakes.”)
Why Donald Whitfield’s to Blame
One of the final scenes of the finale was when Donald Whitfield met his much-deserved demise at the hands of Spencer. During the scene, Spencer blames him for Alex’s death and insists that he says her name. As powerful and satisfying as the scene was, many fans wondered why Spencer blamed Donald, specifically, for Alex’s death.
“It’s a multilayered thing,” Brandon admits. “Ultimately, part of what makes him who he is is his guilt and his shame—of being in war, his feeling of being responsible for that and not being able to process that. [On top of that] his mom died when he was little, his dad died when he was little; his mom froze to death, like he saw that. [So] this guy’s got some trauma; like some serious wounding, you know? And it’s just sort of compounded as he’s gotten older. And ultimately he blames himself for all of this and is trying to find anyone but himself to have an outlet for it. There is an element where he does blame Whitfield—he does want to hold him accountable and responsible [for Alex’s death and everything else]—but I think it’s motivated by a sense of guilt and knowing that he can’t take back not being there, and not having been there for the six years before all this bounced off.”
What’s Next for 1923 and the Yellowstone Saga as a Whole
Throughout the 1923 Season 2 finale, we witnessed Spencer’s never-ending dedication to getting back to Alex and his family. While his and Alex’s storyline didn’t culminate the way so many of us wished it would, we now know that Spencer and Alex are John Dutton III’s grandparents, that Spencer had a second child with a widow (he never remarried), and that Elizabeth is pregnant. All of this makes us wonder: What’s next? How will the storyline unfold for viewers at home?
“The 1944 thing is a possibility from what we’re hearing and I think that there’s room for Spencer, an older version of Spencer,” Brandon reveals.
Michelle, like viewers, hopes for answers. “I think that’s what’s so fun about working in the Yellowstone universe: People really care so much about the characters and where they come from,” Michelle says. “I thought by the end of the season it would be confirmed and now I’m left with more questions because not only is it like, ‘Who carries on the legacy and the lineage,’ but also ‘What happens to both of the babies; what happens to the other one?’”
Here’s hoping Taylor Sheridan has a grand plan to divulge such details in the most entertaining way. As of right now, there are no firm dates for 1944 or the various other Yellowstone spin-offs. Fingers crossed!
