‘1923’ Premiere: A Violent Beginning for the Dutton Men and Native Women

SPOILERS WARNING! This story contains details of the first episode of 1923which dropped on Paramount+ at midnight.

1883 Star Isabel May is back as Elsa Dutton – but only in voice-over form 1923, The latest from Taylor Sheridan yellowstone Prequel that gives more of a background to how the Duttons amassed so much power (and land) in Montana.

In the first episode of the eight-episode season, we learn that Harrison Ford will play Jacob Dutton, the brother of Tim McGraw’s James Dutton, who was first introduced. 1883. Elsa explains that Jacob came to Montana in 1894 to help raise his brother’s two sons: Spencer (Brandon Sklenar), a former World War I soldier plagued by PTSD and an urge to never leave Kenya; and John Sr. (James Badge Dale), a real cowboy who stayed behind to help his father run the ranch. (Elsa is at the end of 1883. Boo!) John Sr. and his wife Emma (Marley Shelton) are also the parents of Jack Dutton (Darren Mann), a fireball who needs to learn a thing or two about managing his fiancée’s expectations when it comes to cattle breeding.

Jacob Dutton is an “agent of the state” and wields immense power as a member of the Montana Livestock Association, who is in the crosshairs of local ranchers frustrated by the idea that their herds can only graze on the land you rent. The biggest whiner of the bunch is Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn, best known for playing the beloved Bronn in game of thrones), a tight-lipped Irishman who believes the grass belongs to God, not Jacob Dutton. The battle for pasture actually mirrors the storyline in Sunday’s episode yellowstonein which John (Kevin Costner) must move his cattle from drought-stricken Montana to another state – an expensive undertaking that prompts his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) to think of a better way to make money.

Spencer, on the other hand, has built a decent trade hunting big cats that stand in the way of upper-class safaris. We learn of his true connection to Montana when we see his stepmother Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) write him a letter about how his uncle, brother and cousin are driving the herd up the hill while he is somewhere in Nairobi looking for that part of you. what you lost after the war.

Then Spencer is brutally attacked by the animal he is trying to hunt and kill. No doubt he will survive.

And in a rather shocking twist, the action shifts to a boarding school for local girls who fear that a nun is out to kill the ruler (she said‘s Jennifer Ehle) and a sadistic priest (The man in the fortressSebastian Roché’s), who seem to have no love for their young students like the brave Teonna (Aminah Nieves). The episode may have opened with Elsa saying, “Violence has always plagued this family,” but it also seems to drive the local Catholics. There is no sign yet of how this dirt will affect Yellowstone ranching.

There are some other interesting characters in the background, such as the young beauty named Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) whom Jack really wants to marry, and the welcome addition of Robert Patrick, who plays Sheriff McDowell. And what about those street fighters and banner fans protesting outside the bar?

It’s still a few weeks before we learn more about what’s happening inside 1923: The show doesn’t return until January 1st on Paramount+. What do you think of this latest prequel so far?