Don't worry Yellowstone fans, 1923 season 2 will inevitably fix the first season's biggest flaw
Yellowstone prequel series 1923 might not have been Taylor Sheridan's finest hour, but the show's final season is poised to stick the landing.
1883, Taylor Sheridan’s first Yellowstone prequel, incontrovertibly stands as the writer's greatest TV achievement.
Forgoing the soapy (and often plain silly) tendencies of his flagship Western series, the period piece told a single, cohesive story across its 10-episode run, anchored by some unusually sensitive, mature and nuanced storytelling from Sheridan and his creative team.
While Yellowstone was still at the height of its power, the prequel elevated the franchise to the next level – but the same couldn’t be said for 1923.
A sequel to 1883, and another prequel to the Kevin Costner-led main event, 1923 arrived at a time when Yellowstone still felt bulletproof. And, it proved to be an eminently watchable new entry for the franchise while undoubtedly scratching the Yellowstone itch.
1923 tells the story of the Dutton ranch, led by the stewardship of Harrison Ford and Dame Helen Mirren’s sturdy Jacob and Cara Dutton, under siege from multiple angles. In a sprawling plot, Sheridan’s writing journeyed from the snow-covered peaks of Montana, down to the dusty southern states, and then across to the vastness of Kenya and back again
But, unlike 1883, 1923 had a major flaw. While telling a story spanning multiple continents, 1923’s first season was left too nebulous, too disparate and too disconnected.
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Regardless of the many other ways in which it certainly succeeded, 1923's great weakness was that it failed to coalesce its characters and their stories together into one interconnected whole. It often felt like three different TV series arbitrarily stitched into one, battling for control.
The brutal story of Teonna fleeing from her Catholic-run Indian boarding school distracted from Jacob and Cara’s defence of the ranch, which, in turn, distracted from Spencer and Alex’s riotous adventures in Africa. They existed as diversions from each other.
Yellowstone’s final batch of episodes struggled with this too, persistently detouring to inspect a shiny-looking object on the horizon, only to find that it was nothing noteworthy.
So, when 1923 imminently returns, is there any hope that the sequel might hit the heights of its two predecessors, or is it doomed to always be the outing that was just adequate, and nothing more?
Thankfully, Yellowstone fans should be optimistic: 1923 season 2 has greatness within its reach.
In establishing its globetrotting cast of characters throughout its first season, and by giving (nearly) all of these characters a clear sense of onward direction, it seems like an inevitability that Sheridan will unite his story together in a way that will address 1923’s former issues and let the series flourish.
For the Duttons in Montana and their villains, and for Spencer (and Alexandra not far behind), all roads now lead to the Yellowstone ranch: this will be the epicentre of 1923 season 2's story, whereas season 1 had no such focus.
Bringing these characters and their respective stories together should fix the issue that most damaged the first season. And in turn, it’ll almost certainly make for a circus of brilliant chaos and essential viewing.
Admittedly, getting these characters to the famous Dutton house might require some patience. Spencer has leagues of ocean to cross before he reaches the shores of America, let alone Montana, while his beloved Alexandra was London-bound when the first season ended.
Meanwhile, Teonna, still on the run from her relentless persecutors, is headed south toward Texas rather than north toward Montana. In other words, her story is leading away from the Duttons, not approaching them.
However, slowly but surely, the various threads of the 1923 story are steadily being pulled together rather than apart. They’re finally all beginning to share a united focus – for the series’ all-important sense of direction, that counts for a lot.
Besides, it can’t be forgotten that after a wobbly final batch of episodes with the end of the recent main series, Sheridan did prove once again that he’s more than capable of crafting conclusions. It might well be his greatest talent as a writer.
1923 didn’t begin its life as a lesson in perfect storytelling: it ebbed and flowed and struggled to hit a groove. But, by the time the series comes to its grand conclusion, don’t be surprised if you find yourself overwhelmed, once again, by Sheridan’s ability to stick the landing with his own unique brand of emotionally satisfying gruff poeticism.
His ability to tug at the heartstrings is an unexplainable law of the universe, and he hasn’t let us down yet.
1923 season 2 will launch on Sunday 23rd February 2025 on Paramount Plus. Get a seven day free Paramount Plus trial at Amazon Prime Video.
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