1923 Season 2 Is Dark As Hell—and I'm Loving It | |
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It's a big day, readers. Welcome to the first edition of The Cliff-Hanger, a brand-new newsletter from the Esquire Entertainment Desk that dives deeper into the TV show of the moment. No matter what series we choose to highlight (don't worry, we won't leave HBO Sunday nights untouched), we'll postgame the latest episode every week with interviews, recaps, and more. My name is Josh Rosenberg and I'm the News and Entertainment Editor at Esquire. (It's also my birthday today. Like I told you—big day!) The first iteration of this newsletter will cover all things Yellowstone—Taylor Sheridan's sprawling western franchise—and its prequel, 1923, starring Brandon Sklenar, Harrison Ford, and Helen Mirren. The Paramount series has completely taken over my life since I first joined Esquire. So, it's only fitting that I'll kick off another year on planet Earth with the gift of 1923's season 2 premiere this Sunday morning. For better or for worse, I've become a Dutton encyclopedia during my years covering Yellowstone. It hit me for the first time two months ago when Yellowstone star Luke Grimes felt so comfortable during our interview that he spoke candidly about the one topic no one else in the cast would touch with a twenty-foot pole: Kevin Costner. Our talk fueled so many headlines that a TMZ reporter tracked down Costner while he was vacationing at a ski lodge in Aspen, Colorado, just to hound him for a response. I'm sorry, Kevin! Today, at least, we'll pause any and all discussion about how Costner and Sheridan's beef resulted in one of the strangest series finales of all time. I've done plenty of that plenty here at Esquire—and we will likely continue to do so in this very newsletter. Instead, I'm here to discuss the return of Yellowstone's prequel, 1923, which is entering the darkest arc that a Yellowstone property has ever seen. Netflix's American Primeval, a similar series about the West's brutal history that aired earlier this year, suspected correctly that audiences would love a more violent version of the Yellowstone prequels. They were right. Now, 1923 is here to clap back. |
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Don't just take it from me, though. Here's what 1923's Brandon Sklenar had to say about the darker tone of season 2 when we talked over Zoom earlier this week. "Tonally, it's almost a different show entirely," Sklenar said. "I love that. It's fun to tap into that energy, especially with a character who has so much darkness in him. Season one we just kind of had to allude to it. Now, we get the chance to let the cat out of the bag." Sklenar plays Spencer Dutton, the estranged nephew of the current Dutton patriarch, Jacob (Ford). He was hunting big game in Africa like Kraven the Hunter before Jacob Dutton (Ford) and his wife Cara (Mirren) wrote him a letter to book it back home. An evil mining magnate, Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton), partnered with a rowdy group of Scottish shepherds led by Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) to turn the Dutton family ranch into a tourist destination. It's what the villain always wants on Yellowstone: Pave paradise and put up a parking lot. After fighting every animal on planet Earth to make it back home in season 1, Spencer is still far from landing on American soil when season 2 premieres. A comedy of errors placed him and his new wife in the direct path of her former betrothed while they were booking passage on a ship. The man challenged the ripped Dutton hunk to a duel, so Spencer threw him overboard to his death. It seemed a bit unnecessary, but it was clearly much easier to kill a guy and get away with it a hundred years ago. Now, Spencer's taken up residence on some criminal tugboat where he engages in Gladiator-esque fights for extra cash. Hopefully, he finds his way back to Montana in one piece. |
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"He goes through a lot this season," Sklenar told me about Spencer's journey. "I care about him deeply and he feels like he's a part of me. So, I didn't have to do much to tap into it to be honest with you. I just put on some size because I wanted him to feel a little more intimidating, like a bit of an animal. But I built out his life so vividly. What you view is a very, very visceral experience." You can read my full interview with Sklenar here. Elsewhere in the episode, Jacob and Cara fend off a mountain lion while the villainous Whitfield engages in some evil debauchery that is too appalling to spell out here. Like I said, season 2 is dark. The light at the end of the tunnel for Yellowstone fans is that this season will likely, at long last, address John Dutton's parentage. I can't say for certain if any theories are currently winning on the Internet right now, nor if John Dutton's parentage is something that fans still care about following his unceremonious fate in Yellowstone. Either way, I just want to see Sklenar on screen with Harrison Ford. Check out our 1923 season 2 premiere recap for everything else that went down this episode, and I'll see you again next Sunday right here. Have thoughts or theories you need to share before then? Send me an email at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com. |
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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week |
Winner: Spencer Dutton Brandon Sklener is built like an ox. The actor bulked up between seasons to "feel a little more intimidating—like a bit of an animal," as he told me earlier this week. In the season 2 premiere, Spencer Dutton fights just about everyone who makes eye contact with him—and wins! Plus, he's going to be a father. Vegas's odds for him to become John Dutton's grandfather are suddenly through the roof. Loser: Donald Whitfield Want to tell the audience how evil a a guy isright off the bat? Make him a pervert. Screw the fact that he wants to see the Dutton family buried in the ground. Donald Whitfield may just experience the worst death anyone has faced in a Yellowstone series yet. And he will deserve it! Winner: Cara Dutton's Shotgun Last season, 1923 gave us Helen Mirren with a shotgun. That image alone course-corrected every terrible decision Sheridan made in Yellowstone season 5. To keep the good vibes going, he opened the 1923 season 2 premiere with her character blasting a mountain lion with a shotgun twice. Attaboy! Loser: The Mountain Lion Apologies to PETA, but that cougar was about to chomp down on Michelle Randolph. That would have been mighty bad for the Sheridan-verse, because the head writer in charge needs her for Landman as well. Cats may have nine lives, but that still doesn't beat a quick reload from Helen Mirren. Unclear: Kevin Costner Sheridan killed Costner off the show and then kicked all the Dutton ranch cowboys out of the bunkhouse. Now, the former Yellowstone star and Horizon director is on the hunt for some new friends. This month, Costner was spotted at major events, including the Super Bowl and SNL50, where he hung out with the likes of Pete Davidson, Jenna Ortega, Cher, and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes. I'm not sure why Costner is everywhere nowadays, but I can't blame a man for living his damn life! |
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