1923 season 1, episode 8, “Nothing Left to Lose”, is a dour finale and the halfway point of the Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone prequel, with each character having some cross to bear in this heartbreaking endcap. While 1923 season 1 has mostly taken its time getting the wheels turning on its epic story, episode 8 is a climactic episode that ends with more tragedy than anything else, but also perfectly sets up 1923 season 2, episode 1, to start running right out of the gate. There are few moments of hope embedded in the tragic tale.
The penultimate episode of 1923 season 1, episode 7, “The Rule of Five Hundred,” sees everyone setting off on a quest that will be decided in episode 8. Teonna Rainwater barely escapes the priests sent to retrieve her thanks to the timely appearance of her father, Runs His Horse. Spencer and Alex are in Sicily and run into Alex’s old fiancé. Jacob and his posse arrest Banner, who promises that their war is not over. There are a lot of threats and fears in episode 7, many of which come to fruition in 1923 episode 8.
Teonna Reunites With Her Father And Treks South
The Feds Plan To Race To Wyoming To Recapture Teonna
Teonna (Aminah Nieves) has one of the more hopeful storylines in 1923 episode 8, but that isn’t saying much. She’s still on the run from the horrific boarding school she was brought to, but now at least she’s reunited with her father. The two are also joined by the recently orphaned Pete Plenty Clouds (Cole Brings Plenty), and they quietly make their way south with the police joining the search for them. They’re headed to Wyoming to take refuge with the Comanche. Along the way, Pete and Teonna can’t help but get close, but Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) notices.
He warns them that they’ll have time for romance once they reach Wyoming, but now it’s too dangerous to be distracted. However, when Teonna cries herself to sleep on Pete’s shoulder, remembering all she’s been through, her father’s face falls with acceptance. The trio later get wind of the Feds ditching their horses and taking a train to Wyoming, hoping to beat them, so Teonna and her saviors pack up and march their way south with a slim prospect of hope.
Zane’s Wife, Alice, Is Arrested
Zane Is Beaten For Co-Habitating With Someone From Another Race
Yellowstone foreman Zane (Brian Geraghty) has been a stalwart and loyal rancher all season, but we’ve gotten to know very little about his personal life. We’re introduced to Zane’s wife, Alice (Joy Osmanski), and just as quickly, something horrible happens. After having dinner with his wife and two children, he and Alice go back to their bedroom for some romance, but someone is watching. Clyde (Brian Konowal), a Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) spy and a Livestock Agent, stares at them through their window.
The next morning, police arrive and arrest Alice for violating Montana’s miscegenation laws, real laws that once forbade unions between interracial couples. They also take time to beat Zane bloody. That they leave the kids is a small mercy. It’s a brutal look at the forces some of the characters in 1923 are up against. It’s not just people after their ranch, some characters are not welcome for any reason.
Elizabeth Has A Miscarriage
Elizabeth And Jack Face The Tragedy Together
Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) is involved in a short, but also heartbreaking scene. She’s seen in her bathtub, where she suddenly starts bleeding. When the doctor is called to see what the problem is, it’s revealed that she has lost her and Jack’s (Darren Mann) baby. Jack tries to comfort her as best he can, but the miscarriage is a devastating moment, and Elizabeth ends season 1 unsure of her purpose in life. It will take until season 2 for her to realize it for herself.
Spencer And Alex Are Separated On Their Way To London
Spencer Kills Alex’s Ex-fiancé In A Duel
Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) and Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) are on a long sea voyage to London, and they just so happen to be there with Alex’s former fiancé, Arthur (Rafe Soule), and his whole family. Arthur can only take so much of Alex and Spencer throwing their love in his face, and he challenges the much more strapping Spencer to a duel. Surprisingly, he chooses swords. Spencer easily dispatches him and tosses his sword away in the process. Arthur, now even more enraged and humiliated, pulls out a gun but Spencer easily tosses him off the boat into the seas below.
No one, save for Spencer, Alex, and Alex’s former bridesmaid Jennifer (Jo Ellen Pellman), saw that Arthur had a gun, so Arthur’s father, the Earl of Sussex (Bruce Davidson), throws Spencer into the brig, and sequesters Alex to her room. Jennifer finally comes forward about Arthur’s attack, and he’s freed, but the couple are not out of the frying pan yet. Someone, either the Earl or perhaps Alex’s scandalized family back in England, forces Spencer off the boat to drop him off at an unknown European shore.
Alex promises she’ll meet Spencer in Bozeman but season 1 ends with the partners headed in opposite directions, and the beck and call of some powerful forces.
The pair scream to each other, “I love you”, though the waves drown out most of their words. Alex promises she’ll meet Spencer in Bozeman but season 1 ends with the partners headed in opposite directions, at the beck and call of some powerful forces.
Banner Is Released Without Bail
Whitfield Convices Banner To Go After The Dutton’s Wealth
Back in Bozeman, Banner (Jerome Flynn) pleads not guilty, and says he acted in self-defense. Jacob (Harrison Ford) is taken aback when the judge releases Banner without bail despite how obvious it is that he premeditated the revenge killings of Jacob’s men. It turns out that Whitfield is bankrolling Banner with a fancy, high-priced lawyer. This is not Banner’s usual way though, he’s more accustomed to fighting out in the open, and he openly taunts and threatens Jacob and Jack.
Whitfield explains to Banner that real victory comes from earning generational wealth from your family, particularly when it’s due to the demise of a hated enemy. Whitfield wants to help Banner take everything from the Duttons, and while Banner seems a little uneasy about this new form of warfare, the promise of untold riches is enough to get him on Whitfield’s side.
Whitfield Reveals To Jacob That Yellowstone Will Default To Him If The Property Tax Is Not Paid
Jacob Has One Year To Pay Back Whitfield
Whitfield is not done poking the Duttons and at the end of 1923 episode 8, he comes to speak with Jacob. The businessman reveals that he purchased the lien on Yellowstone. If Jacob does not pay back Whitfield within the year, the deed for Yellowstone reverts to Whitfield. While it’s not quite as tragic a finale for Jacob when compared to the brutal events his family has experienced, Whitfield’s gambit is enough to shake Jacob. It’s the exclamation point on the season and shows that everyone in the Dutton orbit will be on the backfoot in season 2.