The latest episode of 1923 Season 2 shocked countless fans with the merciless deaths of many key characters. The penultimate episode of the Yellowstone prequel did not hold back, killing not one, not two, but seven characters in a single episode!
While every single on-screen death may not have elated the fans, the brutal death of Father Renaud was a highlight moment. Speaking in a recent interview, Sebastian Roché confessed that the episode 6 director did his best to make Father Renaud’s death scene one of the best moments in the show.
Father Renaud’s mad hunt for his former boarding school student, Teonna Rainwater, was one of the primary plotlines of 1923. It reached its ultimate climax in the latest episode when Renaud finally confronted Teonna, who ensured he suffered a brutal fate.
Sebastian Roché revealed the director’s vision behind his 1923 Season 2 death scene
Ardent TV viewers always hail the Red Wedding episode from Game of Thrones as the pinnacle of on-screen carnage. Seemingly, Taylor Sheridan also wanted similar emotions for the penultimate episode, “The Mountain Teeth of Monsters,” of 1923 Season 2.
Among the seven deaths in the penultimate episode, Father Renaud’s death was undeniably the most brutal. After he killed Michael Spears’ Runs His Horse in the dark, he was almost ready to kill Teonna Rainwater as well. But fate intervened, and he found his gun was empty. Rainwater did not waste a single moment and burned the priest’s face before stabbing him repeatedly and finally shooting him, completing her revenge.
In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Sebastian Roché shared that he used practical effects instead of CGI for the scene. He spilled the beans that the makeup department did an incredible job in highlighting the brutality of the scene.
Yes, the moment. We had to shoot my death after we’d done that [confrontation] scene. She takes something and pushes it into my face. We actually had makeup put a contraption that was fixed onto my face and had a remote control. That’s why my face is lit up. It’s not CGI. It lit up and created this truly incredibly dramatic moment. It was really amazing.
Sebastian Roché further added that he found the character’s fate very “appropriate.” TV fans love it when certain villains have the most brutal on-screen deaths. Joffrey’s death scene from Game of Thrones still delights numerous fans. According to Roché, the Episode 6 director, Ben Richardson, left no stone unturned to ensure the scene was “as savage as possible.”
[Ben] Richardson, the director — our unbelievable director, really the best director I’ve worked with in my career — he really wanted the scene to be as savage as possible with my death. First she burns my face, then I get stabbed. Then she shoots him and I found that so appropriate — it’s the man who would never die. He’s like a cockroach. It was a really, really intense moment. I saw the episode and I’m very impressed at the way it was filmed and handled. We were both very, very emotional in that scene.
While Teonna Rainwater has finished Father Renaud, it is to be noted that she is now all alone amidst the Wild West with her father (Runs His Horse) killed. It makes it more interesting for the fans who would expect a lot of answers from the upcoming 2-hour-long finale episode of the Harrison Ford-starrer Yellowstone prequel.
Sebastian Roché did not expect Jack Dutton to receive a similar fate in the show
From his chat with THR, it is evident that Sebastian Roché was thoroughly impressed with the fate received by his character in the show. He always wanted an extraordinary send-off for Father Renaud. He repeatedly claimed that the character got what he “deserved” in the penultimate episode.
However, Roché was highly shocked when he got to know about the death of Darren Mann’s Jack Dutton while reading the episode’s script.
I think my death was well deserved!… And it comes with the death of another character, which is really tragic, that nobody expected to happen, including me. I was reading the script and I was like, ‘Boy, are you f**king kidding me?’ I expected my death, but not his death.
As the fan reactions flooded across the internet after the episode was aired, it is evident that the 60-year-old actor was not the only one with similar emotions. Countless fans expressed their shock and disappointment over such a decision. Besides Jack Dutton, Sebastian Roché also did not expect Michael Spears’ Runs His Horse to have its tragic end in this episode.
Now, it will be exciting to see how Donald Whitfield’s fate is sealed with so many key players of the story already dead before the season finale. Whitfield, played by Timothy Dalton, is one of the most hated villains in the Yellowstone saga yet.
The final episode of 1923 Season 2 will drop on April 6, 2025, on Paramount+.