The “Yellowstone” universe has never been a particularly pleasant one, nor has it been known to show much mercy to its characters. That said, not even longtime fans of the Taylor Sheridan-run TV franchise likely expected James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill), the formidable leads of the “Yellowstone” spin-off, “1883,” to receive the shockingly cold post-show treatment that they did. Indeed, as tragic as the limited series is, the ending of “1883” does leave the door open for a potentially brighter future for both James and Margaret.
Instead, it’s revealed in “1923,” Sheridan’s follow-up to “1883,” that James died in 1893 in the aftermath of an encounter with horse thieves. Margaret, in response, wrote a letter to James’ older brother, Jacob (Harrison Ford), and his wife, Cara (Helen Mirren), asking for their help in running the Duttons’ still-developing ranch. Unfortunately, when Jacob and Cara arrived a year later in 1894, they discovered that Margaret had already frozen to death in a snowdrift.
Just in case that wasn’t tragic enough, it’s also worth noting that all of this information is revealed in the opening minutes of “1923” via a narration that comes courtesy of the ghost of James and Margaret’s deceased daughter, Elsa (Isabel May). Prior to the premiere of “1923,” a flashback in “Yellowstone” Season 4 had hinted at the nature of James’ death. However, his and Margaret’s fates weren’t officially confirmed until the first episode of the “1883” sequel. Viewers, notably, weren’t the only ones who were shocked to see the details of James and Margaret’s deaths be revealed in such a dispassionate manner.
Isabel May always knew she was going to narrate 1923
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Isabel May revealed that she knew early on that Elsa Dutton would narrate any “Yellowstone” spin-offs set after “1883” solely because Taylor Sheridan told her she would. “I always knew that I would narrate every iteration from then on. He told me that from the offset,” the actor recalled. “So I wasn’t surprised by it.” May was, however, shocked by the way in which Sheridan chose to reveal the fates of Elsa’s mother and father.
When asked what she thought of her opening narration of “1923” and how it reveals what eventually happened to James and Margaret, May said, “Oh, brutal! Brutal! So sad. Really what hit me was Margaret, she was so wonderful.” Reflecting further on Sheridan’s treatment of his “1883” characters, May added, “He’s going to make it brutal because that’s what life looked like then.”
The actor is, to her credit, correct in her assessment of Sheridan’s approach to his ever-expanding “Yellowstone” universe. Ever since “Yellowstone” began, the showrunner has displayed a willingness to kill off characters whenever he thinks that his story calls for it — no matter how prominent or seemingly important they may be. In “1883,” he took that even further by killing off most of its leads within the span of its eight episodes.
Right now, it remains to be seen whether or not “1923” will end up telling as brutal of a story as its predecessor. Either way, if one thing is for certain, it’s that Sheridan is fully committed to reminding viewers just how dangerous the Old West really was — and he doesn’t care how many characters he has to kill off in order to do that.