1923
Paramount Plus’s series, 1923
1923 is not a series or storyline for the young and impressionable. Like its sister shows, it delves deep into the world of lust, killings, bigotry, and foul language. In my opinion, the show took the scenes with Timothy Dalton’s character and the prostitutes too far. The audience doesn’t need to see everything to feel the injustice and know how sick and detestable his character truly is. Those scenes detracted from the main story and took up valuable screen time which should have been given to the main characters. The prostitute scenes added no value to either propel the story forward or to explain a pivotal plot point or character arc. I hope the second season refrains from using these story degrading ‘shock’ tactics.
Although the second spinoff from the popular show, Yellowstone, failed in a few ways, it delivered in others. The love story of Spencer Dutton and Alexandra captivated me from the moment they met. Their chemistry was palpable and their final scene heartrending. An entire show could be made of just this love story. It was enthralling. I sincerely hope season 2 shows even more of this wonderful romance. Well done Brandon Sklenar and Julia Schlaepfer.
The love story of Jacob and Cara Dutton, though more subdued than their younger counterparts, was deep and powerful and carried out to perfection by two of the best actors in the business, Hellen Mirren and Harrison Ford. Their love is one of history and strength solidified through their life struggles on the Dutton Ranch in Montana. A perfect pairing with the more tumultuous love story of Spencer and Alex.
Unfortunately, there were many loose threads left dangling conspicuously at the conclusion of season 1. The most egregious being the failure to bring the main plot to a conclusion while still providing a hook for the next season. From the beginning, the story premise was that Spencer was needed back home on the Dutton Ranch. The entire season dangled this promise of the story arc with every episode, then failed to deliver it in the finale. Even if Alex did not make it at the same time as Spencer, Taylor should have fulfilled this promise of the narrative during the finale at the very least. It honestly felt as if the season was stopped at the midway point of the plot. Very unsatisfying. This failure might possibly be related to the industry’s recent unfortunate trend of shortening seasons from 20-23 episodes down to 10-13.
Another conundrum was the odd usage of royal titles. Although Alex’s surname is not mentioned, she is referred to as the Countess of Essex. The writer, Taylor Sheridan, also referred to Arthur’s father as the Earl of Essex. Since Alex was to marry Arthur before meeting Spencer, it begs the question of how the two titles co-exist?
It has been almost a year since 1923 was released on Paramount Plus, but there is no news of when the second season will happen. Again, this annoying trend within the industry of long dry spells in between seasons and the writer’s strike could be part of the problem. The studios really should get back to the normal season lengths and shorter intervals between seasons. Pretty Please.
