1923 Season 2 Episode 4 Takes Spencer and Alexandra to the Rails on “Journey the Rivers of Iron”

Critic’s Rating: 3.65 / 5.0

3.65

Spencer and Alex’s journeys continue on 1923 Season 2 Episode 4, as Zane undergoes a risky medical procedure without anesthesia.

These Yellowstone sequels are big on journeys but not so much on meaningful storytelling.

So much of 1923 is traveling from one place to another, and it’s kind of exhausting. It sometimes feels like we’re running mad but standing still at the same time, as if we’re traveling on a treadmill.

But before we get into the Duttons of it all, it’s worth noting that we were stuck with more from Donald Whitfield and his crew and a surprisingly short segment involving Teonna Rainwater.

The staccato nature of this show’s storytelling, taking us all over the world and back in one episode during 1923 Season 1 and visiting entirely different states with barely overlapping stories in 1923 Season 2, isn’t my favorite.

The show isn’t long enough for every storyline to get its due. At least on 1883, the journey they focused on was with a broad group and what became of them. That made sense.

Honestly, I still can’t tell how Teonna’s story will weave its way into the main storyline, if it will at all. It’s as if Teonna is in this story merely because she’s a Rainwater. I’m not even sure how much she knows about Yellowstone.

As I mentioned in my 1923 Season 2 Episode 3 review, I think the Native American experience would be better told in a standalone series with minimal crossovers. Here, it gets the short shrift too often.

I like the idea of them being cowboys as much as Teonna seems to but like Teonna, our time with them as cowboys will be short. While I’d guess that cowboys stick up for one another, there are enough bad apples that they’d be unwilling to sit out a reward.

Has our time with joyful Teonna ended? Will she soon be captured and tortured some more? She may get lucky with Marshal Fossett, but only time will tell.

And then we have Donald Whitfield, who has a nose for money. He can sense it when others laugh at the idea of it.

Personally, I hate that someone like Whitfield saw the rewards of creating a ski resort. I’m happy to say that the first Montana resort was established in 1936 and operated by the Great Falls Ski Club, not by a miscreant wealthy man.

I don’t know why that makes me so happy, but in light of the awfulness that is Whitfield, his sex slave, and his number two, Banner, it practically makes me giddy.

Stomaching nasty people doing nasty things isn’t my thing. It hurts to think that this story will continue through the Yellowstone finale. There was always someone clawing at the land and wanting to put a damned airport on it.

It’s funny that it was introduced so early in the Dutton saga, but it shows that it was a solid 100-year attack that never let up. The evildoers may have changed, but every generation of Duttons likely experienced the same thing.

That does, in a way, tie Teonna to the greater story since we know it will be her tribe that ultimately reclaims the land so many have fought over. Still, the way they tore it all down on Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 14 just showed how futile the Dutton’s century-long battle really was.

And that battle is just beginning.

For now, Zane and his family are paying the dearest price. Torn apart and condemned for loving outside of their race, they’ve been targeted to get to the Duttons.

That kind of attack will never slow them down; it will only make them more determined to win on their own terms.

Bringing Dutton associates into the battle ensures their willingness to fight with the Duttons. They sure won’t back down. After undergoing a grisly operation on his skill, Zane was ready to go to war as soon as he could stand.

Even Elizabeth, who let the harsh winter turn her against Jack, has come around again. Pregnancy will do that for you.

At this point, Taylor Sheridan is just messing with us. He’s pitting Jack and Elizabeth against Spencer and Alex as the line leading to John Dutton. It’s aggravating as hell, but it keeps fans on their toes, so he knows what he’s doing.

The fighting spirit is in their blood, so whoever fathers the line of descendants we know so well did a good job raising their family. And as we’ve seen so far, family doesn’t always work out as you’d expect.

Jacob and Cara gave just as much of themselves through sweat and tears as James and Margaret. They’re certainly as passionate and loving as parents have ever been.

Jacob tried so hard when he talked with Elizabeth, and if his pep talk didn’t work as expected, he was still willing to take the credit. Those lighthearted moments between Jacob and Cara work so well.

For now, things are alright. Spring is fighting its way through winter, but as long as winter fights back, there is still more time for Spencer to arrive before Whitfield and Banner put their war in motion.

And they are starting a war. They are actually building an army. Granted, it’s an army of angry shepherds, but if they have been feeling anything near the pain Banner did when he chose to align with Whitfield, they’re motivated.

It still surprises me that Banner’s wife is the harder of that couple. Banner’s hesitation about providing for his family while taking from others irked him for a moment until his wife urged him to do it.

That likely won’t work in her favor in this story, but there will always be others like her willing to take a stab at anyone to improve their own lives.

Of course, Spencer got waylaid a little longer when the police wanted to use him as a trojan horse to take down whoever was buying the bootleg whiskey. Those scenes go a long way to show how easily people will take up sides to tear each other down.

Someone is always willing to snub their nose at their neighbor if it makes them feel like the bigger person.

Whether it’s police who drink alcohol feeling good taking down establishments that use it and make it or sinners who get plumped up parading a tarred and feathered sinner down mainstream, there is always someone ready to toss you under the bus for their own (virtue signaling) ass.

It was great seeing Spencer underestimated by the cops and making a joke of their takedown. He’s at his best in adventure mode, and while it’s not exactly fun to be fighting for your life all the time, he’s good at it.

He ran from one bad situation to another. From cops to railbums, everyone is taking a hit at Spencer Dutton. Their inability to ascertain his prowess in the survival department is worth the pain, and as his frustration builds, we know Whitfield and Creighton will take the brunt of it when Spencer finally gets home.

At this point, he doesn’t even know everything he’s fighting for because he’s out of touch with Alexandra, who is just as strong-willed and determined to make it to Montana.

I shudder to think of any scenario in which one or the other doesn’t make it back, especially since it would most likely be Alex who would be lost. She’s alone, without anyone else in the world aware of her travels.

She’s writing letters, but I don’t know if she’s posting them. I wish she’d at least post a letter to Spencer’s family, telling them she’s coming and Spencer is on his way, too. Something tells me the mail would be faster than their journeys based solely on how often they’re distracted.

It is brilliant that both Spencer and Alexandra are journeying the rivers of iron separately but always together. They’re never far from each other’s hearts and minds, even if they are physically distanced.

My romance-craving heart cannot wait until they finally reunite. I’m eager to see if Alexandra feels the same way about the ranch as Elizabeth or if she’ll embrace its adventure with open arms.

Would Elizabeth have fought as hard as Alex to get to Jack? If she’s driven to stay merely because of her pregnancy, I doubt it. Alex, though, would be a true partner on the ranch, stepping into Cara’s shoes and never letting fear drive her.

Is the journey soon drawing to a close so that we can focus on family and saving the ranch, defeating, at least for now, Whitfield and his cronies?

With only six episodes left this season, I sure hope so. I need more to keep me satisfied than obstacles. What about you? Are you ready for this family to reunite and for the real battle to begin?

Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget that if you need a full recap, the link at the top of this article will take you there.

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