Warning: Spoilers ahead for season one of 1883.
It seems like every single episode of 1883, our heroes are facest with a tougher and tougher adversary. We've dealt with countless bandits, a river and some harsh elements, but nothing could have prepared our group for what comes for them in episode seven. Just when the Dutton family and the wagon train led by Shea and Thomas seem like they're going to be okay, they aren't. In the latest episode, the wagon train faces a tornado that threatens their very survival as well as more thieves. But they do find some new friends along the way.
Here are our five main takeaways from episode seven of 1883.
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1. The wagon train enters Commanche territory
Last we saw the wagon train, the group had loaded up on supplies and hired a cook to prepare their meals for the remainder of the journey. They now find themselves in Commanche territory where they are required to pay a tax in order to peacefully cross through the land. As Wade says, "The only people who think this is America live in Washington."
2. Elsa meets Sam
One of the Comanches who comes to collect the tax is named Sam (Martin Sensmeier). As he explains to Elsa, he took on the name Sam after the man who killed his wife. Elsa tells him that her horse's name is Lightening and beats him in a race across the plains. Sam names her 'Lightening With Yellow Hair' so she cuts off a long piece of hair to gift him. In exchange, he gives her a knife which he says is because she won the race.
The two clearly had a connection and he returns to her aid not once, but twice. The first time to help her, Wade and Colton as a tornado comes racing towards them. They share an emotional kiss as the storm passes over them. The second time he saves her from cattle thieves. It's official...Elsa has a new love interest and it's not the new cowboy we met last episode, Colton. It's Sam.
3. The group has to 'get tough or die'
Quite literally. If we thought the group had already been through hell, we clearly forgot about tough weather conditions. A storm quickly approaches and a tornado touches down, ripping apart everyone's belongings. Nearly everything gets destroyed. Miraculously, no one dies.
4. Thieves start to round up their cattle that dispersed to escape the storm
Elsa goes with James, Shea and Thomas to try to save their cattle from the thieves. Wade and Colton stay behind to watch and protect the camp making it four against roughly thirteen. A major shootout ensues as they try to reclaim their stolen property and Elsa finds herself fleeing on Lightening (who survived the storm) to escape three thieves in close pursuit. Seemingly in the knick of time, Sam shows up to save the day and easily kills them. James, Shea and Thomas all get shot but somehow managed to avoid any life-threatening injuries.
5. Shea runs into an old friend, Charlie
You have to admire how small this frontier land seems to be. One of the three men who come to their aid in defeating the cattle thieves is a man named Charlie, who appears to be an old friend of Shea's. He, Sam and Sam's friend help them just in time and head back to the main camp at the end of the episode. This is the second person they've run into in the past two episodes who seems to be a blast from the past. As a reminder, Colton used to work with Wade and Ennis. I wonder who else they'll run into on their journey.
