As we roll into the new year, many of everyone's favorite TV shows are returning from a well-deserved break. While we're about to take a break before the second half of Yellowstone season 5, we're all in on the Prohibition-era Dutton clan in the new prequel series 1923. What are their backstories? Where will their stories go in the future? Here are some of our predictions for what's to come on 1923.
Get ready for land grabs, wagon chases and even more big game hunting as the debut season continues week after week.
Ranchers v. Shepherds
Based on where we left things up in the mountains with the ranchers running into that massive herd of sheep, we'd be fools to think the conflict between Team Beef and Team Lamb was finished just because Jacob Dutton said so in that heated meeting. Plus, given that Team Lamb is helmed by beloved Game Of Thrones alum Jerome Flynn and we get a glimpse of him looking sly in the 1923 trailer, we have to imagine he'll be tasked with delivering some more juicy dialogue and intrigue in weeks to come. Based on the events in episode 2, this feud looks far from over.
Spencer Comes Home
1923's premiere ended with Cara writing a plaintive letter to Spencer asking why he wouldn't come home, all while Spencer was stalking and — spoiler alert — being attacked by a massive man-eating leopard somewhere in Kenya. It's actually pretty rare for a human to survive a leopard attack; but as we learned, he made it at least long enough to drink at some big African colonial estate where he was chatted up by yet another beautiful young blonde. We have to assume that while we last saw him driving away, still overseas, he'll make it back to the Yellowstone Ranch at some point.
Jack and Elizabeth Are Endgame
There was some suggestion in the premiere of 1923 that perhaps Jack was shot by one of the shepherds — something that was foreshadowed by Cara's counting of the men coming home earlier in the episode — but he's prevalent in much of the season 1 trailer, delivering forceful speeches and rescuing fiancee Elizabeth from a speeding wagon. Their love seems to be one for all time, too, so it should be a pleasure to watch it smolder.
Teonna Makes a Run For It
This guess is also kind of a wild card, because 1923 has enlisted well-known character actors including Sebastian Roche and Kerry O'Malley to staff the show's horrific American Indian school, but we can see Aminah Nieves' Teonna making a mad dash to get out sometime soon. According to IMDb, Roche and O'Malley are only set to appear in four of the season's eight episodes, so maybe Teonna finally breaks free sometime near midseason. Here's hoping, for her sake.
A Big Cameo Could Occur
Viewers of 1883 were left agog when Tom Hanks appeared briefly as Gen. George Meade, sitting quietly alongside a bloodied and battered James Dutton. His appearance occurred because his old friend Tim McGraw called to ask him to do it, and one has to imagine that both Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren (Jacob and Cara) have a similar list of chums given their years in the business. It's not as if 1923 needs more star power; but if someone else cool did happen to show up, we'd certainly take it.
Prohibition Comes Into Play
Much has been made in the media and in promotional materials about how 1923 is set during Prohibition. And while we saw a little about that with Jacob and John Sr.'s dip into a "soda shop" in the premiere, we've got to wonder if the ill-fated restriction will come to play even more later. The Duttons have never been big on following laws even while they enforce them, and Prohibition stories can sometimes feel as if they're a dime a dozen in shows and movies set in the '20s. Yet there could be some intriguing twist that the show could undertake which might still feel new and fresh.
Dutton Land Is Threatened by a Nearby Foe
In the trailer for 1923, we get a glimpse at Timothy Dalton's Donald Whitfield telling Cara that he bought the Strafford ranch, which sits next to the Dutton property. (Elizabeth Strafford is the woman set to marry Jack, FWIW.) According to pre-series scuttlebutt and that same trailer, Whitfield seems to be some sort of rich real estate tycoon who teams with the shepherds in an effort to buy up land. While we know he's ultimately bound to fail — we've seen Yellowstone, after all, and the current-day Duttons own the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the country — the struggle could shake things up all the same.
We'll Find Out Why Cara Was Wielding that Rifle
This one seems like a no-brainer, but we're going to have to find out why Cara took that guy down in the premiere. She told him he had "no right to be on" Dutton land, so who was he? A shepherd? A Whitfield lackey? A rumrunner? And why did she feel as if she had to end him?
Things Will Be Left Unresolved
According to Deadline, there will be a second, eight-episode season of 1923 — meaning the series won't follow the "one and done" pattern set by 1883. So fans should expect some loose ends hanging at the end of this season. Creator Taylor Sheridan has never been one for wrapping things up in a neat little box at the end of a season, and we can't expect him to start now.
READ MORE: Where is '1923' Filmed? The 'Yellowstone' Prequel's Filming Locations, From Malta to Montana
