Season two, episode seven — the second-season finale of Paramount+’s 1923 — delivered the answers it needed to, including one that has lingered since the first season of Yellowstone: Who is the grandfather of John Dutton III, played by Kevin Costner? The extended season two finale was brutal and bloody, and not everyone survived. It was also heart-wrenching and, in a way, heartwarming. (Keeping it vague here for those who accidentally start reading this recap before watching the finale.)
The ending leaves the possibility of a third season open, so don’t lose hope that Taylor Sheridan isn’t finished with Spencer’s story. Now, let’s move on to the lengthy recap, which begins by wrapping up Teonna’s storyline for the season.
Marshal Mamie Fossett (Jennifer Carpenter), Two Spears (Doug Hall), and Deputy Clint Peterson (Steve Luna) discover Pete and Marshal Kent’s bodies. Two Spears notes two sets of boots and believes the priest shot the marshal based on the prints. Two Spears points to smoke rising in the distance and says, “Priest.”
The smoke leads them to Father Renaud and Runs His Horse’s corpses. They conclude the priest shot Teonna’s father, then Teonna killed Renaud. Two Spears says the men, not the girl, are killers.
Teonna (Aminah Nieves) watches from nearby, rifle pointed at Marshal Fossett.
Fossett is prepared to ignore the warrant for Teonna; they were sent to find Marshal Kent and Father Renaud, and they’ve succeeded. However, Marshal Fossett spots Teonna in the distance, and Teonna fires in their direction. The chase ends quickly as lawmen surround Teonna. Fossett tells her men not to shoot, but Deputy Peterson ignores her. He fires, and Teonna shoots and kills him.
Fossett holds Teonna at gunpoint, warning her not to reach for her gun. Teonna insists she won’t go to jail. She lists all the atrocities that have happened to her (the rapes and torture), and Fossett disarms her before asking if she killed anyone. Teonna confesses to killing the nuns who raped her, the man who murdered her cousin, and the priest who just killed her father. They tie her hands and take her away.
A judge brings Teonna into court a few days later. She’s charged with three murders in North Dakota, and the judge doesn’t understand why he’s seeing the case in Oklahoma. The judge is handed Kent and Renaud’s death certificates and learns Fossett will testify about them.
The prosecutor admits he has no witnesses linking Teonna to the nuns’ murders. The prosecutor requests the court dismiss the charges. The judge releases Teonna.
Teonna is speechless. She exits the court, feeling free yet uncertain about her next move. Marshal Fossett says they would appreciate it if she left. Fossett tells her she should head home, and Two Spears gives her a horse. Two Spears also gives her rifle and says it’s for deer (not humans).
She’s not sure where to go, and Two Spears suggests California. She decides west sounds good. Before riding off, Two Spears yells that she was right to fight back. She agrees but says it cost her everything.
The Battle for Yellowstone Ranch Commences in the 1923 Season 2 Finale
Cowboys guard Yellowstone, with Cara (Helen Mirren) on the porch, shotgun in hand. Zane (Brian Geraghty) patrols and advises Cara to move inside, fearing for her safety. Cara’s figured out that Spencer should arrive home today, so she’s certain that Jacob and the rest of their men will be back as well.
Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) is worried Jack never came home, and Cara is forced to tell her that Jack followed Jacob into town. Cara doesn’t mince words and says Jack made the wrong decision.
Livingston Train Station: Jacob (Harrison Ford) fills his coffee as Clyde (Brian Konowal) and Alec (Colt Brown) enter. Sheriff McDowell (Robert Patrick) informs Jacob that he hired those men last fall with Cara’s help and that one of them was a Chicago cop. Jacob appears to sense that something is off.
Meanwhile, Banner (Jerome Flynn) confesses to his wife that he is neither good nor bad; he is just fed up with being taken advantage of. Banner claims he would rather be working fishing boats than doing what he’s doing. He thinks Whitfield is genuinely evil, with a heart as black as coal. Whitfield derives pleasure from taking advantage of others. Tossing Whitfield’s dead prostitute into the “train station” was a bridge too far for Banner. He tells his wife to pack because they’re leaving town.
Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) sits in the back seat and shivers, nearly frozen. She screams in frustration and pain before looking through Hillary’s purse. After briefly looking outside, she removes Hillary’s gloves and puts them on her frostbitten hands. She also grabs Hillary’s blanket and then makes a run for it outside. She reaches Paul’s body and grabs his lighter and kerchief.
Alex cracks the windows a bit and lights a fire inside the car. She burns anything she can find just to get warm.
Whitfield’s prostitutes are in the shower, and the new recruit doesn’t speak when spoken to. They join Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) for breakfast as he whines about the local newspaper. He dislikes being in Montana and longs for London. Whitfield’s mood lightens when he announces that today his life in Montana will greatly improve. There’s a lot of disturbing sexual activity and torture, as always in Whitfield’s scenes, and I’m skipping past that except to say he burns the newcomer’s back with a scorching hot beverage.
As he’s focused on this deviant behavior, his men are driving toward the Livingston train station under instructions to just start killing. Jacob and McDowell stand outside with the cowboys, while Clyde and Alec lurk nearby. McDowell says Spencer should arrive at 2:20pm, and Jacob steps back inside with the passengers waiting to depart.
Jacob spots Banner and his family buying first-class sleeper car tickets. Shocked and angry, Jacob confronts Banner, accusing him of using his wife and son as camouflage. Banner confesses he’s leaving the state; he’s had enough. Jacob wonders if it’s just a coincidence he picked the day Spencer arrives, and Banner warns him Whitfield’s just the first of the men who’ll be after his land.
Banner leans in and says Whitfield will never let Spencer leave the station. Jacob threatens Banner, taunting him to try and leave with his family and suggesting he’ll never make it. He reminds Banner that he started this, and Banner appears genuinely upset. Banner asks Jacob to allow his family to leave, and Jacob agrees. Banner also confirms Whitfield’s men will be attacking the Yellowstone.
Banner returns to his family and places all their cash in his wife’s bag. He tells her to always keep it in sight. There will be chaos on the platform, and she needs to just walk straight onto the train and not look back.
On board the train, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) passes time chatting with a young boy traveling with his mother. The boy asks about the lion’s tooth Spencer is holding and wants to make a trade. The boy will give Spencer his Revolutionary War knife for the lion’s tooth, and Spencer reveals he intended to give the tooth to his son one day. The mother asks Spencer to please disarm her son, and Spencer agrees, calling it a good trade.
Four carloads of Whitfield’s men stop on a hill above the Yellowstone and their occupants approach the big house by walking through the woods. Two of Jacob’s men are caught by surprise above the house, and one is immediately shot. The other runs.
Cara spots Jack’s horse unsaddled and alone in the yard.
Shots ring out as Whitfield’s army moves in on the house. Cara grabs a shotgun, and Zane tells her to get up high and give the men cover. Four additional carloads of men come through the gate as Dutton cowboys take up positions.
Zane watches the cars approach and tells his men to shoot the drivers once they are close enough. He barks out orders on which car for each man to shoot. Men drop as the cowboys pick them off. It’s a furious gun battle. Zane tells Dennis and Randy to get to the roof and hold off the men. The other four cars pick up the men who made their way on foot and also head toward the big house.
Randy and Dennis take up positions on the roof. They’ve got the advantage of height, but Whitfield has the advantage of men.
Cara gets busy shooting the attackers. She’s got a scope, and she’s a fantastic shot, muttering about all the things she’s had to do for this ranch while killing Whitfield’s men. Cara, Dennis, and Randy are able to make the men retreat to their cars.
Over at the train station, Clyde and Alec (who killed Jack on the way to the station) stand watch along with Jacob’s men and the sheriffs. More men pull up outside, and it’s Whitfield’s people. The odds are not in Jacob’s favor.
Jacob walks outside and tells Sheriff McDowell that at least a dozen men have just walked inside. McDowell still believes he can end this without a gunfight, but Jacob knows that’s not the case. Whitfield’s men nod at Banner, and he returns their nods.
Back inside the frozen car, Alex is down to the very end of her supply of items to burn. She cries and then grabs Cara’s letters to Spencer that she’s kept until the last. She apologizes to Spencer and begins burning them one at a time.
Alex sobs and asks God if this is really his plan for them, to let her and Spencer know love and then rip it from them. “Drag me through hell to freeze here? Hours from him? What kind of God does that?”
Suddenly, she hears a train whistle and realizes the tracks must be right next to the road she’s on. She pours alcohol on the fire and on the back seat and steps outside. The car’s fully engulfed as she yells at the train to stop. Of course, it can’t hear her, but the engineer sees her and the burning vehicle. So does Spencer!
Spencer races through the train cars and leaps off the back. He doesn’t have a jacket, his rifle, or any of his possessions with him. He runs toward Alex, screaming her name, and it’s clear she thinks she’s hallucinating. When she realizes it’s really the love of her life, she runs to meet him. They wrap each other up in a hug, holding each other tight. Alex continues to cry and then slowly stops. She wonders why he’s there, and he says, “You sent smoke signals to my train.” She can’t believe he jumped off, and he admits he didn’t ask the train to stop. Alex is happy he’s joining her in this pickle.
Spencer lifts her and says the town is only three miles away. He’ll carry her. Spencer jokes about her weight, and only then does Alex tell him she’s pregnant.
As Spencer’s running, they realize the train’s stopped. He gets Alex on board, and a doctor who’s traveling on the train examines her. Her fingers are pitch black, as are her toes. The doctor demands warm water and towels and asks for the room to be cleared, other than Alex. He’s learned that if you get cold fast, you warm fast. If you get cold slowly, you warm slowly. They strip her of her frozen clothes and cover her in blankets. The shivers are good; it’s her body trying to warm her.
Her temperature is 94.2, which means she was minutes from death when Spencer rescued her. Spencer presses a towel soaked in warm water against her to warm her up. The doctor asks how many months, and Alex says six. He assures her that if there’s a way to protect the child, her body will find it. Alex brags to Spencer that her body is a miracle.
The doctor leaves, and Alex confesses she never thought she’d see him again. Spencer assures her he would have come for her, and Alex makes jokes through her pain. The doctor returns and explains that he’s told the engineer to take them to Bozeman because the medical care there will be better. Spencer should absolutely not get off in Livingston.
Back at the ranch, Whitfield’s men have run away from the house to regroup. The cowboys climb onto the roof to get the advantage. Zane admits to Cara that he’s impressed with her skills, and she credits the scope with doing most of the work. They agree they need the clouds to clear so they can see the men approach. If it stays cloudy, then Whitfield’s thugs will be able to burn them out.
Alex’s temperature rises a little, and the feeling is coming back to her feet. It’s incredibly painful.
As the train approaches Livingston station, both sides prepare for battle. Banner tells his wife she’s got enough money in her bag to start over and gives her and their son a kiss. He steps outside, and so do Clyde and Alec. The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife as the train slows.
Spencer looks out the window and sees the armed men. He knows it’s trouble. He also spots Jacob and Sheriff McDowell and notices that they’re armed. He picks up his handgun and leaves the room.
A shootout begins on the train’s platform, and men fall like flies. Banner stands by the train, pistol in hand, as his wife and son approach. Spencer gives them a hand and then glances at Banner. (He has no idea about Banner’s history.) Sheriff McDowell sustains a gunshot wound. Banner takes out one thug who’s about to kill Jacob, and Spencer takes out another. McDowell fires two bullets into Banner. Before Banner dies, Jacob confirms he’s a man of his word and will make sure Banner’s family gets to Portland.
Bodies are everywhere as the gunfight ends and Jacob boards the train.
The doctor looks outside at all the dead bodies, and there are injured men on the train, too. McDowell thinks he can walk, and Jacob is bleeding from the gut. Spencer and the doctor order the train to get to Bozeman and come back for the passengers. Spencer then tells Jacob he needs to get his wife to Bozeman, and Jacob admits he may not have a home by the time he returns.
Alex finally gets to meet a member of Spencer’s family, and she tells Jacob she understands Spencer needs to stay here and help save the ranch. Spencer’s conflicted; he doesn’t want to leave his pregnant wife, but his family needs him. He tells Alex he loves her and swears he’ll meet her in Bozeman.
Spencer takes McDowell’s gun since he’s staying on the train to get treatment in Bozeman.
Jacob’s also staying on the train to Bozeman, while Spencer and the men head to the ranch.
Elsa’s voiceover confirms that Alex fears she’ll never see Spencer again, but at least she got one last taste of his lips.
Whitfield’s men advance on the ranch while one uses a submachine gun to provide cover. They make it within 50’ of the front door as the battle intensifies.
Whitfield’s men shoot into the house, breaking every window. One makes it far enough to toss a flame into the house. Zane quickly covers the fire before it spreads. He then tries to hold off the attackers as they make their way inside.
More men pour in, and Elizabeth shoots a few with a double-barrel shotgun. Thanks to her help, all the men inside have been shot or fled. Zane yells at her for not heading to the basement or upstairs before admitting he’s glad she stayed in the living room.
As this is going on, Whitfield’s hosting a black-tie dinner with his investors, explaining the parks are about to become a playground for the rich. The parks will house restaurants, hotels, and resorts, all conveniently located in one area. And best of all, the nearest competition is 600 miles away. Whitfield claims he’s about to close the deal for the land, and they cheer him on.
Alex and the injured are loaded onto ambulances, and Jacob insists on accompanying Alex. It’s only five or six miles to the hospital, and she asks Jacob to make sure they’ve got enough gas. He confirms they do and admits he’s never heard a woman ask that question before. “Well, once bitten, twice shy, Jacob,” replies Alex.
The cowboys and Spencer have made it to the front gate when Spencer hears gunfire coming from the house. He has them turn off the headlights while they drive up the road.
Cara’s informed Whitfield’s men are right outside the house, and she takes aim at the man with the machine gun. As she’s looking through the scope, she sees the two sheriff cars pulling up without their lights. Spencer and the cowboys step out and Spencer takes aim. He shoots through the cars and takes out the machine gun.
Whitfield’s men make it back inside, but Spencer is right behind them. He walks into the house with pistols in both hands. He kills everyone inside and then pulls Cara in for a huge hug while one of the men who came with him sounds disappointed that he never got to fire a shot.
Spencer informs Cara that he has a wife and that she and Jacob are at the hospital. Elizabeth asks about Jack, but no one has seen him. He never arrived at the train station. Cara sends men out to find him.
Spencer asks about the person responsible for the attack, and Cara tells him about Whitfield. She explains he’s getting fat and throwing dinner parties for the men who want to carve this place to pieces.
Over at the Bozeman hospital, Jacob’s giving a doctor a hard time. The doctor is searching for the bullet that’s causing Jacob’s stomach to bleed, and Jacob snarls that it’s an old wound that opened up. He wasn’t shot again and just wants the doctor to sew it up.
Jacob hurries to Alex’s side and walks in as a doctor tells her they need to amputate her hands legs. The baby stands very little chance of surviving, but Alex delivers him and he’s tiny but alive! The doctor again insists Alex won’t live if they don’t amputate.
Alex demands the baby, and the doctor warns her not to become attached. His little lungs can’t support him. The baby cries, but the doctor is more concerned with prepping Alex for surgery. Alex continues to ask for her baby boy, and Jacob growls, “Give her the goddamn baby!” She places the baby at her nipple and cries while smiling. The lead doctor tells his fellow doctors that there’s no crueler thing than hope.
Alex refuses surgery and Jacob supports her decision. The doctor insists she’ll die and so will the baby if she doesn’t let them amputate. He’ll send in a priest, and she doesn’t want one of those either. Alex tells Jacob she’s going to name the baby John after Spencer’s brother. (This confirms Spencer is John Dutton III’s grandfather.)
Alex will not choose herself over her child. She believes she can’t raise a child with stubs for feet or clubs for hands. Alex confesses to Jacob that she thinks her conversations with Spencer are over. She refuses to allow anyone to have to care for her and a child and understands that she’s dying. Jacob cries as he assures her she’ll be able to tell Spencer herself.
The cowboys find Jack’s dead body.
Cara and Spencer arrive at the hospital, and Cara hugs Jacob while Spencer enters his wife’s room. She’s asleep, holding their son, with her legs and arms covered in bandages. She wakes up as Spencer sits on her bed and gently touches their baby’s head. She tells him they wanted to amputate her legs and hands and take their baby. She would not allow it.
Spencer cries as Alex says she’d never trade what they made, meaning their baby, for herself. She tells Alex to be patient with John because if he’s like her, he’ll be a terrible child.
Cara and Jacob sit outside the room, and Cara says she wishes she could have met Alex. One of her men walks in and she orders him to go get milk goats.
Cara peeks into Alex’s room and sees Alex, Spencer, and the baby in bed. She closes the door without disturbing them.
Spencer wakes up in the morning, and Alex has passed away during the night. Baby John is still alive. Spencer calls out for Cara, unsure of what to do now. He’s still in bed with his wife, and Cara assures him she knows what to do. She gently picks up the baby, and Spencer grabs his hat and guns. He tells Jacob they need to leave. “I want to meet the man who killed my wife,” says Spencer.
Spencer arrives at Whitfield’s place and knocks out the man standing at the door. Whitfield’s at the dinner table with his two prostitutes, and the newcomer has a black eye.
Spencer enters the dining room and immediately shoots Whitfield in the chest. Whitfield’s whore picks up a knife and Spencer shoots her. He allows the other one to leave. Whitfield’s still able to talk and reminds Jacob that he took an oath to uphold the law. How will he explain his murder? Jacob tells him he plans to make an example of him so that no one will come near his family for 50 years. Spencer shoots Whitfield in the gut and orders him to say Alex’s name. When he does, Spencer finishes him off. They set the house on fire and walk away.
Elsa’s voiceover informs us that there are more unmarked graves in Montana than marked. An eagle soars over the funeral of Jack and Alex.
Cara feeds baby John as Elizabeth takes in a deep breath before leaving to return home. Cara understands and believes another man will enter Elizabeth’s life at some point, and that will be fine. Elizabeth promises to write.
Cara returns her attention to the future of the ranch, baby John. Elizabeth says she’ll always love Jack, but Cara knows that’s not true. She’ll love his memory, but eventually it will be replaced by new memories. Cara, however, will always keep Jack alive in her heart.
Spencer and the cowboys saddle up to round up loose cattle. He invites Jacob, but Jacob would prefer to stay on the porch and stare at baby John while contemplating the meaning of life.
Jacob’s retiring and ready to stay by Cara’s side. Cara asks about Alex and Jacob says, “If a shooting star could talk, that’s what she was like, honey.” Cara laughs, and Jacob says, “Who would have thought there’d be two of them.”
Elsa tells us Spencer didn’t remarry but had another son with a widow. The widow left, and for Spencer, her memory didn’t fade.
Alexandra Dutton was born on April 1, 1901, and died on March 29, 1924. Spencer lay on her grave and died 45 years later.
Season two ends with Alex and Spencer reuniting in heaven, dressed in fine apparel and looking young and beautiful. She jokes that it took him long enough, and Spencer responds by pulling her in closer on the dance floor.
- 1923 Season 1 Episode 8 “Nothing Left to Lose” Finale Recap
- 1923 Season 2 Episode 1 “The Killing Season” Recap
- 1923 Season 2 Episode 2 “The Rapist is Winter” Recap
- 1923 Season 2 Episode 3 “Wrap Thee in Terror” Recap
- 1923 Season 2 Episode 4 “Journey the Rivers of Iron” Recap
- 1923 Season 2 Episode 5 “Only Gunshots to Guide Us” Recap
- 1923 Season 2 Episode 6 “The Mountain Teeth of Monsters” Recap
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