Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for 1923 Season 2 Episode 2.
As Taylor Sheridan continues to wow with his 1923 prequel series, the second episode of Season 2, “The Rapist is Winter,” threatens our heroes like never before. The clear theme this season is that winter kills, as the hope of spring feels like a distant and fleeting memory. Nevertheless, Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) and his wife Cara (Helen Mirren) fight tooth and nail to ensure that their family, and their legacy, survive long past this winter. The question is, who will be left to survive with them?
‘1923’ Season 2 Episode 2 Offers Conflicting Portrayals of Expansion and Survival

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“The Rapist is Winter” opens with Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) confronting Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) about not moving to town. Banner notes that being close to his family (and away from the Duttons) is his priority, later mentioning that his flock got flukes, so he had to kill them. “You killed men and almost died yourself, and all it took was a worm to destroy everything you fought for,” Whitfield lords over him. But the businessman deems Banner a peasant no longer. “Worms don’t kill gold,” he notes, and when they spot a few skiers on the mountain in the distance, Whitfield decides to talk to them. A little later, Whitfield asks the Norwegian men to explain how skiing works, and when they begin to explain that even a child can do it, he formulates a way to make this pastime profitable. Banner thinks that spending all day skiing is a waste of a man’s time, but Whitfield believes that the “euphoria of peril” is something he could sell for a fortune.
Back in Bozeman, Jacob and Sheriff William McDowell (Robert Patrick) arrive at the courthouse in Bozeman to speak with Judge Roy Garrett (Patrick Burch) about Zane Davis (Brian Geraghty) and his family — including his wife, Alice Davis (Joy Osmanski), and their children, Matthew (Henry Emde) and Madelyne (Remy Holt). Jacob offers to take the whole Davis family off the state’s hands, letting them stay at the ranch instead. Garrett agrees, but only if they give up the priest responsible for marrying them in the first place. Unwilling to be pushed any further, Jacob and McDowell threaten to give up Roy’s alcohol contact (this is set during Prohibition, after all) if he doesn’t allow the family to move to go home with him. Finally, the judge relents.
Later, Jacob and Jack (Darren Mann) arrive to pick up Zane and his family, but Zane can hardly walk. After being beaten by the men who took him and his family in, he was bedridden, with nobody to give him proper medical care. Jacob tells Zane that Whitfield is the one who turned the town against his family and those like them, vowing to do something about it. That afternoon, the Dutton crew leave town behind, traveling back to the ranch through a snowstorm. When the storm becomes so violent that they’re unable to see the road in front of them, they stop for the night. Jacob, Jack, and the ranch hands flip the wagon upside down to take shelter from the elements, sending the Davis clan inside. After they let their horses go (so they don’t freeze to death), the whole group gets beneath the wagon, hoping to keep warm.
Trouble Brews At the Dutton Ranch in ‘1923’ Season 2 Episode 2

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That morning, at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) goes to collect eggs in the chicken coop, only to discover that a lone wolf has gotten inside and eaten all the chickens. Unfortunately, the wolf spots Liz before she can fully get away and bites her on the leg. Just before Liz can be eaten by the wild animal, she is saved by Spade (Cooper Taylor), one of the Dutton ranch hands who remained behind. When they drive back to the house, Cara spots them and urges them quickly inside. Cara sends Spade to fetch the doctor and cleans Liz’s wound, telling her niece-in-law that if she didn’t have bad luck, she would have none at all.
That evening, during the same snowstorm that kept Jacob and Jack from getting home, Cara and Liz sit beside the fire when Dr. Steven Miller (Mark Daneri) walks in. When he takes a look at the bite, he and Cara decide that it’s better to assume the worst and give Liz a rabies vaccine. Liz, however, refuses because the needle goes into her stomach, an area she’s particularly sensitive to after her previous miscarriage at the end of Season 1. Nevertheless, the doctor is insistent, and forces the vaccine on her with help from his nurse (Lara Hammond) and Spade. Afterward, Liz storms off, and when Cara goes to check on her, Liz admits that this winter is far too much for her. Despite her love for Jack, she claims that when the storm passes, she is going home.
Speaking of the wolves, near the end of the episode, Banner reveals to his friend Clyde (Brian Konowal) that he believes himself a sinner who will never see the gates of Heaven. He notes how Whitfield is a man who looks for the greed that’s buried deep in men’s hearts. “I’ve never met a man who scares me,” he says. “Not once in my life, until now.” As the Duttons deal with very literal wolves that threaten to devour them, it’s clear that Whitfield plans to do the same — leaving nothing behind but bone and dust.

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Spencer and Alex Struggle to Get to Montana in ‘1923’ Season 2 Episode 2

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Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the world, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) and Luca (Andy Dispensa) arrive in Italy, where the latter introduces the Dutton heir to his kin, Sal Maceo (Gilles Marini), who offers him a meal and a place to stay in response to his helping Luca. While dining, Spencer discovers pizza for the first time and is pleasantly surprised. Despite the accommodations, however, he is anxious to get back to Montana. At the hotel, he sends a telegraph and when he tries to leave, Maceo’s man, Angelo (Derek Russo), tries to stop him. Though Spencer beats Angelo, he is later captured by Maceo’s other men (two cars full), who bring him back to their boss.
Offended, Maceo tells Spencer that this disrespect will not be tolerated, but when Spencer reveals his need to get home, that his family is in danger and his wife is lost to him, the Italian seems to understand. Knowing what it’s like for one’s family to lose a war for their own land, he offers to aid Spencer with his cause, provided he helps transport some whiskey for him. Later, Spencer and Luca are sent off by Maceo, who offers the Dutton money for the police who can be bribed (on the condition that Luca will return it if not used) and a gun for those who can’t. With that, they drive off, on the next leg of their international adventure.
As this is happening, we get a very brief glimpse of a pregnant Alex Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer) in her cramped (and shared) quarters on the vessel taking her to America. As with her new kin in Montana, she too is experiencing a major storm, though this one is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, from which there is no escape. As water leaks into the hull, a voiceover of Alex writing to her lost husband reveals that all she wishes is that they would be together. Still, she has a long way to go.
‘1923’s Other Plotlines Are Building Toward Something Bigger

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If you are wondering what’s become of some of the other characters in 1923, don’t worry, their stories are peppered throughout the episode. About midway through “The Rapist is Winter,” we pivot back to Texas, where Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) and Pete Plenty Clouds (Jeremy Gauna) return to camp after a night away. Pete tells Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) about what the cowboy revealed about the ranch land in the previous episode, and Runs His Horse responds by wanting to move camp. However, Teonna and Pete convince him that maybe it is best for them to stay there, after all. Eventually, Runs His Horse agrees, and he leaves camp to find the rancher who owns the land they’re on, hoping to broker some sort of deal.
Elsewhere, Marshall Kent (Jamie McShane), Marshal Thomas (Ross Crain), Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché), and their companion arrive in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Strolling into Marshal Mamie Fossett’s (Jennifer Carpenter; yes, your favorite Dexter star) office, the marshals reveal their intent to find Teonna and bring her to justice. Fossett assures them that wanted posters for Teonna will be sketched and posted around town. That evening, Father Renaud and the marshals sit around the campfire and discuss interracial marriage. The priest notes that he wants all Indians to convert, and suddenly, Thomas is shot with an arrow. Renaud and Kent take cover as the Native attackers arrive. Kent convinces Renaud to take a weapon, and they charge, leaving none alive. Afterward, Renaud sees that many of their attackers are only children and is horrified by their actions.
The episode ends back at the Yellowstone, as Cara lies awake in the night. She stirs when she hears a rustling downstairs, followed by a violent (but short) scream. The Dutton matriarch gets out of bed and grabs her gun, braving the cold. It’s darker in the house than she had left, and snow has gotten inside, piling on the floor. When she passes the couch and looks down, she spots the same wolf from earlier, and it’s eaten the nurse who was sleeping downstairs. As the beast charges at her, she fires a single shot into the cold winter’s night.
New episodes of 1923 Season 2 are available every Sunday on Paramount+.

1923

The winter grows darker (and longer) as the Duttons continue to fight to survive.

Release Date

2022 – 2024

Network

Paramount+

Pros & Cons

Wolves are the perfect embodiment of the harsh Montana winter.
The tension is strong as Jacob, Cara, and Spencer fight for survival.
Taylor Sheridan knows how to worldbuild.

There’s little that’s been done with the Teonna/Pete storyline.
Liz wanting to go home comes out of nowhere.