Heart-Stopping Losses in the ‘1923’ Season Finale That Left Us Speechless

After two seasons, 1923 ended, and it doesn’t seem like the show will get a season three, though hopes are always up. This show belongs to the Yellowstone universe Taylor Sheridan created, spanning decades and generations of the Dutton family, who are ranchers and cowboys running a Montana-based cattle ranch called Yellowstone. The heroes of the story are Jacob and Cara Dutton (Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren), who are based in Yellowstone. The narrative also follows Jacob’s nephew, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar), who is a poacher in Africa, when he meets and falls head over heels in love with British aristocrat daughter Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer).

In season one, Spencer and Alexandra get married, and she, too, becomes a Dutton. The lineage grows as viewers expect to see when the direct ancestors of John Dutton III (Kevin Costner) from Yellowstone will come into the storyline. It’s very easy to get immersed in the world, acting as if the Duttons are real people and their family tree is a legitimate research topic. The Yellowstone universe gave viewers some melodrama, some action, and even thrills, showing Sheridan’s got the chops to make us cry, laugh, and wince, all while rooting for our favorites. Season two was much darker and ended with some major deaths in the season finale; some are forgivable, but others are grounds for serious offenses. Here’s every major death in the 1923 finale.

4Jack Dutton (Darren Mann)

Died Trying to Be a Dutton Worthy of Remembering

Though Jack actually dies in the episode before the last, his death is confirmed in the two-hour finale after his horse comes to the ranch without him. Jacob’s ranchers head out to look for him and find him dead in the woods just outside of Yellowstone. While there was some hope young Jack could survive – maybe he was shot in a non-lethal spot – his dead body was delivered to Cara and Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph), for whom this was the last straw. It’s sad that Jack had to die; he was young and a promising character for the Dutton family. However, his rashness and the desire to be a part of the action got the better of him, and he ended up being another victim of the ruthless land war in Montana.

Darren Mann spoke about his character’s untimely death, saying he was “pissed off” about Jack’s death. Really, a lot of us were. His character was meant to represent the future, but as far as the Dutton family goes, their lineage isn’t exactly without tragedy and sacrifices. Jack’s father, John (James Badge Dale), dies in the first episode of the show, and since Jack was his only child, all that’s left is to see if Elizabeth gives birth and continues their lineage. That’s one unanswered question about the show: whether Elizabeth is still pregnant and if she will allow her child to meet and learn about the Duttons. There’s no doubt Sheridan thought of that, too, when he wrote the family lore. Maybe if the upcoming Yellowstone spin-off, 1944, shows Spencer Dutton, Jack’s lineage could be mentioned. Jack is the obvious telling of the luck and inevitability of the Duttons’ lifestyle—luck often runs out, and armed confrontations are never victimless; this time, it was the one Dutton that was meant to keep the family going.

3Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn)

Died Trying to Do the Right Thing

While Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) was an antagonist throughout the two seasons of 1923, he came around in the season finale after witnessing yet another sick and twisted adventure of Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton). After selling out to work for Whitfield, there’s no doubt fans wanted to see Banner dead at the end of the show. In many ways, the storyline’s progression would’ve never allowed him to stay alive in the first place. While Banner’s intentions become clearer in season 2, and the character gets a redemption arc, we realize that the biggest enemy of both Banner and the Duttons is greed and early capitalism, which Whitfield represents. In his last attempt to do the right thing, Banner’s intentions are mistaken and Sheriff McDowell (Robert Patrick) shoots him while he’s wounded.

Banner was a rival rancher to Jacob Dutton, and in circumstances like the ones they were forced to exist in, becoming ruthless was an inevitable part of the plan. Banner was a weak link that Whitfield spotted and took advantage of, and though cruel in his own way, Banner’s motivation was always his family, unlike Whitfield’s, who was simply motivated by money and power. Any man would do whatever it takes to protect his family, and though Banner sold out for a moment, it was made certain that he wouldn’t end as a sellout. He sent his wife and son on a train to Portland, to a better life, and died reconciling with Jacob. Their exchange was brief, but they found common ground—though it was too little, too late. It’s hard to say whether Banner and Jacob joining forces sooner would’ve stopped Whitfield from wreaking havoc in Montana; probably not. Still, it came at the right time; Creighton’s men were subdued, and the Duttons eventually prevailed.

2Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton)

Died a Deserving, Though Quick, Death

Donald Whitfield was indeed 1923’s biggest and most menacing antagonist, so him dying was the best part of the episode, as cruel as that might sound. When Spencer arrives at his home to avenge Alexandra and everyone who had to die in Whitfield’s name, he doesn’t wait for a grand speech from the evil mastermind, nor does he offer him a chance to say his peace. Instead, Spencer barges in and shoots, killing Whitfield at the very dining table where he previously abused and violated a kidnapped woman. Spencer lets her go and kills Whitfield’s psychopathic girlfriend and former victim, Lindy (Madison Elise Rogers). In many ways, Whitfield’s quick death was as satisfying as it wasn’t. Maybe Spencer could’ve let him suffer a bit, just as payback for how much he made others suffer. His need to control and manipulate could’ve been addressed in his final moments to show that it doesn’t pay off, and it never will; however, Spencer isn’t a man like that. He resolves to take vengeance and does it without asking questions, trusting his family’s judgment of someone and deciding they’re the Duttons’ enemy.

Donald Whitfield was the embodiment of corruption, and bringing it to a cold and distant place like Montana could’ve been a quick but painful solution. Quick in the sense that the state’s vast natural beauty was there to be taken advantage of almost immediately, but painful for all who lived off of it, including Banner Creighton and the Duttons. Their estate is in an especially beautiful location, and keeping it intact was a form of respect for the land; that’s how and why the estate ends up in the hands of Native Americans at the end of Yellowstone. In the words of Counting Crows, they would’ve “paved paradise and put up a parking lot,” which is a sad reality in the non-1923 world today. Whitfield was the embodiment of that desire: the man who thought creatively and industrially in ways that would earn him tons of money and make people’s lives easier but destroy the Earth and its wonders in the long run. His death in 1923 is also kind of a payback for all the times that happened in the real world, even if the payback is only fictional.

1Alexandra Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer)

Lived and Died on Her Own Terms

OK, I’ll say it – we watched Alexandra suffer her way through numerous atrocities, injustices, and natural elements just to see her die, and I hate that. That was unfair and, frankly, very bold of Sheridan. Obviously, we know a story like this one can’t have a completely happy ending, since things can’t just miraculously heal and continue as if nothing ever happened. In so many ways, 1923 is a lesson in the Third Newton’s Law – for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Actually, scratch that; the entire Dutton lineage follows that law by the book, almost as if they have to. Sadly, losing Alexandra is just another form of their impact on the world, even if she (prematurely) gave birth to a son, who she named John, after Spencer’s older brother. While Spencer is brave and pretty much the ideal hero archetype, we have to love how much Alexandra just overshadowed him in season two. An adventurer and wanderer like Spencer deserved someone as determined as her, someone who’d traverse the ocean and half of America via train, car, and on foot, just to meet her husband. This wasn’t just a woman’s sacrifice but the actions of someone deeply in love.

Alexandra’s death hits really hard; there was not a dry eye in the house when we watched the finale, though I must admit I was furious. I was angry mostly because it made sense for her to die, and I went from wondering whether she was even going to reach me as a character to only caring about her and her survival. Season two was her season, and losing her meant losing a sort of adoration, innocence, and courage that was present in season one. These motifs span across other events in season two, like Jack’s death, the cruel winter conditions, the depression that took over Elizabeth, and even Teonna’s (Aminah Nieves) rite of passage through desolate (though warm) Texas. Where season one romanticized the life of a rancher despite some terribly dealt cards with capitalist monsters like Whitfield, season two made it clear that survival is the only important thing and that it must be achieved at any cost. Sadly, Alexandra died from frostbite wounds that expanded to her legs and arms, but she died the way she preferred. There was a chance of saving her by amputation, but she didn’t want to live that way; she lived and died on her own terms, and she’s inspirational because of it.