A priest walks into a saloon. That’s not a joke, but the beginning of 1923 season 2 episode 5. Despite his initial hesitations, Father Renaud (Sebastian Roche) is forced to enter a saloon to confirm that Teonna is a killer after Kent (Jamie McShane) finds the rancher she was riding with.
When the rancher asks why Teonna killed two nuns in their sleep, he conveniently leaves out how the school was abusive to Teonna and the other girls, instead calling Teonna “evil, and evil does not need a reason.” This ultimately convinces the rancher to help, taking Renaud and Kent to the fairground where he last saw Teonna.
From there, Kent picks up their tracks heading into the plains. Kent is confident they’ll be able to track them down, and he and Renaud ride off in pursuit. And with that let’s ride into the rest of our 1923 season 2 episode 5 recap.
The only ones left
Kent’s tracking skills are on point, as indeed Teonna (Aminah Nieves), Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) and Pete (Jeremy Gauna) are riding through the plains, hoping to cross over into New Mexico before heading down to Mexico.
After riding for some time, they need to rest the horses and Pete goes to look for water. He promises Teonna that he’ll be back soon.
Teonna is beginning to lose hope they’ll ever be able to escape, noting that great chiefs like Geronimo weren’t able to escape the white man. Runs His Horse is confident they could have, but they wouldn’t leave their people behind. But that’s why they’ll escape, because they’re out of people to leave behind; they’re the last ones still fighting.
Beg, steal, fight
Just because Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) made her train after being robbed in New York doesn’t mean things are getting any easier. She realizes her ticket does not cover meal service, so after pleading with the porter he helps her get a job as a waitress in the dining car where she can work off her meals.
Her first shift goes all right until she accidentally spills on a man when the train rattles. He wants her to dab him dry, grabbing her hand and placing it over his privates. Alex is able to pull away, but she is clearly rattled.
When Alex returns to her cabin, the young mother she shares the room with tells her this experience is forcing Alex to realize there is no royalty in America; you have to make, marry or steal your way to a better life. Ultimately, she doesn’t think Alex has what it takes, hoping she bought a return ticket. Alex asks why the mother thinks she’s cut out for it? The mother says she’s not concerned for herself, she’s only concerned for her two sons, believing mothers can endure anything.
Alex is back to work for breakfast. There she serves an English couple. Paul (Augie Prew) and Hillary (Janet Montgomery), discussing the world’s events, who pick up where in England Alex is from and correctly guess she is on an American adventure despite her parents’ protests. The husband says he admires her spirit and gives her a nice tip.
Unfortunately, Alex also is forced to serve the same man she spilled on, and this time he goes even further. Purposefully moving his cup to the edge of the table so Alex has to stand as close as possible to him, he puts his hand up her skirt and touches her privates as she pours him coffee. Alex freezes, a tear rolling down her face, until she can’t hold back any longer. She bashes the man’s face with the pot, leaving him bloodied on the floor.
Alex is put into a holding cell on the train. She explains the man assaulted her to the conductor and manager, but Alex’s fate is going to be up to the Chicago police now.
Spencer’s lucky break
Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) is resting under a tree when he is woken by Marshal Fossett (Jennifer Carpenter), who wants to know what he’s doing out there. When he says he’s trying to get back to Montana, she is suspicious of all these people from Montana roaming around, so she wants to bring Spencer in to confirm his identity. If he’s telling the truth they’ll put him on a train to Montana.
At the sheriff’s office in Amarillo, Texas, Fossett calls Sheriff McDowell (Robert Patrick), who not only confirms he knows Spencer but says he is a Medal of Honor winner (something Spencer didn’t even know). McDowell talks with Spencer, warning him about coming back just to start a war. But as Spencer understands it the war has already started, and he wants revenge against the men who killed his brother (John Dutton, played by James Badge Dale in season 1, in case you needed reminding). When McDowell speaks with Fossett again, he compels her to find a way to detain Spencer to keep him from causing trouble, but Fossett says she can’t detain a person for what he might do. After they hang up she tells Spencer he is free to go.
Making good on getting him a ticket, Spencer boards a train for Montana. Though he can’t help but ask the ticket attendant what else has changed about America since he was away fighting for it?
Skirting the law
Banner (Jerome Flynn), Clyde (Brian Konowal) and another cowboy check out the “train station.” Banner explains how there’s no judge or jury, making it the perfect place to put all the Duttons after they kill them. But the first body they dump belongs to Cindy, Whitfield’s former sex worker.
Related, Whitfield’s other lady, Lindy (Madison Elise Rogers), heads into Boseman to find a replacement for Cindy. She sets her sights on a blonde, explaining that with Whitfield she’ll make in one night what she would typically make in a month. All she has to do is deal with Whitfield’s “big appetite” and the “theater” he enjoys in the bedroom (underselling the depravity just a bit). Giving her a kiss to help seal the deal (a same-sex display that likely would have been illegal at the time), Lindy convinces the blonde to join her.
Alex gains an ally
After arriving at the Chicago station, the police are ready to arrest Alex for assaulting the man based on his version of the story alone (he said Alex was his girl and she was jealous thinking he had other women). But the British couple Paul and Hillary from the train come to Alex’s defense, testifying the man sexually assaulted her and Alex was only defending herself. With this info, Alex is uncuffed and ultimately the man is arrested.
Alex immediately has to go from dealing with her assaulter to dealing with a potential thief, as she spots the mother on the platform trying to make off with her things. Alex runs her down and takes it all back. The woman says Alex will understand if she ever has children. But Alex already does, putting the woman’s hand on her stomach to signal she’s pregnant.
Though she avoided catastrophe with those situations, Alex gets hit again when she sees her next train has been cancelled because of snow on the tracks, with no idea when it will depart. This leads to Alex breaking down in the station lobby, until she runs into the British couple once again. They invite her to stay with them and get a much needed respite from her adventure. Alex accepts.
Shootout on the plains
As Pete continues to search for water, he eventually spots a deer, which leads him to a small pond. Unfortunately, Renaud and Kent also found the pond. They spot Pete and immediately give chase.
But because Pete wasn’t able to get his horse water, it eventually collapses due to exhaustion. He scrambles to get his rifle to defend himself as Kent quickly approaches. The two open fire on one another but we don’t see who wins this shootout, forcing us to wait until the next episode.
New episodes of 1923 season 2 premiere Sundays on Paramount Plus.
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