The second (possibly final) season of 1923 remains cinematic. It has honest-to-God star power—not only because the series features Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, but also because Brandon Sklenar, after a successful summer with It Ends With Us, has now taken the reins as a full-fledged movie star on your streaming screen.
Sklenar commands your attention with the charisma and magnetism of a young Harrison Ford. You simply cannot take your eyes off him. And with rumors of 1923 coming to a close this season, Paramount+ would be smart to lock in a third, giving Sklenar full studio backing to take the Yellowstone chapter into the future.
Paramount+’s 1923 Season 2 Review and Synopsis
The last time we saw the Duttons, Spencer (Sklenar) was separated from the love of his life, Alexandra (The Sky is Everywhere’s Julia Schlaepfer). Jacob (Ford) was recovering from gunshot wounds inflicted by Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn), who is now being financially backed by mineral magnate Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton).
Meanwhile, Cara has been writing to Spencer, hoping the lion hunter will return home to save the Dutton family land. That’s where showrunner Taylor Sheridan begins, with Spencer working as a stoker to earn money to return home to Montana and save his family. Meanwhile, Jacob and Cara have sold off most of their cattle and are battling one of the harshest winters in state history.
Jack (Animal Kingdom’s Darren Mann) and Elizabeth (Landman’s Michelle Randolph) live in the Dutton home after last season’s family tragedy. Meanwhile, Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) is trying to escape agents who promote cultural genocide at the hands of an obsessive parishioner (Sebastian Roché) as she hides on old Comanche land in Texas.
Sklenar in Paramount+’s 1923 Season 2 is Magnetic!
1923 is full of cinematic-quality moments, with cinematographer Corrin Hodgson crafting a film brimming with power. Taylor Sheridan brings his signature depth to writing well-drawn characters and exploring visceral, sorrowful, and rage-filled themes. The opening episode, aptly titled “The Killing Season,” is darker than expected, even compared to Sheridan’s other works.
The second season continues with strange detours and offbeat interludes, developing engrossing character vignettes. Though I must admit, Dalton‘s Donald Winfield’s sexually sadistic ways become overbearing and overdone at times. However, the series’ best storyline involves Nieves’ Rainwater, who was unjustly robbed of an Emmy nomination for her work in the second season.
Nieves is spectacular here. Sheridan uses the character to explore the dark side of organized religion and the intersectional treatment of Indigenous women. He takes the audience inside that unforgiving world in a subplot of extraordinary power. This subplot is essential, as these scenes feel authentically relevant and deeply impactful.
Is Paramount+’s 1923 Season 2 Worth Watching?
It’s the exploration of Indigenous history, colonialism, and the forced displacement of children into Christian orphanages, is that separates this Sheridan outing from the rest of his eye-popping resume that makes the television magnetic a master storyteller.
However, let’s not kid ourselves. The legitimate star wattage from Ford, Mirren, and Sklenar gives this Yellowstone prequel the vintage feel of old Hollywood filmmaking. 1923‘s second season is worth watching because the series is brimming with magnetism, flawless writing, thought-provoking themes, and genuinely engaging storytelling.
Let Sheridan’s brand of escapism transport you to another time and place, then let it wash over you.
The first three episodes of the second season of 1923 were screened for this review. You can stream this series only on Paramount+ starting on February 23, with new episodes streaming until April 6!
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