Snow lies over the mountains of Montana. Hungry wolves, lions and greedy entrepreneurs are already whimpering their claws, while the rough winter brings out their targeted prey. In the middle of icy snow storms, life on the Yellowstone ranch for Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) becomes a hardest test. Or as a daughter -in -law Elizabeth invalidates: “This is not a life, it is survival!“
After a huge break of two years, the Yellowstone spin-off in 1923, created by Taylor Sheridan, returned to Paramount+ on February 23, 2025 with new episodes. In season 2, Western fans again expects an epic narrative that struggles for survival over thousands of kilometers-but also puts the patience of their audience to the test.
The Western Epos 1923 is even smaller in season 2
As a Prequel series for Yellowstone, in 1923, a fascinating view of the cowboy life took almost 100 years before the ranch-intrigue with Kevin Costner in the first season. The epic narrative provided us with three series in one and added to the Western drama in Montana for a trauma tragedy in the Catholic re-education boarding school for indigenous children and an adventure love of love in Africa.
In season 2 in 1923 the branched network of action split far stronger and required in the first episodes With seven (!) Different story strands Maximum attention when watching. The greatest room is occupied by the story of Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) and Alex (Julia Schlaepfer), who now have to find their way to Montana separately after their adventurous journey from Africa.
Spencer is sitting on the neck and as a heater on board a ship, a transatlantic journey begins, which Brandon Sklenar recommends again as the ideal hero of the adventure cinema. Without hesitation, he saves an Italian refugee from rape, prevents suicide attempts with calm pragmatism and is beaten by betting fist battle below deck, whereby his charisma is only trumped out by his upper arms bursting out of the sleeves.
His wife Alexandra, on the other hand, has to struggle to America without muscular support. After she had previously survived animal attacks and a boat accident, the immigration procedure in the United States surprisingly becomes her biggest opponent in season 2. Nerve -wracking surveys, humiliating examinations and empathetic hostility to do this part of the action an unexpectedly oppressive highlightwhich promises an even larger ordeal for the pregnant traveler beyond the first three episodes. The following also applies: everyone has to suffer in 1923.
Wolves, lions and survival on the Yellowstone ranch
Although it partly works as if the story about the Yellowstone ranch was only waiting for Spencer’s return home before it is allowed to escalate, this storyline unfolds the greatest tension potential of the relay-and again proves that Helen Mirn’s Ranch Matriarch The best figures in the series is.
Even if the risk of takeover by Magnat Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) takes a back seat, the duttons in the middle of the winter may suffer as much as before. Due to the snow masses only connected to the outside world by horse, winter for the buns on their ranch becomes an intensive tear test. Cold, isolation and dwindling supplies But are not the greatest danger.
In 1923 we literally feel how the harsh nature grumbles the duttons. When Harrison Ford looks at a hungry lion right at the beginning of the season on the veranda of his dutton domicile or Helen Miren extends a rabid wolf with a shotgun, the Western series impressively shows us how dangerous and merciless the ranch even without without is human intrigue.
Is it worthy of season 2 of the Yellowstone series 1923?
Anyone expecting a direct escalation of the Western War on the Ranch after season 2 trailers could be disappointed. The opening sequence in particular offers a rather quieter entry, which first presents all important characters and storylines. However, the dismemberment to several (still not overlapping) stories with many figures and topics means that The overall story only sluggishly Advanced.
But the patience pays off: In 1923, also in season 2 there was a rousing western epic with a strong line-up and visual staging, which lets the dusty Texas to be felt again by the dusty Texas to Oklahoma and the dreary New York to the frosty Montana the size of the monumental adventure story .
Hear the podcast: 1923 and other series highlights in February
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Fortunately, season 2 can also Correct a big point of criticism. In the first season, the trauma of the young Teonna Nieves) tonally fell from the rest of the series act and was hardly bearable for many viewers by the trauma of the indigenous population by the lens of the young Tona Rainwater (Aminah Nieves). Tona is allowed to take a breath in the new episodes, while the search for the refugee by the priest Renaud (Sebastian Roché) and US Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane) is now reminiscent of a classic western than a horror film.
When and how in 1923 all these threads will be brought together, it cannot be estimated after the first three episodes. However, there is not much time, because season 2 should already be the last one for the Yellowstone prequel. This is already a loss, because better fans will not find better western entertainment anywhere else.
The episodes of the 2nd season of 1923 have been published on Sundays at Paramount+ since February 23, 2025. The first three out of eight episodes are the basis for this series check.