In a nutshell, the fifth episode of season 2 of 1923 can be described as everyone going somewhere but still not having got there. I know that sounds like what’s been happening the past few episodes, where all we have seen so far is Teonna and her company running away from Marshal Kent, Spencer running towards Montana, and Alex running all over America to reach the father of her child. At this moment, I am not sure how long they’ll just keep “running.” Looking at the “fantastic” pace of this season, I guess it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that we can only expect a final showdown between Whitfield, Banner, and Spencer somewhere in the seventh and eighth episodes. Nevertheless, back to the recap of this episode, Teonna, Alex, and Spencer have just gotten into some more trouble on their respective journeys, so without any further ado, let’s take a detailed look at that.
Spoiler Alert
Teonna Runs Away From Amarillo
In the previous episode, Runs His Horse managed to talk the ranchers into giving them some work and helped them with their stray cattle, hoping they would let them stay on their land as long as they wanted. However, as soon as Teonna and her father saw wanted posters of her up on every corner of the street, they quickly left town and headed towards Mexico, where Marshal Kent and Father Renaud possibly wouldn’t follow them, as it wouldn’t fall under their jurisdiction. However, it was a long journey ahead, with barren flat land with no trees for a thousand miles, making it easy for Kent to spot them from afar.
Kent Likely Kills Pete
In the middle of their journey, Pete decided to part ways with the group to look for some water for the horses. However, Runs, who knew how dangerous these lands could be, didn’t want Pete to split off from the rest of them. He believed riding alone would be dangerous as he might get lost, but Pete said he wouldn’t ride too far and promised the love of his life, Teonna, that he would come back soon. Now, in episode 5’s ending, Pete spotted an animal and started chasing it, believing it would lead him to a body of water, but to his shock, Kent and Renaud were already there. They were watering their horses when they spotted Pete in the distance and started following him. During the chase, Pete’s horse tripped and Pete fell down. He quickly pulled out his rifle and pointed his gun at Kent before the screen turned black.
In 1923 episode 5’s closing shot, we heard three shots being fired, where I believe two shots were from Kent’s pistol, who, being an officer of the law, was a more skilled marksman than Pete. In the previous episodes, we had already witnessed Kent’s shooting skills when, in the darkness of the night, he had single-handedly shot down several innocent Native Americans. In short, Kent has better chances of surviving the clash than Pete, and therefore it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that Kent killed Pete in the shootout. Now this would likely give Teonna all the more reason to kill these vicious men who took away everything she loved. They killed her cousin, her grandmother, and now her love. It’s quite evident that no one could save Kent and Renaud except for Marshal Mamie Fossett, who could arrest these men before they face the woman’s wrath.
Spencer Boards Another Train
In the previous episode, Spencer had come across some vagabonds who threatened to steal from him as soon as he hopped on a freight train to escape some law enforcement officers in Fort Worth. In episode 5, he found some shade under a tree to catch some sleep before he could resume his journey back home, but to his dismay, another problem came knocking on his door. This time around it was the righteous officer, Marshal Mamie, looking for Kent and Renaud, who had brutally murdered some Native American kids in the area and fled. Mamie wanted to know which parts Spencer belonged to, and as soon as he said Montana, Mamie refused to take it as a coincidence that the Indian girl and the two men whom she had been looking for had come from Montana as well. Mamie suspected that Spencer could be a criminal too, which was why she asked him to come with them to the nearby station in Amarillo so that they could make a call to his hometown and verify the details.
At the station, Mamie got on the line with Sheriff McDowell, who, obviously, knew who Spencer Dutton was and therefore told Mamie that he had received a Congressional Medal of Honor from the President for his service during the First World War. But even though Mamie was quite surprised to find out that Spencer was a war hero, McDowell wasn’t happy with the news of his return. Spencer told McDowell that he was coming back home to take revenge on those who’d dared spill his family’s blood, and he wouldn’t stop until he had ended the war these men had started. McDowell requested Spencer to visit him first as soon as he stepped into Bozeman before heading to the ranch. Likely McDowell would try to convince Spencer to settle the matter peacefully without resorting to any kind of violence, but as far as we know, Spencer is a hunter, for whom letting a quarry live means digging one’s own grave. A man-eater would always remain a man-eater, and the only way to get rid of “him” is to kill him, and yes, that’s what he is going to do with Banner and his master, Whitfield.
McDowell got a pretty good idea that Spencer wasn’t coming back alone. He was bringing a gust of rage and chaos with him that was going to turn the whole town upside down, and this was why, before ending the call, he requested Mamie to detain the man as long as she could for his own sake. McDowell wanted to delay the inevitable, but Mamie herself was bound by the law. She couldn’t arrest a man who had committed no crime yet and therefore handed Spencer the train ticket that she’d promised him during their first encounter.
Alex Gets Into More Trouble
In the previous episode, someone had robbed Alex at a terminal in New York and taken away all her belongings before she could board the train. She had bruises all over her body and couldn’t walk straight, yet she managed to catch the train on time with the luggage she was left with. The next day, Alex found out that there was no complimentary food service with the ticket she had, and she didn’t have any money left to buy herself anything to eat. She hadn’t eaten for days and hadn’t had a proper meal since she left England. She begged the porter to give her something to eat, which was when he took her to his manager, who told Alex that he would arrange some food for her, but she had to earn it. So, Alex started working as a waitress on the train and served all kinds of men. One privileged individual tried to place his hands beneath her skirt and groped her privates, which was when Alex lost her cool. She smashed his face in with the steel coffee jar she was holding, and for this assault she was locked in a cage at the back of the train. Alex tried to explain the whole situation, but as it often happens, men in high positions go deaf when people below them try to seek justice, and that’s what happened with Alex. The train’s in-charge showed more faith in the words of the man dressed in expensive clothes than in the woman wearing the waitress uniform. They refused to listen to Alex’s pleas and branded her as a “mad” criminal meant for the cage.
In episode 5’s ending, the train finally reached Chicago, where the train authorities decided to hand Alex over to the law, but before that could happen, an English couple, Hillary and Paul, who had witnessed the sexual assault and knew Alex was a victim, decided to intervene and told the officers that it was the man with the bruised face who was at fault here. He had tried to touch Alex inappropriately, and she’d only acted in self-defense to protect her honor. But even though Alex wasn’t going to prison, she couldn’t travel anywhere else either. The train to Fargo was cancelled due to snowdrift and might not be operational before June. Alex had no place to go and was completely devastated. The English couple once again saw Alex crying on the bench and therefore offered her their help. They requested that she come with them to their place in Winnetka, where she could stay and take a short break from her adventures. She could wait there until the train to Fargo started running again, when she could resume her journey to meet her husband in Montana.
