Winter is unforgiving in 1923 compared to Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone series, where he plays John Dutton III, the owner of the Yellowstone Ranch. Things are bleak in 1923 season 2, episode 2 — and with a title like “The Rapist Is Winter,” it’s clear that winter plays a significant role in almost everyone’s misery. Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) and Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph) were riding out a blizzard in 1923 season 2, episode 2, worsened by Elizabeth’s wolf bite. It was proving a storm to remember, especially after the wolf let itself into the lodge and devoured Elizabeth’s nurse.
Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Jack Dutton (Darren Mann) were on their way home when the storm hit, and their journey proved how harrowing a Montana winter can be. As the 1923 characters travel home on horseback and in a wooden wagon, they are forced to detour into the pines to keep the party from the blizzard’s wrath. While things aren’t much better for Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) or Alexandra (Julia Schleapfer), at least the star-crossed lovers are avoiding winter in the mountains — one that Cara notes is more brutal than most.
1923 Season 2 Shows The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch In Winter
Jacob And Cara’s Family Face An Ominous Threat
1923 season 2 does something Yellowstone has hardly done before by showing the Dutton Ranch in the winter. The main characters in 1883 and Yellowstone never encounter winter, existing in the summer and fall. Winter is hardly mentioned in Kevin Costner’s series, so Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) don’t have to brave the cold much, at least not that we can see. Lloyd Pierce (Forrie J. Smith) finally alludes to the daunting nature of winter in Yellowstone season 5, episode 14, warning Rip (Cole Hauser) about the cold in Dillon.
Winter is an ominous threat to the wagon train’s party, who navigate the fierce landscape as they make a harrowing journey in search of a better life.
Taylor Sheridan’s other Yellowstone prequel also avoids the unforgiving nature of winter, despite its constant threat throughout 1883 — which follows the earliest-known members of the Dutton family tree as they travel a northwestern variant of the Oregon Trail. Winter is an ominous threat to the wagon train’s party, who navigate the fierce landscape as they make a harrowing journey in search of a better life. While the wilderness throws unending obstacles at James Dutton (Tim McGraw) and his family, including tornadoes and unforgiving rivers, Elsa (Isabel May) never gets to ride through the snow before arriving in Paradise Valley.
Why 1923 Season 2 Features The Winter & Yellowstone Doesn’t
John Dutton III’s Family Doesn’t See Much Snow
Winter in Montana is the perfect setting for 1923 season 2, fitting the chapter’s grave and ominous tones. The Duttons experience winter both physically and metaphorically. In her narration as Elsa Dutton, Isabel May describes winter as “the killing season,” when the strong eat the weak. The meaning of the mountain lion in the premiere of 1923 season 2 is to indicate that the Prohibition-era Dutton family has been reduced to mere survival, fighting among the animals for their safety while Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) looks at them like prey and their ranch as a prize to be hunted.
It feels appropriate to show the 1920s Duttons against the ominous white backdrop of winter as they face an enormous struggle. Still, it raises the question of why Yellowstone didn’t also have the same treatment. Logistically, it probably didn’t make sense to haul Kevin Costner and the entire Yellowstone crew out to Montana mid-winter. 1923 is just two seasons, making it more sustainable to shoot in the snow. Moreover, even when Beth and Kayce are forced to sell the ranch in Yellowstone season 5, Taylor Sheridan’s 1883 prophecy makes the moment more of a triumph than a struggle.
Was It Ever Winter In Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone?
Yellowstone Flashbacks Showed Key Winter Moments
We never get to see John and Beth in their most substantial snow gear on the porch against a backdrop of white, but Yellowstone has shown the winter months occasionally. A few winter moments appeared in flashbacks on the flagship series. In Yellowstone season 1, episode 7, “A Monster Among Us,” a flashback to Christmas morning in 1996 showed a younger John Dutton (Josh Lucas) with his wife, Evelyn (Gretchen Mol), and their children enjoying their last Christmas morning together — that is everyone except Beth (Kylie Rogers), who has just gotten her first period.
That morning, winter reflected the talk Evelyn gave her daughter about the crushing nature of womanhood. It’s also winter in a flashback to the Yellowstone Ranch in 1893, which shows James Dutton coming upon a group of Crow people camped on his ranch, who ask if they can bury their relative on the land that used to be theirs. Winter similarly reflects the grave tones of the moment, as James remarks that it’s a harsh winter. The “killing season” is shown sparingly in Sheridan’s network of Yellowstone shows, and it’s more brutal than ever in 1923 season 2.
