1923 Season 1 Episode 7 Review: The Rule of Five Hundred
Carissa Pavlica
at
.
This penultimate hour makes you wonder how they thought they could have gotten away without announcing a second-season renewal.
As 1923 Season 1 Episode 7 shows, we are nowhere near close to the end of this story.
In fact, I'd counter that we are only close to the end of its beginning.
It looks like we have no choice but to discuss Teonna Rainwater's situation, as we've not been introduced to and lost even more Native American characters.
It's still shocking to me that we haven't woven her story into the greater narrative, but given how the Dutton dinner conversation went, perhaps that's on the horizon.
We got our first look and interaction with Teonna's father, who I believe is named Runs His Horse. He's tall and offers a vision of strength at first glance, which doesn't disappear with a second.
He discovered Teonna's grandmother's body, and it didn't take him long to determine that government officials had killed her.
It seems government and religious officials of all types figure they can do whatever they want with the Native Americans. Nobody but other Native Americans seem in the least bit interested in stopping them.
As a viewer, we've seen how horribly Teonna and the other girls have been treated at that atrocious school. But now we've seen how those rotten clergymen and women get their "students."
Pete Plenty Clouds is one such young person who clergymen deem unable to live his own life, threatening and then beating him into submission. My hope that Runs His Horse would find him on the trail and make mincemeat out of his captors fell through, but when the clergy finally found Teonna, she had better luck.
Can you even call what she had luck? She was, again, beaten and, while not raped, felt up by a friggin' priest. They were plenty angry at Pete Plenty Clouds for challenging their commitment to the word of God, but nobody in their right mind would think otherwise.
Catholicism flourished in the US. Was it all because Catholics believed in what they did with the Native Americans? 1923 paints all Catholics as bloodthirsty by not offering any indication these people have a soul outside of what they've shared with the devil.
I'm a shades-of-gray kind of gal, but here, it's darkness, black as pitch. I can't understand that kind of evil. There isn't any nuance to these priests and nuns; without it, the story offers nothing for me to sink my teeth into.
Are you faring any better? How does anything, let alone a religion that's supposed to follow God's word, flourish in total darkness?
I keep waiting for the story to be told with some hope, showing that there is light shining through even in the darkest pits of Catholicism.
A quick Google search suggests that as many as 25-30% of Native Americans currently practice Catholicism, having incorporated it into their spiritual practices. How could that have happened if their only encounters rivaled Teonna's?
We've seen that blackmail and subterfuge work. Cults are evidence of this. But cults lure you in with niceties, and once you're invested, they begin the indoctrination. We're seeing Catholics beat and kidnap people right off the plains. None of it makes sense to me.
For now, I'm going to tell myself that's because I'm a good person. What else could it be that sets me apart and makes it impossible to understand?
Banner Creighton, on the other hand, is easy to understand. We've already discussed how he rationalized his behavior in the face of tremendous adversity. His behavior, while not condoned or impressive, makes sense.
Using the same logic as noted above about luring people into your good graces, we can see how Whitfield lured Banner to his bosom. Whitfield let down his guard when he admitted to the attorney that the Sheriff's mistake was allowing Banner to live.
He went on to say that Banner is imperative to his organization, but something tells me that when he gets out of prison, Whitfield will allow him to fall as a way to atone for what was done to the Duttons to distance himself from that event.
But we also discovered that Whitfield is sadistic and cruel. Whores don't have contracts, but the entire profession relies on trust between the two parties. Or, in this case, three parties. Whitfield inserted himself into the situation to cause pain. What on earth will he do to Banner if he's out of line?
More importantly, what will he do to the Duttons if he no longer has Banner's poor decisions to stand behind on his way to taking over the Yellowstone? When Spencer arrives, he might not be battling Whitfield's henchman but Whitfield himself.
If the whore incident is any indication, he'll be a formidable opponent regardless.
My favorite part of the hour, by far, came from the Dutton dinner table, the first such meal we've had the pleasure to witness.
Jack hasn't been fleshed out that well, but his questions about politics and the difference between Whitfield and his uncle Jacob were well thought out. Even better, Jacob didn't have an answer that made it any clearer for Jack.
Jack: They put the bosses of the mining companies in charge of regulatin' the mines?
Jacob: I'll tell you all you need to know about politics, son.
Jack: You're in politics.
Jacob: I'm in law enforcement.
Jack: Well, you enforce the laws you push through.
Cara: Jack.
Jack: I ain't complainin'. I'm just sayin' it's the same thing. You're a cattle man in charge of regulatin' cattle. Am I wrong?
Jacob: There's this theory that these scientists came up with after studyin' tribes in India and Africa, South America. The smaller tribes didn't have any government. Didn't need any. They could sit down and talk out their problems, decide where to plant crops, to hunt. They was just a big family, really. But when the number of people got up around 500, if there wasn't any government, the strongest people would take advantage of the weakest every time, without fail. They would enslave, rape, steal, enrich their lives at the expense of other people's lives. Government's man's ways of tryin' to control our behavior, but it can't be controlled. It's what we are. Sooner or later, the kind of people that would enrich themselves at your expense will use the government to do it, and mark my words, one day, they'll create laws to control what we say, how we think. They'll outlaw our right to disagree if we let 'em. I created the commission to protect the way this family provides for itself, how it protects the land.
By the time Jacob finished talking, Jack had wondered about right and wrong and how that plays into it. Jacob said it only plays into it so far as where your interests lie.
Of all the things that Jabob said at that table, this is what struck me as the most important: "Sooner or later, the kind of people that would enrich themselves at your expense will use the government to do it and mark my words, one day, they'll create laws to control what we say, how we think. They'll outlaw our right to disagree if we let 'em."
He must be rolling over in his grave at how far social media has divided us and taken away our penchant for public discourse. We're further away from each other in ideologies than ever before, with various self-interest groups proclaiming their way of life as the gold standard without thinking about our society as a whole.
It's a battle that the modern-day Duttons are still fighting, but like Jacob, John and his children are fighting to retain a way of life and minimize the impact on all that brought people to America in the first place.
And that's where I can imagine Teonna's storyline might align with the Dutton's.
They're both trying to minimize damage from outside interests who want to plunder all of the majesties from this great land in the name of capitalism and lining their pockets.
I think part of John Dutton's problem on Yellowstone is that he's not working hard enough to find a way to marry the two so that the Yellowstone remains as an example of how it can be both profitable and majestic.
Without changing with the times, you risk being rolled over. Money talks. So the key is to have a lot of money to prove your point without capitulating your values to get it.
Or course, pragmatic Cara won the conversation by shushing the men.
A bear in the White House. Of all the things that happen in the world each day, why is the news telling you that? What aren't they telling you? That's the question. This isn't the news, Jack. This is camoflauge. We don't talk politics at the table. If you know what's good for you, you'll remember that.
Cara
We need to remember that as the US shoots down party balloons with $400k missiles. It's camouflage. Look between the lines to see what you're missing.
Cara misses nothing. She's always on alert and absorbs so much by watching and listening to those she loves. She shared a bit of it with Elizabeth when she explained why she writes to Spencer, even when he's on his way home.
Spencer had an innate ability to listen and absorb. She doesn't see it in herself, but her interactions prove she's as adept as her nephew, who she lovingly calls her youngest. Despite not bearing the children herself, she raised her nephews as if they were her own.
I think I'm more like Jack. I need a purpose. This waiting suffocates me.
Cara
Cara may see herself as a Jack, but she imbued her nephews and grand nephew with pieces of herself. She's spread beautifully through the family; no blood bond is needed.
It was lovely to see Spencer and Alex on dry ground again. Only when they were ready to disembark the ship did Spencer discover he wasn't a stranger to the captain, as his reputation precedes him even on the water.
Now that they're in Italy, it's easier to imagine that they'll make it safely to Montana. And, of course, knowing both actors participated in cowboy camp does a great deal to assuage that worry, too.
We can also breathe a sigh of relief that Spencer and Alex are legally wed since they ran into her former fiance, which closed out the hour.
She won't have an iota of doubt at seeing him again that she's made the right choice to fall madly, passionately in love with Spencer. After all, her holy grail is a smile from her husband, and at least for the time being, he's got a reason to grant her wish.
One episode to go, and we're just beginning this story. It will continue in earnest when Spencer and Alex set foot on the Yellowstone, and the Duttons show a united front in the face of those trying to change their way of life.
What do you think will happen in the season finale? What did you think of the many deep thoughts provoked by "The Rule of Five Hundred"?
Please drop down to the comments below and share your thoughts!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
