Yahoo Lifestyle 1923 Recap: Snow Rest For the Weary
The swirling snows that plagued Montana in last week’s 1923 have cleared by the time Episode 3 gets underway, but that doesn’t mean that the threat has passed for the Duttons and their extended circle. Similarly, the storm that rocked Alex’s transatlantic voyage also is over — but the real hard stuff is to come for the Spencer’s pregnant wife.
Read on for the highlights of “Wrap Thee in Terror.” And when you’re done, make sure to go here and check out my post-episode chat with Julia Schlaepfer about Alex’s traumatizing welcome to America.
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A LITTLE (FORCED) PERSPECTIVE | The morning after the wolf attack, Cara tries the soft approach with a very scared Elizabeth. When that doesn’t work, and the younger woman fights the doctor and ranch hand who try to hold her down for her next rabies shot, Cara changes tack and slaps her across the face.
“The world is not a fair place, as you’ve surely realized by now. But it has been far kinder to you than to the woman lying in the back of Dr. Miller’s buggy,” Cara admonishes, continuing the verbal barrage until Elizabeth is ready to take the shot like a woman. Cara delivers it herself; afterward, both women are highly unsettled.
A HOUSE FULL OF REALLY UNHAPPY PEOPLE | When the blizzard is over, Jack and the other ranchers go looking for the horses. Jake stays behind, knowing that the kids — and likely Zane and Alice — will die if they don’t start a fire. Problem is, there’s no suitable wood. “Burn the wagon,” Zane suggests, vowing that even though he hasn’t been able to stand for more than a few seconds at a time for weeks, he’ll ride a horse home.
Cara ties herself in (understandable) knots, watching the hills near the house for Jake & Co. to come home. Dr. Miller is just about to get in his car and go when the travel party appears in the distance, and it doesn’t look like the doc is going anywhere, because Zane is in a bad way.
He diagnoses Zane with a subdural hematoma (read: NOT GOOD) that needs to be drained so the pressure on his brain is relieved. Moreso (read: EVEN WORSE), the doc has no anesthesia to knock Zane out while he drills into his skull.
Down the hall, Jack finds his wife packing: Elizabeth wants “no part of” ranch life, she informs him. And she’s got a plan. Referring to their vows, she says, “It’s your turn for ‘worse.’ You want to be my husband? Be him in Boston.” Then she makes him watch as she’s held down so Cara can administer the next dose of rabies injections. “Eight more, and I’m done with this place,” she says, crying.
WELCOME TO AMERICA? | Alex’s ship survived the storm, but she arrives in New York harbor to learn that she’ll be processed through Ellis Island like all of the other immigrants on board without documentation. She passes the initial health test and gives her last name as “Dutton” when she’s processed, but she’s dismayed when another traveler — also pregnant — tells her that they’re sending pregnant women back to their home countries. Behind a screen, a rude doctor (accompanied by a nurse) makes her disrobe completely. He does a rough pelvic exam, then discovers her pregnancy while palpating her abdomen; he draws a “PG” on her abdomen then won’t let her put her clothes on while she waits for the next examiner.
She’s eventually seated on a bench next to other women whose fates hang in the balance. An Irish woman next to her warns her that she’ll have to bribe the man making the ultimate decision with either coin or “trade.” When Alex finally is seen, that official doesn’t believe that she is married to a Montana rancher — “If you had a husband, he would be with you” — and preaches at her about how those arriving from elsewhere must work in order to earn their place in America. Alex, in turn, lectures him about the hypocrisy of treating her like scum mere feet from the Statue of Liberty, which is supposed to welcome the tired, poor, huddled masses yadda yadda. He passes her a copy of a Walt Whitman’s book and smugly asks her to prove she can read; she does so with élan, which has gotta really scorch his sourdough. Then, she points out that he has lipstick on his neck from when he “approved” the previous woman… with his penis. (She’s too classy to say that, so I — who has no problem with it — will.) “You might want to remove that before you head home to the missus,” she sniffs, sitting back in victory as he stamps her papers “accepted” and unsteadily welcomes her to America.
Alex winds up at Grand Central, booking a train that’ll get her a good chunk of the way to Bozeman. “What calamity awaits to keep me from you?” Alex writes to Spencer in her journal just before boarding her train. Well, ask and ye shall find, babe. She stops in the ladies’ room before heading down to the platform, and some ne’er-do-well-looking guy follows her inside.
LUCA’S BORROWED TIME COMES TO AN END | Spencer and Luca spy a roadblock in the distance, prompting Spencer to find a way around the checkpoint. “I’m not dying for a bunch of f—king booze,” Spencer says. When Luca pulls a gun on him, ordering him to drive, Spencer quickly disarms him and then slaps him for the stupid move. He wants to ditch the truck, and he chastises Ludo for settling for being a bagman for his cousins. “Right or wrong, they are family. Look at what you do for your family,” he points out. That takes Spencer aback a moment, but then he says “best of luck” and sets off on foot.
They haven’t been parted long when Spencer hears gunfire and goes to a nearby bluff, where he sees Luca firing at the roadblock officers as he tries to pass. They eventually get him, and Spencer removes his hat as, from a distance, it looks like the younger man is very much dead.
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ELSEWHERE OUT THERE | Runs His Horse strikes a deal with the ranchers; he, Teonna and Pete will help with their cattle drive. Meanwhile, Marshal Fossett investigates the killings that took place at Father Renaud’s camp the night before.
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!
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