It’s been a long road to reach the end of 1923, and the Season 2 finale, ‘A Dream and a Memory,’ wraps it all up with touching reunions, bloody battles, and an emotional goodbye. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
Taylor Sheridan‘s 1923 is one of the most polarizing Yellowstone spinoffs of the bunch. Fans have loved the period romance between Spencer and Alex, as well as the globe-trotting adventures of this era of Duttons.
But with some hypersexualized subplots and a whole season devoted to watching characters travel on trains, it’s been a bumpy ride for Season 2.
Episode 7 is here to close Spencer, Alex, and Jacob’s journeys out for good. But you best grab the hankies and prepare for some heartbreak: this one’s tough.
Banner has a change of heart in 1923 Season 2 Episode 7
At the ranch, Zane and Cara are keeping watch, preparing for the possible attack coming from Banner’s men. As they wait, a worried Liz comes outside and tells them Jack hasn’t returned.
Cara tries to comfort her, revealing that Jack went to the Livingston train station to help Jacob, but admonishes him for not discussing it with Liz first. (Little do they all know, Jack’s already dead.)
At the train station, Jacob and the Sheriff are anxiously waiting Spencer’s train. They’re not the only ones: Clyde and his buddy (who are both secretly working for Banner and Whitfield) arrive under the guise of helping out Jacob’s side.
Speaking of Banner… he’s at home, traumatized by all the bad deeds he’s done while working for Whitfield. “I don’t think I’m a good man,” he tells his wife. He also admits that Jacob isn’t evil, but Whitfield is.
With that, he makes the decision to leave it all behind while they still can, and instructs his wife to pack up their bags and prepare to leave town.
Alex takes a risk to save her life
Meanwhile, in the icy wilderness, Alex is still trapped in the car with Hillary’s frozen body. She’s minutes away from freezing to death herself, and makes the painful move to steal Hillary’s gloves and run outside into the snow to find Paul’s corpse.
She takes some cash from his wallet and a lighter. Running back into the car, she rips up some papers and manages to start a small fire. It’s not much, but it’ll keep her alive for now.
At Whitfield’s house, Mabel is battered and exhausted from what was no doubt a traumatic sexual encounter the night before. At a decadent breakfast, Whitfield tells them both that Montana will soon be changing.
When Mabel tells him she didn’t enjoy the night before, he puts her through another abusive encounter, with Lindy caressing her while he pours hot coffee down her back. Outside, his servants listen to her screams.
In the desert, Mamie Fossett and her posse come across the bodies of Pete and Marshal Kent. Together, they work out that Teonna didn’t kill them, but rather, Father Renaud.
Tensions rise for Jacob at the train station
Back in Montana, Banner’s men begin to head to their attack points: the train station and the Dutton ranch. At the station, Jacob spots Banner and his family trying to make their way out of town.
When confronted, Banner tries to explain to Jacob that he wants to leave without trouble. But Jacob, furious at what Banner has done to the Dutton family so far, says he won’t let him get on the train. He does, however, agree to let Banner’s family leave.
ParamountOn the train itself, Spencer strikes up a conversation with a young boy about the buffalo roaming the fields. (We also get both a Wind River and Yellowstone namedrop here! Sheridan references galore!) In an act of kindness, Spencer trades his lion’s tooth for the boy’s pocket knife.
Back in Texas, Mamie finds the campsite where Teonna was staying, along with Runs His Horse’s and Father Renaud’s bodies. While they’re piecing the picture of Teonna’s innocence together, Mamie still debates whether or not to bring her in or leave her alone.
The decision is made for her when Teonna, hiding out nearby, shoots at them. A chase ensues, and she manages to kill one of Mamie’s men, but she’s eventually arrested and taken away after admitting she killed the nuns back at the boarding school.
A big gunfight at the Dutton ranch
And with that, the war for the Dutton ranch begins. While two ranch hands sit and take watch, a shot rings out, killing one of them. Quickly, Banner’s men converge on the property, driving Cara, Liz, and the rest of the hands into the house.
Cara and a couple of the hands head upstairs, taking shots down at the attackers from above. Turns out, Cara’s a crack shot, but there are too many against them to take them all out at once.
Things aren’t much better at Livingston. Jacob watches as a group of Banner’s men head inside. When they spot their leader, Banner simply nods his head at them, trying to play it cool and not give his escape away. However, preparing for the worst, he slips his pile of cash into his wife’s bag.
The reunion we’ve all been waiting for
Back in the car, Alex’s fire is starting to burn out. In an act of desperation, she starts burning her letters to Spencer. In despair, she starts talking to God, asking him why he would let her fall in love and give her a baby if he was just going to take it away.
The moment before all hope was lost, she was interrupted by the sound of a train whistle. Quickly wanting to make a signal, she pours the rest of Hillary’s liquor onto the flames and sets the entire car alight. She tries to flag the train down, which is hurtling towards her spot.
Wouldn’t you know it: Spencer is inside, watching through the window. He spots Alex and recognizes her, takes off down the train and jumps onto the track. As Alex collapses onto the ground, wailing in devastation for the train missing her, she hears his voice.
ParamountSpencer runs towards her, and finally, the couple are reunited once more. They embrace in tears, finally together. Picking her up into his arms, Spencer intends to carry her to the nearest town. But thankfully, the train stops and waits for them.
Inside, a doctor comes and finds Alex, diagnosing her with frostbite in her hands and feet (all of which had turned black from the cold). Stripping her down and warming her slowly, the doctor seems concerned with Alex’s pregnancy, telling them both there’ll be an ambulance waiting in Bozeman when they arrive.
The war continues at the train station
Cara and Zane get something of a break at the ranch when Banner’s men retreat, but only until nightfall. Now, it’s down to Jacob and the Sheriff to protect Spencer at the train station.
Soon, the train starts pulling into the platform. Banner says goodbye to his confused family, and everyone heads outside. As soon as the Sheriff spots a man with a gun, he yells at him to stand down. Within seconds, bullets are flying, and it’s Jacob and the team vs. Banner’s boys.
In the chaos, Banner’s wife and son manage to make it onto the train while the rest of the civilians dart into the station.
There’s a quick succession of casualties: the Sheriff is shot (but alive), Spencer saves Jacob, Banner kills Clyde, and the Sheriff kills Banner while his family watches, horrified. As Banner dies, Jacob stands above him and makes a promise that he’ll get his family safely to Portland.
When the shooting stops, Jacob’s side is mostly alive. He reunites with Spencer on the train, which still needs to go to Bozeman, where Alex’s ambulance is waiting.
Spencer saves the day at the ranch
Spencer introduces his uncle to his wife, leaving the two to go to the hospital while he takes over and returns to the ranch. (On the way to the ambulance, a traumatised Alex asks Jacob to make sure they have enough fuel for the journey.)
It’s now nightfall, and the shooting at the ranch starts back up again. Banner’s men almost burn the house down, but Zane manages to put out the fire. He’s also saved by Liz, who kills one of the attackers in the house with her rifle.
ParamountFinally, Spencer arrives. He then proves himself to be the coolest cowboy of the bunch as he pulls off a series of incredible moves, including shooting two men in the head at the same time, and essentially killing every remaining opponent in the house within seconds.
For now, the ranch – and those inside – are safe. Spencer and Cara reunite, but Liz breaks up the reunion to remind everyone that Jack is still missing. Worried, Cara sends out two of the hands to retrace his steps and look for him.
Alex’s condition worsens
At the hospital, Jacob is getting treatment for his old bullet wound which has reopened during the fight. When the doctor warns him of iron poisoning, Jacob snaps, “I’m 80 f**king years old, sew it up!””
Things, however, are not going so well for Alex. When Jacob finds her room, she’s surrounded by doctors who tell her they need to abort the baby for her own safety. Not only that, but her limbs will need to be amputated. But, just seconds later, she gives birth to a six-month old baby boy.
The doctors insist the baby won’t live, but Alex wants to stay with him anyway, even refusing to surrender him to go into surgery to save herself. Jacob defends her decision and stays by her side.
Paramount+“I’m going to name him John,” she tells him, solving a years-long Dutton family mystery in the process. When she also refuses Jacob’s efforts to try talking her into getting surgery, she and Jacob both break down from the emotion. (Really, is there anything more gutting than watching Harrison Ford cry?)
After this, Jack’s body is discovered, and Cara and Spencer arrive at the hospital. Spencer finds Alex and his son, and the two bid farewell to each other. He falls asleep next to her, and wakes up the next morning to find her dead. John, however, is looking like he may survive.
Spencer and Whitfield’s showdown
Spencer and Jacob head out to Whitfield’s house the next morning. Bursting through the door, Spencer shoots Whitfield in the stomach and kills Lindy before letting Mabel run free. Jacob relishes in watching Whitfield die, and Spencer makes him utter Alex’s name before shooting him in the head, killing him.
Back in Texas, Teonna goes on trial for murder, but the case is quickly dismissed when there’s no evidence or witnesses to the crime. Outside, Mamie and her partner give Teonna a horse and tell her to find a new home with her newfound freedom. As Teonna heads west, she’s told, “You were right to fight back.”
ParamountAt the ranch, a funeral is held for Alex and Jack. Not long after, Liz leaves the family to head back east, finally giving up any attempt to make the Dutton lifestyle work for her. Spencer then heads out with the ranch hands to gather up some wild cattle, leaving a newly retired Jacob and Cara behind on the porch with his baby son.
As the two sit and watch the cowboys ride away, Cara asks what Alex was like. Jacob tells her she was “like if a shooting star could talk.”
Finally, Elsa Dutton’s voiceover returns once again to tell us that Spencer never remarried, but had a love affair with a widow who gave him another son. When Spencer grew old, he died beside Alex’s grave. In the final moments, Spencer and Alex find each other again on a dazzling dancefloor.
1923 Season 2 is now available to stream on Paramount+.
Find out if there’s more to come with our guide to 1923 Season 3. Or, for more, check out what we know about 6666, 1944, and The Madison.
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