Major spoilers below for the latest episode of 1923, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!
Just three episodes after its timeline-establishing premiere, 1923 delivered an absolutely horrifying and brutal murder that could conceivably go down as the most unsettling character demise in the entire Yellowstone franchise. It was admittedly a somewhat celebratory turn of events, in as much as any fictionally vengeful execution can be lauded for any reason, but it just doesn’t feel right to have positive feelings about anything that played out between Aminah Nieves’ tortured Teonna and Jennifer Ehle’s cold-blooded nun Sister Mary. But I’ll be damned if there’s not a semblance of hope starting to form for the headstrong indigenous teen.
Let’s relive that big death below, as icky as it may be, and we can then check out what exiting 1923 cast member Jennifer Ehle had to say about portraying the hard-nosed, empathy-lite nun.
Teonna Gets Lethal Revenge On Sister Mary
For four episodes now, 1923 viewers have watched the harrowing and painful life being forced upon Teonna, who has been part of the identity-erasing boarding school being run by the cruel-on-both-sides Father Renaud, as portrayed by Sebastian Roché. Teonna quickly became a mighty thorn in Sister Mary’s paw (and side, and neck, and face), showing little hesitance in doling out the same kind of physical punishment being unfairly dealt to the many students. She’d suffered various forms of physical and sexual abuse, was left out in the elements via proto-solitary confinement, and in the episode “War and the Turquoise Tide,” she had her face smashed in with a shovel, and was then beaten in the face further until she agreed to be saved.
Of course, as anyone with a Paramount+ subscription could witness, Teonna had no intentions of falling in line behind the habit-wearing sisters, and was just waiting until the right time to enact a most barbaric revenge. Though it was likely a challenge to even get out of bed, Teonna rose in the night and gathered her and her BFF’s Bibles, promising the friend wouldn’t be troubled by Sister Mary for hers going missing. And the show didn’t even make viewers wait to learn what that ominous thought meant, either.
Indeed, the teen made her way into Sister Mary’s sleeping quarters, and before the self-righteous nun could make any worthwhile moves, Teonna brought out her makeshift weapon — two Good Books inside a pillowcase — and proceeded to slam it down again and again on her abuser’s face and torso. What didn’t kill Mary certainly didn’t make her stronger, either, and Teonna was able to rather easily suffocate the woman by shoving a handkerchief into her mouth and pinching her nose shut. Even after the nun was dead, Teonna went a step further and branded the woman’s face with a candle-heated ruler, adding further insult to fatal injuries.
I have to imagine someone within the boarding school will attempt to hold Teonna responsible for her crimes, but am so hoping that the grandmother’s attempts to take her away from the school prove successful in ways that can keep her from having to suffer further because of those horrid people. Justice for Teonna!
Jennifer Ehle Shares Thoughts On Sister Mary
CinemaBlend spoke with 1923 stars Jennifer Ehle and Aminah Nieves going into Season 1’s premiere, at which point Ehle seemed to indicate that her character wouldn’t be surviving the entirety of the spinoff’s run, for better or worse. While she didn’t go into any spoilery details at the time, of course, she did speak to the experience of playing such a complicated and dark character, praising both creator Taylor Sheridan’s screenwriting skills as well as the show itself for tackling such difficult subject matter. When I asked about the Old Testament-skewing nun, Ehle responded with:
Well, Sister Mary would be honored by that, hearing that she might have given it an Old Testament feel, I'm sure. Sister Mary was just a fascinating character, and the height of language that Taylor writes with, I think, it can take so much weight. There can be a kind of size and a muscularity to his characters and to his language, which I think is really compelling. And to be a part of exploring and helping to tell this particular side of the story of the residential schools - which is something that really has not been brought out into our conversation at all - to be a part of telling a story to get to such a wide audience is really an honor.
By and large, the Yellowstone-verse has clued many viewers in on what the life of modern cowboys is like, and put a spotlight on other lifestyle details that aren't so well-known to those living in cities and areas lacking large-scale ranches. And as it's been made clear via 1923's boarding school story, he's just as quick to highlight uncomfortable and controversial historical details as any others.
Fans sadly will have to wait a while before seeing the aftermath of Sister Mary's murder, as 1923 won't return to Paramount+ with new episodes until Sunday, February 5. Which means we also won't see if Harrison Ford's hat-friendly Jacob Dutton survived long enough to welcome nephew Spencer back home from his international journeys. While waiting to see how those and other storylines play out in future episodes, head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule to see what else is heading to the small screen soon.
