Major (and I mean MAJOR) spoilers for Season 2, Episode 6 of 1923 are ahead! If you have not watched it, go stream it with a Paramount+ subscription.
Any time a big character dies on a show, it’s emotional and a lot to take in. However, trying to grapple with seven (yes, SEVEN) deaths in one episode is almost incomprehensible. But here I am, aghast and trying to fathom it all after that explosive 1923 episode aired on the 2025 TV schedule.
Thankfully, I had the chance to chat about these developments with four of the actors who play now-dead characters. However, I was even more surprised to learn that these members of the 1923 cast also didn’t know their deaths were coming until they read the script for the first time.
Michael Spears Found Out About Runs His Horse’s Fate When He Read The Script
In preparation for this lethal episode of 1923, I had the chance to interview Michael Spears and Jeremy Gauna, who play Runs His Horse and Pete Plenty Clouds, respectively. They both met their ends in this episode, leaving Aminah Nieves' Teonna, once again, with no one.
When I asked how they reacted to their fates and if they learned about them before getting the script, Spears – whose character was shot by Father Renaud – revealed this to me:
I found out during the script, and I was sad. I was sad, I grieved a little bit. I wished for something different, but it just gave me more drive to develop his character and his connection with his children.
I love that perspective on the situation, and he later told me he wanted to "leave it all on the prairie."
However, I can’t get over the fact that they weren’t given a warning in advance. So, like us, they had to find out organically as the story unfolded. And learning about it that way was cause for reactions that involved all sorts of emotions.
Jeremy Gauna Told Me Why He Felt ‘Anger,’ ‘Sadness,’ ‘Joy’ And ‘Greatful’ When He Found Out His Character Died
For Jeremy Gauna, there was an extra weight on him to play Pete, which added to how he felt when learning his character’s fate. Initially, Pete was played by Cole Brings Plenty; however, after his death in April 2024, Gauna stepped into the role. With that in mind, he told me this about finding out about his character’s fate:
There's lots of emotions, lots of anger, lots of sadness, lots of joy, lots of bitter-sweets. You know, obviously, [I had] taken over for Cole. And what happened with that in real life was also on my shoulders, the weight of carrying on this and honoring him. It was powerful. It was deep, very grateful for. It was humbling at the same time, too. So, all of the above, I guess you could say.
Pete did go out in an epic fashion, after a horse chase and a shootout. Gauna told me that filming that was incredible, and ultimately learning about it all while reading the script allowed him to really give it his all. Reiterating Spears' point, he said:
It just allowed me to have the comfort of knowing that I could give my all to this character, because I had nothing else to give.
Both Gauna and Spears made it abundantly clear that they were saddened by their characters’ fates, and like me, didn’t know their deaths were coming. That shocked me, and it continued to astound me as I learned that the Dutton we lost also didn’t know his demise was coming…
Darren Mann Didn’t Know Jack’s Fate, And Told Me About The Future He’d Imagined His Character
I asked Darren Mann about Jack’s shocking and quick death that involved him being shot by men he thought he could trust. In response, he told me he “didn’t know what happened” before reading the script.
However, he did note that he was aware that “a lot of people die in” Taylor Sheridan’s shows. While he knew he was “playing roulette with four or five bullets in the chamber,” he also had fantasized about his character’s future, telling me:
I quietly had my own versions of how it would end, and Jack would be running the ranch, and [Kevin] Costner would eventually be his grandchild, and things would be great. But unfortunately, that is not how it went.
Considering all the questions about the Dutton lineage and Jack’s potential role in it, his death was particularly shocking. I was also deeply surprised to learn Mann wasn’t warned in advance. He told me he was “all the emotions” when he found out because he loves his character so much:
I was sad, I was mad. I was all the emotions when I read it, you know? Because I've fallen in love with this character and with playing this character. I love playing Jack. I would have played Jack for 10 more years. So I was definitely bummed out and sad.
I was sad too, because I love this Dutton, and I’m disappointed we’ll never get to see him meet his child or reunite with his uncle, Spencer (assuming he makes it home). However, 1923’s winters are harsh, the people are ruthless, the world of Yellowstone is brutal, and not everyone can make it out alive.
Sebastian Roché Also Found Out When He Got The Script, But Knew His Character Would Eventually Meet An ‘Untimely Demise’
While the three aforementioned deaths and the deaths of the two people driving Alex were truly tragic, the demises of Marshal Kent and Father Renaud, who were traveling together, weren’t. In fact, I’d been waiting to see how they’d be taken down.
To that point, Sebastian Roché, who plays Father Renaud, knew his character’s death would happen eventually. However, he didn’t find out how he’d go down until he got the script for Episode 6:
I knew that eventually I would meet my untimely demise. But when I read the scene I was really pleasantly surprised, because what a way to go, you know? In the throes of extremism and intensity. So, yeah, I mean, you know, it was a great fitting end to a great character, because what a character to play.
His death was pretty epic. After a fight with Teonna that involved burning coals, stabbing and a few gunshots, he went out with a literal (and deserved) bang. Teonna is finally free of this evil being, and she can move into a new chapter of her life, and as Roché said, it was “a fitting end” to this arc.
Overall, this episode of 1923 was jaw-dropping, epic and lethal. What’s even more shocking is that the cast had to learn about it in basically the same way we did. Now, I’m sitting on pins and needles waiting to find out what will happen (and who might die) in next Sunday’s season finale - because if this episode proved anything, it’s that no one is safe.
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