In the lead-up to Yellowstone’s fifth season premiere last year, I binge-watched its prequel series 1883 and 1923. Quickly, my love for 1923 overtook me, and it became my favorite show in Taylor Sheridan's universe. That’s in great part because of Alex and Spencer’s story about getting back to Montana. However, at the end of Season 1, the lovebirds were separated, and I became apprehensive about Season 2. Although, Brandon Sklenar and Julia Schlaepfer’s comments about their characters’ journeys this season have given me hope about what’s to come.
So, to recap quickly, at the end of 1923’s first season, Alex and Spencer Dutton were forcibly separated after Spencer accidentally killed Alex’s former fiancé, and they promised to meet each other back in Montana. Now, knowing the Dutton’s luck and the journey these two went on in Season 1, the odds of them actually reuniting in Season 2 feel low. To be blunt, I don’t love that for us and that's why I've been apprehensive.
However, while previewing Season 2 ahead of its 2025 TV schedule premiere with TV Line, Brandon Sklenar teased what’s coming for Spencer in the new episodes, saying:
He definitely encounters some strong resistance at pretty much every turn, and he deals with that the way he knows best. I can say that it’s definitely a lot of fun, as an actor, in playing him to finally take him to those places in the second season, and just trying to let the cat out of the bag and the lion out of the cage.
The It Ends With Us actor also explained that in the new season of this Yellowstone show, we could see more of the brutality that Spencer works really hard to repress. The guy’s got trauma from his time in the war and it’s clear that he has some Dutton-inspired demons too. Plus, Alex, his rock and love, is now gone. So, the path he’s headed down will be dangerous both physically and mentally. And that, my friends, is thrilling.
In Season 1 of 1923, we started to learn about Spencer’s relationship with his aunt and uncle who raised him, and I’m dying to know more about his feelings toward his brother and nephew. Hopefully, we’ll get to learn more about that in Season 2. Based on Sklenar’s comments, it sounds like we might as he fights his way back to Montana and Alex.
Speaking of Alex, Julia Schlaepfer opened up about what’s to come for her character too. While it sounds like Spencer will be literally fighting his way back home, there’s a different battle in store for his wife, as the 1923 cast member said:
This season is all about testing her resilience and her strength, and she has to dig deep to find a level of grit that I don’t even think she knew she had. But at the top of Season 2, she is determined to try her darndest to get to Bozeman to meet Spencer.
Why Helen Mirren's 1923 Character Is One Of The Most Empowering Women In The Yellowstone Universe
Earlier in the interview, Schlaepfer explained that during Season 1, Spencer was always by Alex’s side, and that made things way easier. Now, she’ll be a woman traveling alone in the ‘20s, which presents a totally new set of challenges, and it will highlight a very real problem women still face to this day.
Seeing how Alex defies the odds and gets back to her husband on her own will likely be entertaining and empowering, and I can't wait to see her find her true individual strength this season.
So, overall, while I’m not thrilled that one of my favorite Yellowstone couples won’t be together, these previews from the actors who play Alex and Spencer made me very excited about the individual journeys that lie ahead for them.
To see what happens to these two as well as the rest of the Dutton family, you can catch the premiere of 1923’s second season on Sunday, February 23 with a Paramount+ subscription.
