1923 (2022) s01e04 Episode Script

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Let me and the boys do that.
In my pocket. A letter. Take it.
I don't want to get blood on it.
This will take months
to get there, ma'am.
We should send a wire.
- Can't send a wire.
- Why not?
Because then the world will know.
We will ignore that this has happened.
Never speak of it to anyone.
Ma'am, I need to get the sheriff.
- Jacob said no sheriff.
- I know what he said, but he
No sheriff. No posse.
Ma'am, the Livestock
Association meets twice a month.
When he don't show, they'd know anyway.
I'll go in his place.
Mail the letter.
Yes, ma'am.
You didn't ask how he was doing.
I figured you'd tell me
if you wanted me to know.
He survived the night.
That's a start.
Now we just have to
focus on the next night.
Hope's a dangerous thing, ma'am.
It tricks your mind
into seeing this world
that ain't ever coming true.
It's best you say goodbye
to him while you still can.
No room for miracles
in your world, I see.
There's room for 'em, ma'am.
I just never seen anyone wish one up.
You stay here. Keep that rifle close.
Anybody ain't a friend
rides up this road,
make it the last thing they ever do.
Yes, sir.
Where's the team?
Well, we turned 'em out.
Bring them back.
What's she doing?
Don't know.
Now I know what she's doing.
How did she sleep?
Didn't move.
Roll over for me, honey.
It's was fortunate that we
managed to get Dr. Miller sober,
otherwise this straight line
would have been more
like a question mark.
Does my mother know?
We've sent for her.
Don't like this fever. But
the doctor said no aspirin.
Can I run you a bath?
I'll get some water.
No, you don't need to
be carrying anything.
I got one good arm.
Why does no one speak of this Africa?
Because they don't know it exists.
And we ain't gonna tell 'em.
I much prefer it to leopards and lions.
There's leopards and lions here, too.
I want to show you something.
Is it better than this?
It's better than this.
Show me.
Don't look at me.
Look behind you.
It seems "I want to show
you something" actually means
"I've found a new place to ravage you."
You noticed that?
Yes, I've detected the pattern.
Get on with it then.
If you must
Promise me
it will always be this.
Always an adventure.
It'll never be dull
I can promise you that.
Even when we're old and frail
and all the ravaging
is behind us, what then?
Wheelchair races.
Challenge accepted, sir.
Alex.
- Spencer
- Shut up.
Oh, my apologies
I have interrupted your ravaging.
Please, carry on.
Darlin'.
Stop talking.
Call me that again.
Call me "Darling."
Darlin'.
Okay.
I'll stop talking.
Where should we live?
I don't care. You choose.
I could live here.
There will be obligatory
trips to London, I'm afraid
so that my parents can
properly despise you
and I can beg my father for money.
Have you ever been?
I was stationed there before
I was sent to the front.
Yes, the war about nothing
that cost us everything.
What did it cost you?
A brother.
What did it cost you?
Hard to define.
My soul, I think.
But I'm getting that back.
Never underestimate the healing powers
of a good ravaging.
I must warn you, sir, one
can become quite addicted.
I think it best we ration your medicine.
It's for your own good, sir!
I do it out of love.
Look how well my plan is working.
You're so peaceful, Spencer.
I'll have you wrapped
around my finger in no time.
- Mm-hm?
- Uh-huh.
No!
Hey.
They follow you?
They turned back when
we got to the canyon.
Nobody else made it out?
We need to leave the state.
We're not going anywhere.
Banner, they are gonna put
together a fucking army.
Let me think!
We'll build a bigger army.
How? There's only three of us left.
What runs this state? Eh?
It's not cattle. It's not sheep.
Gold runs the state. And silver.
We don't need to build an army.
We can borrow one.
Jake Dutton is dead?
Dead, sir.
Dead how?
Does is matter how?
It matters to the law.
Law? What law? Where
is the law around here?
I've never seen it.
His nephew running the ranch now?
Nephew's dead, and all.
What Dutton is running the ranch?
The women run it.
Which is to say nobody runs it.
In six months I'll run it.
And when you run it, what will you do?
I'll lease you the mineral
rights, if you want them.
I want them.
Let's talk price.
We'll talk price in six months.
When you run it.
Killing a king doesn't make you a king.
It makes you an assassin.
And I never heard of an
assassin running anything.
Where in Montana has the most gold,
the most silver, the most coal?
The Yellowstone.
That's what I'm offering.
- It's not yours to offer.
- I can own it.
Then why don't you?
I'll tell you why:
because you don't have
the money to buy it
and you don't have the men to take it.
So, which do you want?
The money or the men?
I don't care which.
I'll give you the money.
You find the men.
And when you have it
I mine where I choose,
and the lease already paid.
And you run your sheep where you want.
The mountains are mine.
Deal.
Shake on it.
Know this, Banner:
if you lie to me, if you steal from me,
and I won't just kill you.
I'll kill your wife.
I will skin her alive,
and I'll bury your children
in her fucking hide.
Understood.
The man needs an army.
Give him the funds for it.
Come on.
Some of these cattle
have different brands.
We just taking Yellowstone cattle?
We're taking them all.
All right, then. Woop!
- Where is she?
- She's upstairs.
Take me to her.
Oh.
What an ordeal you've endured.
What did the doctor say about travel?
He didn't mention travel,
but I would assume
I'll send for a motor car.
We'll get you to Livingston,
then on the train.
Why a train? A train to where?
Back East. To a hospital.
This is no place to recover.
This is no place to be at all.
What about the wedding?
What wedding?
My wedding.
They killed your wedding when they
killed your father, sweetheart.
If you still wish to have her hand
I suggest you pack your things.
Any reason I had for living
in this godless place is dead.
No disrespect, Mrs. Strafford,
but I ain't marrying you.
Jack.
I'll discipline my own
nephew, thank you very much.
Where is my husband?
Ice house. I'll take you.
I will find my own way.
Well, it appears you
have plenty to discuss.
This is your home now, if you choose it.
I choose it.
I suppose you don't have
much to discuss after all.
The girl wishes to stay,
marry my nephew and start her life here.
I will not allow it.
That is not your decision to make.
I will send a car.
It will be turned away at the gate.
She is my daughter.
You have no right, you have
no right to decide her fate!
That is my right and my right alone!
She is free to leave, but
you are not free to take her.
This is not the Strafford Ranch,
this is the Yellowstone.
And you have no rights here.
And another calamity arrives.
Cattle in the east camp are gone.
Gone?
There's horse tracks leading east.
They'll take 'em to Wyoming
and have 'em on a train by nightfall.
I'm gonna need all the boys.
Jack, stop.
Stop right where you are!
They attack us on the field,
now they steal our cattle?
Either we take this fight
to them or it's coming to us.
I need a moment.
- We ain't got a moment.
- I need a moment to think.
I think I've earned
that right, don't you?
Don't move.
What would you do?
Oh Guide me, Mother Mary. Guide me.
Thieves have stolen the
cattle, but we are weak.
We have no leader.
You be the leader.
You be the leader.
The cattle aren't worth another life.
Can we afford to lose them?
It's only lives we can't afford to lose.
No fighting
Until Spencer gets here.
Let the cattle go.
I had abandoned all hope for you.
Ain't gonna get rid of me that easy.
I forbid you to die.
- Do you understand me?
- I won't die.
Too stubborn.
Bring me Zane.
We're getting them cattle back tonight,
do you hear me?
We need to leave right now, man.
We're going to. We ain't got much time.
We let the cattle go.
It's not worth the risk.
Godammit! That's half our herd!
It's not your decision to make.
He wants to speak with you.
We'll wean the calves
sell the mamas.
Put bulls on the heifers
when they weigh seven hun
seven hundred
That'll take care of the bank.
This Creighton, he's gonna keep coming.
And when you don't show to
the livestock conference,
they're all coming.
Send Cara.
She'll say I'm in Wyoming,
hunting thieves.
Let 'em stew on that for a while.
I'll tell her.
You send word to Spencer?
Could take a year for him
to get back here, Jake.
Then a year's how long
we got to hold out.
I refuse to hope.
I refuse it.
You brought him back.
I will believe in it.
I will trust it.
Mrs. Dutton?
There are only three
answers to a prayer:
"Yes," "not yet,"
and "I have something
else in mind for you."
Man's great challenge is trusting
"not yet" or "something else."
And avoiding the foolish notion of hope.
Wishing to nothing that your
unanswered prayer is granted.
Hope is the surrender of
authority to your fate,
and trusting it to
the whims of the wind.
My family does not hope.
We fight for what we
believe until we have it
or we are destroyed by the pursuit.
Gone are the days of following
the buffalo across the prairie,
burning their feces
for warmth and cooking.
Gone too, are winters of
starvation and suffering.
Tending God's great bounty is
the salvation of your people.
It is the cornerstone of independence.
You are mastering your sustenance
rather than wandering aimlessly in
the hopes that you stumble upon it.
Heavens, girl.
The fruit will rot on
the vine at this rate.
It's the thorns.
Jesus wore a crown of thorns
and no complaint left his lips.
I'm not Jesus.
No, you are not.
Stop leaving the fruit in the middle.
In the middle.
Stop worrying about the
thorns and worry about me!
Ah!
Oh!
Oh!
Your savage spirit will
be the death of you, girl.
You are a savage.
Savage.
A vile reminder of
how your people lived,
far from the shadow of God.
No better than the wolf
pack, and like the wolf,
you must become a dog,
or you will be hunted out of existence.
I am trying to save you, child,
from that most heinous
OF ENEMIES: yourself.
You are your own worst enemy.
You must be cleansed, child.
You must be bathed in
the blood to be saved.
But you must want it.
You must want to be saved.
Do you want it?
I don't want anything you have.
Do you want to be saved?
No, I don't.
She has the devil in her!
Oh, not to worry. I have more.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Okay. Okay. Okay
Okay, what?
Save me.
And I saw an angel
come down from Heaven
the old serpent,
and cast him into the bottomless pit,
shut him up and set a seal upon him.
A stone was cast into the
pool of fire and brimstone
where both the beast
and the false prophet
shall be tormented day and night
forever and ever
Be sober and watch,
because your adversary the
devil is a roaming lion
He that hath committed
sin is of the devil,
for the devil sinneth
from the beginning
in purify your heart
be subject therefore to
God and resist the devil
and he shall fly from you.
Draw nigh to God and he shall
You're leaving?
Come with me.
They'll find us.
And put us in jail.
Show me the law that
says we must sign on
to be a servant or get a beating.
I'm taking your Bible.
Sister Mary will beat me silly.
No, she won't.
Where are you going?
Home.
What are you doing?
Making war.
The wife is here.
Alone?
Bunch of cowboys.
But no Jake or John or the young 'un?
No.
There she is.
Ma'am.
Where's Jacob?
I shall address that very thing.
Cattle thieves, that plague
upon Montana's ranches
that is worse than drought or locust,
has struck our ranch as well.
So my husband has taken to Wyoming
in search of the cattle,
many of which belong to other members
of this association: you, Mr. Brewster,
you as well, Mr. Hoburn.
And you, Mr. Grant.
It also appears that these
thieves are murderers,
killing Bob Strafford in cold blood.
Lynch 'em!
The response must be forceful,
but lawful.
One mob begets another.
It is time this agency has
the authority to make arrests
and have jurisdiction
over the entire state.
The power to issue warrants,
and to prosecute offenders
of lease violations,
as well as the theft of livestock.
So word has been sent to the Governor.
On behalf of my husband,
I will ask members
of this association to vote for
the creation of a police force,
as my husband has asked the Governor
to grant the authority
I have just stated.
I ask now for a vote
in favor of the creation
of the police force so
empowered by the state
to execute the duties listed hereof.
All in favor say "aye."
You don't have the authority
to ask for a vote before the members.
- Yeah.
- That's right.
The authority is written and signed
by the Commissioner of this Association.
Can you attest to that being
the signature of Jacob Dutton?
I can.
All those in favor say "aye."
Aye!
All opposed.
Nay.
The ayes have it. Proposal is approved.
Dues will increase
twenty-seven dollars per annum
for officer salaries and supplies.
Meeting is adjourned, we will
convene again in one month.
Nah, it's in two weeks.
One month, I say.
Meeting is adjourned.
Thank you, gentlemen.
That's not what Jake said.
I just thought of it on the way over.
Well, how did you get him to sign it?
I signed it.
You're a liar.
You're a fucking liar, woman.
I'll kill you where you fucking stand.
- A liar.
- Aye.
Care to prove it? Shall
we go back inside
and you can tell the sheriff the truth.
He's not in Wyoming.
He's not anywhere.
How would you know?
How would you know where he is?
No bank will let a woman carry a note.
No government will transfer
a lease for her, either.
Your little charade
can only last so long.
When my charade is over, so are you.
Men kill with bullets or a noose,
which is to say men kill quick.
Your fight is with me, now.
I kill much slower.
You don't have the army for this fight.
Or the money.
I have both.
I can't wait for you to meet my nephew.
We've met.
The boy doesn't impress.
Not that one.
They come rolled now, you know.
That's what they gave us in the war.
I won't smoke those now.
Spencer
What are these?
Cara Dutton.
Something you forgot to tell me?
That's my aunt.
Why won't you read them?
Hard to explain.
Try.
War's not living.
War is
If insanity was a thing you
could touch, that's what war is.
A letter is a window out
of that hell for a minute.
But it's a double-edged sword.
Missing home and dreaming
has killed more soldiers.
You want to eat a bullet in battle,
you start wishing for a letter.
We had so many letters to dead men
we bundled them up and
made furniture out of 'em.
I credit not reading
'em for keeping me alive.
Then the war's over and I
got two years' worth of 'em.
Then I felt guilty.
Now I don't know what I feel. I
I spend most of my time trying not to.
Till you.
There's something you
should know about me.
I'm a very jealous lover.
I will not share you with your demons.
So we must find them
and chase them all away.
Let's get started, shall we?
No one said demon chasing
must be done sober.
Come on.
Shall we choose randomly or go in order?
I guess if we're going to do
it, we should do it in order
"My Dearest Spencer
News of the German Spring Offensive
has reached our little
valley in Montana,
and the stories horrify
Jacob tells me the
bulk of the German army
charged your division and your company
was given the grim honor
of holding the flank "
"I've read tales of terrible machines
with belts for tires
and canons that rotate
"Airplanes with bombs and
guns and it robs me of sleep.
The Brigadier General
writes of your bravery.
Of your unflinching resolve.
I think only of the wild young man
who would rather chase
cattle than gather them.
And race the horses until they
were ruined for honest work.
I wait desperately
for that boy to return.
And I pray you bring that
beautiful smile with you.
It is my sunrise, and I
miss it with all my heart."
"I cling to every memory of you,
waiting for you to come home,
where we shall make
countless more. Cara."
I'm sorry, I didn't
This was a mistake. I'm sorry.
Keep going.
Read the next one.
Okay.
"So, Jack said, 'Who needs a horse!'
And he yanks his saddle from the bronc
and marches it over to the milk cow.
Gladys ran straight to the
water trough and leapt into it,
trapping Jack underwater
until Jacob and John
roped the beast and managed to free Jack
from a death by cow drowning."
I can't wait to meet him.
He's a little tornado.
Runs in the family, I see.
Your father's side?
Crazy runs in both sides.
I'm double-bred, I'm afraid.
So am I.
Our children are going
be absolutely mad.
We should consider adopting.
Mm. I can't wait for the next letter.
"Alas, the baby did not survive.
Emma was shattered, but
John stayed by her side
all day until she dared
to face the sun again.
She's too old to try again.
God wished her only one.
But what a special one he is."
"It was the worst winter since '83,
when your parents first arrived here.
We found a snow drift with
a hundred head of cattle
frozen solid, but standing upright."
She's a lovely girl, with giant eyes
and hair the color of straw
and she leads Jack around
on an invisible leash.
Watching them fawn over each
other is my favorite hobby.
I've forsaken knitting altogether,
and give it all my attention."
Spencer.
- What?
- You need to read this.
Tomorrow.
Read it.
What does it say?
You need to read it.
You read it.
"Spencer
Your brother has been killed.
By the time you receive this letter,
I suppose your uncle
has been killed as well."
"Your nephew has been wounded
This ranch and your legacy are in peril.
War has descended upon
this place and your family.
Whatever war you fight
within yourself must wait.
You must come home and fight this one."
What's the date?
The date?
Of the letter. When was it written?
Three months ago.