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1923 season 2 has finally come to a close and I can't stop thinking about the end. I knew the 1923 season finale would be emotional after all the drama of the season, and Jack's death, but nothing could have prepared me for what would unfold with Jacob, Cara, Alex, & Spencer. Man, oh man, I'm going to be thinking about this episode for awhile.
Warning: this article contains every single kind of 1923 season finale spoiler you could think of.
Here's everything that went down in the 1923 season 2 finale, starring Harrison Ford, Brandon Sklenar, & Julia Schlaepfer and streaming on Paramount+ now.
The '1923' season 2 finale opens with some surprisingly emotional moments.
Trae Patton/Paramount+
After lies and betrayal of the highest order, Banner finally seems to reach his limit after Jack is killed in cold blood. Banner decides to leave Montana after he realizes he can barely look his son in the eyes anymore. So with his son and wife beside him, he heads to the train station, which is where we see Jacob and his men preparing for Spencer's arrival.
There's a very tense moment as Banner and Jacob lock eyes, and Banner seemingly warns Jacob that not only are Whitfield's men trying to kill Spencer, but Jacob and the rest of his family are in danger, too. Yeah, I for sure already knew that but it's nice to see Banner looking out for someone else...even if it feels like a dramatic 180 in Banner's character. Never underestimate the power of wanting to be a better person for the people you love, I guess.
What happened to Spencer and Alex in 1923?
Trae Patton/Paramount+
Alex is alive but not quite well after surviving a snowstorm inside a car — and finding her new friends Hillary and Paul have died from hypothermia. Slowly freezing to death, Alex grabs supplies from their dead bodies and starts a fire in the car to keep warm. (Now, how did the car not explode? Maybe that's a question for another day). As the fire begins to dwindle, Alex has to BURN SPENCER'S LETTERS TO SURVIVE, leaving both Alex and me heartbroken.
Meanwhile Spencer is warm and cozy on his train, and makes friends with a little boy in front of him, telling him about lions in Africa and his hopes for a son one day. But low and behold, when Alex hears the train whistle, she does indeed set the whole car on fire and Spencer finally sees her, leaps from the train, and runs to meet her. That's true love baby!
And after 2 years of wondering Will Spencer and Alex ever get back together?! (at least, 2 years for viewers), they've finally reunited! The train comes to a stop, allowing Spencer to carry Alex on board to a bed. But nothing can ever go smoothly for these characters — and these women can never catch a break. Alex's blackened feet and fingers reveal she has hypothermia. Spencer and the doc use washcloths to warm her up, and it looks like only time will tell if their baby survives.
Spencer Dutton finally returns home to the Yellowstone ranch.
Lauren Smith/ Paramount+
And if the hypothermia and survival of it all wasn't dramatic enough, when Spencer spots some suspicious activity on the train platform, he finds himself in the middle of a shootout that ends with more than a few characters dead — including Banner Creighton, who protects Jacob before meeting his end. After Jacob explains that there might not be a home to return to if Spencer doesn't come to the ranch, Spencer has a beautiful exchange with Alex, who says the idea of "war" isn't an exaggeration for this family, and that Spencer has a duty.
Our favorite younger Dutton proves himself (again) when he returns home. Earlier in the day, Whitfield's men ambushed the Yellowstone ranch, where Zane, Cara, and Elizabeth are all hunkered down. In a truly heartbreaking moment, Cara's confidence wavers and she asks Zane "what they should do" in a voice that made me want to cry! Suddenly there are men on the roof, there are men trying to set the house on fire, and then there's Cara, shooting the bad guys from the attic like the boss she is.
But all it takes is Spencer coming in with a hand gun to end the fight — and he quite literally wipes everyone out before any of Jacob's men can get a shot in.
How does 1923 season 2 end?
Lauren Smith/ Paramount+
The 1923 season 2 ending is one of the most emotional on TV this spring, for better or worse. Teonna, who's been on the run this whole time, finally comes face to face with Deputy Marshall Mamie Fossett and her men, who discover the bodies of Father Renaud and Teonna's father.
Mamie acknowledges that their warrant comes "from a judge we don't know in a territory we don't serve," and that if the trouble ends with the priest, so does their search. But when Teonna lashes out trying to escape, and kills one of Mamie's men, she does end up in front of a judge.
However, her case gets dismissed, and she's free to go. But even though Teonna can hold her head high, fighting back cost her everything, which really left me to wonder what victory, freedom, and even satisfaction looks like in this story. Don't mind me, I'm just having a 1923 existential crisis.
Trae Patton/Paramount+
Back in town, Jacob stays at the hospital with Alex, who gives birth to her son, and refuses to give up the premature baby or amputate her hand and her feet. Spencer shows up just in time to meet his son and say goodbye to his wife; He curls up beside her in the hospital bed and wakes up to find her gone. And at the very end of 1923 season 2 before the credits roll, Elsa's voiceover tells us Spencer never truly loved another woman after Alex. After he dies 45 years later, we see Spencer and Alex reunite at a 1920s ball that feels like some kind of Titanic-inspired fever dream.
Pause. I'm actually so upset about this because it just feels like horror after horror has been piled on Alex (and the rest of the women in 1923) this whole time. You're telling me she had to die for this story to be the best it could be?! It's doesn't even feel like a romantic tragedy it just feels depressing. Spencer gets the tiniest bit of satisfaction by killing Whitfield but it clearly doesn't begin to cover the loss.
Jacob's men finally find Jack's body, and without her husband, both Cara and Elizabeth decide there's no real reason for Elizabeth to stay on the ranch. Spencer also sets off (although he'll definitely be back), while Cara and Jacob sit on the porch with the newest addition to the Dutton family (who, it appears, is Yellowstone lead John Dutton's father?!) Despite my complicated feelings about the end of 1923, I do love this scene. Cara and Jacob are simply my favorite characters, and their final moments onscreen prove they've been the steady, consistent heartbeat of the story the whole time.
Check out the 5 Best Shows To Watch After You Finish 1923 Season 2!
