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6 details you might have missed in the latest episode of '1923'

6 details you might have missed in the latest episode of '1923'
  • Warning: There are spoilers ahead for episode five of "Yellowstone" prequel, "1923."

  • "The Ghost of Zebrina" saw Spencer and Alexandra begin their journey and Teonna find an ally.

  • Insider rounds up some historical details and Easter eggs you may not have noticed in the episode.

Spencer has wasted no time in starting his journey back to Montana. He tries to book passage on a ship sailing on November 11, which is actually less than three months after his brother John died.

John Dutton Snr (James Badge Dale) died in August; Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) says he cannot wait to begin his journey until November.
John Dutton Sr. (James Badge Dale) died in August; Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) says he cannot wait to begin his journey until November.Paramount Network

At the beginning of the episode, Emma Dutton (Marley Shelton) attends to the grave of her husband, John (James Badge Dale), and we learn that the date of the fateful ambush by Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) and his men was August 28, 1923.

"John Dutton. Born June 23, 1877. Died August 28, 1923," his wooden grave marker reads, making John 46 when he died.

Later in the episode, when Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) and Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) try to book passage from Kenya to the United Kingdom (as there are no direct voyages from Africa to the United States), they are told that the ship won't leave for another three weeks and the sail date is November 11.

That would make it late October, which means that Alexandra was wrong when she told Spencer that Cara Dutton's (Helen Mirren) letter informing him of his brother's death was sent three months before they opened it. With the concrete dates given in this episode, it turns out no more than two months have passed.

Teonna wakes up after her night sleeping outside surrounded by sheep. They appear to be the same flock that the Duttons gave the Broken Rock tribe in episode three.

Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) in "1923" season one, episode five.
Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) in "1923" season one, episode five.Paramount Network

Hank explains to Teonna that the area they're in isn't part of the reservation, nor is it a part of Montana that the government counts as their own land. Like the so-called "train station" in "Yellowstone," the land covers a zone where people, animals, and secrets, can be hidden from lawmakers.

Naturally, it would make sense for the Broken Rock tribe to bring the flock there to ensure that they can keep hold of them.

As Hank explains: "The sheep belong to the people. If the government finds out we got 'em, the government's gonna take them."

It might not seem significant at first, but if Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) hadn't given the sheep to the Broken Rock tribesmen then Hank would have no reason to be in the deserted area and would not have come upon Teonna and rescued her.

As viewers have already pieced together, Teonna — whose surname is Rainwater — is a direct ancestor of  Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham in "Yellowstone"). Had this sequence of events not happened, the Rainwater line might have ended with Teonna being eaten alive by the wolves.

Hank tells Teonna not to go to Canada as it is "worse" for Indigenous people, something that actor Michael Greyeyes knows personally because his parents were forced to attend residential schools there.

Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) and Hank (Michael Greyeyes) in "1923" season one, episode five.
Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) and Hank (Michael Greyeyes) in "1923" season one, episode five.Paramount Network

When Hank (Michael Greyeyes) finds Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) hiding out among his sheep, he tells her that she can't go home to her family as it is the first place they'll look for her. "Maybe we should go to Canada," she suggests.

"No Canada," he responds with a steely look."Canada's worse."

Without elaborating, the audience will likely understand that he is referring to Canada's own history of government-run residential schools for Indigenous people, the full horrors of which have only been uncovered in recent years.

Like the American residential school depicted in the show, Canada's residential school system was run by the Catholic Church and saw Indigenous children torn away from their families and experience physical and sexual abuse in the name of "civilizing" them.

In 2021, more than a thousand unmarked graves of Indigenous children were discovered on multiple former school grounds in Canada, prompting the country and its leaders to reckon with its history for the first time.

This line takes on even more significance when you consider that Greyeyes is an Indigenous Canadian actor himself whose parents were both forced to attend residential schools before they were closed down.

Shortly after the remains of 215 children were found at an Indigenous residential school site in British Columbia in May 2021, the actor tweeted: "Both my parents survived Canada's Indian residential school system. My sister and I were the first generation in our family not to be taken by the CDN government."

"It's not history to either of us. We grew up knowing these stories. It makes it no less painful," he added. "Prayers up 215."

The episode features a few historical inaccuracies related to the cruise liners referenced.

RMS Mauretania features in the episode but couldn't have actually been docked in Mombasa in 1923.
RMS Mauretania features in the episode but couldn't have actually been docked in Mombasa in 1923.Paramount Network

To begin with, the RMS Franconia, the ship that Spencer and Alexandra are first offered a place on, didn't actually operate between Mombasa and London, but Liverpool and New York.

Later, realizing that they will have to make their own way across the Atlantic Ocean, they send a wire via another liner docked in Mombasa: the RMS Mauretania.

However, this ship couldn't have been there as, crucially, in 1923, it was undergoing a major overhaul in Southampton, England. It did not return to Atlantic service until the following year, meaning Spencer couldn't have sent a wire from it to tell the Duttons of his imminent departure.

It's not clear what Lucca died of but if it's anything infectious, Spencer and Alexandra could be in danger.

Captain Lucca (Peter Stormare) in "1923" season one, episode five.
Captain Lucca (Peter Stormare) in "1923" season one, episode five.Paramount Network

During his first meeting with Spencer in the bar, Lucca (Peter Stormare) is shown with a nasty, bloody cough. Later, on the ship, he is seen carrying a bloodied handkerchief, and eventually, when he takes over the watch during the night, dies at the helm. As a result, he steered the tugboat right into the path of the ghost ship that he remarked on earlier.

It's worth remembering that viewers saw Lucca getting pretty handsy with the beans and bread he served the couple earlier on in the day, dipping his fingers in the beans and then licking them to check they were hot enough.

As a result, if it is some sort of infectious disease such as tuberculosis that has killed him, Spencer and Alexandra may find themselves getting sick and perish before they can reach Montana.

 

The episode is dedicated to the memory of Derek Chavez, a member of the "1923" crew who died earlier this year.

The episode was dedicated to "1923" production supervisor Derek Chavez.
The episode was dedicated to "1923" production supervisor Derek Chavez.Paramount Network

As the screen fades to black after a final shot of the overturned tugboat and the ghost ship nowhere to be seen, an in-memoriam message appears on the screen before the credits start rolling.

"In memory of Derek Chavez," it reads. According to IMDb, Chavez was a production supervisor who worked across all eight episodes of the first season of "1923," as well as the first prequel in the "Yellowstone" universe, "1883." He died in January at the age of 32.

His cause of death hasn't been shared but in a GoFundMe organized by the show's cast and crew, it states that his passing was sudden and left those close to him — including his wife Kristen and daughters Ava and Emmy— "shocked and saddened."

The inclusion of the tribute in the closing credits shows just how much of an integral role Chavez played in bringing the show to life.

Read the original article on Insider