‘1923’ season 2 may be borrowing ‘Yellowstone’s most hated subplot

Season 2 of 1923 is back in full force, but is Taylor Sheridan masterfully weaving this story or rehashing one of Yellowstone’s most hated subplots? Last night’s episode offers evidence to support the latter, but given the state of the Dutton family ranch this winter, I can’t blame anyone for wanting to get out of Dodge. 

Much like Yellowstone’s Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille), 1923’s Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph) is not feeling life on the ranch. Only time will tell if she can survive ranch life or if she’ll just irritate viewers as much as Monica did in the original show.

Both women make a compelling argument for leaving the ranch life behind, but sensibility doesn’t make entertaining television. And after last night’s episode, fans are already turning on Elizabeth.

Spoilers for 1923 ahead! 

Episode two of this season, titled “The Rapist is Winter,” shows how difficult life on the ranch is during the harsh Montana winters. If the blizzards weren’t enough to kill you, the wild animals will do their darnedest. Elizabeth learns this the hard way when a rabid wolf randomly attacks her and she has to get a rabies shot. 

Some may have found her screaming excessive but rabies treatment in the past was a long, painful ordeal. While today’s rabies treatment is four to five pricks in your upper arm, Elizabeth would have had 20 or so shots injected into her abdomen with a “monstrously long needle,” according to an NIH article describing the old practice. I’d be screaming too! Factor in Elizabeth’s fear of not being able to have children after her season 1 miscarriage, and it’s no wonder she wants to leave. 

Regardless whether her reasons are sound, fans don’t enjoy watching characters like Monica and Elizabeth complain without taking action. In real life, Monica’s actions would be sensible but only serve as obstacles the other characters must overcome in the show. While other women (read: Beth) are written as strong and resilient, Monica is an accident-prone killjoy who serves as a plot device to keep her husband out of the action. By Yellowstone’s final season, fans were begging for Monica to be killed off. 

Hatred for Elizabeth doesn’t run that deep, but viewers are already tiring of her “cry baby” act. ”I swear to god, if that girl doesn’t ask for a gun and learn to shoot next episode…” writes one fan on a Reddit thread discussing Elizabeth’s actions in the episode. Others complained that Elizabeth should know more about ranch life given she grew up on a similar ranch in Montana, an opinion I share.

If Elizabeth’s subplot goes the way of Monica’s, no one is more to blame than Sheridan and the show’s writers. There’s nothing wrong with writing a woman to be weak, but make it make sense. Women aren’t one-dimensional. The women in 1923 deserve to be just as developed as the men on the show. Failure to do so is just bad writing.