1923 Season 2 Episode Recap: Only Gunshots to Guide Us

This is a full scene-by-scene recap of 1923 Season 2 Episode 5, “Only Gunshots to Guide Us.” For a full episode discussion, please visit our 1923 Season 2 Episode 5 review.

Father Renaud is panicking as cowboys run a herd of cattle through town. He’s pressed against a door to keep himself safe.

He’s on the way to the Cattlemen’s Club, a saloon and steakhouse, to peer into the windows. The nasty marshal is talking with Anders (C. Thomas Howell has a name!) inside about Teonna. 

The marshal is waxing poetic about the lack of evolution the Native Americans have chosen, calling Teonna a bridge between the two worlds. She decided to remain an animal, lusting for the kill, and like the wolf, must be erased from this planet.

Anders hasn’t seen her, despite what the cowboy who rode with him said. Now, the cowboy changes his tune. Nobody wants to cross Anders. He’s their paycheck.

The marshal says Teonna killed the nuns in her sleep. Anders doesn’t know this guy from Adam. Bring in the priest, and let’s hear it from him. Father Renaud doesn’t want to step foot inside such an awful place. 

Father Renaud is surprised when Anders asks him why Teonna killed nuns. The father claims she’s evil, and that prompts Anders to spill the tea.

They find some hoofprints indicating they went north. Anders says that’s not too bright since there’s no cover up that way. 

Teonna’s trio is out in the open with thirsty, tired horses. Pete wants to split off to look for water. Since they’re looking for three, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Teonna laments that this used to be their country, but not one of their kind has ever escaped. Runs His Horse reminds her that they didn’t escape because they refused to leave their people behind.

Mamie Fossett and two others have guns trained on Spencer, who is handsomely dozing under a tree. They are asking about his exploits with animals. They’re looking for the others we’ve already visited. Fossett notes that all of them are from Montana and hauls Spencer in for daring to be from there.

They tell Spencer how lucky he is that they have happened upon him since there’s no water anywhere within 30 miles. Without them, he’d die. Fugitive or not, he’s damn lucky.

Alex is on the train. She’s not on the train for full service, so she gets to starve. She has no money, and the woman in her compartment only ordered one meal for her and her children. Alex lays her cards on the table with the man overseeing meals. 

He laughs when she says she can have money transferred in Chicago. It’s been days since she ate, so she begs him. She doesn’t mention she’s pregnant. The man in charge of the dinner service isn’t thrilled about her begging, but if she works for the meals, he’ll keep her fed. She thanks him.

Alex, dressed in a maid’s uniform, cleans tables and serves meals. She’s not bad at it.

A British couple talks about Alex’s skin. Something tells me they will know who she is if they put their minds to it. Alex doesn’t speak, even when they act as if she’d have no idea what a biscuit is since she’s an American.

When the train hits a bump on the tracks, tea spills, and a man wants her to rub his crotch. He’s a pig like so many men during this time. He takes her hand and places it on his junk, as if it’s something he’s proud of.

Alex counts her tips. Another woman says that if she doesn’t tell anyone about it, the money is hers. Once she gets her meal in hand, Alex devours it. Her new friend tells her to soak the hard bread in the stew. It will be soft soon enough.

She returns to her cabin, and as soon as she takes off her shoes, the fellow from earlier knocks. He tells her when breakfast service begins and gives her a better pair of shoes.

Her cabin mate is Irish and spurns Alex for being rich. Maybe, if she can marry (and with that face, of course she can), she can make it.

Alex informs her again that she was robbed and she’s already married. The Irishwoman says she doesn’t think Alex has what it takes to survive out here, but mothers can endure anything.

Elsa speaks a voiceover about mothers and children who experience love like nobody else. It’s instinct.

After being rude, the Irishwoman asks Alex if she’ll take some extra food at the end of her shift.

The British couple is alone in the dining car when she serves them tea. She interrupts their discussion, and now they’re interested in who she is. It earns her a good tip. Then the crotch man calls her over. He asks after her stockings and some coffee.

When she returns to the table, he moves his cup closer so she can spill it on his lap. What a total dick. She cries as he has his hand up her skirt and inside of her, and when he says her body says something other than no, she beats the living hell out of him with the coffee urn. 

Alex’s next stop is a small cell where she won’t even be able to stand up. The conductor threatens her with a lobotomy. He’s seen plenty of women take a beating, but none of them have lost all of his teeth. She says he raped her with his hand. Is that not a crime on their trains?

That will be up to the Chicago police. She falls to her knees and screams out in mental anguish.

Spencer is at the sheriff’s office in Amarillo with Fossett. It’s a busy place, so much so they’ve built a lobby. There is active construction all around.

When oil was found, a new level of rascals infiltrated the area, which is why it’s hopping. 

Fossett calls the sheriff in Boseman. Boseman has no sheriff, so they contact him with the Galliton County sheriff. She doesn’t get the sheriff’s name, but we know the sheriff. It’s the Terminator, Sheriff McDowell! 

When he hears Mamie’s voice, he’s skeptical that she’s who she says she is since she’s a female. McDowell says Spencer is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and asks to talk with Spencer. McDowell wonders why he’s taking the scenic route.

Spencer asks if the men who killed his brother are still free. McDowell says that if he plans on returning to start a war, he should stay in Texas. McDowell tells her to arrest Spencer to save him the trouble, but Fossett says you can’t arrest a man for what he might do. 

Spencer gets his train ticket and even gets to keep his rifle. He wonders what happened to this country and what other rules were made while he was killing for this country.

Banner and his fellows are at the “train station,” as we know it from Yellowstone. A county with no people, judge, or jury of your peers. This is where they put the whole fucking lot of them. The poor woman who was asphyxiated by the whore is the first body.

“And just like that, a problem disappears,” one of the men says. 

The whore is out looking for new prey. As if we care. Why is this still part of the story? Eight episodes ad we’ve got so much of it wasted with this trash. Fill in the blanks because I’m fast-forwarding.

The British couple says what happened to Alex isn’t right, and the woman makes it her business to intervene. A police officer manhandles her to get her out of the brig, just as the woman and her husband, Paul, say, uh, she was a victim. OMG. That’s not just any woman — that’s Janet Montgomery!

The guy who raped her told the police she was his girlfriend. Alex says perhaps a rapist is also capable of lying. Paul says he was prepared to intervene, but the lady was quite adept at intervening on her own behalf. They will make a statement, and Alex is released.

The man is subsequently arrested. Alex has to file a formal complaint so they can prosecute him. She’s free to go.

The Irishwoman stole her bag and her tips. She threw the “one day you’ll have children and you’ll see” comment at Alex, but Alex said she already sees.

Alex looks at the train schedule. The train to Fargo has been canceled. It will be canceled until the snow melts. No one goes to Fargo in the winter, and winter ends in Fargo in June.

She’s defeated again, walking through the train station in her maid’s uniform with nowhere to go. She spots Paul and Janet Montgomery, who offer her a ride somewhere. The woman seems adamant about helping Alex. Hopefully, she’s not another predator like the whore in Boseman.

Alex is sobbing into her hands when they approach. This isn’t the place for a young lady. They offer to take her to Winnaker, which will remind her of Oxfordshire. Paul says a bit of respite from her adventures might be needed.

Alex reminds him what happens to men with wayward hands around her.

Pete sees a gazelle or something running. They don’t wander far from water, so he follows. A tree in the middle of the plains has the tiniest little pond around it. Of course, the nasty marshal and Father Renaud are down there. The chase is on.

Pete’s horse is exhausted and thirsty, so it’s unlikely to be a long chase. 

Sure enough, Pete’s horse collapses, and my heart plummets to my feet. I just scared my cats to death when I screamed out loud. Pete grabs his rifle and begins shooting.

TV Fanatic is searching for passionate writers and contributors to share their voices across a variety of different articles. Do you think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.