The Fangs of Freedom – The show begins with Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) providing narration about the dangers of their travels. A woman lies on the graves of her loved one. Wade (James Landry Hebert) orders for the herd to be pushed out of the river. The wagon train is still in Texas “The Land of No Mercy.” She suggests taking the herd to the west, where she recently saw a green pasture. Wade says the herd will be hidden in a canyon up north. She questions why the herd needs to be hidden. Ennis (Eric Nelsen) says bandits and encourages her to not go anywhere alone. He gets serious and gently touches her hand, “I mean it.” Ennis leaves to have a look around.

Captain Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) breaks down while looking out at the river. Thomas (LaMonica Garrett) alerts Shea about the food wagon lost while crossing the Brazos River. The immigrant families no longer have food. He says they can take Doan’s Crossing and get more supplies there. Thomas reminds him that it will be another week before they reach Doan’s Crossing. He suggests the Goodnight’s Ranch. Shea disagrees, saying the land is too rough. He feels they are making too many orphans and widows. Thomas refuses to take responsibility for the deaths. He says Shea never cried for all the dead soldiers.

James Dutton (Tim McGraw) makes breakfast for his son, John Dutton Sr. (Audie Rick.) Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) arrives with a bucket of non-poisonous ground cactus. John brags about getting dressed without help. She isn’t happy about Elsa, spending so much time with the herd. He jokes about her being a good cowboy. She leaves on horseback.

Shea breaks down his camp. If they hang around too long on Sunday, the immigrants will cook up the rest of their food. Josef (Marc Rissmann) approaches to talk about the river crossings. Thomas stands up and reminds him, the immigrants are constantly fighting and stealing from each other, and they refuse to listen. Shea says the river crossings are only going to get worse. When he gives an order to not stop during the river crossing, it means to not stop. He is the people’s leader, not Thomas and Shea. All their food was on the sunken wagon.

Josef denies being family or friends with some of the other immigrants, even though they traveled on the same ship. Some of the immigrants take what they want. To protect their supplies, they agreed to store them on one wagon. There are 43 immigrants left. Thomas demands to know which immigrants are thieves. He agrees to show them the thieves. They visit James’ camp to alert him of their plans to take care of the thieves before leaving. James orders John to stay in the wagon until he returns while he helps take care of the thieves.

They approach Ravi (Josef Bette) who is sitting beside his wagon. He orders Ravi to return their food. Ravi asks whose food did he take. Nikolai (Malcolm Stephenson) speaks up, saying he helped push his wagon and then stole his food. Ravi catches Josef trying to get the food back. He shoves him to the ground and punches his face when he gets up. Shea tells
Thomas to let them settle their differences. Josef’s wife, Risa (Anna Fiamora) hits Ravi over the head with a frying pan before Ravi’s wife grabs her by the hair. James fires his gun into the air and utilizes it to hit Ravi. He hops in the back of the wagon to get their food back.

Shea asks Josef if there are any other thieves. He points to Daniel (Eric Bear). Thomas grabs Daniel by the shirt and orders him to go to his wagon when he denies stealing. Shea refunds Ravi’s and Daniel’s money, telling them to find another way to Oregon. If they are caught following them, he will kill them. He encourages the immigrants to work together, utilizing the deadly river crossing as an example.

 

Wade follows a set of tracks to an old campfire. He looks around but doesn’t see anyone.  Margaret arrives at the herd to check on Elsa who she says smells like a goat. Elsa admits to kissing Ennis. Margaret warns her to not let it go beyond kissing to avoid a baby. She recommends her saving herself for someone special. Elsa admits to getting butterflies, which Margaret denies as love. She figures it is time to have the conversation, leading Elsa away from the herd to the river, where they bathe. There are rules and customs everywhere. Elsa says it is okay to talk about sex when Ennis approaches. He gets tongue-tied and instantly looks away. They agree to get dressed, but only when he leaves.

When they join the herd, Wade asks Margaret if she is going to join them. She must check on John. He worriedly asks her to send Thomas and James to the herd. Ennis alerts Elsa that the herd will follow the wagons. Ravi screams, “This is freedom” as the wagon train passes. Shea rides up to remind him, he is a man of his word.

Elsa provides narration about the deaths of women, men, and children since their journey started. As their numbers shrink, they are growing weaker. Thomas counts six sets of footprints. James suggests the Indians may be hunting. Thomas disagrees because it is too far away from the reservation. He orders the men to keep everything close tonight.

James says the immigrants look like they are already starving. Shea contributes the starvation to walking in the heat and suggests giving them their food. James refuses to give them his food because they can eat the cattle. There are no more trading posts between Kansas and Wyoming, which is about a month ride. Shea threatens to send James and his family out on their own if he refuses to chip in his food. James says they need a cook, with a wagon or they will end up in the same situation again. He agrees to hire a cook in Doan’s.

James and Thomas join Ennis with the herd. He warns Elsa that someone is trailing them. He asks her to sleep in the wagon to avoid getting abducted and orders her to return to camp. Elsa is in a tent with John and Margaret. She goes outside the tent to see the immigrants sitting around campfires. A narration about the urge of attraction. She joins Ennis at the water vat and removes her quilt, exposing her upper body. They are making out when she stops and asks does he know what to do. He paid a woman in Dodge City to show him how it works. He wasn’t turned on by her body. Regardless of how much he paid her, she couldn’t make her feel like he does now. They are having sex when Margaret wakes up looking for Elsa. She looks around the camp and finds them together.

Ravi sits guard at his campsite when he hears a crackling noise. While he looks around, someone comes out of the dark and slashes his throat.  The bandits raid his camp and kill the other immigrants.

Elsa awakens with a smile on her face. She grabs her blanket and goes outside with Margaret who refuses to tell her good morning. Margaret suggests she be careful, now that she is a woman. One decision can change your life forever.  Freedom is not freedom, and every choice has fangs. She refuses to raise Elsa’s baby if she gets pregnant. She curses and demands she not have sex in earshot of the camp. James does not know they had sex. Elsa agrees to raise her own child. Margaret asks if Ennis will help her raise the baby. She denies regretting her decision to have sex with Ennis because it was beautiful.

Elsa rides out of the camp. She chooses to love Ennis and him love her. She rides up to him and asks if he will help her raise their baby. She is unlike anyone he has ever met and readily agrees to help her raise the baby. They kiss before she rides off to tell James about their wedding. Wade rides up to warn him that James will kill him. Everyone at the camp knows about their sexual interlude. Ennis is concerned about James.

Elsa joins James to tell him the news, but they are interrupted by smoke. Thomas and Shea join them to discuss their plans. James brings Ennis and Wade into the conversation. Thomas says the men have six horses. James says they need more weapons. Wade has been riding the country for 15 years. Wade denies ever killing anyone but knows how to do it. They start into camp when James stops Ennis, punching him in the face. He falls off his horse and James jumps off his. Elsa jumps in between them, professing her love for Ennis. He says I’ll take more licks and Elsa’s refusal. If he doesn’t let him have her, he will steal her.

James tells him, he is running off with his heart. Ennis promises to take care of Elsa. They head back to camp. James rides up to the wagon to tell Margaret, he loves her. She has concerns about the men returning. He tells her to fight until he returns.

A group of bandits is watching the wagon train from a short distance away. Josef and Risa remain behind as the wagon train moves on. A bandit says she will be worth something, as he looks through a spyglass at Elsa. They prepare to raid Josef’s camp. Joseph loads his rifle in the back of the wagon and lays down. A man approaches Josef’s camp.  Risa asks about his horse. As he gradually approaches, she pulls her pistol and shoots the man. Josef jumps up and kills the man. The other bandits approach the camp just in time for James, Thomas, Ennis, and Wade to arrive. Josef cradles hysterical Liza in his arms to calm her.

The bandits raid the camp. Margaret orders the people to shoot them. Elsa is watching the heard when she hears gunfire. Wade approaches and says get your pistol. They continue to shoot until the bandits are all dead, but not before they kill Ennis. James, he loved Elsa. Elsa wails while laying her head on Ennis’ body. Margaret comforts Elsa as she screams. She narrates about knowing death, but it had never touched her heart. She sees the world through her mother’s eyes. Freedom has fangs. She walks up to the last bandit and shoots him dead and returns to lay beside Ennis as the episode comes to an end.

 

1883 Review Yellowstone

The Oregon Trail is beginning to show its many difficulties, as the death toll increases. The relationship between Elsa and Ennis gave hope when it felt like there was none. The decision to write Eric Nelsen out of the show is not in my favor. As you can see, I do not have a say-so.

The fewer number of characters is giving more screen time to the starring roles. The immigrants are beginning to accept their fate, but refuse to go down easy. 1883 is much more than just a TV series, it is a short replication of what may have occurred on the Oregon Trail between 1840 and 1860.

One must question, why people agreed to such a challenging feat. If it was the Oregon Trail and freedom or an authoritarian state, the decision would be simple.

The episode deserves a 7.5.

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