USA TODAY International Edition
Sklenar dances around ‘ 1923’ finale
Spoiler alert: This story contains details of the Paramount+ season finale of “1923.”
Jacob ( Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton ( Helen Mirren) face increasingly harrowing danger in Sunday’s Season 1 finale of “1923.”
But returning savior nephew Spencer Dutton ( Brandon Sklenar) displays his killer instinct in the Paramount+ “Yellowstone” prequel. In the finale, Spencer wins a sword duel on yet another ship while trying to return home to his embattled Montana family.
Yes, somehow that sword duel was demanded by snot- nosed aristocratic Arthur ( Rafe Soule), the bitterly jealous ex- fiancé of Spencer’s new wife, Alexandra ( Julia Schlaepfer). The battle and fallout ruined the couple’s third boat trip on Spencer’s seemingly forever hero’s journey.
“He’s still on a ship, and these ships just keep getting bigger,” Sklenar tells USA TODAY.
The stakes for “1923,” which has been renewed for Season 2, also are rising. Here’s what happened with Spencer in the finale:
What? Spencer Dutton dances the waltz in ‘ 1923’ finale
When Jacob learned of the Dutton family peril through letters, he immediately began his return home with Alex. They’ve had serious setbacks. The first tugboat capsized, they battled sharks, the couple married on the second ship, and the third, a gleaming ocean liner, led to a titanic confrontation with Alex’s ex Arthur, who happened to be traveling out of Italy.
Sklenar says shooting the period scenes, on the historic ocean- liner Queen Mary docked in Long Beach, California, “was unbelievable. We shot there for a week. We were so lucky to get permission. The hair definitely stood up on your arms seeing those rooms.”
Changing from his African bush apparel to “1923” high- class party duds, Spencer surprises Alex by showing he can waltz up a storm on the posh dance floor. Spencer explains he was taught to dance in his family’s Montana living room. The waltz did not come naturally to the actor.
“I love dancing, but not that kind of dancing. I’ve never danced a waltz,” says Sklenar, who took a crash course in Malta. “That was probably the most nervous I have been on the set, doing that dance scene.”
Sklenar thanks the formally dancetrained Schlaepfer for making the couple’s waltz scenes work. “I’m not saying I’m clumsy, but I’m a big guy,” he says. “Julia held that dance together, she really did.”
Sklenar threw stuntman overboard for ‘ 1923’ duel sea- toss
The couple’s “1923” dance floor frolic is interrupted by the seething Arthur, who demands that Spencer duel and won’t quit. It’s a big moment for Spencer, who has shown grit as a gun- forhire dispatched against dangerous game in Kenya. He reluctantly enters the fight. but ultimately shows he can handle human threats as well as leopard and lions.
“There is so much talk about Spencer returning home, and the force he is looking to unleash on people,” Sklenar says. “I was excited to explore that for the first time, ... that Spencer should be feared, but that he also is capable of restraint.”
In the battle, Spencer beats Arthur down repeatedly. But the cowardly Arthur grabs a pistol and goes after Spencer. To protect himself and Alex, Spencer throws Arthur over the rails to his death at sea.
Did Spencer really need to throw Arthur overboard? “It was kind of a reactionary move; the guy was coming at him with a gun. It happened. ( Spencer) didn’t consciously mean to kill him,” Sklenar says.
He threw a stunt actor over the ship’s deck for the sea- toss scene.
“That stunt actor absolutely deserves a medal. Because we threw him off the boat repeatedly, right into the water,” Sklenar says. “He was fearless, that guy.”
Will Spencer get to Montana?
Spencer is kicked off the passenger ship after the battle and brought by guard to shore. A distraught Alex, locked in her ship’s cabin, escapes to bid her husband farewell, vowing to meet him in Montana.
Spencer shouts romantically to Alex from aboard his departing small boat, a scene shot in Maltese waters. The finale ends with Alex and Spencer separated, and further from Spencer’s Montana’s homecoming.
Many “1923” fans assumed Spencer would be back saving his family with guns blazing for the finale.
Paramount+ has not announced a release date for Season 2. But Sklenar vows that when it does, “Guns will blaze. Hopefully soon.”