1883 (TV Series)

''1883'' is an American drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on December 19, 2021, on Paramount+. The series stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen and James Landry Hébert. The series is a prequel to Sheridan's series ''Yellowstone'' and follows the story of how the Duttons came to own the land that would become the Yellowstone Ranch. The first season will consist of ten episodes and conclude on February 27, 2022. On February 15, 2022, Paramount+ announced more episodes were ordered.

Premise

The series follows an earlier generation of the Dutton family as they journey from Fort Worth, Texas, to Montana to establish what would eventually become the Yellowstone Ranch.

Cast and characters

Main

* Sam Elliott as Shea Brennan, in the employ of the Pinkerton Agency in leading the expedition. He was a US Army captain who served during the Civil War. Brennan's wife Helen and daughter both die of smallpox right before the start of the expedition. While mourning their deaths, he set fire to their home and contemplated suicide, but was interrupted by the arrival of Thomas. Brennan acts as the rugged and commanding leader of the wagon train, frequently reminding members of the danger and tragedy that they will face along the way. His new goal is to see the virgin frontier one final time before it is spoiled by man, at which time he will be finished with living.
* Tim McGraw as James Dutton, great-grandfather of one of the main characters in ''Yellowstone'', John Dutton. He was a captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and was wounded during the Battle of Antietam. He was held in a Union prisoner-of-war camp for three years. His daughter Elsa states that his experiences changed him. He never spoke of his hardships during the war, and would avoid former comrades and brothers-in-arms. After a series of mishaps in Fort Worth, he decides to join the caravan.
* Faith Hill as Margaret Dutton, John Dutton's great-grandmother and the matriarch of the family. She comes by train from Tennessee with her children, sister-in-law, Claire, and niece, Mary Abel, to Fort Worth and begins a new journey with her husband James.
* Isabel May as Elsa Dutton, James and Margaret Dutton's tomboyish and resourceful 17-year-old daughter and oldest child. The start of the expedition occurs on her birthday as it has been eighteen years since the end of the Civil War. Much of the story is told in her voice through the narration of her journals. Young, undisciplined and innocent, she looks forward to the expedition as a great adventure. Her parents James and Margaret argue in her upbringing, as to if she should be a strong independent woman, or gentle and ladylike respectively. As time passes, she becomes more connected with the nature she witnesses on the journey, and labels herself as a cowboy.
* LaMonica Garrett as Thomas, a Pinkerton agent and veteran sergeant from a "Buffalo Soldier" regiment. He teams up with Shea Brennan to help guide the group from Texas to Montana. His arrival helps dissuade Shea from ending his life, after losing his family to smallpox.
* Marc Rissmann as Josef, a German immigrant, who is married to Risa. He aids in the expedition serving as an interpreter for his group and as a liaison between the Americans and immigrants.
* Audie Rick as John Dutton Sr., John Dutton's grandfather, as a young boy. He is the younger child of James and Margaret and is five years old at the beginning of the journey.
* Eric Nelsen as Ennis, a young, handsome cowboy who agrees to help escort a group of inexperienced men, women, and children north to find a home.
* James Landry Hébert as Wade, a young cowboy who finds himself as part of a crew for a caravan of hopeful travelers making their way north for a better life.
* Noah Le Gros as Colton, a young cowboy in the wagon camp who knows the ropes and has some smart insights about the dangers of their journey.

Recurring

* Alex Fine as Grady, an experienced cowboy and the leader of a crew of six drovers, who agrees to help an inexperienced crew round up longhorns for their long journey.
* Gratiela Brancusi as Noemi, a Romani widow who recently lost her husband and has to raise two young boys on her own. She becomes dependent on and romantically interested in Thomas, seeing him as the man who will replace her late husband as a caretaker.
* Anna Fiamora as Risa, a young immigrant woman who is married to Josef and joins the traveling camp to move west.
* Amanda Jaros as Alina, a weary but hopeful immigrant woman who speaks little English but has much resolve.
* Martin Sensmeier as Sam, a Comanche warrior (Sensmeier previously appeared in ''Yellowstone'' as Martin, Monica Dutton's physical therapist).

Guest stars

* Billy Bob Thornton as Marshal Jim Courtright.
* Tom Hanks as General George Meade (Behind Us, a Cliff). In a flashback to the Battle of Antietam, he consoles James Dutton after many of his fellow soldiers are killed. Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, plays another minor character on the show, Carolyn the storekeeper.
* Graham Greene as Spotted Eagle.
* Dawn Olivieri as Claire Dutton, James Dutton's widowed sister-in-law who joins him and his family on a trip to find a new home. She is intense and stern in manner, like her daughter. She dies by suicide because of the grief she feels after losing her only surviving child, Mary Abel. She was married to Henry Dutton, and had seven children, all of whom died young.
* Emma Malouff as Mary Abel Dutton, Claire's daughter. A prim and proper young woman, she shows disdain and no sympathy for her cousin Elsa for her less traditional values. During an attack by unwelcome intruders, Mary Abel is caught in the crossfire and dies from a bullet wound. Her mother commits suicide soon after, seeing no cause to continue living now that her husband and all her children have died.
* Rita Wilson as Carolyn, a kindly storekeeper at Doan's Crossing, at the border of Texas and Oklahoma. She befriends Margaret when the latter visits her store and Carolyn offers her a whiskey punch. Margaret relishes the icy drink after a long, hot journey and the two bond while getting drunk together on Carolyn’s porch. Prior to her appearance, Wilson’s husband, Tom Hanks, played General George Meade in a Civil War flashback.
* Taylor Sheridan as Charles Goodnight, a rancher who hunts cattle thieves.

Episodes

Series crossover

To introduce the new series ''1883'' to ''Yellowstone'' viewers, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill reprised their roles as James and Margaret Dutton in flashback scenes in the fourth season of ''Yellowstone'' to show what life was like on the Dutton ranch in 1893, ten years after the Dutton family arrival in Montana. In the first episode ''Half the Money'', James Dutton and his pre-teen sons John, portrayed by Jack Michael Doke, and Spenser, portrayed by Charlie Stover, encountered starving Native Americans who had left the local reservation to bury their father on their former land that had since become a part of the Dutton Ranch. In the eighth episode ''No Kindness for the Coward'', Margaret Dutton and her sons John and Spenser are sitting at the dinner table in their ranch homestead waiting for her husband and their father to return from a dangerous manhunt of horse thieves that plague their territory. These episodes aired prior to release of ''1883'' on Paramount Plus.

Production

Development

In February 2021, Taylor Sheridan signed a five-year deal with ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment Group following the success of ''Yellowstone''. Under the deal, he would create new series for both studios. One of this was ''Y: 1883'', a prequel to ''Yellowstone'', set to be broadcast on Paramount+. Sheridan said that he struggled with writer's block after selling the concept to Paramount+, but he managed to overcome it while working on another series, ''Mayor of Kingstown''.

Casting

On August 4, 2021, it was announced that Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott had joined the cast. A further announcement on August 21 confirmed both Isabel May and LaMonica Garrett had joined the cast. On September 10, it was confirmed that Billy Bob Thornton had joined as a guest star. Graham Greene was confirmed on December 6 to play the role of Spotted Eagle. On December 10, Tom Hanks was announced as having a cameo in the second episode of the series playing General George Meade.

Filming

Filming on the series started in August 2021 in Texas and is expected to continue until January 2022 in Montana. Many actors expressed discomfort at the cold temperatures while filming in Montana. Star Faith Hill deemed filming as "the most physically and mentally challenging thing we have ever done." Star Sam Elliott also expressed that filming his scenes was difficult, but "we're getting it onscreen, and in the end that's what matters. This is really going to be something special."

Isabel May has alluded to Taylor Sheridan's quest for "authenticity" concerning no cosmetics nor shaving of underarm hair. In '' Town & Country'', May emphasized, "Taylor said from the very beginning, 'I want everything to be authentic.' I mean, women didn't start shaving until the 1920s. He really wanted that to be an aspect of the show, and so I was more than happy to oblige."

Music

The series' score was composed by Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian, both of whom worked on ''Yellowstone''.

Release

On November 8, 2021, a first-look trailer for the series was released; a full trailer was released on December 3. The series made its TV premiere on December 25, 2021 on CMT. The first episode was run on Paramount Network, who ordered the show before they moved it to streaming on sister platform Paramount+ during its development, as part of promoting the show, like they did with ''Mayor of Kingstown''.

Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 86% based on 21 reviews with an average score of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''1883'' can feel too overdetermined to be a properly rough-hewn Western, but viewers will want to saddle up for Sam Elliott's commanding star turn." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 12 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

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{{Paramount+

English-language television shows
2020s American drama television series
2020s Western (genre) television series
2021 American television series debuts
American prequel television series
Fiction set in 1883
Paramount+ original programming
Television series about families
Television series created by Taylor Sheridan
Television series set in the 1880s
Television shows filmed in Montana
Television shows filmed in Texas
Television shows set in Montana
Television shows set in Fort Worth, Texas