If 1883‘s Elsa Dutton taught us anything, it’s that the world is full of wonder and beauty, even in the face of cruelty and tragedy. So rather than dwell on the news that the first Yellowstone spinoff is actually a limited series, we’re going to focus on the fact that Paramount+ announced at the CBSViacom Investors’ Day event that it would release “more” 1883 at some point in the future.
The streaming network didn’t elaborate on what form that “more” may take, and given series creator Taylor Sheridan’s recent comments, it’s unlikely that there’ll be a full-fledged Season 2. That said… we’ve got a few ideas regarding the continuing story’s potential subject matter. And given how many of you (nearly 1,400 and counting!) felt moved to voice your strong opinions about the show essentially ending with the Season 1 finale, we’re thinking you do, as well.
Maybe it could be a prequel of the prequel! Perhaps it could follow a couple of characters we think should’ve gotten more screen time! What if it spent a while with one particularly sassy general store proprietor? Or how about an out-and-out Season 2 with a maturing John at its center? The possibilities, like the Great Plains, are seemingly endless.
Granted, the 1932 and 6666 spinoffs are also in the works — and Yellowstone Season 5 is on the way, with a premiere date to be determined — so the world won’t be without the Duttons for very long. But we love the post-Civil War era of the family, dang it! So scroll down to see who and what we wouldn’t mind seeing more of in the 1883 corner of the Yellowstoneverse, then hit the comments with your ideas for potential 1883 tales.
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PREQUEL TO THE PREQUEL
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+ All of the characters in 1883 had rich lives before we met them in the season premiere, so why not delve deep into the years before the group hit the Oregon Trail? We could see how Josef and the Germans made the decision to seek their fortunes in America. We could spend time with the Brennan family before illness and tragedy changed Shea’s trajectory. We could see Thomas in action as a Pinkerton detective. We could get a sense of what the Duttons’ lives were like before snake bites and river crossings became part of their daily existence. Maybe do an anthology season, with self-contained episodes focused on various members of the group? There are so many options!
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THOMAS AND NOEMI'S LOVE WILL GO ON
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+ If we had one gripe with the Yellowstone prequel, it was that it didn’t give us enough interaction between LaMonica Garrett’s Thomas and Gratiela Brancusi’s Noemi. What began as a chastely transactional relationship bloomed into true romance by the time the wagon train reached the trading post in Episode 6. (The mirror! We die!) Since the flash-forward at the end of the finale showed us that they found a place to build their home in Oregon, how about a wrap-up movie heavily focused on the couple as they try to make a life on the West Coast?
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JOHN'S TURN
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+ With his older sister an heartbreaking casualty of life on the Oregon Trail, how about a full season — with John (and his parents, of course) at the center — that catches us up to the glimpses of James’ and Margaret’s life that we’ve seen in Yellowstone?
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A CIVIL WAR STORY
Both James and Margaret lived through the American Civil War — he as a Confederate captain, she as a makeshift nurse — and though the conflict has been over for years by the time 1883 gets underway, the scars remain. Series star Tim McGraw said it himself: “I think there’s a lot of PTSD going on with James, Margaret, Shea, Thomas — everybody who experienced that war and then all that went on at Reconstruction… He was constantly shell-shocked from it.” We don’t know about you, but we’d certainly tune in to a season that went deep on 1883 characters’ time in the War Between the States, especially if it pulled in A-list guest stars like Tom Hanks, who played Union officer Gen. George Meade in Episode 2’s flashback to the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam.
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SAM'S QUEST
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+ We can’t stop thinking about poor Sam, the Comanche man who married Elsa in Episode 8 and who has no idea that Lightning Yellow Hair is no longer with us. Viewers will remember that the couple made a plan to rendezvous on the Plains in June, but what might happen when Elsa never shows? If Taylor Sheridan & Co. decide to go the route of a wrap-up movie, Sam’s quest to find his bride — which naturally would end at the Duttons’ ranch, giving us an update on James and Margaret’s family — wouldn’t be a bad way to go.
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GET BUZZED WITH CAROLYN!
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+ If all else fails, we wouldn’t mind a handful of episodes that hang out with general store proprietor/boozy brewmaster Carolyn, played by guest star Rita Wilson. (We’re only half kidding — she seemed like a hoot and a half!)
