IR TV Review: 1923 - EPISODE 6 (“One Ocean Closer To Destiny”) [Paramount+]
Maintaining quality of storytelling over time can be tricky in serialized format because the context of what is being shown has to be engaging. Of course some episodes will be more dynamic than others. "1923" has been exceptionally good at keeping that pace going but it is because the parallels between the older couple on the ranch and the new couple journeying back are synchronized now in a very wonderful way without being anything like the other except in one point: the fierce loyalty and love and yet the ability to keep each other on their toes.
Episode 6 entitled "One Ocean Closer to Destiny" picks up after a seemingly tragic occurence for the new couple of Brandon and Alex heading to the Suez Canal. The story moves in a different way than one would think from the end of the last episode but all these steps are key to the couple becoming what they might be. Back on the ranch, it is a different tug of war between Jacob and Cara Dutton (Harrison Ford & Helen Mirren) respectively. We never see them disagree but this is one of those times and two scenes that follow the other show why this show is so good with them.
Ford, who sometimes can be hard to extract from his other roles, but also sometimes doesn't let his guard down, has a beautiful scene with Mirren that rivals anything he has done. It is a short monologue...not even that really...but it encapsulates the entire idea of what "Yellowstone" as a franchise is. It is great writing with an actor who has lived it and he is transcendent in that moment in how he plays it. Back on the ocean, with Alex and Spencer, it is a similar idea and romance at its inset without losing itself. This continues to make Alex and Spencer's journey riveting to watch. A specific quiet moment with wonderful details and a specific reasoning (and there are many wonderful in-between moments between these two) really is precious and beautiful. It is not overdone and yet it is in a great way. As the episode ends and the space is spread out, there is an inevitability, keyed intothe dialogue and progression, that speaks to something else and indeed where this journey might take them. A
By Tim Wassberg
