1883 Episode 5 is, in a word, heartbreaking. So be sure you’ve watched the full episode before catching the best quotes here.
SPOILERS AHEAD for ‘1883’ Season 1, Episode 5: ‘The Fangs of Freedom’
“We are in the land of no mercy now.”
By Episode 5’s end, Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) s a changed person. To her mother, Margaret (Faith Hill), and herself, Elsa is a woman now; a woman changed by the harsh reality 19th century pioneers faced.
In kind, Elsa’s opening narration for ‘The Fangs of Freedom’ is one of the most powerful of the Yellowstone prequel’s run. Let’s start there.
Elsa Dutton’s Best Quotes from Season 1, Episode 5
“I think cities have weakened us as a species. There are no consequences there. Step into the streets without looking and the carriage merely stops or swerves; the only consequence an angry driver. But here? There can be no mistakes. Because here doesn’t care. The river doesn’t care if you can swim. The snake doesn’t care how much you love your children. And the wolf has no interest in your dreams. If you fail to beat the current, you will drown; if you get too close, you will be bitten. If you are too weak, you will be eaten.”
The Dutton journey is testing ever fiber of Elsa. And the man she’s come to love, Ennis (Eric Nelsen), becomes part of that test.
“The whole world faded away. No stars or moon, no sky at all. No earth between my feet; no rock against my back. There was only us.”
‘Today My Eyes Died’
The tragic death of Ennis is the turning point for Elsa. A whimsical, hopeful child becomes a jaded, wary woman in the aftermath.
“I’d known death since I was a child. It’s everywhere. But it had never touched me. It had never placed it rotten finger on my heart. Until today. Today my eyes died. I see the world through my mother’s eyes now. Yes, freedom has fangs. And it sunk them in me. I chose to love him. He chose to love me back. Then chose to protect me. Then a man we’ve never met chose to kill him. And made me colorblind.”
“Maybe killing this man will get my eyes back. Maybe it won’t. But I chose to find out.”
With these brilliant 1883 quotes, the rest of Elsa Dutton‘s life begins.
Margaret Dutton’s Best Quotes in Season 1, Episode 5
In kind, Episode 5 also holds Margaret Dutton’s (Faith Hill) best quotes of the series as she works through tragedy with her daughter and family. It’s a showcase for Hill, busting the doors wide open on Margaret’s relationship with Elsa.
“You’ve seen enough farm animals to know how babies are made, Elsa.”
” I envy you… Becoming a woman out here. No rules, no worries or whispers about what you should be. There’s no such thing as freedom, Elsa. Don’t let anyone tell you there is. There’s laws, there’s rules, there’s customs, responsibilites everywhere. And the more people you cram together, the more rules they’ll be. I don’t know what life is like in Oregon. But there’ll be rules there, too.
“This trail, this is as free as you’ll ever be. The only rules you need to follow are the ones in your heart.”
“You’d better be careful. You’re a woman now, ain’t yah? And woman to woman you better be careful. It takes years to make something of your life. And one decision can change the course of it forever. And we don’t know if that decision is the one that’s going sink us until we make it. So you better be very, very careful what you choose. Freedom is anything but, Elsa. And every choice has fangs, do you understand me?”
“If you have a child, you’ll raise it. I will not do it for you. I’m having a hard enough time raising my own as you can clearly see. And if you decide to do it again, do it outside of earshot of the damn camp.”
“Just once I’d love to see the world through your eyes. But one day you’ll see it through mine, though. And it breaks my heart.”
James Dutton’s Best Quotes in ‘1883 Season 1, Episode 5
“Cattle and horses ain’t all they steal out here. You hear me?”
– James (Tim McGraw) to daughter Elsa
“You say you love her. But you won’t ever love her like I do. That’s my heart you’re running off with. And you better cradle it like an egg.”
– James to Ennis (Eric Nelsen) on Elsa
Shea Brennan and Thomas’ Best Quotes in 1883 Season 1, Episode 5
“Find your own way to Oregon. If you follow us, I’ll kill you… I mean it. You follow us and it’ll be the death of you.”
– Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott)
“The only way you survive this is working together. Leaning on each other! This trip ain’t even gotten hard yet! But hard’s coming. The river is what happens when you don’t work together. That is your leader. You chose him. Now follow him! Or choose someone you will follow.”
– Shea Brennan
“Marrying a black man ain’t gonna solve your problems, ma’am. It’s gonna create a whole bunch of new ones.”
– Thomas as he falls in love with Noemi (Gratiela Brancusi)
“There’s degrees of freedom. Government says you can’t swim. Can’t protect yourself. Damn right the government can tell you who to love and how to love ’em. They shouldn’t, but they can.”
– Thomas
“Way I grew up, things I’ve seen? Shit. Wasn’t scared of no nightmares. Went to sleep to escape ’em.”
– Thomas
1883 will return with Episode 6 next Sunday, July 16, on Paramount Network. For a recap of the episode, see our ‘1883’: Full Recap of Season 1, Episode 5, ‘The Fangs of Freedom’ next.
