Spoilers ahead! 1923 Season 1, Episode 6 gives us another perfectly-impromptu Dutton wedding amid ever-growing turmoil.
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Spencer and Alexandra (Brandon Sklenar, Julia Schlaepfer) have had a rough go of it, to say the least. As Spencer says himself towards the end of Episode 6, it’s as if the universe is telling him to put Alexandra back where he found her. Yet no matter what said universe tosses at these passionate lovers, they bleed, sweat, and bear it together.
Again, *Major Spoilers Ahead* for ‘1923’!
All of the above, however, is what makes 1923‘s surprise wedding all the more meaningful. While we’ve seen Jack and Elizabeth (Darren Mann, Michelle Randolph) recite their vows to one another on the Yellowstone in Episode 5, they did so without a priest, the law, or, well, a captain. Which is exactly what makes Episode 6’s nuptials between Spencer and Alex the first true wedding of 1923.
When we last left the adventurous couple, their tugboat had capsized under the force of a ghost ship. After a full day and night’s stranding at sea, a faint light appears over the horizon. It’s a large vessel, and after firing off several shots from his rife, Spencer and his fiance are finally found, rescued, and safely aboard a sturdy navy piloted by the British Navy.
There, 1923‘s most compelling romance finds itself in the presence of a fine captain, played by Game of Thrones‘ Joseph Mawle. Mawle’s captain (who remains nameless at this point in time) pours them both whiskey from a decanter and glasses that look similar to those oft-pondered over glasses of John Dutton’s in Yellowstone. But they are not an exact match. Nor have any been that we’ve seen throughout 1923 that Spencer has used, so the mystery of the Dutton’s true Family Tree continues.
Alexandra Becomes a Dutton at Sea
As they drink, the captain informs our duo that passage for immigrants (see: British Alexandra) to America is horridly over-logged. It’s near impossible at this point in time for a foreign citizen to gain entry to U.S. ports. Recognizing an opportunity to wed, Spencer requests their captain do so. Not for her citizenship specifically, mind you. Which is good, because their steadfast captain readily reminds them both that this is illegal.
“It’s a benefit,” Spencer replies. “It’s not why I’m doing it.”
“No, I wouldn’t think so,” their captain smiles. “I’d be honored. I’ll prepare the color guard.”
“I’d like to do it now, if you can,” Spencer decrees. In truth, he truly cannot wait to marry Alex after surviving that damn tugboat, sharks, lions, elephants, and everything in-between. And their captain can see this in them both.
And so he marries them. But not before pulling out a box of rings: rings that have survived the ship’s sailors. Now, these relics of the sea are to be passed on to Spencer and Alexandra after that very sea spared them.
“When sailors pass and we’ve no address to send these to their widows, they accumulate here,” the captain offers of the relics.
None of the male sailor’s rings fit Alexandra’s petite hands, however, leading their kind captain to remove his late wife’s ring from his necklace and gift it to the young bride.
“I am certain she would approve,” he smiles.
‘1923’s Most Powerful Romance Gets the Wedding it Deserves
As the impromptu wedding of Beth and Rip (Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser) became an oddly-perfect affair, so, too, does the unexpected wedding of Spencer and Alex. In a sweeping, romantic montage, Alexandra becomes a Dutton, and television’s most followed family tree gains another branch.
After consummating their marriage (multiple times) in their cabin, the new Mr. and Mrs. Dutton make for the deck to observe their heading. Egypt is alight on the horizon, but Alexandra is more interested in her new husband’s dreams. What does he want in this life they now share by law?
Like most Dutton men, Spencer has a hard time articulating any thoughts beyond the practical, however. And with all they’ve been through in such a short time, he believes the universe has given him sign after sign that he should not be with his Alex. The elephant, the lions, the note before departing, the tugboat… All of it.
But Alexandra pulls him in tight and doesn’t let go. This exuberant, tender young woman lets the scared, lost little boy inside a scarred man’s know that she will never leave him. Ever. As husband and wife, they are now each other’s shadows. And even if it is the death of her, Alexandra Dutton will now follow Spencer to the ends of the Earth.
1923 returns next Sunday, Feb. 19 for Season 1, Episode 7 exclusively on Paramount Plus
