From epic voyages to battles with terrifying beasts, Brandon Sklenar feels a certain masterpiece at play in Spencer Dutton’s 1923 journey. But first, beware of major spoilers for the Season 1 finale ahead.
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“It’s Homer’s Odyssey. It really is,” the breakout star tells Entertainment Tonight in his first interview since the finale. “It’s wild to me. I’ve already shot the thing and I’m still looking back at it going, ‘Man, this is such an epic journey this guy’s on.'”
There’s no story more epic than Homer’s classic tale. Odyssey tells of Odysseus’ 10-year struggle to return home after the Trojan War, which will immediately sound familiar to 1923‘s viewers. Brandon Sklenar also gives life to a home-seeking veteran; his Spencer a capable, stoic survivor of World War 1. Now, he’s struggling to return to his family before it’s too late – the core of Odysseus’ journey, too.
As Odyseeus had family awaiting him – family dealing with their own threats back home – so, too, does Spencer. So like the rest of us, Brandon Sklenar and the 1923 cast “just can’t wait to see where it’s going” for Spencer’s Odyssey.
“The cast calls each other and speculates and everyone has ideas and theories,” he adds.
And while Spencer may not be traveling to the land of the dead, battling sirens, or felling a giant cyclops, his face-offs with leopards, lions, capsized tugboats and enraged lovers have proven every bit as riveting. Chiefly, his relationship with Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) has proven captivating, making for a heartbreaking finale.
‘1923’s Brandon Sklenar On Where He Want’s Spencer’s ‘Odyssey’ to Lead
“Well, now I’ve lost her. I don’t know if I’m ever going to see her again. I don’t know when or how I’m going to get back,” Sklenar offers of Spencer’s thoughts as his Odyssey rages on.
“At that last moment when we see him before Helen [Mirren]’s voiceover, he’s a man who has lost literally everything and he blames himself. That’s a such a massive shift in him as a human being,” he notes for ET.
Thankfully, Sklenar sees a reunion in the future. “I feel as though he would have to go home and hope that she could find him. Their bond is so strong and their love is so deep. He’s in a position where he’s just holding onto whatever faith he has left and hope he has left that she’s going to find him,” he ponders of Spencer and Alex.
It won’t be a peaceful homecoming, however. The Yellowstone Duttons are facing their own perils in 1923, and Brandon Sklenar believes Spencer Dutton may not have “anything left to save when he gets there.”
In kind, “I think there’s going to be a big tonal shift going into the second season, just in the whole season itself and especially in Spencer,” he concludes. “I think we’re going to see a different guy when we see him again.”
We’ll find out how the Duttons’ stories finally join when Brandon Sklenar returns for 1923 Season 2.
