Being a part of this wagon train is changing everyone.
Whether it’s finding love, grieving the loss of what’s left behind, or forming new friendships, 1883 Season 1 Episode 6 shows that this experience will profoundly affect everyone whether they realize it or not.
These new bonds will not be easily broken.
Understandably, Elsa was bereft after Ennis’s death, but she was letting it change her for the worse.
Nobody would talk to her about what she was experiencing, and she felt alone and angry. Killing the man who killed Ennis didn’t empower her or take away her pain; it left her dead inside.
It didn’t help matters when she got her period. Surely, a part of her hoped to have something left to cling to from her first love. As scary as it would be to raise a child without him, holding onto him in that way would keep him alive in some way.
Shea understood what Elsa was going through, and as his heart swells more each day, he reached out to her to share something she needed to hear.
Shea: I know how you feel. A lot of people are going to tell you that. Whether it’s truth or not, I don’t know. But I know it’s true when I say it. I’ve sat right where you’re sittin’, thinkin’ the same thing. Thinkin’ I don’t want to live without them. Don’t see the point. Still do most days. But here I am, livin’ without ’em.
Elsa: Why?
Shea: Well, my reasons be different than yours. I don’t have anyone left who loves me. You do. I’ll tell you a secret. I’ll tell you why I’m still suckin’ air today. I’m headin’ to the ocean.
Elsa: The ocean?
Shea: An Apache scout told me once when you love somebody, you trade souls with ’em. They get a piece of yours; you get a piece of theirs. But when your love dies, a little piece of you dies with ’em. That’s why you hurt so bad. But that little piece of him is still inside you, and he can use your eyes to see the world. So, I’m takin’ my wife to the ocean, and I’m gonna sit on the beach and let her see it. That was her dream. And I’m gonna see her. That’s my dream. In the meantime, the herd could sure use its cowgirl.
That conversation didn’t supplant her rage quickly, but the longer she had to mull that around, the more she came to realize that she could move on, keeping a piece of Ennis with her always.
Taking this arduous journey doesn’t allow for mistakes, and it doesn’t allow for wallowing. Elsa grieved hard and fast, coming to terms with saving goodbye before they moved into new, unknown territory that would require her to be on her toes.
There is even a new cowboy with the group, and he was friends with Ennis. We don’t need Elsa to always be in love, but we need her to be the beacon of hope for the wagon train. And if that means she gets back to flirting, then so be it.
Elsa: Don’t bother flirtin’ with me.
Colton: Why not?
Elsa: You’re too pretty for me. I prefer to be the pretty one. Bet you prefer it, too. [he laughs]
You have to admit that using a line on Colton similar to what Ennis used on her worked very well. Where Ennis was shy and unsure of himself, Colton is outgoing and confident.
He wouldn’t be a replacement for Ennis, but regardless of how their friendship breaks, he’ll offer her another aspect of the dating world.
When Elsa found her way to the other side of her grief, she was so thankful to Shea because he reached out to her. And if that meant something to her, how she thanked him — by holding his hand and kissing his cheek — everything to Shea.
Shea said that everyone who loves him is gone from this earth, but it looks like by putting himself out there with Elsa, the two will form a loving relationship. The more love there is in the world, the better. It doesn’t come easily, but these two souls found each other as much as Elsa found Ennis.
They’re making family on this trip, and most of them could use it.
When I chatted with LaMonica Garrett this week, I hadn’t yet watched the screener. I wish I had. He talked around what’s to come for Thomas, and now we know that he’s opened his heart to Neomi.
We could see that coming, of course. Neomi hasn’t been shy about it. But Thomas was scared for many reasons. Neomi didn’t have time for that. She knew what she wanted and read the signs well. Thomas loves her.
Neomi: Why did you buy me this?
Thomas: Well, if I looked like you, I figure I’d stare at myself every chance I got.
Neomi: This is a present.
Thomas: Yes, it is.
Neomi: You won’t marry me. You won’t love me. But you’ll buy me gifts?
Thomas: You’re sad and scared. You have every right to be. If I can give ya somethin’ that will make you happy and protect you, I don’t see the harm in it.
Neomi: You want me happy.
Thomas: Of course, I do.
Neomi: You want me to feel safe.
Thomas: Yes, mam.
Neomi: That’s love. Me letting you take care of me is not fear. It’s loving you back. [she removes her dress] Do I look scared to you? [kneels before him] I’m not the scared one. You are. [they kiss]
Their love is fresh and earnest, much like with Elsa and Ennis had. The extreme conditions the travelers endure push them together. They have to lean on one another or perish. But that doesn’t always mean the going is easy.
Margaret was grieving, too. She was grieving her daughter.
It must be unbearable watching your child suffer. Margaret wanted to be there for Elsa, but she was unprepared for how Elsa went dead inside. First, she killed a man, and then she was willing to do it again.
As they all do, Margaret needed a break. She got one with Miss Carol, who ran the general store at Doan’s Crossing. Rita Wilson bookended her husband’s guest-starring role, but her part was much more fun.
Alcohol isn’t required to let your hair down, but being on the wagon train means you’re on high alert constantly. There isn’t any downtime because to let down your guard could get you or someone else killed.
Margaret needed that time to unwind. There has been very little laughter on their journey, and if booze helped her forget her troubles for even a little while, it was worth it.
It also helped her to talk truthfully with James.
Margaret: [crying] Wherever we’re going, it better be paradise ’cause it’s costing us a daughter. And if you ask me, it’s a shitty trade.
James: We ain’t tradin’ nothin’.
Margaret: She killed a man!! And she was about to kill another. I look in her eyes and the person starin’ back at me, I don’t recognize. I’ll never forgive you for this!
James: You don’t forgive me? I don’t forgive me!
I like that they keep talking about how this journey is changing them. Things will never be the same. There’s a very high cost for freedom, and while they’re on the trail, they will question it again and again.
James knows the burden he’s carrying. He doesn’t forgive himself, and he’ll shoulder more to make up for it when he can. Every step they take gets them farther away from what they know.
There comes the point of no return, and that might be the most frightening thing to put your family through.
You did not kill him, understand? The meanest thing you can do to yourself is hate somebody else. I know what it feels like to hate the world. You don’t want to feel it, honey. Be sad, miss him, cry yourself blind. Leave the hatin’ to me.
James
John had a very similar conversation with Beth on Yellowstone, if I’m not mistaken. It’s a family trait that will pass through the generations of fathers and daughters in the Dutton family.
They’ll shoulder the burden of their child’s pain, knowing full well that it will keep on coming, and the only way through it is to face it head on.
“Boring the Devil” felt like a launching-off point. As the travelers grow closer, they’re leaving behind some of the pain that drove them to make the trip in the first place.
And like Yellowstone, 1883 doesn’t have its characters spending too much time on their woes. Stories move swiftly because the writers know that the quicker they move through plotlines, the more the characters will accomplish.
It’s similar to Elsa facing down the devil, refusing to let him steal her life away. She’ll never forget, but she’s going to live.
They’re moving through territory very slowly, but at the mention of deserts and mountains ahead, it’s fun to imagine how future seasons will unfold. There is so much terrain in the west as they move south to north, and the filming locations will have to change accordingly.
Are you happy with the pacing?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the latest.
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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.
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