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*WARNING: This story contains spoilers for the “1923” Season 2 finale.*
Michelle Randolph and Aminah Nieves are saying goodbye to “1923” with the Season 2 finale, which also wraps up the series.
“Extra’s” Jenny Taft spoke with Michelle and Aminah, who first gave their reactions to the penultimate episode, which saw seven killed, including Michelle’s character Elizabeth Dutton’s husband Jack Dutton.
Michelle said, “I was shocked. I think, like, the biggest shock for me was Jack… I had to reread it a few times, like, ‘That’s it? Does he come back to life?’
“All of it, there’s no relief, it’s just devastating all around,” Randolph emphasized.
Michelle was also shocked by Aminah’s storyline, saying, “I had read the script, so I was expecting it, but it’s different watching it.”
Aminah’s character Teonna Rainwater lost both her father Runs His Horse and the man she loves, Pete Plenty Clouds.
Nieves added, “In my mind, I’m like, it’s horrible, but Taylor Sheridan has no mercy. You know, through everything you watch, it’s very much that. When things are coming to an end, it’s very much all waters are broken.”
She admitted, “I was hurt. I was like, ‘Dang, who’s gonna be it? What’s episode 7 gonna be about if episode 6 is about this?'” She added, “Thankfully, Teonna and Liz got out.”
Michelle also spoke about what’s next for Elizabeth, who is pregnant with Jack’s child and “figuring out how to become a mother and do that without your husband.”
Randolph noted, “I think Elizabeth is leaving the ranch. She’s, one, an entirely different person than how she first came to the ranch, and also I think that she really has come into her own. She’s a Dutton now. I mean, even just going through that last, in episode 7, the finale, the whole shootout, that changed her.”
Randolph emphasized, “She’s a Dutton. She’s going to the East Coast, but she’s not far away.”
Aminah said she’d love to see Teonna live on in another show, sharing, “I dream every day of a long future for Teonna, but we’ll see if we get one. I do, I really do see a long future for her, at least til 80. I want her to get to 80.”
Nieves is taking away a lot of lessons from her role, saying, “I think Teonna has honestly given me so much confidence in myself and has really reminded me the power of using your voice for good, and she’s taught me so many things I will never be able to repay her for.
“Because of that, I’m reminded of how important it is to sit with our elders, to sit with the people that have brought us here, and to forgive and to lead with a really good heart, because if you don’t, then you’re missing out on so many vital lessons in your life.”
She continued, “If you continue to ball everything up inside of you and to not try to go get free and are obsessed with your own suffering, you miss out on so many opportunities in this lifetime.”
Michelle reflected on what she learned working alongside the iconic Helen Mirren, sharing, “She delivers so many beautiful lines to me and watching her find those moments in scenes and from take to take, I think one of the hardest things about wrapping is, like, I hope I get to work with Helen again.”
“Also, she just really genuinely loves what she does and loves being on set and being in character and being around the crew,” Michelle said. “I just found that so inspiring and, like, it made me excited to be there with her.”
As for what the audience will feel about the final, Aminah said, “I think people are gonna be a little sh*tty, if I’m honest, because there are so many questions and there are so many open-ended storylines.”
Praising Sheridan, Nieves explained, “That’s one thing that Taylor knows how to do and it’s how to write a damn script and it’s how to leave people wanting more, and episode 7 is definitely that. I think a lot of people are gonna have so many questions. They’re gonna be wanting more of an extension of ‘1923.’”
Michelle used “survival, devastation, [and] tears” to describe the finale, while Aminah chose “grim, survival, and the unknown.”
Watch “1923” Sunday on Paramount+.
