Lightning Yellow Hair
The caravan moves for hours, the sun slowly sinking behind the horizon. The plains are still and lifeless, save for a few scattered trees and occasional herds of animals. Suddenly, there’s a loud noise from behind them, and the caravan turns to see a large herd of buffalo charging towards them.
The land belongs to the Indians, and as the caravan crosses it, they pay their taxes on it. Thomas decides to make camp there, partly because there is water on the land. And if that earlier chat about skeletons wasn’t enough, the new resident cook kills a buffalo and starts prepping it for the caravan. ..
Shea’s use of the F word doesn’t go down well with Margaret, and he is quick to remind her not to overstep her boundaries.
Interestingly, Elsa starts talking with one of the Indians, a charismatic chap by the name of Sam. He chose this name as that’s the name of the man who killed his wife. He took his name as a reminder of what happened. Elsa admits her horse is called Lightning. Why? Well, apparently that’s how fast her horse is.
Elsa decides to race with James. After winning, she cuts off some of her hair and hands it over to Sam, a memento after he called her “Lightning Yellow Hair.” In return, he hands over a trinket of his own given she won the race.
Shea gets talking to the Indians about the bandits ahead and how dangerous it is for their caravan. ..
It’s an ominous warning and it doesn’t take long for a storm to swell and cause the wind to pick up. That wind becomes ever-more ferocious, and James encourages the gang to hitch the horses quickly. The cattle are also gone, leaving them all stuck in a desperate situation. If that weren’t enough, a tornado arrives. It’s tense, and as everyone drops to the ground to ride this out, Sam and Elsa end up kissing.
When the tornado finally passes and the storm lifts, James heads off to try and find Elsa, while Margaret helps the caravan. The thing is, Sam joins Elsa on a horse as they head out to try and find the horses. When Sam returns to his horse, he shouts down to Elsa that she’s free to come and go in his land at any time.
The caravan has had a lot of trouble. A lot of the wagons have been destroyed, and they may well have to go back and find more. Even worse, they don’t have any food either. The cattle are miles back and they need men to try and round them up, especially as six bandits have rounded them up.
Elsa demands to be taken with the men. Margaret is less than happy when she finds out and charges off to catch up and bring her daughter back. Unfortunately for Shea and the others, there are not six men there. There are thirteen. ..
Thankfully, Sam shows up alongside one of Shea’s old friends, Charlie, and helps fend off the bandits around James and the others. ..
James, Thomas, and Shea all take gunshots for their troubles. Thankfully James’ goes through his belt and is wedged near his butt. For Thomas, he has a ricochet in the stomach while Shea ends up shot (see: grazed) across his forehead. A dribble of blood drips onto his shoe.
As the episode ends, Margaret is stopped by a bandit. She demands the woman hand over her horse but instead, he receives a shotgun to the chest for his troubles. This traumatizes the poor woman, and as narration from Elsa tells us, she ends up sobbing that night.
The caravan is scattered and its food and wagons are smashed up. How are they going to survive?
The Episode Review
1883 returns with a perfect episode that builds tension and dramatic storytelling. The chapter is perfectly positioned to capitalize on two dramatic fallouts.
The tornado is a great way to show the unpredictability of the land and the inhospitable territory the caravan is trekking across. The bandit attack at the end is another reminder that there are more manmade horrors to tackle alongside tornados and natural disasters. ..
This episode begins with a beautiful Foreshadowing of what’s to come. Thankfully everyone comes out of this alive, albeit with cuts, bruises and scratches to show for it.
This episode was an amazing roller-coaster ride of emotion that I couldn’t help but be on the edge of my seat the entire time. I’m definitely looking forward to the final episodes of this season to see how they measure up to the high bar set by this episode.
