Warning! Spoiler for the 1923 series finale!
1923 star Aminah Nieves has discussed the future of her character Teonna Rainwater, following the 1923 season 2’s epic two-hour finale episode. The final season of Taylor Sheridan’s hit Yellowstone prequel put Teonna through the ringer, as the young Apsáalooke woman was on the run following her escape from a horrific Catholic boarding school in North Dakota, while trying to evade capture by its sadistic leader, Father Jacques Renaud, whom she ultimately murders. The season proved a grueling one for Teonna, but at the end, she was one of the few characters to ride off into the sunset.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Nieves discusses her character’s future and what she hopes Teonna would be doing following the conclusion of the show. She mentions the respect between Teonna and Marshall Fossett, before revealing that she dreams Teonna would live to be an old woman in her 80s, with hair down to her knees, spreading wisdom. She also reveals that her biggest dream is for Teonna to have children, before praising her as a strong, matriarchal woman. Check out Nieves’ comments below:
ScreenRant: When we last see Teonna, we still aren’t sure of where she’ll end up, and there are several steps left before we can reach where we first meet Thomas Rainwater in Yellowstone. What do you hope to see for her?
Nieves: When Fossett gave her the opportunity to stay or go, I think for a split second, Teonna was kind of like, “Wait, can you help me?” But she didn’t want to say it. She was looking at her, honestly, a little bit motherly – even though it was snarky.
She was just like, “This is the first woman that I’ve met since my grandmother that actually might care about me. The others have either raped me or beat me to filth.” So, there’s a lot of nuance between the two of them. I honestly would love to see them together again, and to see what that would look like.
I am a dreamer, though, and I dream vividly. I believe Teonna can be 80 and just have a beautiful life with hair all the way down to her knees, just spreading wisdom and light to everyone around her, still fighting the good fight and not wavering…
But also, it’s the Taylor Sheridan universe! Still, that’s my biggest dream. I dream that she’s able to have a baby, and maybe even more than one. I want her to have a full-bodied life. She’s deserving of that. And I think everything that led up to this point in her life will only inform her to be a magnificent, matriarchal woman.
What This Means For Teonna’s Franchise Future
She Could Appear In Other Spinoffs
Teonna went through so much in the show, but it is likely that her story is over now. There are major character deaths in 1923 season 2’s finale, but Teonna is one character who survives at the end of her story, with the show electing to leave her long-term fate unknown to the viewer. Sometimes, it is important for shows to give a character closure, but other times, leaving their fate ambiguous can often work very well and allows for audiences to make their own minds up about what becomes of the character.
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It is clear that Nieves has thought a lot about Teonna’s future and what she would like to see from a storytelling perspective. Creator Sheridan may well also have some ideas for what the character’s future holds, and while it feels unlikely, there is a chance Teonna could return in future spinoffs, such as the confirmed 1923 sequel, 1944. But, if her story is now complete, Teonna is a character who had a great arc, and her open-ended story means there are infinite possibilities for what the character could achieve.
Our Take On Teonna’s Yellowstone Franchise Future
Her Journey Feels Complete
Teonna was one of the most interesting characters in 1923 season 2, and her story was very much a coming-of-age tale. She lived in a dangerous world where people were not always as they appeared, and her horrific experiences helped shape her as a strong, self-reliant woman, able to survive in the world. This feels like a natural end to her story, with viewers free to decide what adventures await her over the next horizon. While she could return in 1944, giving more of a link to her Yellowstone ancestor, Thomas Rainwater, I hope her franchise fate is left ambiguous.
1923
9/10
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Paramount+