Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for 1923 Season 2.
One of the strongest aspects of1923has been its many villains, and Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) remains by far the most intimidating. He’s the kind of threat the Duttons have never faced before, and we get a true sense of his darker side with his torture of women throughout the series. However,his characterization has also been overdone, while enforcing the worst impulses of manyYellowstoneshows, and the point is already made clear. While he’s still a great villain, Whitfield has become too excessive for viewers and maybe some characters to stomach, and it’s a shame we will never learn more about him before his final endgame.
Even by ‘Yellowstone’ Standards, Donald Whitfield Is a Force of Nature in ‘1923’
We’ve had many villains in1923so far, from the petty and the small to big-time sheriffs and priests, but the intimidating Donald Whitfield feels like something new when he enters the game at the end of the first season. Owing to their prolonged family line, the Duttons have been largely unchallenged in Montana. Yet, they have never faced anyone with the sheer degree of social and political power that Whitfield has, making him a kind of threat they have never actually faced before. In some ways,Whitfield represents the vices of the modern world, personifying the greed that the Duttons have wanted to avoid for so many decades, but his power is also the kind that the family themselves will have one day, with allthe moral quandariesthat entails. Being an industrial titan not even from America, Whitfield cares nothing for the beauty of the West that so thoroughly defines the Yellowstone franchise as a whole. Whitefield is also highly cunning, and that makes him a far greater threat than Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) and many other, more localized enemies. With the philosophy of a classic robber baron, who views wealth as a matter of worth, Whitfield perceives even the Dutton family as nearly insignificant when compared to his own position.
Of course, much of the terror Whitfield instills is due to the presence of Timothy Dalton, whose elegant voice makes even the smallest bit of dialogue drip with both class and sophistication. As a cunning politician,Whitfield is charismatic to the core, and quickly lures Banner into his orbitwhen he is forced to look for new potential allies. However, his slick nature also alienates Banner and could prove a decisive factor in his final defeat. After all, we know whatthe real threat to the Duttonswill be, and he is destined to become a footnote in their history as they continue to thrive for the next century.
Whitfield’s Abuse of Women in ‘1923’ Has Become Redundant
One of the most shocking revelations about Donald Whitfield in1923was when viewers learned of his actions behind closed doors, where he regularly had women torture each other for his own sadistic amusement. This very casual disposal of sex workers was shocking when it first appeared, quickly ranking Whitfield asone of the most horrible villainsin theYellowstoneuniverse, and it was enough to leave even Banner very openly shaken. It’s also a unique lesson in power dynamics,something Whitfield understands more than most, and Christy (Cailyn Rice) reluctantly embraces her initial role as the torturer. Once she switches positions, Lindy (Madison Elise Rogers) becomes more than happy to return the favor, later even killing Christy outright.
When it first started, the dynamic was a chilling demonstration that anyone can become evil in the right situation, and it also shows just how despicable Whitfield is. The problem here is that this subplot does not end here, and we see Lindy recruit a new sex worker, Mabel, played byVirginia Gardner, to replace the other, but never once is her terror or victim status given real focus. In his stories,Taylor Sheridanhas embraced a worrying habit of forcing his female characters to constantly endure more significant amounts of suffering to toughen them up,even when it’s unnecessary, and this might be the worst example. Casually disposing of sex workers is also a problematic trope, one that films and television have rarely acknowledged, and the point is already made before Lindy murders Christy in cold blood. When Mabel is being tortured,it serves more as a new crisis of confidence for Banner than anything else, which might be important, but also could have easily been depicted differently.
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Donald Whitfield Is a Good Villain in ‘1923,’ But He Could Have Been So Much More
More than any other character in1923, Donald Whitfield feels like the living embodiment of pure greed, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. If they’re portrayed well enough and provoke the right emotions, simple villains can be incredibly effective in serving as foils to the heroes.Whitfield, though, feels almost cartoonishly evil at times, and the charisma with which Dalton plays him ironically makes the character feel less like a force of nature and more like just another corrupt business tycoon. That being said, Dalton still delivers in the role, and the main problem is more with the writing, which is not exactly a surprisefor a show as condensed as this onehas been. Unlike Banner, who has some very real grievances against the Dutton family, Whitfield has no real reason to pick a fight with them, and seems to just enjoy the game purely for its own sake. Maybe that was the goal for the character, in which case Dalton and the team succeeded, but it also means there are missed opportunities for what Whitfield could have been.
When one really thinks about Whitfield, he has a fascinating but terrifying view of what matters in life, and he always waxes philosophically about the world around him. We know what he wants and why,but we know nothing about his past or what even brought him to America in the first place, aside from the pursuit of profit. It still feels strange to imagine a British business tycoon in Montana, where the core of the community isbased upon lineage from the original settlers, and it would have been fascinating to learn more about his backstory. With the story of1923coming to a close, it’s disappointing to know those questions will never be answered, preventing a good villain from being a truly great and unforgettable one.
The1923Season 2 finale premieres Sunday on Paramount+.
