01x01 - 1883

[bunniefuu]

- [MONEY FOR NOTHING BY DIRE STRAITS]
- ♪ MTV... ♪

ELSA: I remember
the first time I saw it.

Tried to find words to describe it...

- [WIND RUSTLING]
- but I couldn't.

Nothing had prepared me...

no books, no teachers,
not even my parents.

I heard a thousand stories but
none could describe this place.

It must be witnessed to be understood.

And yet... I've seen it,
and understand it even less

than before I first
cast eyes on this place.

[MUSIC]

Some call it the American Desert,

others, the Great Plains.

But those phrases were invented
by professors at universities

surrounded by the illusion of order

and the fantasy of right and wrong.

To know it, you must walk it.

Bleed into its dirt.

Drown in its rivers.

Then its name becomes clear

[FIRE BURNING]

It is hell,

and there are demons everywhere.

[PANTING]

[MUSIC]

[RUMBLING]

[w*r CRIES]

[SCREAMS]

[CRYING]

[WOMAN SCREAMS]

[w*r CRIES]

[PANTING]

WARRIOR: I said no.

Will you let me go?

I will sell you.

Or I will k*ll you!

You speak English.

How can you do this?!

You speak English.
And no, your people did this.

[GRUNTS]

[GASPS]

ELSA: But if this is hell,
and I'm in it...

- [g*nshots]
- then I must be a demon too.

And I'm already dead.

[ELSA SCREAMS]

[MUSIC]

[WIND BLOWING]

[SOBBING]

[DEEP BREATHS]

[MUSIC]

[SOBBING]

[SNIFFS]

[MUSIC]

[SNIFFS]

[SOBBING]

[MUSIC]

Captain.

Yeah.

We're ready.

[MUSIC]

You coming?

I'm thinking about it.

Think on it quick.

If I'm digging a hole,

I'd rather do it before the sun's high.

I'm coming.

[MUSIC]

[CARRIAGE ROLLING]

[g*nf*re]

[MUSIC]

Come on!

[MUSIC]

Whoa!

Ya!

Ya!

- Pretty smart.
- They won't fall for it again.

Pretty soon they'll
just sh**t the horses.

Horses is probably what they're after.

Farmers ain't got
nuthin' else worth taking.

They'll sh**t the horses anyway.

Then the farmer.

Ya!

Ya!

- What's he doing?
- I don't know.

I don't give a sh*t.

[g*nsh*t]

[g*nsh*t]

[BOOMING g*nsh*t]

Good sh*t.

Yep.

[CLICKS TONGUE]

[HORSE NICKERS]

So y'all just sat up there and watched?

You looked like you had it figured.

Well, thanks for the f*cking help.

Don't take the horse.

Well, I figure I earned it.

Thieves run in pretty
big packs around here.

If one of his pack sees it...

You'd just be advertising
for the next gunfight.

[CLICKS TONGUE]

[MUSIC]

[SIGH]

[DEEP BREATHS]

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

_

MAN: Come one, come all! I've
got an Indian scalp today for sale.

The genuine article!

Comanche! Kiowa! Kickapoo!
Scalps! For sale today!

Linson's magic elixir
cures tuberculosis...

dysentery...

[MUSIC]

[SHOUTING]

Whoa.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

MAN: Try and figure it out.

Can you take a wagon and a team?

How many in your team?

Four. And I had two
shipped here by train.

A yellow and a buckskin.

Yellow and buckskin.

- You James Dutton?
- Yep.

We got them in back.

Most keep their wagons out back.

See what you got here.

- Excuse us.
- Excuse us, gentlemen.

[LAUGHS]

Hey, all this sh*t'll be
stolen by morning.

You ain't go no place you can keep it?

I'll keep it in the hay
barn for ten dollars.

Of course, can't make no promises

it won't get robbed there either.

Well, it's the promise I'm paying for.

For twenty, I'll have
someone sit with it.

And how much for the horses?

- Two apiece.
- All right.

There a decent hotel?

Just yourself?

Got my family. Six total.

Yeah.

You don't want your family here.

You should go to Dallas.

Well, here's where they're meeting me.

- Best bet's the Calhoun.
- All right.

You're , , ...

and for the two already here.

For the wagon.

If you ain't settled up in thirty days,

everything goes to auction.

[COINS HIT TABLE]

What's the rule
about firearms in this town?

This place'll pick you
apart if you ain't got one.

But if you pull your p*stol
in this town, mister...

You'd better know how to use it.

[CHEERING]

WOMAN: Hey, handsome!

WOMAN # : Is it my lucky day?

Come on in for a shower and bath.

Hell, I might let you bathe me.

Forget about the bath, baby.

You can come climb mama like a tree.

Watch where the hell you're going.

Give it back.

Give what back?

- My wallet.
- I didn't take your f*cking...

[MUSIC]

Pickpocket!

[SHOUTING, CLAMORING]

- Put that back!
- He took my g*dd*mn wallet.

[CLAMORING]

[g*nshots]

Farmer ain't scared to use that shotgun.

Farmer's gonna pick a fight
he can't win before long.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Thomas, stand by that door.

Don't let any of that
bullshit spill in here.

That should answer any questions

about how dangerous
this journey will be.

It will be that and worse,
all the way to Oregon.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

Does anybody speak English?

I...

I speak English. Josef.

Does this group have a leader?

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

But he doesn't speak English.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

No. No English.

You have wagons?

And ox to pull them.

Ox...

Ox won't make the trip.

Heat and no water will k*ll them.

Sell the ox. Get horses.

We don't know horses.

Where's your gear?

Gear?

Your supplies.

Your suitcases. What you take with you.

In the room. In... in the back.

Show me.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

What is all this sh*t?

Everything we brought from home.

Well, you should have left it there.

It won't make the trip.

It must.

This is everything we have.

How am I supposed
to load this on a wagon

and float it across the f*cking river?

And over mountains?

Captain. He ain't even got a p*stol.

No.

Against your religion?

Against our laws. We were not allowed.

None of you have firearms?

Do we need them?

[LAUGHS]

Do you need them?

We're going to have to hire more men.

To protect you.

To help you hunt for food.

Talk it over with your group
and see what kind of money

they can come up with so
we can hire them.

More money...

The price is two hundred per family.

There's a new price.

The church warned us
about people like you.

You change rules.
You... You try to rob us.

You think we're fools, just because...

You have no horses.

No g*ns. You can't ride.

You are a f*cking fool!

For thinking you can
travel two thousand miles

with no skills to survive it.

Captain.

[MUSIC]

[GAGS]

Take the train to Portland.

You won't make this trip.

We... We can't afford the train.

Then I suggest you
buy farms around here.

Here is hot. Here is dry.

We come from mountains.

Mountains we know.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

How much do more men cost?

Maybe a hundred apiece.

Maybe more. Let me check around.

Okay. We... we leave in the morning?

We leave when you're ready

and you won't be ready in the morning.

All is okay.

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC]

You're staring out that window
like there's a prize to be had.

You ain't half-wrong.

Never seen a sunset.

Sun don't set where you're from?

The pine trees block it.

Tennessee...

How'd you know?

I know the pines.

And I know the accent.

Where you headed?

West.

All by yourself?

With my family.

I don't see much family.

Just see you...

They're, um...

Our seats are in the back.

I just wanted to look
out the window so I...

Sit here as long as you like.

Then just a little bit longer...

I question your father's
judgment, though.

If had a daughter as pretty as you,

she would never leave my sight.

Don't do that.

Don't hide from it.

Beauty is meant to be admired.

Let me look...

Yeah.

Look at you.

Ah!

All right, ma'am...

Ma'am, I get your point, ma'am.

All right, ma'am.

Elsa, let's go.

Good day to you, sir.

You're going to be
the death of me, I swear.

I was just looking out the window.

Mm-hmm. Window sure wears a fancy suit.

- Excuse me.
- Excuse me, sir.

Oh, excuse me.

Excuse me, sir.

- Where's John?
- With your aunt.

- You left him with them?
- You left me no choice.

Sit.

Someday I'll only ride
in the front of the train.

- [SCOFFS]
- That's a child's goal.

A woman's goal is never
ride a train again

because she has a home
she never wants to leave.

I guess we're both a ways from our goal.

Ought not let her talk to you like that.

If she were my daughter...

If you think you can make
her listen, be my guest.

[GASPS]

Traipse off into harm's way

and then back-talk your
mother for saving you?

I wasn't in harm's... [GASPS]

I'm sorry. Ah!

It didn't worry me.
You apologize to her.

I'm sorry, Mama. Tell her to stop.

You proved your point.

You'll hit a stranger,
but not your own daughter,

when it's exactly what she needs.

[SOBBING]

Spare the rod, Margaret,
and the freedom will ruin her.

If it hasn't already.

[SNIFFS]

You had it coming.

[MUSIC]

[PIANO PLAYING]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

- How's the pay?
- Hundred a month.

Hmm.

It'll take four months to get there,

then we're stuck in Oregon
for the winter.

We'll burn through the money
waiting to get home.

We can send you back on the train.

Look, Captain...

I've pushed cattle all the way to Omaha

and come across my fair share
of these immigrant wagons:

these sons of b*tches are trying to die.

They can't swim. They can't ride.

Bandits gonna plague you
all the way to Nebraska

and when you get to
the Indian country... whew!

Indians are on reservations.

They're on reservations till they ain't.

And when they see you
coming 'round the bend,

they gonna saddle up
and pluck y'all like chickens.

Mm-hmm.

It's dangerous enough around here.

I ain't gotta go two thousand
miles looking for trouble.

All the trouble I'll ever need
is right outside that door.

Thank you for supper.

Mm-hmm.

We could have a look in The Elephant.

If they're in The Elephant
when we find 'em,

I don't want 'em.

Look who it is.

That farmer's everywhere
at once, ain't he?

Mm-hmm.

Mind if we speak?

Whatever you're selling I ain't buying.

Mind if we speak?

For your supper. For the intrusion.

I can pay for my own dinner.

Four horses to your wagon.
What are you hauling?

Moving pretty fast.

My guess, it's empty and
you're filling her up in town.

Then headed...

Mister, if we wanted to rob you

we'd have done it long before now.

We're leading a wagon train north.

Figured you might be
headed the same way.

We could use some capable men with us.

And you seem to be that.

That's all we're asking.

My family's meeting me here tonight.

We're headed up north tomorrow.

- North where?
- Don't know.

You don't strike me as a man
who travels without a plan.

I got a plan.

[CHUCKLES]

You will make a man work
for an answer, won't you?

I ain't got the answer myself.

You got all these folks hauling ass

west and north and they ain't
never even seen the country

and they don't even know if
it's worth the journey.

Not me.

I'm gonna keep heading north

till I find land
that's worth the journey.

How many in your group?

Six.

How many men?

We could help each other.

I ain't looking for help.

I'm worried enough about my own family

to be worrying about somebody else's.

You got lucky in that field.

You got lucky on the street.

Hope you got enough luck left
for those coming with you.

[MUSIC]

[DOOR SQUEAKS]

[BELL RINGING]

Next, stop, Fort Worth.

Next, stop, Fort Worth.

Elsa!

I'm just looking outside.

[MUSIC]

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS]

The air was different.

The air at home is heavy,
like a musky soup.

Here it is light.

With a strange scent
of pollen and smoke,

like burning flowers...

It smelled wild. Untamed.

It was beautiful.

[MUSIC]

[STEAM HISSES]

Just wait for everyone to get off.

Have you seen Elsa?

You lost her again.

[SIGHS]

If "possible" can describe
a feeling, that's how I felt.

The whole world felt possible.

And I was ready for it.

Daddy!

Daddy! Daddy!

Daddy!

How did you get up there?

There's a door.

Well, then go back through it.

Too many people now. I have to wait.

[EXHALES]

Oh, I can't wait.

Come on, girl.

Oh my God.

Be careful.

Woo!

- Come here.
- [GIGGLING]

Oh.

[SCOFFS]

Ah!

If you don't stop growing
I'm gonna stack bricks

on your head.

You need a shave, Daddy.
Mama's gonna throw a fit.

- She might like it.
- [LAUGHS]

That girl...

How did you get down here?

I jumped.

She is your daughter
and you can have her.

Hey, babe. I missed you.

You look like a ruffian.

I was planning on a shave.

You should've planned harder.

I'll get one first thing tomorrow.

Well... It's okay for now.

Well, it looks like you
survived the journey.

Barely.

The man beside me sh*t himself
in Mississippi

and I had to smell it all the way here.

JAMES: That doesn't sound like
a whole lot of fun.

James, your children are feral.

Absolutely feral.

- Hello, Claire.
- Hi.

Sorry to hear about Henry.

He was...

A patient man.

Nothing to be sorry about.

It's the Lord's will.

Can't believe in heaven then
be sad when people go there.

Yes, ma'am.

[DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE]

[SNIFFS]

JAMES: Mary Abel.

Claire.

Thank you.

Elsa.

Elsa.

This is a dangerous town.
I don't want you to wander.

I don't wander.

Honey, that's all you do, is wander,

and I don't want you doing it here.

You promise me.

- I promise.
- All right.

Baby.

[MUSIC]

- Calhoun.
- Yes, sir.

[KISSING NOISES]

[CLICKS TONGUE]

- [SHOUTING]
- [PUNCHING]

WOMAN: Whip his f*cking ass!

Eat dirt, you assh*le.

Get him!

What did she say?

Nothing, honey.

WOMAN: You call me a whore
again, you son of a bitch.

You staying in Fort Worth long?

Not if I can help it.

You know... There's
some real nice parts.

You just ain't in one of 'em.

- [CLICKS TONGUE]
- Yeah, I can see that.

Hotel Calhoun.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Here we are.

[MUSIC]

[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

All right.

Claire, this is you.

Mary Abel, let's go.

[DOOR CLOSES, LOCKS]

Losing her husband
didn't soften her much.

Hmph. You could soak that
woman in buttermilk

for a month and
not gonna soften her a bit.

- All right.
- [DOOR UNLOCKS]

John, this is you and your sister.

- Where are you?
- Right next door, son.

- Look after your brother.
- I will.

Yes, ma'am.

I said I will.

I know what you said.

What you didn't say is "yes, ma'am".

Women don't say that to each other.

Oh, so you're a woman now?

Aren't I?

Oh... [LAUGHS] That child...

She ain't wrong.

Oh, so you're ready
for her to start courting.

- [LAUGHS] Not a chance.
- Mm-hmm, that's what I thought.

[MUSIC]

[SIGHS]

How much did you spend on this room?

It's the last room
we'll see for a while.

You deserve it.

- A bath.
- Imagine that.

I wonder if there's
hot water in the lobby.

There's hot water.

I read about a hotel in New York

where they pipe hot water
straight into the room.

You turn a faucet on
and it comes right out.

[LAUGHS] Can you imagine that?

For now, you're gonna have to imagine me

hauling buckets
of water up those stairs.

Mmm.

Well... I can do that.

All right.

I'll be right back.

[CLICKS TONGUE]

- [DOOR CLOSES]
- [SIGHS]

[PIANO PLAYING]

Absinthe?

Soda water.

Hm. I don't know this water.

You probably use it to remove stains.

Why do you drink it?

Because I don't drink alcohol.

Why not?

Just don't.

You don't gamble either.

- No.
- [CHUCKLES]

Do you dance?

Not anymore.

Well, maybe you should
go home and sleep.

Now let me guess:
you don't sleep either.

Not much.

So you sit here and drink
your drink that isn't a drink

and you watch the people do all
the other things you don't do.

That's a fair observation.

Why?

It's not money.

Poor men stare across this room

like little puppies hungry for scraps.

But you... You have money.

I have enough.

You don't want to be
alone with your memories.

It's why you don't sleep.

It's why you sit here until you
are too tired for memories.

You're too smart to be working here.

I make more money than bankers.

[CHUCKLES]

I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

What was her name?

Helen.

[MUSIC]

You've known no one since?

You can call me her name.

You can close your eyes

and you can call me her name

and you can be with her again.

I can give that to you...

Get the f*ck off me.

Is he causing you problems?

He pushed me.

You know what I'm doing here?

Looking for a reason.

You want to be my reason?

No, I do not.

Then sit the f*ck down.

Helen.

Didn't work.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[PIANO PLAYS "OH MY DARLING CLEMENTINE"]

[LAUGHING]

All I knew of sex was rumors.

Stories traded among friends as we tried

to imagine what that word really meant.

Now I knew...

I've read a lot about Wyoming.

Well, there's not
enough rain in the east,

there's too much snow in the west.

So...

No to Colorado...

No to Wyoming.

Oregon.

Washington.

Plenty of rain. Not much snow.

Cool summers and mild winters.

Kind of sounds like a song.

To you it sounds like a song.

James...

You don't think that I hauled
gallons of water

up those stairs just to get clean?

[GIGGLES]

I'm wooing you.

[MUSIC]

Mm.

Whoo, those buckets of water
sure must have been heavy.

- They were, honey.
- Mm, poor thing.

WOMAN: Woo!

[MOANING]

So much I don't know about life.

We learn to read, we learn rules,

learn scripture and manners,

and how to avoid saying or doing things

that make others uncomfortable.

All those things seem
to be the opposite of life.

Seem to strangle it.

But now, I'm sleeping
on the edge of civilization,

and soon we leave the edge behind.

Then no rules.

Then, only life.

What an adventure.

What an adventure for all of us...

[MUSIC]

[PANTING]

[MUSIC]

[GRUNTS]

[GRUNTS]

[GRUMBLING]

[GRUNTS]

[SILENCE]

[MUSIC]

[MUFFLED SCREAM]

[STRUGGLING]

[SCREAMS]

[SCREAMS]

[MAN LAUGHING]

She's a wild one!

My turn.

[GRUNTS]

[COUGHS]

[g*nsh*t]

[PANTING]

[MOANING]

[CRYING] Mama!

Anybody else want
to f*ck with my family?

You?

[MUSIC]

[COWS LOWING]

What the hell am I gonna do with these?

Sell 'em.

- To who?
- Farmers.

Farmers don't use ox no more.

They got these steam engines now
that can pull a plow all day.

All you gotta do is feed the furnace.

Never seen one. And neither have you.

Swap me even.

I'll swap you for mules.

We need horses.

These folks can't handle mules.

They're real green.

Green's their problem. Not mine.

I'll take a mix,
but it needs to be half horses.

All right.

But don't give me lip about the horses,

they are what they are.

They... cowboys got all
the good ones these days.

THOMAS: When you want to pull out?

SHEA: Let's see what
we can teach them first.

I want to give them a chance.

It's a job, Captain. And we took it.

All I got's my word
and gonna see it through,

but half these folks
ain't gonna make it,

and we both know it.

It's a free country and...

hell, this is what they chose.

We're doing what we can,

but we need to get moving

or winter's gonna k*ll us all.

They're not ready.

They ain't ever gonna be ready, Captain.

Just 'cause they won't survive
doesn't mean we can't try.

Never say it did.

All right, mister.

This right here, that's for the soil.

And this, that's for the bank.

Thank you.

Pleasure.

This is a rattlesnake.

They hide under logs, and under rocks.

At night if it's cold
they will look for warmth,

and if you are sleeping on
the ground that warmth is you.

A bite will k*ll you.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

This is poison oak and poison ivy.

It won't k*ll you, you'll just
wish you were dead.

Do not touch it.

Do not walk in it.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

What else?

Water.

Do not drink water from the ground.

When we camp, we will choose a latrine

away from our water source.

What is a latrine?

Powder room.

Water closet.

Thomas, help me.

Toilette.

What in the hell is a toilette?

It's French for shitter.

When did you learn French?

I don't know French, I just...

know the French word for shitter.

How do you know the French
word for shitter?

I used to f*ck a girl from France!

Fine. That's all you had to say.

Don't have to get angry about it.

We should check them.

I know.

All of them.

I know.

[MUSIC]

The farmer.

You need help, I'll give it.

I'll take it. Thank you.

Pays a hundred a month.

No, I don't want your money.
I ain't working for you.

I'm just riding with you.

Fair enough...

How many women in your group?

It's all women in my group.
And a five year-old boy.

May need to borrow one of those women.

Borrow them for what?

Next.

Spin.

You're done, step over there.

Next.

Come on.

Take it off.

Arms up.

Turn around. Lift your hair.

Oh, Lord.

You're done.

Next.

Turn around.

Hey.

Captain.

Put your clothes on.

Do you have a wife?

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

Bring her here.

What?

Nothing.

What did I do?

You didn't do anything.

Thomas.

What did I do?

What did we do?

- No!
- What did we do?

You didn't do anything.

You have smallpox
and you're going to die.

In three days you'll give
it to everyone you meet.

If you have a soul, you will
leave the city and find a river,

and lay down beside it and die in peace.

If I see you again,
I'll k*ll you myself.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

I don't have this thing you say.

- Get the f*ck out of town!
- Go on, get out of here!

I don't have this thing!

[CLAMORING]

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

You ready to travel?

I've spent my last night
in this town. I'm leaving now.

We head north in the morning.

We'll camp on the Trinity.

See if we can teach these
people how to drive a wagon.

Where on the Trinity?

There's a big oak bent over
like an old woman.

Big boulder up against the trunk.

Looks like it's crying over a grave.

We'll meet you there.

All right.

[MUSIC]

ELSA: I remember stories
of the great w*r,

how it seemed man had lost all reason.

That we'd become animals,

or perhaps we just
surrendered to the fact

that animals is all we've ever been.

[MUSIC]

But there are moments
where I feel we are more.

Where we have evolved beyond
a search for the next meal

or the dominance to breed who we choose.

Where we breathe fresh air deep

and can almost taste its maker.

[MUSIC]

I wish I could freeze this moment.

I would live in it forever...

swimming in the possible

while the mud of the real
is stuck to the shore.

[LAUGHS]

[MUSIC]

We weren't poor.

We weren't desperate.

The road west is filled with failures...

but failure isn't what drove him.

It was a dream.

And the dream is coming true...

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC]