The 1923 trailer finally gave a closer look at Timothy Dalton’s Donald Whitfield, who seems to be the main villain in the Yellowstone prequel show. Indeed, the 1923 trailer opens with Donald Whitfield telling Helen Mirren’s Cara Dutton that they’re neighbors, as Donald has just purchased the Strafford ranch, which shares borders with the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. In another scene, Donald outright says that he wants to own the entire valley.
It seems 1923, at least at the onset, will play out much like Yellowstone season 1, with the Duttons facing another wealthy and powerful land developer who’s a foreigner to Montana. The key difference in the prequel is that, unlike Yellowstone, the story of 1923 is set in what is historically one of the darkest and most depressed decades in the history of the state. While Donald Whitfield appears to be the overarching villain in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel, both Whitfield and the Duttons are bound to take advantage of the lawlessness of the era.
Who Is Timothy Dalton Playing In 1923?
Save for what’s been revealed in the 1923 trailer, not much else is known about Timothy Dalton’s 1923 character Donald Whitfield. Donald will likely be similar to Dan Jenkins, the villain of Yellowstone season 1, wealthy, charismatic, and used to getting his way no matter what. That said, whether Donald is headed for the same fate as Dan remains to be seen. What’s clear is that, like the Duttons, Donald Whitfield has no qualms about getting his hands dirty.
Who Else Are The Duttons Fighting In 1923?
Timothy Dalton’s Donald Whitfield is not the only villain in the cast of 1923, as the trailer reveals that Donald seems to have a hold over Jerome Flynn’s (Game of Thrones) Banner Creighton, which the show describes as the leader of the local sheep herders. This implies that Donald could try to use the European immigrants in Montana in the early ’20s in his fight against the Duttons. Moreover, another character may not be what she seems, as the trailer also gives viewers their first glimpse at Michelle Randolph’s Elizabeth Strafford, a woman who is set to marry into the Dutton family.
Curiously, Donald mentions in the trailer that he bought the Strafford ranch, but it’s not clear how Elizabeth is connected to the property that neighbors the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. 1923′s Donald Whitfield, unlike the villains of Yellowstone, is from a starkly different time in the state of Montana. Just as the Duttons make their own rules within the bounds of their property, so will Donald similarly rely on the era’s sense of frontier justice for his own means. Timothy Dalton may be a newcomer to Taylor Sheridan’s Neo-Western universe, but he is no stranger to villains with grand plans, and Donald Whitfield is bound to be worse than any other villain that the Duttons have faced in Yellowstone.
