...约翰-达顿在美丽的天堂谷最后一次捧着长子Lee时，靠着一棵大树。一个多世纪以前，另一位达顿的男性家长詹姆斯-达顿用同一种方式，几乎在同一个地点，送走了自己的长女Elsa Dutton。Lee和Elsa各自的死亡有诸多不同的因素。但毫无疑问，有一点是相同的：约翰和詹姆斯都不仅仅失去了孩子，也失去了对这个孩子继承自己传奇的寄托。Lee和Elsa都是为了各自父亲的梦想而死。Elsa为家族的未来选择了栖居之地；约翰-达顿则因为Lee的死而更加坚决地维护家族利益。两人的死都使自己的家族作为整体更为强大。
...第二集惊现汤姆-汉克斯，他扮演George Meade，历史上确有其人。
乔治-戈登-米德，美国陆军少将，曾参加过第二次塞米诺尔战争、美墨战争和美国南北战争。 米德最著名的战役是1863年在葛底斯堡战役中指挥联邦军波托马克军团击败联盟军罗伯特-E-李将军率领的北弗吉尼亚军团。 美国陆军基地乔治·G·米德堡、堪萨斯州米德县和南达科他州米德县都是以乔治·米德的名字命名的。
Tom Hanks和他的妻子Rita Wilson，与《1883》的两位主演Tim McGraw和Faith Hill是多年好友。Tim McGraw和Faith Hill分别扮演詹姆斯-达顿和玛格丽特-达顿，现实生活中就是夫妻。
汤姆-汉克斯的米德将军在Battle of Antietam战役后向詹姆斯-达顿表达了善意。
...第九集Elsa的命运锁定。
...拉科塔（Lakota）部落的首领，由Tokala Black Elk扮演，他在《黄石》中出演四集，是凯西和莫尼卡在保留地的邻居Sam Stands Alone。
...《1883》第一集的站街女，既是《黄石》中的女律师，也是泰勒-谢里丹另一作品《金斯顿市长》的秘书。
...正如警长Shea Brennan所说，Elsa比谁活得都明白，他75了而她只有18岁，她却笑得比他欢快、爱得比他恣意、战斗得比他更勇敢。也许每个人从出生那刻就开启了奥德赛之旅，而Elsa的旅途更为壮阔，更为自由，爱过，心碎过，受过伤再努力站起来，清楚地知道自己的向往。她的旁白就像她为这次旅途写下的诗句，残酷贫瘠的生活里长出浪漫的翅膀。
Season 1, Episode 1: “1883”
开场就是第九集的地狱景象。
I remember the first time I saw it. Tried to find words to describe it. 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 witness to be understood. And yet, I’ve seen it. And I understand it less than when I first cast eyes on this place.
Some called 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. Bleed until it’s dark. Drown in its rivers. Then its name becomes clear. It is Hell. And there are demons everywhere.
But if this is Hell, then I must be a demon, too. And I’m already dead.
Elsa总结了父亲詹姆斯-达顿的梦想：
The road West is filled with failures. But failure isn’t what drove him. It was a dream. And the dream was coming true.
Season 1, Episode 2: “Behind Us, A Cliff”
Freedom is running wild through untamed land.
年轻的姑娘憧憬着前方的土地。
The world here plays parlor tricks on your senses. I do not know what the word Texas means. But to me it means magic.
It seems even the trees are new to this place; scattered about in clusters like little villages. And everywhere: treasures. Everywhere a bounty just waiting to be scooped up.”
18-years ago on this day, Lee surrendered to Grant in the home of Wilmer McClean in the village of Appomattox. A year later, I was born. It was Monday, April 9, 1883. And it was my birthday.
I looked to the right and saw my father somehow riding vertically towards the earth. Beyond him, cowboys and cattle pushed towards us; dust following them like a cloudy shadow. The light was soft and pale and pink, like God had decided to light this day with candles. And the whole of Texas spread out before me. It was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen.
最后Elsa思考时间的变幻。
What began as a journey had become a retreat into the unknown. We were backing into the abyss; so worried our sins would follow us we didn’t bother watching where we walked. And behind us was a cliff.
Season 1, Episode 3: “River”
从第三集开始，Elsa目睹了西扩途中的恐怖，她的旁白也变得暗黑起来。
Death is everywhere on the prairie. In every form you can imagine. And a few your worst nightmare couldn’t muster.
Death hides in creek beds. Possesses animals. It hides in tall grass, waiting. With every death, our father moved camp a little further away. As if death was not the result of accidents and disease, but death was its own disease. And carelessness was contagious.”
But of all the perils awaiting us – sickness and snakes, bad horses and bandits – there was one thing above all that sent terror through both man and beast… There was one word so feared it was barely spoken and barely whispered… River.
粗粝之中也有片刻宁静，Elsa看着母亲放牧，第一次视她为女人，而不仅仅是个母亲。
I watched her ride and I didn’t see my mother. I saw a woman. And the woman was magnificent.
Season 1, Episode 4: “The Crossing”
I knew that war. That war between what you should become, and what you could become.
随着剧集进展，Elsa的旁白也渐渐成熟。第四集她站在由女孩向女人进化的边缘，第五集将完成转变。
I had abandoned every memory of Tennessee as if I was born on this journey. But I wasn’t. We were leaving a place, and seeking another. And the journey was a necessary, miserable road between the two. Somehow I felt immune to the dangers of this place. As if the land and I had struck a deal. I could pass on heart so long as I loved it. And I did. I loved everything about it.
目睹了种种死亡之后，Elsa平静地讲述了人与自然关系的真相。
But crossing the Brazos taught me there was no deal. No matter how much we love it, the land will never love us back.
Season 1, Episode 5: “The Fangs of Freedom”
We are in the land of no mercy now.
到第五集结尾，Elsa Dutton已经是一个完全不同的人了。她成为一个女人，一个被1883残酷现实带来的心碎所改变的人。Elsa从一个古灵精怪、充满希望的孩童，变成了坚毅警觉的女人。
I think cities have weakened us as a species. There are no consequences there. Step into the streets without looking and the carriage merely stops or swerves; the only consequence an angry driver. But here? There can be no mistakes. Because here doesn’t care. The river doesn’t care if you can swim. The snake doesn’t care how much you love your children. And the wolf has no interest in your dreams. If you fail to beat the current, you will drown; if you get too close, you will be bitten. If you are too weak, you will be eaten.
Elsa与Ennis合为一体，然而命运自有别的安排。
The whole world faded away. No stars or moon, no sky at all. No earth between my feet; no rock against my back. There was only us.
Today My Eyes Died.
I’d known death since I was a child. It’s everywhere. But it had never touched me. It had never placed it rotten finger on my heart. Until today. Today my eyes died. I see the world through my mother’s eyes now. Yes, freedom has fangs. And it sunk them in me. I chose to love him. He chose to love me back. Then chose to protect me. Then a man we’ve never met chose to kill him. And made me colorblind.
Maybe killing this man will get my eyes back. Maybe it won’t. But I chose to find out.
余下的旅途在Elsa平静的旁白中展开。
6-10集待续。
