as 1923 heats up, one character provides a pivotal moment of justice. In the fifth episode of the second season of the Yellowstone prequel, Marshal Mamie Fossett (Jennifer Carpenter) returns, and in doing so, she gives Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) the break he needs. But is the last we’ve seen on Marshal Fossett? Speaking to Men’s Journal, Jennifer Carpenter herself says she will 100 percent be back before the 1923 finale.
“Yes, I will be back,” Carpenter tells Men’s Journal. “It’s a slow burn. Just be patient.”
Based on a real historical figure, Marshal Fossett, was indeed, in real life, the first woman to be a U.S. Marshal, doling out justice on the wild frontier, gun in hand. While there aren’t a ton of details about the biography of this incredible person, Carpenter says she feels that the writing from Yellowstone impresario Taylor Sheridan was her primary inspiration. “It was one of the most satisfying, gratifying, artistic experiences of my life,” she says. “And it came out of nowhere.”
This is a pretty huge statement considering that Carpenter is probably best known to TV audiences as Debra Morgan in the hit series Dexter. So, when one thinks about how huge that series is, her praising 1923 as her favorite role yet is a huge deal. “When you look at what I have to do in the show, it’s nothing compared to what the other actors have to do. And yet, I still felt so involved,” she says.
One way Carpenter’s character is deeply involved in the story is the fact that she is the one who makes the call to let Spencer Dutton off the hook when he’s picked up by the law in Episode 5. She could have detained him on trumped-up charges but decided not to. But why?
“In so much of Taylor’s [Sheridan’s] writing, people are turning psychology into behavior,” Carpenter explains, reflecting on that moment. “If this is a psychological game of cat and mouse, I know what’s guiding me, right? The law; her interpretation of it. And I think that she feels very adept at it. Even if she is making a mistake, she knows how to turn it around.”
Again, Carpenter makes it clear that this isn’t it for her character. She will be back in before 1923 Season 2 ends. And she will very much be in the big finale.
“For anyone watching the show now I have to say, get to the finale,” Carpenter says. “It was the most epic experience I’ve had as a viewer in years.”
And after that? Because there are so many Yellowstone spinoffs, could Carpenter eventually get her own show? Perhaps a Marshal Fossett series, set in 1924, in Texas is in the future?
“In my dreams!” Carpenter says, enthusiastically. “I’ve called [Taylor Sheridan] and asked, can I come shovel sh*t in the barns. But I can’t explain what this feels like. This role is a dream come true.”
1923 streams on Paramount+
Related: Exclusive ‘1923’ Clip: Spencer Dutton’s Bootlegging Job Takes a Dark Turn
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