This Sunday, Yellowstone prequel and spin-off series 1923 will return from hiatus with renewed energy. Aside from ending the first arc of stories from the ancient Dutton family, the Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-led series can now tease long-term events because it will come back for Season 2. The story will continue to chronicle the domain, corruption, and influence of the Dutton family as they try to survive historical events such as pandemics, a drought, and the echoes of the Prohibition era.

The announcement was made today by Paramount+, but it doesn’t come exactly as a surprise. 1923 quickly became another title that confirmed that the Yellowstone fans are a loyal crowd—the premiere episode drew in over 7 million viewers across Paramount platforms. Not only that, the series has been critically acclaimed for its story, cinematography, and performances. Harrison Ford called it, when he told series creator Taylor Sheridan that the script of 1923 was “f—ing perfect.”

The Season 2 Renewal Was Foreshadowed by Series Creator Taylor Sheridan

The extended run of 1923 is also not exactly a surprise for anyone that has been following the interviews and comments of Sheridan and the cast. In an interview to Deadline, the writer, director and showrunner revealed that once he started mapping out the eight-episode Season 1, he realized that he needed an extra batch of episodes to be able to tell the Dutton story the way he wanted. Paramount promptly gave Sheridan the extra episodes, which cost the streaming platform an additional quarter-billion dollars. It is a lot, but it shows that Paramount trusts Sheridan’s work completely.

The Yellowstone-verse Will Keep on Rolling For the Foreseeable Future

In case you missed it, 1923 is one of the spin-offs that expand the Yellowstone universe and provide some background into the Dutton family, which was first personified through the ruthless patriarch played by Kevin Costner. 1883 was another spin-off series that expanded the story and featured Sam Elliot, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.

1923 still has four more episodes to premiere. Meanwhile, flagship series Yellowstone entered a hiatus and is projected to continue its Season 5 only in Summer. This means that the Dutton family will enter radio silence pretty soon. However, with Season 2 of 1923 guaranteed, Yellowstone breaking record after record regarding audience numbers, and another spin-off called 1883: The Bass Reeves Story in the works, this is hardly the last we’ll be hearing of this universe.

1923’s next episode, titled “Ghost of Zebrina,” premieres this Sunday, February 5. You can watch a trailer for the second batch of episodes below:

via Collider