1883 (TV Mini Series)

Boring the Devil (2022)

Isabel May: Elsa Dutton

Photos 

Quotes 

• Shea Brennan : I know how you feel. A lot of people are gonna tell you that. Whether it's the truth or not, I don't know. But I know it's true when I say it. I have sat right where you're sitting, thinking the same thing. Thinking I don't want to live without them. Don't see the point. Still do most days. But here I am living without them.

  Elsa Dutton : Why?

  Shea Brennan : Well... my reasons'd be different than yours. I don't have anyone left who loves me. You do. I'll tell you a secret.

  [Shea dismounts and sits beside Elsa] 

  Shea Brennan : [Elsa sniffs from crying]  I'll tell you why I'm still sucking air today. I'm headed to the ocean.

  Elsa Dutton : The ocean?

  Shea Brennan : [Shea nods his head, rubs his nose and sniffs]  An Apache scout told me once that when you love somebody, you trade souls with them. They get a piece of yours, and you get a piece of theirs. But when your love dies... a little piece of you dies with them. That's why you hurt so bad.

  Shea Brennan : [Elsa cries]  But that little piece of him is still inside you. And he can use your eyes to see the world.

  Shea Brennan : [Shea's voice quavers]  So... I'm taking my wife to the ocean... and I'm gonna sit on the beach, and let her see it. That was her dream. Then I'm going to see her. That's my dream. In the meantime, the herd could sure use its cowgirl.

  [Shea rises and walks away] 

• Shea Brennan : [rides up along side Elsa]  The spring's back in your step, I see.

  Elsa Dutton : You're the only person who talked to me about him.

  [offers her hand and grasps his hand] 

  Elsa Dutton : Thank you.

  [leans over and gives Shea a kiss on the cheek in gratitude] 

• Wade : [recognizes Colton]  You hiring on with us?

  Colton : Yeah. Got nothing better to do.

  Colton : [surveys the territory in Elsa's direction]  What's her deal? She's pretty sporty.

  Wade : She was paired up with Ennis till a Comanchero shot him. She plugged that son of a bitch three times in the chest.

  Colton : Ennis got killed?

  Wade : [warning]  Yeah, she won't be in the mood for you.

  Colton : [reins and rides in Elsa's direction as Wade shakes his head]  They're all in the mood for me.

  [hubristic laugh] 

  Colton : [kisses, horse approaching Elsa]  Hi. My name's Colton. What's yours?

  [Elsa stares through Colton and looks back to the herd] 

  Colton : [laughs]  What do I call ya?

  Elsa Dutton : [flatly]  You don't.

  Colton : [changing tact]  Ennis was a friend of mine.

  [Elsa gives a deadpan look of acknowledgement] 

  Colton : [somberly looks down]  He was a good hand. I'm sorry he's gone.

  Elsa Dutton : [a catch in her voice]  Me too.

  Colton : If... if I can do anything... let me know.

  Elsa Dutton : There's nothing to do.

  Colton : [nods his head]  Ma'am.

  [reins and rides back to Wade] 

  Colton : They was more than paired up. She's in mourning like a damn widow.

  Wade : She is a widow.

• [Elsa rides back to the herd after James runs her out of the trading post for pulling a pistol on a man] 

  Wade : How was it?

  Elsa Dutton : Not worth going.

  Wade : They never are.

  Wade : [Wade introspectively surveys the land and sky]  Stars for a blanket. Ground for a bed. Good horse, open country. That's all a cowboy needs.

  Wade : [pauses to look in Elsa's direction]  Guess it's all a cowgirl needs too.

• Elsa Dutton : [internal monologue]  We moved towards Doan's Crossing and the Red River. And tragedy's next opportunity to ravage what's left of us My mother says the pain will fade. And the good memories will return. I suppose that's true. Every person on this planet will endure this pain until they are the cause of it for another. Someday, I'll die and shatter hearts, too. But that is not today. Today I am living and I'm the shattered.

  Elsa Dutton : [...]  Death is everywhere. It follows us like a stray dog, waiting to devour us like scraps. The pain it causes is so acute, so complete It's hard to understand how it benefits us, as a species. What purpose does pain serve? I understand desire and fear And love And how they protect us and better our lives and bring new life. But grief If I weren't so consumed by it, it would baffle me.

  Elsa Dutton : [...]  I laid in the grass closed my eyes and I saw him. Laughed at his goofy hair. Felt the electricity of his touch. I laid in the grass and I loved him. Then I opened my eyes and I could see color again.

  Elsa Dutton : [...]  We were leaving Texas. Entering the Indian territory... and redefining our meaning of unknown. Far from the cities that have paved the world away, and the farms which have tamed it into a resource. We were no longer under the cloud of civilization. Only sky above us now. No more walking over bridges. Out here, we swim horseback through rivers. There is nowhere to chain love to vows and ceremony. Out here love burns through you like a fever. And when the devil comes to rip that love from you, there is no funeral with somber speeches that dull our senses and deaden our hearts. Out here, you turn toward the pain as it tears into you, and you let it. When you do, the devil gets bored. He seeks another soul to eat. And you get to live again.