While it’s not really a spoiler, I thought some of you might get a kick out of this website. It shows a historical record of Deadwood itself, as well as its occupants.
If you don’t want to know how the season turns out, you may not want to click it. If the series remains historically faithful, this site might spoil it a bit.
Still, interesting.
Speaking of Al’s ruthlessness, if he wants the widow Garrett out of the way, why doesn’t he simply arrange her death, too? Is he really concerned that the Pinkertons will descend on Deadwood if she also dies?
I believe that is the fear. Brom dying can be explained to an accident while reconnoitering the rim. Alma’s death would be much more suspicious, especially so soon after Brom died. There would be suspicion on foul play.
Chastain86, WOW, great web site!! It also shows me how Deadwood’s writers and director tried to make the show historically accurate (such as how McCall was captured). It was highly interesting to read about the real Swarengen and how Deadwood’s version is close to spot on. Makes me appreciate the show that much more.
… of course they did take SOME liberties for a more compelling show (ie, Bullock didn’t show up the day before Hickock was killed).
Bullock’s bio is especially fascinating. Not only was he a successful sheriff he also became close friends with Teddy Roosevelt and served as a Roughrider, he was a real pillar of the community (as was his wife, who he did bring to Deadwood after it was “civilized”), he was responsible for the legislation that led to the preservation of Yellowstone Park and seems to have been a thoroughly honest and ethical person. I can see at least a couple of more seasons worth of material just based on Bullock’s life alone.
How is it that no one has dramatized Bullock’s exploits before? It seems like he would be a natural subject for westerns.
They did show the dead man’s hand. It wasn’t the scene where he got shot, however. Rather, it was earlier in the episode when McCall went all in and lost. He made some comment about Bill playing the hand in a bizarre fashion (calling instead of raising or some such thing) and made a sarcastic comment along the lines of “So much for poker being a game of skill.” When Bill flipped his cards it looked like Aces over 8s to me. He then gave him a dollar to go get something to eat (a pretty insulting gesture). I was a bit confused when he didn’t get killed right there, because I had thought that was (supposedly) the hand he had when he was actually shot, not an earlier hand that resulted in the grudge. But hell, in reality, the hand may be a myth, so I guess anything goes . . .
DaLovin’ Dj
I’d imagine it was because there are so many colorful characters in the Old West that Bullock just got overlooked. Same thing with Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in the Civil War before Jeff Shaara picked up his story in ‘The Killer Angels’.
I just also wanted to say thank you for giving us that site. I too, especially enjoyed reading about Seth Bullock. It also gives me some things to look forward to if the show stays relatively historically accurate as it has! Another famous person just might be rolling into town!
No, it was fours. McCall made a comment about Bill holding fours, and I saw them when he turned the hand. At least I think I did.
They showed “The Dead Man’s Hand” in an earlier episode. Last week’s I think. It prompted a rather lengthy debate/discussion in the thread about the show…
You got it. myth.
No it ain’t. At least the Master don’t think so.
I meant to ask, does anyone know what the thing that Hickok wore around his neck was? Black, with little white or silver dots, vaguely triangular. Any ideas?
Best thing about Cecil’s 1978 column was Slug’s cartoon.
He was mis-informed in that column. There is NO evidence from the time as to what cards Bill was holding. His cards are probably a much later invention.
Was it some form of Bolo tie? If it’s not that I’d guess an indian pouch.
Cite?
commasense, are you asking him to cite the lack of citations?
the winning hand bill held earlier in the episode looked like three 4’s to me, a pretty good hand for 5 card draw.
That was quite a slap in the face to give McCall a dollar when he cleaned him out.
It was also pretty funny when McCall tried talking tough to one of the other poker players calling him a “cunt eye” or a “cunt mouth” like Bill had done to him in the 4/4 episode. But they turned it around on him. It was a pretty emasculating episode all around for Mr. McCall.
(I also thought Calamity Jane running him down was legend, not fact – contrary to the earlier poster, not the show)
While it’s true that Cecil’s column cites no authorities, we here tend to hold him in high enough esteem, I think, that it should take more than bald assertion to refute even a 26-year-old column.
Samclem should be prepared to defend his claim, and if Cecil himself is looking in, perhaps he could provide corroborating details or admit he was in error. (If the latter, then perhaps the article in the archives should get an addendum to that effect.)
BTW, Trunk, I thought Bill’s hand was a pair of fours, which is why Jack gave him a hard time for staying with such a bad hand (even though his own was worse).
Also, I don’t think Bill intended the dollar as a slap, but as a conciliatory gesture, and it seemed to me that that’s how Jack took it.
What bugs me about the dispute between Jack and Bill is that Jack’s motive is extremely vague and there was no immediate cause for the shooting. Jack seems to be mentally unstable and to have a grudge against him, but the shooting seemed to come out of nowhere. The historical Jack McCall is said to have believed that Bill killed his brother, which would have provided a clear enough motive. But the present show has already used that gag for a showdown with Bill.
Even though they’ve been building up this quarrel between Bill and Jack, the shooting seemed to come out of the blue. Maybe that’s the point–the sudden inexplicable violence of the frontier–but I found it unsatisfying.