I thought about that, but what would the odds be that the guy in the Bella Union (Jack?) who lent her the money would have exactly the amount that was left in Chez Amis? Because she asked him, How much do you have, not Give me $1,400.
And after she paid him back, she was broke, or else she wouldn’t have had to try and turn a trick with him. Or was it that she hadn’t paid him back in full?
No, I distinctly recall that when she gave him the rolled-up napkin or whatever, that she said there was something extra and he’d hurt her feelings if he didn’t take it. So she gave him the full $1400 and more.
Canned peaches must have been a relatively rare commodity in Deadwood. It doesn’t appear that there is much agriculture in the area so fruit would be hard to come by.
Al must have own the canned peach concession.
I’m wondering if E.B. is just going to snap some time this season. Al doesn’t seem to care for him. Mrs. Garrett is out to get him. He pissed off Wolcott with his scam on the Hickock letter. And he’s just plain weird.
Al’s been out lots of times. He was all over the camp when he rounded up the businessmen for the first town meeting. He went to the Bella Union several times (the last time to try to broker an agreement over which hooplehead to kill for stealing the opium). He’s been to Seth’s hardware store, and I think to the Doc’s. In fact, I think we may have seen him out on the streets more than most of the characters.
As for Wolcott, my take on him is that he is consumed with self-loathing over who he is. That’s why he won’t allow the hookers to look at him, why he won’t take his pants off, and why he took that beating from Charlie without complaint. He needed that beating. He even contemplated slitting his own throat. He’s a sick, sick man. Very dangerous. And I think he’s a fairly accurate portrayal of a common serial killer psychology. Another example of great writing and characterization.
And that opening scene with Al and Merrick - what a great scene. Not only was the dialog fantastic, but you could actually see Merrick changing as a result of it. Great character development moment.
As for Al getting nicer… He does seem to be getting that way, but I think for good reason. The main difference between Al and Cy is that while Al is a ruthless businessman, Cy is just plain evil. Al’s perfectly capable of feeling emotions for others, it’s just that he doesn’t let it get in the way of ‘business’. He’s a 19th century Tony Soprano. Whereas Cy won’t just kill for money, he’ll kill someone just to tickle his fancy, and he’ll do it in sadistic ways. The only person he even has a shred of a feeling for is Joannie, and even that is in a twisted way.
So because Al is just a ‘do whatever you have to, even if you hate it’ kind of guy, as soon as the circumstances changed enough that it suited his purposes to become an upstanding citizen, he was capable of changing his behaviour. Not to say he wouldn’t kill someone brutally if he had to, but right now he’s got a better future as a respectable businessman, so he’s going to be careful about it.
Cy, on the other hand, has the capability of self-destructing in a very violent and hugely entertaining way.
Sam, I agree with your assessment of Al and Cy. Al is not afraid to use violence but it’s a means to end for him. He’s not a sadist and he takes no pleasure in it. He is also capable of empathy as we’ve seen with the Preacher, with Jewell and to some degree with Trixie. There are hints that he may even be capable of remorse in some instances. He’s ruthless and he’s damaged but he’s not a true sociopath.
Cy, on the other hand, IS a sociopath. He is a sadist who takes pleasure in the pain of others for its own sake. He is completely without remorse and his lack of emotional reaction to Wolcott’s crimes just underlines his lack of empathy or distress at human suffering.
It looks like the writers are trying to render Wolcott as a psychologically accurate portrayal of a serial killer. I’m not even sure if “sociopath” is the right word for him – maybe “psychotic” would be better. His pathology goes beyond a simple lack of conscience (he may ironically have more of a conscience than either Cy or Al) but his violence is compulsive, beyond his control. I think he hates himself for it and would give anything to be rid of those demons. At that time a character such a his would probably not even be aware that others like him existed (I think the setting for this is before Jack the Ripper) so he would feel like an utter freak, a completely unexplainable monster who lacked the ability either to stop his behaviors or to end his own life. It’s a credit to the show that they’ve managed to inject such a level of pathos in a character who is a serial killer. A credit to the actor too (who’s name I forget but who has been amazing).
I’m struck once again by the complexity of Al’s character. He’s a man who would be capable of greatness were he not so psychically wounded. He has many of the natural gifts of a great leader – charisma, an effortless, natural air of authority, the ability to inspire loyalty and confidence, an amazing ability to read other human beings, an intuitive understanding of how to handle and administrate to whole communities of people, an obviously well above average intellect and an almost preternatural toughness, both physical and mental.
Were he just a little more well adjusted he could have been President Swearegen. There is a subtle sort of tragedy in that aspect of his character.
(I’m only talking about the HBO character, of course, not the historical Al Swearegen who by all accounts was a worthless piece of shit who nobody liked).
One of the extras on the Season One DVD collection is an interview with the creator of the show. There’s only a brief mention of the peaches, but the phrase “beginnings of ritual” was used.
The peaches were originally just a detail that Al added to the first meeting. But they caught on, and now we always see them when there’s a meeting. In many ways, the show is about the formation of a community - both physically (buildings, telegraph lines, etc.) and personally (forming a government, establishing offices, forming alliances, etc.).
I think the peaches represent the fact that there is now an actual (albeit still very young) community, and not just a bunch of people who happen to be in the same place at the same time.
On a completely different note, I love the fact that the little girl is still on the show. It would have been easy for the writers to write her off somehow. But having her there makes things far more interesting. It shows Alma’s motherly side. It makes Seth and Alma’s prior relationship more potentially damaging, since there are two (and a half) children involved. Most importantly, it reminds me of just how much of a bastard Al can be. He wanted the sweet little girl killed. This is especially important now that Al is coming across as a good guy. It shows how complex of a character he really is.
Great show.
Got it. The song is “Madeliene Peyroux - A Prayer.” If anyone else besides me was interested.
I related this to earlier in the season, when Trixie asked Charlie if he wanted an open air blow job. She was tense and upset about Sol getting shot and Al being hurt, and she was looking for something familiar, to take her mind off things, just for a minute.
Which is maybe why she asked a friend, and not a stranger.
She seemed really out of it, and it was hard to tell if it was solely emotional distress or if maybe she had been drinking.
That scene was brilliant, Joanie quietly telling Cy to stop talking, and of course Cy just kept on.
Yeah, when I read that, I thought, “Lee? Oh, he must mean San Francisco Cocksucker.”
In this, I think Cy got a small victory. It might have been a “won the battle, but lost the war” sort of thing. Cy’s point to calling the meeting was to let everyone know that Wolcott was off limits. Cy’s temper got the better of him again and he spilled way too much in the form of details. Bullock definitely understood what happened though. He said as much in a different scene in the hardware store. Late in the episode, Al also commented on Bullock growing up. By this I think he meant that Bullock just let things ride instead of going after Wolcott. Cy did get his small victory though. Wolcott wasn’t brought up on charges, but now Cy is no longer sole possessor of the dirt on Wolcott and lost that edge over the others in camp.
Presumably the Chez Ami did make money, even if most of it was from Wolcott. Joanie just couldn’t get to it at the time of the murders. I think Cy nailed it. Joanie wasn’t looking to turn a trick. She was looking for protection. She just wanted it from the bartender (Jack?). This wasn’t long term protection, just one night of comfort from someone she trusted.
No hoodwinking involved. Cy told Wolcott straight out that Joanie had to have told Charlie. Charlie did the best he could for Joanie’s sake. Now it’s just a question of how Wolcott reacts.
E.B. snapping is certainly possible, but Al excluded Farnum to protect him from himself. Al said as much in the street when he told E.B. that he (E.B.) wouldn’t have been able to resist trying blackmail and the blackmail would have killed him. E.B. is still Al’s friend and ally. He’s just annoying to be around for long.
Re: Canned Peaches in the Old West
Al puts these out for the meetings for the same reason that, today, one might put out smoked salmon or some other delicacy at an important meeting. They were an expensive treat. For example:
from here.
I’ve also heard reference to canned peaches in older Westerns. Big Jake, I believe, has an exchange between John Wayne and Richard Boone about them.
I’ve been watching season 1 on DVD this week, as I didn’t see all the episodes when they originally aired. Al hasn’t softened as much this season as it might first appear. He had several flashes of decency in season 1. Cy, on the other hand, started out distinctly slimey and has only become more so.
Whenever I see the peaches, it makes me think about the movie Holes. It must be an old West thing.
With regard to the apparent softening of Al, I think something has to be said for the impact of his recent medical crisis. Coming so near to death has an effect on people and it must have made some impression on him that so many people came to his aid and saved his life – even people who he was normally less than courteous to (Jewel, Dan, Trixie, Doc Cocheran) were there for him. That kind of experience can make a man take stock of things a little more and perhaps appreciate friendships and loyalties more than he used to. I don’t think Al is in danger of becoming Stuart Smalley but it would not be outside the internal logic of his storyline to become a little more thoughtful, a little less rageful, and a little more appreciative of those close to him.
Plus, Al’s speech to Merrick was not really all that touchy feely when you strip it down to the basics. he slapped Merrick in the face and basically told him to quit being a pussy. Not exactly Doctor Phil. I think that Al just doesn’t have a lot of patience or sympathy for a man who seems willing to let himself be bullied so easily. It was also what Merrick needed and maybe the only person in town who could have made him listen.
I thought Al gave the speech to Merick because having the press on his side in the upcoming fight would be a boon. I’m not sure how many literate people are in Deadwood, but there are enough that the initial notice caused a stir. I didn’t get the impression that he cared one way or the other about Merick as a person.
“Tell her no hard feelings.”
In the previous week’s episode Johnny came in Al’s office to tell him what happened to Merrick. Johnny mentioned something about Al seeming to like him. Also, there was the episode last season where Al seemed very proud of the story (about smallpox in the camp) that he helped write.
Oh, I forgot my favorite line of the episode. The scene is in the Number 10 Saloon. Con and Leon are trying to sell the idea of trying the new Chinese prositutes.
some random drunk, “I’m not trying that while my mother’s still alive.”
Hawkeye, “She the jealous type?”
As I understood it, someone beat the shit out of her and left her in the graveyard, but she was too drunk to know who did it.
She said something to Charlie along the lines of “it’s getting out of hand”-- meaning her drinking. Charlie told her to go get cleaned up and sleep it off, and Jane tearfully thanked him.
My impression is that Jane (who tends to be a little combative when intoxicated) probably picked a fight with someone while visiting Bill’s grave, but couldn’t remember who-- like a blackout. It scared her. She’s realizing that she’s in a downward spiral and wants to try to change before it’s too late.
I loved the scene between Al and Trixie where he convinced her to go back and keep learning. I know he wants the information she gives him, but the small smile as she left leads me to believe that he’s equally after her learning a real skill and is proud of her.
I just watched the encore tonight and paid special attention to Al’s soliloquy to the box. Another part of the transcript I have to look for. Wonderful writing. And wonderful acting that it comes off as in-character, given that normally Al’s every other word is “fuck.”