Well, that was kind of a low key episode. It seemed to be setting some things up for later, though. The Seth/Martha/Alma triangle is starting to heat up and all that repressed tension is starting to break through the cracks of their carefully observed fake civility. Something is going to blow up there sooner or later.
Ellsworth’s proposal was endearing and decent and kind even though he was bullied into doing it by Trixie. Alma seemed genuinely moved by his gesture but I can’t see her accepting his offer.
The intrigue with Al and Miss Iz and the Pinkertons was only moving a couple of necessary pieces this week. Hopefully that storyline will pay off in the next couple of weeks. If Al manages to really stick it to the Pinkertons that should be pretty entertaining.
This ep was all about the women in a lot of ways…Alma, Martha, Joanie and Jane all got a lot of play and a lot of interaction. Jane had some good lines tonight. (Joanie: What’s your preference [for liquor]? Jane: That it ain’t been previously swallowed).
I loved Jane’s exchanges with Wolcott in the final scene.
Jane: Are you the cocksucker?
Wolcott: I may well be.
Jane: Who owns that hotel?
Wolcott: A grotesque named Farnum
Jane [muttering to herself as she walks away] Well, he ain’t lying so far.
I’m amazed at the amount of sympathy that the actor who plays wolcott (what the hell is his name) manages to generate for his character. I think he makes his own self-loathing so apparent and so abundant that it almost seems redundant to heap more on him. It’s like whatever you say about him, he’ll agree with you and he’ll mean it. It’s kind of disarming.
And is Al starting to get a little nutty talking to that Indian head? He doesn’t seem any less sharp intellectually but he seems like some of his behavior has gotten a little more erratic. His disposition still seems a little sunnier, though.
I was really hoping Jane would blow away Wolcott anyway. 'Course in her condition, she’d have probably missed. Good for Joanie landing one on him. What a creepy person.
Al taking the rotting head out to show it the bicycle race was pretty bizarre, too.
Poor Alma. She’s in a bad way in more ways than one.
Martha has a “strong” jaw, doesn’t she? Can’t help but think the casting people took note of it.
Tonight’s ep is one of my favorites. I like the set-up eps better than the climax eps. I love that Deadwood’s writers don’t do traditional cliffhangers. They don’t need to – they know we’ll be watching, regardless.
Did you think that for a few seconds there with Wolcott, Joanie was contemplating letting him kill her? And that she changed her mind?
I need more Martha time. I think she’s sympathetic to Alma’s situation, which puts her in a bad spot, as far as her feelings toward Seth.
There was intrigue, violence, romance (well, a proposal anyway :D), everything. Even an amusing bicycle ride. I loved the bicycle ride. It was just plain fun.
And what about those crafty Cornish crooks, concealing copious caches of contraband in their cornholes! :eek:
So, do you think Hearst himself will show up eventually? Maybe for the season finale?
I got the exact same feeling. For a moment, she looked helpless/accepting/grieving/scared/calm all at the same time. It was a masterful, Emmy-worthy moment on the part of the actress, IMHO.
Yes, indeed there were 3 seperate times in this episode where characters had soliloquies while speaking to objects that couldn’t talk back. Al to the head, Ellsworth to his dog and Charlie to Wild Bill’s plot. After Ellsworth’s speech to the dog I turned to my wife and offered that there might be another speech to an inanimate object, and by Jove there was!
And Woolcot referring to Farnham as a “grotesque” still has me laughing. It’s funny because it’s true. How else would you describe somebody with 2 brothers named Daryl?
Didn’t she say as much to Jane? I read part of their conversations as Joanie telling her she was simply waiting for Wolcott to come kill her, and Jane indicating she’s no stranger to suicidal ideation.
I must admit, I found this ep confusing. I have to go watch it again. Meanwhile, can someone explain why Alma got so upset when Martha mentioned becoming the schoolteacher? I would have understood if Alma was pissed from the getgo, but it seemed that particular disclosure is what riled her up.
Al is getting pretty squirrely with that head. I’m concerned.
Was that not brilliant? Did we see the first historical instance of someone starting a rumor by saying that said rumor hasn’t been confirmed? I loved that.
The bike ride made this episode. For once we see the citizens of Deadwood simply having some fun. It was good to see sides of their personalities not directly related to gold, prostitution, drinking, or scheming. The Cy Tolliver character continues to amaze me. Week after week, just when you think he’s hit rock bottom morally, he finds a way to sink lower. Powers Boothe is nothing short of great in the role.
What I remembered most was seeing Al laugh. Not because he was maniacal or putting the screws to someone, but because he was enjoying the bike ride with the rest of the camp. Kinda gets you right here.
Jane: “I think I will be having that drink…to be sociable…and because I’m a drunk.”
Is Jane recognizing that she is killing herself with alcohol and has decided to curb it a bit? She didn’t even take a sip of her burboun.
Also there was something about Martha teaching *all * the children, of which there are currently two, but of course Alma knows there may within not too long be one more. I thought I detected a bit of pointed hostility then. I wondered if Martha has heard rumors about Mrs. Garrett’s and Mr. Bullock’s shenanigans. Is it my imagination, or is Alma looking a bit thicker across the middle already? I would not think she would be far enough along to show at all yet.
I enjoyed the bike race and the setup, especially as a fan of eloquent smack talk. “Those that doubt me suck cock by choice!”
Also, as a Kentuckian and a bourbon lover, I had to appreciate Jane’s line:
Jane: Bourbon, if you got it.
Joanie: Bourbon…from Kentucky.
Jane: I should certainly fuckin’ hope so.
I thought this episode had even more stylized dialogue than previous ones. They’ve singlehandedly brought the soliloquy back to television, and I like to think they’re the first show on TV in which a character delivered a monologue while being fellated.
Joanie was pretty clearly waiting to be killed. It was only by happenstance that the bourbon bottle was there, and the gun was in another room entirely, so I don’t think there’s any prior thought on her part that she was going to ambush Wolcott when he showed up. But Joanie was not waiting to be toyed with, which is what Wolcott started doing with his “I don’t know why I’m here” schtick. Hence, she smacked him upside the head for being indecisive, setting up that excellent exchange between Wolcott and Jane.
