Couple of interesting story twists in tonight’s eppy.
What’s the deal with Al and the murder charge that he’s trying to get the magistrate to take care of? Something that happened prior to Deadwood? At first I thought his ire was due to the money they were putting in the envelopes, but it seems like the magistrate dealings are completely unrelated.
How many more epidsodes are they going to make the poor preacher stumble around? I’m shocked somebody hasn’t already put him out of his misery.
Was opium illegal during this time period?
Looks like Cy has already replaced Joanie. There’s some bad water to go under the bridge between those two yet.
I believe the Magistrate was the person who brought word of the impending legislative moves last week. I think the murder was one that happened prior to the beginning of the series.
I liked the interaction with Mr. Woo. Was the person on the previews who was bad-mouthing Al the same druggie he spared?
How about stealing from Cy? I can’t imagine how that would be possible without leaving Cy dead.
he had me laughing with nearly every line in this show. You can almost feel sorry for him with all the shit he has to put up with…then again maybe not.
Who knew racial politics were so dangerous/complex back then? So far that’s been the most interesting aspect of the show for me. I hope there’s several shows dealing with that.
Hmmm, this story is taking place in 1876. Laws restricting opium trade did not start going into effect until the early 1900’s. Why is Al having to deal via Mr. Wu for his opium supply (other than the obvious Asian connection)?
You said it yourself it was a drug brought in by Chinese rail road workers and Deadwood is still a fairly backwoods town at the moment. I imagine Wu has a monopoly on the trade right now and probably intends on keeping that monopoly.
Wow, I cannot believe how much I like Al Swearengen now. I mean, yeah, he’s a killer who can just put his foot on a man’s chest and drown him ruthlessly; I wouldn’t want to hang out with him or anything, but he has really evolved as a character. He’s very human, showing more of his vulnerabililty and actually seeming less thoroughly evil are more just a man of his times. Not to mention almost constantly hilarious. If I had to pick a favorite sociopath on TV, he’d handily beat out anyone on The Sopranos. I want to see Ian McShane win an Emmy this year.
“swinjen” is now officially my favorite tv character.
that whole scene with mr. wu, with the pantomiming, the pictionary, and the “cocksuckers” was the best thing i’ve seen on television in years.
and although he’s a pretty evil guy, i do sort of feel for him. seems like he’s the one who has to pull together all these payouts, plus deal with the people on the other end of those payouts, and his right hand man is off on a gigantic ego trip as mayor of deadwood. he alone is maintaining deadwoods status quo.
oh, and al’s carrying-on outside of wu’s meat locker. that was pretty funny. and his reply after farnham asked him if there was any pertinent information for the mayor should know: “yeah, get a new fucking tailor.”
hbo’s casting is uncanny.
best episode of an excellent series. i originally signed up for hbo for six feet under and curb your enthusiasm, but now i’d pay for hbo for deadwood alone.
You know, for a serious show with ample violence, brutality and tragedy, Deadwood amazes me by consistently making me laugh more than any other show I watch, particularly with Al Swearingen’s character’s interactions with almost anyone else.
The scene with the newspaper publisher talking with Charlie Utter, Seth and Sol outside the restaurant was priceless as well…even Seth was funny in that one.
Al (Ian McShane) continues to be outstanding. He uses a strange sentence structure, so a lot of things that come out of his mouth are funnier the longer you think about them. It’s sad, but it was funny as hell when Al tossed the opium addict off the balcony. Wu’s usage of “cocksucker” was great and Al saying, “Glad I taught you that fucking word” cracked me up.
Al feeling out the intelligence of the bagman was pretty good. From the previews though, it looks like the surviving opium fiend isn’t very grateful. It also looks like Seth’s worst nightmares come true and he gets asked to be sheriff.
E.B had a great line, “August commencement to my administration, standing stymied outside a saloon beside a degenerate titlicker.”
That would be Johnny Burns played by Sean Bridgers. I’m not familiar with him from anything else, but he has been around it seems. Al playing straight man with him is pretty funny.
I’ve commented on this before too. It seems like Al is always having a bad day. Dan is Al’s right hand though. E.B. is just a junior business associate.
Joanie seems to have found a nitch guiding Charlie. First she neatly gives him a place to sit and then she let’s him know it’s ok for him to leave with the boys. 20/20 hindsight, he probably should have stayed though. Eddie may have fast hands, but stealing from Cy is going to get him made into pig chow. That could be something to make Joanie snap on Cy once and for all.
This show is great week after week with no real let down!
The last scene with the Reverend so horribly vulnerable had more pathos than I’ve seen in the last 20 years of television. His gratitude to Seth and Sol, both the for the pleasure of their company and realizing they weren’t devils, almost had me in tears; a good man slowly falling apart and not knowing what the hell’s going on.
Seth and Sol’s gentle courtesy in responding to the Reverend was what was so touching. Everyone in Deadwood maintains such hard veneers, and many of them are heartless in their treatment of others. Seeing Seth and Sol realize what was happening to the Rev. and give him exactly what he needed to be soothed was terrific, especially when they offer to walk him back to his tent. I’m not sure if at that point, the Reverend even knew where his tent was.
Joanie is very slick. I am getting to like her more and more.
Every week, I think “best episode yet”, but the show just keeps getting better and better.
I dreamed about the “dope fiends” last night. They were living in my house, eating Cheerios.
I like how Al took Silas around to see how Al does business. Silas is getting all the information he needs to make a judgment on his possible place in the community and a future with Al.
Hubby and I both reached for the tissue box during the scene with Sol, Seth, and Rev. Smith.
I tell ya… Al is my favorite character on TV. In just 10 episodes he’s shown more depth than other characters do in seasons. And, of course, he’s got the best lines. I do wonder how business will be done when there is a new sheriff in town.
