I caught part of the replay last night. It actually looked like Al was starting to tear up as he watched the reverend the second time. It was set to some sappy music, so it wasn’t something in Ian’s eye that didn’t get edited out.
Otis Russell was played by William Russ
I think Swearengen is a bit upset about the Reverend because he knows that for business purposes he needs to be killed (ranting and raving not good for business), but he is a good man and he appreciates the Reverend to a certain extent and he probably reminds him of his brother, who suffered from epilepsy.
Thanks for the link. Through the whole episode, I kept saying to myself “He played somebody’s dad on some sitcom! But WHO?!”
Seth’s actions confused me. Sol is fucking somebody in the store, and the only place he can kill time is Al’s? He hates that they have a new sheriff, he hates whot he new sheriff is, and he’s extremely angry, but he doesn’t want the job. So I guess that means he does want the job, or he wouldn’t even bring it up, because I bet Al doesn’t give a fuck if Seth’s wife and kid is coming, and doesn’t give a fuck if whats-his-face is the best man for the job. I usually like personal conflict and angst, but I’m just annoyed now.
Seth doesn’t want to be sheriff, but he is going to have a hard time standing by and watching someone make a mockery of the job too. He has to do what is right by his wife, but she was forced on him and he wants Alma. Yes, Seth is very conflicted right now.
I found it a little odd that Al actually endorsed the idea of Seth as the sheriff though. About the only way that I can place it is to consider how Al is evil. Using Dungeons & Dragons terms, Al is lawful evil. He is organized. Things happen for a reason. There is purpose when he murders, lies, cheats, or steals. His underlings know where they stand. They know if they cross the line Al will kill them, but otherwise they are safe around him. This goes back a few episodes when he and Seth had a stare down. It ended with Seth saying something like, “we know where we both stand then.” Even if Seth would be a pain in Al’s ass in regards to being sheriff, Al would know where he stood and know what he could get away with. He also wouldn’t have to worry about someone like Cy bribing Seth against him. That’s how I see it anyway. Any comments?
Seth’s actions may be confusing on first blush, but that’s why I think this is such a good series – it explores the human condition and our emotions and apparent irrational acts. I was glad Seth ratted out his partner. I could understand him being pissed off that Saul was fucking Trixie right there in the store (so, okay, he may have been jealous too – complex emotions we humans have), but this coming on the heels of his desire for Alma and his loveless marriage, and the new sheriff was too much, so he goes to the Al to vent about the sheriff, and in his general pissed off state, mentions Saul and Trixie. I know I’ve criticized my boss and said to myself that I could do the job better, but I sure as hell didn’t want the responsibility!
I think Seth will end up taking the job.
I agree. I thought that the whole point of Al not stealing Alma’s gold claim was that he would have Seth on his side (to a degree at least) in the future. I didn’t get the impression at the time, that he was banking on Seth just being the Health Commissioner. Also, with the apparently impending showdown with Cy, Al is going to need to have as many allies as he can muster.
That’s why I was surprised to see to see Al agree to the other guy as sherrif so easily. He’s certainly not going to be able to count on that guy’s loyalty.
I suppose there’s not much to stop Al from disposing of the new sherrif if he needs to though.
I don’t think Al is too worried about getting rid of the new sheriff if he needs to. The new sheriff is also scared shitless of Al. That could be good or bad from Al’s point of view.
There is one thing that I really like about Seth’s character. When the series first started, he (the actor and the character) really didn’t strike me as an intimidating person. That has changed though. They have been very consistent with his character being a bad ass. He is always walking with a scowl. People of questionable character are always wary when he’s around. Even though I didn’t buy it the first episode, it’s now clear that he is a very dangerous person that takes no shit. The new sheriff looked very worried when Seth just walked by. Even Al won’t take messing with Seth lightly.
Regarding Alma’s father, as soon as he greeted Alma and introduced himself to Elsworth, I told my girlfriend that he was a crook. What was it about him? Was it just general smarmy-ness? I thought it was funny that E.B. pegged him right away. I was sure without the preview that Seth would see right through him.
Very interesting. While watching the show, my husband, who has worked 6+ years with sex offenders in prison said “he molested his daughter”. I don’t recall seeing the “get away from her” part, neither does he, but his immediate reaction was still the same. I asked him to explain, but he couldn’t, he just said he had a feeling. I cannot understand what exactly my husband knows about sex offenders, but he has an uncanny ability to pick them out based upon certain behaviors without even looking at their files.
One time, when he was an investigator, he was interviewing a guy about his wife bringing drugs into the prison. When the interview was over, he turned to his partner and said “that guy molested his children”. His partner replied, something to the effect, “we did not even talk about that”. To which my husband basically said, “I am telling you, there is something there” (the inmate, by the way, had never been convicted of a sex offense). He followed up on it and after interviewing the wife when she came to visit, he received her report that her husband had molested his daughter during a visit to the prison. After turning it over to the state patrol and local police authorities, three members of the inmate’s family came forward about previous sexual abuses and now the inmate is serving 15-25 more years for Rape.
I don’t know if it is going to turn out that her father on the show is a child molester, but I would not be at all surprised by it.
Hmmm…interesting possibility; however, if he had abused her (emotinally or sexually), I don’t think she would have been so cool and composed. She also seemed happy to see him. I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought it was odd that a father would kiss his daughter on the lips – not a quick peck, but a lingering kiss. This is the Victorian era, when such intimacies between parents and children - especially in public - would have been frowned upon. I’d wonder about it even today. I thought Alma had a kind of knowing smirk on her face, as though she knew he was up to something - then she had to call him back to return the chunk of gold. There definitely is a mystery there, and I guess we’ll have to wait for the next season (whenever that is) to find out what it is.
Is there any possibility that Alma’s “father” is really something else entirely?
I think Al wants a real sheriff. For a couple of reasons - For one, he’s smart enough to see trouble brewing with Cy. A possible race war in which Al is put in the middle. Also, he’s gone to the trouble of buying off (and then killing) the magistrate to get his murder warrant quashed. I think right now Al is thinking that he’s got more to gain by being protected by the law than he has to lose in opportunity to break it. And he knows that Seth would be a damned good Sheriff.
Al is smart enough to know that what is good for the community is good for him. Notice he didn’t object when EB told him that some money might have to be coughed up for sanitation and other services. Al’s response was, “That shit’s inevitable”. He was the one who organized the effort to take care of the smallpox epidemic.
It seems to me that Al’s natural interests are starting to Align with Seth’s to some degree. This is a pragmatic relationship.
The “Get away from her!” was in the preview for next week, not in the actual episode. Because of this, I imagine tensions between Alma and her father will come to some sort of head in the finale. Due to that and some of the oddness of this past ep, I suspect their relationship is not on the up and up, and now that Alma has the means and the geography to get out of his grasp, she will confront him about it.
She’s always cool and composed, even when she was kicking heroin she was pretty poised. That’s part and parcel of her “good breeding.” OTOH, I thought she looked quite nonplussed at the arrival of her father.
I really didn’t think she did. She looked uncomfortable to me. What did other people think?
It looked to me like her feelings were mixed. It seemed like there was definitely some apprehension or something like that there. It was kind of funny that she had to remind her father to give her back the gold. It seems like he started testing his boundries immediately, first with the kiss and then the gold.
Well, there is one more episode in the season, so maybe a little more light will be shed soon. I hope, anyway.
I think his “forgetting” to give back the gold was emblematic of their relationship. I got the impression that he had used her to secure a bankroll in the past and fully plans on doing it again ASAP. When he arrived, I think Alma was relieved to see a familiar face, but that she is thriving in Deadwood and that he’s a reminder of her old life in NYC, where she was an object in the gamesmanship between the men in her life. Also, I think he definitely did her wrong in other ways, as indicated by her very defensive reaction when he was touching Sofia.
Are we going to have to wait a year for another season of Deadwood? Argh! I can hardly stand to think about it.
I loved the episode, though I could have used more Charlie. I love Charlie. And Dan, Al’s ‘muscle.’ He’s great.
The one thing that bothers me about the show - the Swearingen you see in the past few episodes wouldn’t tell Dan to kill that little girl like he did in the beginning of the season - would he? Its like his conscience has evolved in the past month or so of episodes.
When Trixie approached Saul and offered herself up, I was expecting a bit of a tender scene with some foreplay, soft music, yada… to contrast the way Al was hammering her a few episodes ago. Instead, Saul’s Wild West Miracle Viagra Tonic kicked in quicker than you can say fast and they were off to the races. Though I guess I wasnt surprised by the ‘no kissing’ thing. That girl needs someone to buy her some new stockings.
I bet Seth is gonna clean the clock of Alma’s ‘father’ in the season finale, and I’d go double-or-nothing that the preacher dies in that final hour as well.
I don’t think he has evolved at all. If there was a way the girl could still link Al to what happened to her & her family, she would be dead by now. In this case, Al made sure all of his men that were involved died instead.
He has still been killing ppl to protect his Deadwood interest, and will continue to do so.
From all of my replies, do you think I like this series? 
I don’t think any enhancing drugs would have been needed in Sol’s case. From what we’ve been seeing, he’s been doing without for some time. The woman of he dreams comes in and asks him if he wants to screw? I’m just surprised he wasn’t done by the time Seth showed up. 
Oh yeah, I’ve seen people spelling Sol’s name Saul repeatedly in this thread. It’s Sol , short for Soloman.
Btw, all this talk about Alma’s father being a crook, how many put stock into E.B.'s observance that Alma may be playing them as well (then he speculates that Otis is putting one over on Alma). Could it be that Alma is playing a game in Deadwood? It’d be one hell of a twist to reveal in the season finale :D.
Ain’t gonna take that bet, based on this from HBO’s Deadwood site:
This Sunday on the Season One finale, The U.S. Army–under General Crook a.k.a. “Custer’s Avengers”–rolls into Deadwood, prompting a parade…and business solicitations from Farnum and Tolliver. Swearengen delivers a tortured soul from suffering; Bullock reacts decisively to Russell’s intentions regarding Alma; Con Stapleton’s new commission proves short-lived; Adams shows Clagett where his loyalties lie; and Bullock and Alma have a late-night meeting.