Dam. Fuckin’ Hearst.
So, what was the point of the armed buildup?
And the actors turn out to be completely pointless, after all.
That was the worst fuckin’ ending I’ve ever seen. Even for a *season *ender, it would have been weak. Jesus-- what an anti-climax.
I loved Hawkeye bringing almost eighteen – He’s hell with a knife!
Loved some of the lines.
“I’m the guy who, the next time you see me, you’d better take a different fucking tone with.”
Charlie seemed to me to be the only person in camp completely unafraid of Hearst. Or should I say, completely calm in his attitude? Seth wasn’t afraid of him, but there was always some tension seething within him. Charlie looked like he had ice water flowing through his veins.
“When he’s not lyin’, Al is one of the most honorable men you’ll ever meet.”
“Harry Manning gives me the splinters.”
“Whatever do you mean, child?”
“Raisin’ the windows after he’s et.”
It is my sincere hope the fart-clowns and loopy cunts at HBO are plagued with crabs and other manner of parasites in their armpits and nethers until they see the light and condescend to grace us with a fuckin’ movie.
Well Hearst just steamrolled the camp. Langrishe pretty much put it best, Hearst is a giant of a man (for better and for worse) whereas all Al is in Deadwood and what he has in Deadwood.
Al basically has nothing now. Hearst has the biggest claims and pretty much has what he needs out of Deadwood. Bullock was neutered, Al killed an innocent woman and Alma had to sell.
Hearst won.
Hell of an ending. A real punch in the stomach.
I thought it was one of the best episodes of the year. It was well-written and the tension was palpable in every scene. Even with the actors.
I thought it was great too, although it would have been just as great if Milch had chosen to have them stand up to Hearst and refuse to make that final sacrifice.
But Hearst didn’t care about people getting caught in the crossfire, and Al did. So I guess the good guys won. Sorta.
We should combine these threads. I’ll contact a mod.
It was a great ending. If you were looking for everyone solving their problems, beating Hearst, and happily toasting a drink to a job well done, you were watching the wrong show.
It ended with dirty tasks done from necessity, everyone losing a little more of their souls, the powerful man succeeding in getting what he wants, but the camp surviving. Ending with Al cleaning up yet another bloodstain was perfect.
Yeah, I was a bit disappointed if this was the series ending. It seems like the episode was setting up a good opening to Season 4 – with the Chinese coming in (remember seeing them all lined up to vote), Bullock and Star win the election and confound Hearst’s plan and men (including Cy).
Happy to see that my prediction was once again correct. In that other thread I predicted that Hearst and Alma would reach a deal and there would be an uneasy truce in the camp thereafter. I really wanted to see Wu’s chinks wreak mayhem with axes and stars, but no go. I thought it worked well as a series ender, even though it wasn’t originally planned to fill that role. It left the townfolk going on with their lives, which is what happens in life, not the cheesy resolution of all ills that plagues most TV shows. I plan to email those HBO cocksuckers and I urge all of you to do the fuckin’ same. This series does not deserve to die.
Wasn’t it, though?
I guess it was Dan who said he’s get Jewel to clean up the blood, to which Al replied that if Hearst was coming over to confirm Trixie’s death, he’s going to want to see blood on the floor. Then Al says, (can’t quote it exactly) that if he pulls this off, “I’ll clean my own fuckin’ mess!”
Very cool how Hearst’s boots ended up in the blood and left footprints.
I was watching this alone, and as the final shot of Al with his scrub brush faded to black, I said out loud, “And THAT’S how you clean a fuckin’ bloodstain!”
Even though he was hardly a good person, I found the death of Leon sadder than the whore. Al killed her quickly and she died probably before she knew it. Leon was left to bleed slowly, still speaking up for his boss as he drained.
Leon had been living on borrowed time for awhile. Unlike Al’s thugs, Leon and Con were portrayed as pretty worthless other than as gambling cheats. Cy is evil in ways that Al never was - I’ve found nothing redeeming in his character.
We lost two supporting characters and two walk-ons in the last two weeks. Not the highest of body counts, but as violent as Deadwood could be, it never was about the body count.
I loved Charlie standing up for Fields, “Get your nigger ass back in line.” Jeez, poor Nigger General was simply a pawn between the two sides, and neither was showing him any respect.
Did Al ever let somebody else clean up the bloodstains from one of his own kills in the entire series? It seems like he always insisted on doing it himself (sometimes making an excuse that no one else could do it right) as a way to take ownership of it and let the blood literally remain on his own hands. Somewhere down there was a conscience which would not allow him to force an innocent like Jewel to have to do that.
I think it’s still a little disconcerting that Al murdered an innocent woman. If you accept the fact that Hearst had to be placated or else the camp would have been destroyed then Trixie should have been the one to die. Seems very wrong that an innocent was unwittingly slaughtered.
I agree.
There was also no point in muscling up with the Chinese and Hawkeye’s regiment if they were going to roll over on this.
Unless Milch was trying to say something about how society ultimately bends for fear of losing their posessions if their security is threatened. How the frontier spirit that built the camp and made it thrive died as well and how civilization is ultimately weak willed and neutered.
I know-- something just didn’t sit right with me about this. Sure, Al is capable of it, we all know that. But Bullock? He stood there passively though he knew what was about to happen. I have a hard time imagining him shrugging off a sacrificial lamb. It seems like it would have been more in character for him to insist that Trixie be arrested and put on trial in the camp (with almost a sure chance of acquittal.) How in the hell will he explain this to Martha?
Trying to make Johnny do it when he knew Johnny had feelings for the girl just seems a tad sadistic. (What, is Dan on vacation?)
Why would Alma want to stay in the camp, anyway? She doesn’t have any real ties to the place. (Her lover is married and thus off-limits and she doesn’t have any deep friendships.) All she has experienced in the camp has been tradgedy and violence. Even if she didn’t want to go home, she could have easily set herself up in any city in the world, where Sophia could get all of the advantages of a normal life. Why sell to Hearst so she could stay? What was worth paying such a horrid price? (Personally, I would have blown the mine up before I let Hearst have it.)
E.B’s pose on the balcony of his re-claimed hotel was priceless.
Oh, how I wanted to see “Stupid Jan-in-ne-ne” blow off Cy’s head. I nearly shouted “NO!” when he pressed the gun to her head after finding he didn’t have the balls to take the shot at Hearst.
If Cy had taken a shot at Hearst with that gun of his, he would have missed as I doubt that pea-shooter had much range. Then Hearst’s Pinkerton’s would have cut him down in short order with their rifles.
Bullock was told that it was already done. Al lied, maybe to save Bullock from having to do something about it.
I get Alma staying. Selling the claim was enough capitulation. She still has the bank, and enough money to do good things, maybe take some of the Hearst stink off the place.
Al didn’t try to make Johnny do it. Johnny volunteered when Al told him. Then Johnny got cold feet, and subsequently tried to block Al. Actually, he blocked Al, for a little while - Al had to go find another knife.
I’ll have to rewatch, but I don’t think Bullock and Starr stood by while Swearengen (Swidgen) killed the prostitute. When Trixie presented the situation to Sol, she used the past tense. That’s reason to believe that everyone was presented with a ‘fait accompli’. They were complicit in accepting that someone had to die and ‘better her than a war in the camp’ attitude.