Not so much. Except for Wild Bill, the first season deaths that stand out were the knifings, and Brom going off the cliff.
I don’t remember much public gunfire.
Can anyone clarify what is going on with Powers Boothe’s character? I’m hearing-impaired and couldn’t understand a cocksucking word of the dialog between him and the (I assume) whores.
From HBO’s “Deadwood” site (complete recap here):
At the Bella Union, Tolliver’s rage over Joanie’s impending departure is masked by a sarcastic facade. Feigning gentility, he asks Maddie if he could speak with Joanie alone. “Suck some pr*cks if you like, and keep whatever they give you. My way of saying welcome.” Maddie responds with her own sarcasm: “Any blind ones out there?”
Tolliver is suspicious about who is bankrolling Joanie’s venture, suspecting the recently departed dealer Eddie Sawyer. “I knew Eddie’d been stealing from me. And he flees, and you turn up owning that place,” he says. After hectoring her further, he decides to let her go: “I feel like a boy. I feel like skipping, I’m that f*cking hopeful and excited for you.”
To celebrate Joanie’s departure, he breaks out a bottle of champagne, but insists on pouring it in the mouths of Joanie, Maddie, the new ladies and the whores Joanie is taking with her from the Bella Union. He also insists that Joanie take the whore Doris with her, too. “Being funds stole from me by Eddie put the Chez Ami on its feet, I consider myself an investor, and I will have my interest looked to-sixty cents from dollar one-and a true count f*cking verified.”
So was it right then and there that Joanie first learned that Tolliver is assuming a 60% cut of her new business? That is what he’s saying there, right?
I’ve only got to watch this once. My take on Al and Seth’s fight goes mostly with the previous posts. I think Al was having a bad day. He’s pissed off about Deadwood not having representation in the newly formed government. He’s looking for people to take it out on (such as the outburst about the telegraph). Al is feeling age creeping up. He’s got a kidney problem. He can’t read without a magnifying glass. He’s feeling infirm. Also, Seth’s best friend and partner is banging the only whore that Al trusted.
Meanwhile, I think Seth is disillusioned about being sheriff in Deadwood. It seems that he has no jail and really no legal grounds to stand on (yet), so he’s mostly playing peace maker. He’s also stressed over what is going to become of his relationship with Alma when his wife arrives.
Probably over the seven months since Seth become sheriff, him and Al have rubbed each other the wrong way. Al thinks Seth should be doing something about the problem with Yankton. Maybe he thinks Seth should be the representation for the territory? Meanwhile, Seth is doing nothing except building a house, telling drunks to behave, and knocking the bottom out of Alma. They were both stressed and spoiling for a fight.
It did look like Al didn’t want to fight at the end. He gave Seth an out. Seth was feeling his full of testosterone after his session with Alma and probably frustration over being such a wuss in dealing with the murder at the Number 10, so he didn’t take the out. It was supposed to be a fair fight, but it went too far. Dan thought Seth was going to beat Al to death and then things escalated. Johnny got a little trigger happy. Things just got out of hand. Silas was the only one that kept a clear head.
As far as the rest, it was great to see a new Deadwood episode, but I too thought parts felt a little different. I can’t really explain it though. I thought Jane’s return was played perfectly. The new madam for Joanie’s brothel will hopefully be a good foil for Cy. I was sad to hear the one liner from Cy that seemed to write Eddy off the show. I guess it’s better than Cy killing him. Dan and Silas seem to have thier own subplot. Dan better be careful there. Silas seems to have a good mix of smarts, attitude, and ruthlessness.
Nice recap, well thought out, makes sense.
Someone else mentioned that it looks like the lighting is different this season. I don’t pay close enough attention to tell.
None of the viewpoints were what we’re used to, except for Al’s balcony. I barely recognized Seth and Sol’s hardware store, we had a different angle in the scene at the No. 10 saloon, and there was a new wide shot of Al’s office.
Maybe the scene-shifting was quicker too. ?