AdventureWorld

What Kind of Cocksucker Are You?

You scored as Seth Bullock. You didn't want to be sheriff, but someone had to do it.  You wish you didn't have such a high moral compass, because you just want to sit in the background.  However, in this town someone needs to step up, and if no one else will, that only leaves you. If evil only needs the good to do nothing, you won't watch from the sidelines. 

Seth Bullock		88%
Doc Cochran		69%
Trixie		50%
Alma Garret		50%
Calamity Jane		50%
Mr Wu		44%
Al Swearengen		31%
Cy Tolliver		31%
E. B. Farnum		31%
Joanie Stubbs		25%

What kind of (Deadwood) Cocksucker are you?
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Deadwood: I Am Not the Fine Man You Take Me For

This episode motherfucked me and blew my head off. I watched it twice and still couldn’t figure out how to write about it—there was so much going on that if I even straight-out wrote about the “action” I would be writing 5,000,000 pages. And if I added all the little things that I noticed, that might just be even more important, it would be double. Have I mentioned how much I love this show? Well, let me say it again.
Rather than a play-by-play account I think I’m just going to hit some highlights (because I have to find some time to sleep tonight). One thing that stood out for me is how this whole episode seems centered on change—the camp began shifting from a camp to a community last season and it changes more this season as annexation nears. And the changes happening in the people—real changes of positive personal growth juxtaposed against Cy’s contrived conversion. WTF is that about? I have some thoughts for later.
The first thing that struck me was the opening scene where we see Al lying in bed wide-awake and worried looking. I remember the days when all Al needed was a belt of whiskey and a blowjob to send him off for an evening’s respite, all thoughts of the camp’s bidness to wait for the morrow. But now he lies awake ..worried. (As it turns out, for good reason). And, speaking of blowjobs, Al hasn’t gotten any in ages ..and where’s Dolly and has she dyed her hair?
At Fucking Bullock’s, Seth is attempting light-hearted banter with the marm missus. He doesn’t look like it comes very natural to him—he’s stiff in the delivery of his tea teasing. And then he’s ..huh?..stiff in that other kinda way. Oh dear! Does he like Martha’s toes now? Will plaster be raining down by next episode?
Speaking of plaster raining down, the rainmaker her own self is having a heartbreaking conversation with the doc. And Molly is fanfuckingtastic in this scene. The subtle shift in her tone and expression is dead on. She asks the doc how she is with a feigned innocuousness. Then she gets pissy with him as he begins to deliver the bad news, then she registers a moment of utter horror before her look morphs from shock to sorrow.
And then Doc goes downstairs and lets Ells know it ain’t good and stops on his way out to caress Sofia’s cheek and give her a loving chuck on the chin. Doc sets out to get ready to do the abortion that he believes is necessary to save Alma’s life and Alma starts setting her affairs to order.
Trixie comes over to witness Alma’s verbal last will and Alma drops the bombshell that she will leave Sofia in Bullock’s care. Poor Ells just about dies (a shining moment for Jim Beaver) but he sets out to fetch Bullock to see if he “accepts”.
Later, when Seth shows up Alma tells him she is trying to spare Ells from having to deal with Hearst because of his past history with the man and that Sofia needs protecting because Hearst will likely come after her claim via Brom’s family. She and Seth stare at each for a while and she says “I regret nothing” thus trying to let Seth off the guilt trip he will surely take if she dies. Of course he says nothing because, really, what could he say?
Later, Ells comes back up to Alma and she says that he should remind Sofia that there’s a full moon soon ..then she reaches for his hand and says that the three of them will watch it together. Ells, being the great guy that he is, just puts his own hurt feelings aside and gives her a little smile. Her look says she knows she’s lucky to have a guy like him, this man who stepped up to haul her boulder.
At the Gem, Dan is wondering why Al won’t go after Hearst instead of waiting for Hearst to make a deadly move but Al says better to sit tight. Al says some ‘nother stuff about forgoing the rock for the dagger which I didn’t really get but then he says “change calls the tune we dance to” and I sure get that.
And later that sea creature looking cocksucker, The Captain, delivers a message from Hearst to Al. Well, it’s not much of a message per se—just a line and four Xs drawn on the paper by Hearst. None of Al’s boys can figure it out—not even Silas and he’s the smart one—but Al deciphers it to mean that the Xs are murderers and the diagram shows that two will be at the bar and two will be at a table nearby. OK. I get that. But then Al somehow also figures out that the two at the table will not be backing the play of the two at the bar so he knows that he and Dan will be able to dispatch those two-- the previously parping cocksucker and his sidekick—without having to handle the other two at the table.
And that is exactly how the shit goes down. Hhhhhhhmmmm. All this from a line and four Xs? Call me persnickety but that seems to go beyond what even a smart person like Al could glean from that drawing (Deadwood or Dead Zone—you be the judge) But anyways, fuck a bunch of Xs-- who cares? Doesn’t matter, all that matters is that this warning was Hearst’s way of setting right the insult of killing the Cornish miners in Al’s place.
So, everything’s cool, right? Eh, not so much because here comes The Captain with another note and Al looks plenty worried as he heads out into the thoroughfare. The Boys file out behind him wondering WTF. Silas delivers one of my favorite funny lines “If we was trailing water, we might get took for ducklings.”
And later we find out that Al had plenty reason to be looking so worried. That last message was an invitation from Hearst for Al to come over to Heart’s “veranda” (the roof outside the hole he knocked out of the wall) to watch the election speeches. Al goes, sans The Boys, and tension mounts as Al verbally tangles with Hearst until Hearst threatens to have The Captain pop a cap in his ass unless Al agrees to retreat back inside so Hearst can go about bending Al’s will.
Hearst learns this is no easy feat and Al gets his hand chopped with a mini pick-axe for not grabbing ankle. Hearst maybe puts a little extra oomph behind the swing for Al’s smartass rejoinder to Hearst's suggestion that Al help him get in with Alma  “As far as making your way into her…act averse to nasty language and partial to fruity tea.” Even after getting conked in the back of the head Al is still one funny mofo.
Earlier in the day, over at the Bella, Joanie is flitting around Cy all nervous Nellie like and she kinda snaps and starts spilling her guts to him. When she tells him she almost splattered her brains at Shaunessy’s he registers no shock at her confession (he’s probably heard it a million times before) and instead of offering any comfort he starts dogging her about getting back to her gainful occupation. After all, that would be good for everybody, young lady!
Joanie doesn’t think it would be so good for her and says she doesn’t want to run women anymore but Cy implores that she is turning from her gift and her training. A distraught Joanie says "When you speak it’s like the devil talking" and Cy gets genuinely offended--oddly offended for someone who is perhaps, Satan his own self.
But I think Cy has a real blind spot about his relationship with Joanie. I honestly think in his own twisted worldview he believes he saved her and gave her a good life. And now she’s being a haughty cunt after all he's done for her. He is mighty miffed. “Try to stay afloat from the fuckin’ sickbed., have to listen to something like that”. Indeed.
And what about him and that bible? What’s up with that? I think we’re going to find out why Cy came to hate God the way he does and yet still looks to the bible to “show me another fucking strategy ..deception don’t preclude the search for fucking conviction”. Hhhhhmmmmm.
OK, I’ll never be done with this unless I just cover everything else in a random love-fest.
Another sign of growth—they’re using contracts to cement agreements instead of the ol’ spit-in-the-hand-and-shake. Much more bidness-like, not to mention hygienic.
I loved the shot of Seth’s face when Sofia said “my mother’s sick”. A picture is worth a thousand fucking words.
Jane’s storytelling to the camp’s kiddos was fun and sweet. I love how she spoke about Sofia also being brave ..and, yeah, the marm , too. There, I said it. Also, some people want to know where these kidlets came from. Anwswer: Several of them came from their daddy’s being actors on the show (Earl’s little “Mary” and Sean’s lil’ curlie-bop cutie). Oh, that’s not what you meant? Nevermind.
Oh, and Richardson! I laughed my ass off when he saw fucking Bullock and said “it’s the sheriff that beat you” like he needed to specify which sheriff as if the town was full of ‘em. And I loved that scene with him tending to
E. B-as-in-fucking-Bullock-busted-my-face.
EB: Could you have been born, Richardson, and not egg-hatched as I’ve always assumed?  Did your mother hover over you, snaggle-toothed and doting, as you now hover over me?
And good ol’ Richardson saying “I loved my mother” *awwww* and “my father didn’t liked me” *sigh* And EB:  I’d like to use your ointment to suffocate you.
And, Charlie is just about the best friend ever. His little speech to Joanie was excellent and how sad was his voice breaking when he spoke of his dear friend Bill. And maybe Joanie took his kind words to heart because later she tells that impossibly long-legged Lila that “nothing’s over yet.” And Charlie is a good friend to Seth, too, even though neither of them could speak about what they really wanted to say when they were discussing Alma. Awkward extraordinaire!
And back to the people changing thing, I noticed that Johnny is really growing up. He’s learning to keep his yap shut and listen and he was cool as can be in the showdown at the Gem with Hearst’s henchmen. Remember the Johnny that used to scream and wave his gun around and accidentally shoot people in his panic? Boy, this was a way different guy who pulls a shotgun on the Xs at the table and warns in a confident commanding tone “make a move cocksuckers!” Steady as can be.
Ah, and even Davey gets in on the action. When Al and Dan commence with the close-in work on the two  at the bar, Davey steps in from his post at the door and levels his gun at the guys at the table. He, too, looks like a bona-fide Bad Boy.
Did Davey just step into the inner circle? Maybe so, because it looks like Al’s going to need all the help he can get.

deadwood@Technorati

Deadwood: Tell Your God To Ready For Blood

First let me say that I think I know what premature ejaculation must feel like. After ages of eagerly anticipating the return of Deadwood I was just about to bust by airtime Sunday night. Then, at long last it was here. The music started--my heart skipped a beat and my pulse raced.
Oooooh, the horsey! Oooooh, Al on the balcony! Oooooh, so good, ooooh, so good, ooooh ..WTF?! It’s over?! Already?! Nooooooooo! Cocksucker!
OK, give me ten minutes and a sammich and I’ll be ready to go again. And, yeah, it was worth the wait. Anyways ….
A new day dawns in Deadwood as Al surveys the scene from his balcony. Dan steps out and informs Al that Big Trouble is brewing downstairs in the Gem. Al makes it clear that his previous instructions to Dan remain unchanged and dismisses him.
We cut to ..a hotel room? A bed? Ah, a man lying on the floor staring up at the ceiling in what looks like deep thought, like plotting and scheming. That man would be Hearst.
Back at the Gem all hell is about to break loose and Dan knows it. Some Cornish miners are drinking and talking in some kinda foreign fucking language and some other cocksucker is mocking them by saying “parp” ..a lot.. and doing a chicken dance to make fun of them being Cornish, like the hen. Clearly, he’s shit disturbing and agitating.
The Parping Cocksucker finally succeeds in his quest for confrontation and guns down one of the Cornish guys just for coming at him with his foreign gibberish. That’s a pretty lame excuse for shooting somebody, even in Deadwood.
Dan tells the Cornishmen to leave their friend and get out NOW or they’ll be riding the sled with him. Then he asks the Parping Cocksucker and his sidekick if either of them want to talk funny to him. Wisely they choose to say good day and depart post-haste.
At the Bullock house Seth and Martha bond over Seth’s struggle with writing his speech for the upcoming elections.   Martha offers to review it for him—Marm Eye for the Mono-Syllabic Guy. He’s much obliged ..and actually kinda smiles at her. Oh dear! Love is in the air. *sigh*
Meanwhile over at the House of the Boulder That Needs A’Hauling, Sofia is playing with a doll as Ells moves a settee all over the place for Alma. Sofia! How you have grown! Alma seems to be feeling peaked even though she looks utterly smashing in her beautiful new dress. But as she sends Ells and Sofia off to the schoolhouse you can tell she’s really shaky—something is obviously amuck. Ells sees it too and casts a wary glance at her as he leaves.
And then, sure enough, a little later Alma is standing at the window and just keels right over sideways with a loud thud. This does not bode well ..for Alma or for Baby Bullock.
Out on the thoroughfare Ells and Sofia join Seth and Martha, all on their way to the schoolhouse that was a whorehouse with a shithouse out back. (You need to know these details for later). Wow! Not only has Sofia grown from a wee sprog to a little lady but she’s also grown from an almost-mute to a chatty fucking cathy. No more of that oxboxfox bullshit for our little squarehead.
Also, she’s baking bread and planting beets at school. But don’t be alarmed with that seemingly slacker curriculum—they’re also reading and writing and learning important Life Lessons like  “A lady should not choose a man who chews tobacco. It robs his pocket, soils his clothes…and makes a chimney of his nose.”  And it’s not so important to always be right or first. I think maybe that second one harbors some personal meaning for Schoolmarm Martha.
While the school-goers make their way down the thoroughfare over at the schoolhouse in question Jane is giving Mose The Man Toad mucho shit. Something about that guy just pisses her off.
Over at the absurd restaurant, Richardson gets busted by E.B-as-in-bold for stuffing spitbacks in his maw, stealing ingredients intended for tomorrow’s omelets being EB’s fucking point. Richardson earns a smack on the hand (that hurted him) and a stern rebuke of “wash and stack shit monkey. Or ready yourself for worse”.
Joanie blows into the Bella Union like a cyclone and proceeds to the whore’s breakroom and starts bossy-bootsing them around—and baby, she means bidness. She starts grilling them about the obvious mess they're in—a mess, literally and figuratively. Lila is stoned out of her head, Tess isn’t picking up the bit on being a temporary boss, and the whole place smells like a hogwhore’s cunt. I can’t say that I know what a hogwhore’s cunt actually smells like but I’m betting it’s pretty bad.
After she’s done doling out rebuke to the whores, Joanie heads to Cy’s room to see how he’s doing. Con and Leon eye her like the Nosey Parkers they are and she wheels around and stamps her little white boot clad foot at them and gives them a hairy eye-ball.
Cy is up to something. Asking Joanie for his bible and then carelessly tossing it aside the minute she leaves. What is that evil cocksucker up to? Inquiring minds want to know!
Over at the Gem, Silas is picking his nails and looking hotter than a June bride in a feather bed. Al tells Silas he has to find a way to get Sol to foreclose on the house Silas has bought. Al yells for Jewel so he can fuck with her for a while before sending her off to the kitchen while he takes over scrubbing the Cornish bloodstain.
As Al mutters about the murder being a put-up job, Johnny decides to throw in his two cents worth which in Jawhnny’s case is more like a negative ten cents worth. Unlike Al, Johnny doesn’t get that it was Hearst who pulled the put-up and, as usual, his dimwittedness pisses Al off altogether.
Al: Shut up!  (scrubbing)  He stages a murder in my fucking joint.  Wants Bullock to show his ass before he’ll bless his fucking candidacy.  What does he require of the weather?  Jesus Christ.  That’s it—how you clean a fuckin’ bloodstain, hey.
Al is awfully good with the bloodstains. Years of practice making perfect is my guess.
Over at the hardware store, Silas is pretending like he’s having a nervous fucking breakdown over his mortgage, begging Sol to “take it off him”. Sol is clearly confused; Trixie is clearly amused.
She follows Silas out to the street and confronts  “Miss Bernhardt” about the reason for his ruse. Silas just says Al wanted him to do it and he keeps his ruddy color by not asking Al about his reasons. Just in case we don’t remember that Silas is not just purdy, he’s awful smart, too.
At Shaunessy’s rooming house, the proprietor is fucking with Joanie about her previous stay. I didn’t get the import of her saying “My last day I sat on the bed for three hours.” until later. Then boy did I ever get it.
Trixie comes storming into the Gem to find out WTF Al is up to with this get Sol into Silas’ house bidness. Al tells her Sol can’t be publicly whore fucking anymore and therefore Al has arranged for her to be installed at Shaunessy’s in a room with a secret passage to Sol’s new home so she and the Jew can “fall upon each other away from prying eyes”.
A much miffed Trixie retorts with a fucking Fuck Tantrum: Fuck you, Al.  Fuck Shaunessey’s.  And fuck the passage into Adam’s fuckin’ house.
Al just shakes his head and calls her a loopy cunt.
Later, Trixie sallies forth to the hardware store and lets loose a triple tantrum tirade at Sol about Al’s scheme, even though Sol really doesn’t know what she’s going on about and thinks she just went to take a piss.
Trixie: The wrist business on Adam’s house loan, Adams being nothing but his fucking stalking horse from the gambit’s fucking beginning.  You sign to take those over, we’ll move in your 12 possessions.  You will be free to come and go by your own front fucking door, and as you lay in your beddy-bye, I’ll pop from the wall like Grandma Groundhog in a storybook and attend to your Johnson, as he’d not see you jeopardize your Mayor’s campaign whore fucking in your place of business.  And I’ll have installed  in room 3-fucking-C or the like of Shaunessey’s adjacent shitbox, that he’s paid Shaunessey to cut a hole through to ease my fuckin’ fucking you.
Sol:  Swearengen has?
Trixie:  Who the fuck was I just talking to?
Sol: (looking utterly bewildered and not unlike a deer caught in the headlights)  I don’t know.  You said you’d just gone to piss.
At least Trixie didn’t say “I wish I was a fucking tree!” But she did look way more sad than pissed off at the end of this scene. It’s hard out here for a 'ho.
Meanwhile, Joanie is just sitting on the bed, sighing and rocking ...she seems to be in some kind of pain ..or something…
Back at Ellsworth abode, Ells finds the missus collapsed and out cold. He is momentarily frozen in gobsmacked shocked but then he dashes out (we hope to get the doc, pronto!)
At the Gem, Al is trying to coach fucking Bullock, the sheriff formerly known as His Holiness the Randy Bishop, on how to handle himself at his upcoming meeting with Hearst. Al is explaining to Seth that Hearst intends to test Seth’s willingness to align with him by seeing how he handles the murder that Hearst put-up on the Cornish miner. Al pauses and waits for Seth to get it. Seth clearly does not.
Al looks a bit surprised that Seth is so slow on the uptake. Awful purdy, but maybe not so smart about such machinations. But, of course Al is The Master of Machination and keeps at it until Seth catches himself on. Finally.
They agree that Seth will skirt the issue of the miner’s murder and try to keep his cool. (Fat fucking chance of that happening as we all know.) Al sends him forth with a hearty "may I offer a fervent Godspeed and (more loudly as Seth strides out) hopes for your fucking self-control?!”
We go back to a bone-chilling scene of Joanie sitting on the bed, something very obviously,  heartbreakingly amiss. “What am I, Lord, that I’m so helpless?” she says and then raises a gun to her head, takes several deep breaths…
Bullock ascends to Hearst’s room where he proceeds to alternately rub his nose and [clench] as Hearst picks him to pieces. He starts losing it when Hearst brings Alma into the conversation and then totally spazzes out when Hearst asks Seth to be his messenger to her.
Hearst:  Extraordinary, the story of that woman’s adventures.
Seth: [clench] 
Hearst:  Do you suppose that its future chapters might be written…elsewhere than the hills? 
Seth: What are your intentions?
Hearst: As to Mrs. Ellsworth’s holdings, I would shape those to the lady’s preferences..
Seth: [CLENCH]
Hearst:  .. and be pleased and grateful if you told her. 
Seth: [DOUBLE CLENCH] [jerks his head in a nod] [sniffs] [rubs his nose] 
Hearst: Do you need a handkerchief, Mr. Bullock?...
Seth:  I never said I’d take her your message.
Hearst: Are you saying now that you won’t?
Seth:  You stay out of our fuckin’ affairs. (for some reason the camera is right in his face)
Hearst: (smirking like the cat that ate the fuckin’ canary) Oh…affairs of that sort are not my interest, Mr. Bullock.  My only passion is the color.
Seth: Excuse me. (again with the super close-up)
As Seth descends the staircase, E.B-as-in-big-fucking-blunder, bub decides to hail Seth with a “Bullock, how did you like Mr. Hearst?”. Without even breaking stride, Seth heads to the counter, yanks E.B. right over it and proceeds to beat the everloving shit out of him while Richardson waves his antlers around until E.B. hollers out at him to “call the law”.
Since “the law” is the very person who is currently very busy beating the very cocksucker calling for it, Richardson takes off to fetch Al, who comes right over to sort out the mess and salvage what he can of the situation. Bullock punches E.B. a few more times and finally (but a tad too late) lets Al take over. Seth clenches so hard it’s like he’s got lockjaw ..and like his ass is clenched so tight that if he farted only dogs would be able to hear it.
Back at Ells’ the doc is ministering to Alma, offering her..dope! Being a duly reformed Ex-Dope-Fiend-Widow, Alma resists but Doc insists. I think we know where this story is headed.
Back at the Gem, Seth tells Al he’s pulling out of the race because now Hearst has him by the short hairs. But Al tells him no way he’s pulling out and after Seth leaves Al and Dan discuss Al’s suspicion that Hearst might not have actually known about Alma and Seth until Seth his own self gave it away.
Later, Al goes up to grill E.B. about whether or not he told Hearst. But even under threat of having his remains profaned--specifically, having Gabriel’s trumpet produce him from the ass of a pig—E.B. swears he didn’t tell. Al believes him.
During all this carry on, Doc has reassured Ells that Alma and baby are fine but she must remain in bed.
And at the freight office/jail, Seth and Charlie discuss Seth’s merits as a sheriff what with him being a hot-head and so forth and Charlie convinces Seth that having a hot-head for a  sheriff is way better for the town than having a hooplehead like Harry for a sheriff. Case closed.
Speaking of hoopleheads, Hooplehead Steve is over at the No. 10 talking to the very same sheriff-candidate Harry about whether or not he’ll back Steve in keeping the livery should Hostetler return. The main point about this idiotic discussion was to drop a clue for us that Hostetler and the Nigga General will probably be back and there will be more Big Trouble. (and anyways Big Earl said so, about them being in a few episodes)
Whew!I gotta pick up the pace—I’m writing a fucking epistle here. Anyways, in a quick recap of the rest:
Martha asks Jane to tell the children a story about her scouting days with Custer. Jane says no for reasons relating to swearing and being a drunk. And later Jane tells Joanie that it’s not much of a story. “Custer was a cunt.  The end.” 
Trixie goes to help Alma as Ells tries to reassure Sofia that Alma will be alright. They do that cute sticking out their tongues at each other thing. Ells and Sofia—not Trixie and Alma.
Al pays a visit to Hearst to let the powermonger know that Al is hip to his shit. Al throws it down hard and he knows he’s going to pay a big price for it. A smackdown is brewing. 
Storm clouds gather. Can you hear the thunder?
I love the way the reason for the titles of each episode emerge during the show. As Al says to the antler-worshipping Richardson “Tell your God to ready for blood” it’s not only a portent of the smackdown that he knows is coming but also, I think, a meta-statement to viewers about this whole season.
Anyways. Me and my God are ready.

deadwood

Oooo la fucking la

Let's get down to bidness, baby.

What Johnny Said ..

"Now, that’s something anyway."
Two sources have reported that HBO and David Milch have agreed to produce a pair of two-hour specials that will serve as the show's series finale. Didn't see that one coming, huh?
As reported in Variety:
"Deadwood" lives.
After a month of what seemed like public negotiating, HBO and "Deadwood" creator-exec producer David MilchDavid Milch have kissed and made up, as it were, agreeing to produce a pair of two-hour specials that will serve as the show's series finale.
While Milch's grisly Western had been presumed a goner last month after HBO announced it would not be renewing options on the large cast (Daily Variety, May 12), HBO said Sunday that the series and its fans would get closure in what amounts to a four-hour event.
HBO will have to renegotiate new deals -- now for a pair of two-hours as opposed to a full season -- with all of the players. Although no one is locked into continuing with "Deadwood," an HBO reprep said the network was confident in reaching all the deals necessary to proceed with the show in its new incarnation.
No decisions had been made about a production start date or a premiere date.

*quoted from full article at http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117944621?categoryid=14&cs=1&s=h&p=0

So, the good news is that Deadwood is not dead.  And I'll happily take two movies over no closure even though, of course, I'd much rather have a full fourth season. And I'm not really very accustomed to getting exactly what I want anyways, with The Universe always plotting against me and so forth. heh. (kinda)

The Hollywood Reporter also ran an article about it at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002613082

What would Al say?

Fuckin' Emmy hoopleheads. Sometimes I wish we could just hit 'em over the head, rob 'em, and throw their bodies in the creek. 

Deadwood: The Boy The Earth Talks To

Prologue

How clever of me to figure out that I could use a prologue to set the context about my feelings on this episode that will hopefully explain that I wasn't disappointed by the finale, but I was quite depressed by it. Big difference. 
So, let me say that (1) I not only trust Milch’s vision but practically worship him like a god. (2) It’s a fine tribute to Milch and company that he’s created characters that I care deeply enough about to be so emotionally invested in them.  (3) Saying I don’t like the outcome for a character doesn’t mean I don’t understand the literary construct about how it moves the story in a direction that could be a very good thing for next season.  (4) Call me a romantic but I believe in love more than I believe in guilt driven notions of “honor” and “duty”.   And, I can think of few things that I consider more creepy than entering into a marriage out of duty or because of societal constraints .. and I got a load of both this season. It was very hard for me to watch characters I love choose to or have to form these unions.  It’s even creepier when they throw a big party like it’s something to celebrate. 

At Long Last The Review

The first thing we see is Wu sneaking out of the Gem; we feel quite sure somebody’s going to be in Big Trouble.  Al watches as Hearst arrives on the stagecoach. Wu calls his gang together as that special music cues us that the shit is about to hit the fan.  Jarry dozes at the telegraph office, waiting for the word from Yankton.  It arrives in dots and dashes.
Meanwhile, Wu is all up in Lee’s shit, deploying his gang to distract and then kill Lee’s main muscle, that humongous cocksucker that reminds me of The Gimp—The Gimp from Pulp Fiction, not Jewel.  Lee materializes in an instant and, pistol raised in classic dueling fashion, stalks down the alley firing shots and looking incredibly hot. Wu, in a rage, unfurls his hair and waves a cleaver in Lee’s pretty face.
Nice juxtaposition of the two—Lee in his spiffy clothes with his dueling stance and Wu, with his wild hair, raging in Chinese and brandishing a primitive weapon.  Call me crazy but my money’s on Wu.  Johnny jumps in yelling “All Chinese but Wu stay put or I’ll blow your tall Chinese head off” and drags a still-screaming Wu back to the Gem. 
Across the creek, the Bullocks are sitting miles apart, staring at nothing and enjoying a cup of Martha’s coffee.  How do I know they’re enjoying the coffee?  Seth says “mmmmmm”.  Don’t worry he actually says a couple of lines ..er, words later on.
At the Bella Union Cy is getting twitchy and mightily annoyed at his Number One Stooge, who knows nothing (dude, he is a stooge, after all) and his Holy Whore who’s sitting reading the bible. Cy is the very portrait of vexation. Finally, he says, to no one in particular, “Some as don’t know better might mistake me for being on the outside ..then you got your idle snatch readin’ scripture and know there’s still hope.”  [Note to Cy: Not so much hope, you evil cocksucker, as you’ll soon find out.]
Over at the Gem it’s all about tough love Swearengen-style and needless to say, it ain’t pretty.  First Al punches Johnny for making it obvious that they’re harboring Wu at the Gem. Poor Jawhnny. Then Al shoves Silas’ legs out of the way even though they weren’t really in the way.  Then Silas snickers at E.B.’s gastrointestinal disturbances and earns a look of rebuke and a raised eyebrow from Al.  Silas straightens up pronto. Al yells at them some more for good measure and sends them off to do some stuff.   
Then we’re back to the Bullock household where Seth is pretending to know what Martha is talking about even though he hasn’t a fucking clue.  When she inquires if he would be pleased if she takes up the teaching of the camp’s invisible children he practically pees himself in what could, to the untrained eye, pass as delight.  To the trained eye of yours truly it looks a lot more like the assuaging of guilt for his affair and William’s death.  Not that he should feel any guilt about William’s death but Seth feels guilty about everything, especially about just being Seth.
Frankly, I can't wait for Martha to start teaching the children just so she'll stop talking about teaching the children.  (Also, I kinda' hope when Martha pulls out the Ox Box Fox book, Sofia will roll her eyes and say "that's so last year").
The Bullocks talk some more and Martha says she doesn’t want “to lose him” and we all know who she’s talking about (my Cow-Eyed Kid! *sniffle*).  Seth tenderly assures her that will never happen and he reaches awkwardly across the miles of living room between their chairs to clasp her hand, in a desperate and touching attempt to draw strength from each other in this horrible, horrible thing that they’re dealing with.
Fair enough, but I have seldom seen this work in Real Life ™. In fact it seems that tragedy most often drives even loving couples apart, not closer together, so if these two find their Happily Ever After from the tragedy of William’s death I might have to call foul.  But I don’t think it will play out that way and Prologue point (1).
Back at the hotel both E.B. and Stooge #2 are spying on Wolcott and Hearst as they dine in the absurd restaurant.  Finally, E.B. goes over and totally grosses out both customers with his tales of gastrointestinal woes.  As if eating the food wasn’t bad enough.
Over at the hardware store Ellsworth is freaking out about his upcoming marriage and rightfully so I might add. Sol dishes out some lame platitudes.  Sometimes, when Sol does that --as he often does--I want to smack him just a little bit.
Back at the Gem, Al is all over Davey like stink on shit.  Al makes a joke and Davey makes the double-faux-pas of not only stealing Al’s line but trying to be funny at the most inopportune time ever.  Double fuck with a side of ice cream!  Al chokes him but not quite to death, possibly only because Hearst shows up. 
Al’s attention turns to Hearst and Davey hurries away to change his pants. Hearst notices a mounted deer head and says “your kill?” Al says darkly “who?” and then laughs when he realizes his mistake.  He then proceeds to give Hearst far too much information about his pissing problems as Hearst, utterly bewildered and probably grossed out again, follows Al into his office.
In Al’s office, Al pulls some clever cocksucker trickery on Hearst to get Hearst to agree that perhaps Wu should be the Chief Chink instead of Lee. Poor Wu doesn’t know WTF is going on and stands there wondering if he’s being supported or sold out, but we know it’s all good because unlike Wu we speak English.  The only catch is that Wu must prove himself. Ah, so.
Meanwhile, Trixie is getting dolled up for the wedding and E.B. is acting really crazy, not just his usual crazy.  When Hearst offers to buy the hotel E.B. falls down and starts babbling incoherently about brandishing his privates ..until Hearst offers him a hundred large [oops, wrong show] ..a hundred thousand dollars and then suddenly he’s not so crazy. But then later he’s rolling around on the money like he’s plenty crazy so who knows.
Meanwhile, Jarry arrives in Al’s office, smelling of nervous sweat like cat piss.  He makes the mistake of trying to be funny and when he fails miserably he keeps trying anyway. Al is not amused and finally tells Jarry to fuck off.  I agree with Al—that Jarry is one annoying git even when he’s not reeking of cat piss.
Then in a scene I just loved (and not just for the eye-candy) Silas and Al go over the Yankton deal.  Silas has some really good input and I am reminded of how pleased I am that he’s not just purdy, he’s awfully smart, too.  Al tells Silas to take out the bribe from the agreement—a strategic big picture move on Al’s part—and Silas removes the bribe from the agreement “with disgust that it was ever brought up.” After they finalize the language in the deal, Al dispatches Silas to fetch the cat piss smelling fuckhead and His Holiness the Sheriff.
Then, there’s the scene that set my heart to breaking into what was, at the end of this episode, tiny pieces. Alma is walking and talking to her dead husband about the fate that has befallen her. She says she’s afraid her life is no longer her own—that it has been taken over by what her body tells her she must do.  She struggles with doing what is “fine and right”.  She confides to Brom that she is marrying a good man and that he whom she loves is here as well.  Here, as in her heart, I believe is her meaning.
Then we go to what I think is one of the most powerful scenes this whole season and I’m not just saying that because Garret is my new friend.  Garret Dillahunt’s performance in the scene with Wolcott and Hearst is indescribably delicious. Wolcott seeks some understanding from his mentor/father figure and gets nothing but disgust and shock and shame.  “What if the earth talks to us,” Wolcott says sadly, “to get us to arrange its amusements?”.  Wolcott says that suppose the Earth whispers to Hearst that he is king over the earth and to him, Wolcott, that there is no sin. 
Wolcott wonders aloud what Hearst thought was “the trouble” that Hearst bailed him out of in Mexico and Hearst admits that he really didn’t even think about it—he was too focused on finding the color.  Hearst tells Wolcott they must severe ties as his horror and disgust become obvious. “My God…” is all he can manage to say.  And then we see and hear Wolcott let out a small pitiful Emmy-worthy sob. Absofuckinglutely perfect. 
Back at the Gem, Al is out on the balcony where he sees Trixie and Sol headed to the [gulp] wedding.  Al throws down an envelope, “a gift to the bride from her child’s former tutor, in absentia”.  I do wonder if Ms. Whatsherhausen actually made it out of town.  Perhaps we’ll find out next season.
When Al ventures downstairs he finds Tom Nutall working on getting blotto. Poor Tom. He’s one of those characters that I never really cared about until I saw him having fun with William and suffering so after William’s death.  Now I care about Tom a lot.  I was really happy that Al was a good friend to Tom and gave him good advice instead of taking advantage of him. 
Al tells Tom that the only reason Tom would sell the No. 10 is not for business reasons.  He helps Tom see how his remorse and unjustified guilt over William is driving him to drink and make bad decisions.  Tom gets that and then changes the subject to Ellsworth and Alma’s [gulp] marriage. “What odds would you have made on that?” he asks Al.  Al smiles his special smile and jokes “Every so often there’s a love match.”  They laugh their asses off and so do I.
Then the fucking [choke] wedding.  I had hoped with all my little heart that this marriage was not going to happen so all through the ceremony I was thinking please stop please something happen to stop this please drop the bouquet and run screaming out the door pleasepleaseplease STOP.  But it didn’t and I’m bummed out.
I love Alma so much and hate to see her lose her independence.  I hate that she has to marry someone she doesn’t love but more than that I hate that she had to marry her best friend.  I think a pretend marriage is a great way to fuck up a friendship.  Never mind that it would be plenty creepy to shag your best friend who you have always had in that nonsexual part of your heart.  I’ve had many male best friends, so I can’t help but internalize this.  And I’m also fiercely independent so I can’t ignore the fact that she  sacrificed hers.  In the society of that time period Ellsworth is now in charge and she’s lost all power. I hate that. I loved having such a strong, smart, independent and powerful woman on the show.
And, I love Ellsworth and think he’s a great guy who also deserves better and I hate the marrying a friend thing for him, too.  I loved the friendship and banter between Ells and Alma. I do think that Ells will be a great father; I think he already is to Sofia.  I love those two together.  Them dancing at the wedding was one time that I felt happy in the midst of my wedding depression.
Anyways, during the ceremony Alma is clearly shaken and has a hard time spitting out the vows.  We cut from the forming of this union to the forming of another union at the Gem.  Al and Jarry are gesturing in unheard debate over the agreement as Seth looks on. We cut back to the wedding where Charlie has just arrived back in town. 
We cut back to Al’s office to see Seth now actively involved in the negotiations, pushing Jarry to accept their terms.  Looks like Al and Seth just got married, too. Dude, your cherry has officially been popped. (How Seth’s ass must surely be clenching!)
Back at the wedding, it’s finally over with and not a minute too soon for me. For some reason Hearst smashes a wall as the ceremony concludes. (Coincidence or harbinger of doom?) Doc leans in to whisper something to Alma and she beams back at him with what looks like genuine happiness.  What did he say I wonder.  Whatever it was it was obviously just what she needed to hear.  Good on you, Doc! 
Back at the Bullock house Martha finds a sprout from the sunflower seeds that wee William planted. Honestly, that felt a little high on the fromage factor but since it reminded me of my beloved Cow-Eyed Kid I got a little misty-eyed and forgave that whiff of cheese.
As the post-wedding party gets underway Al’s boys are getting ready for their own party—and they even have costumes! The boys are disguising themselves with Chinese masks and robes.  Of course Johnny wouldn’t be Jawhnny if he didn’t look at Silas, cock his head and say “You wanna swap masks?” Just when I thought I could not love him more I do. 
The Wu Tang Clan grabs their axes and off they go on a vengeful killing spree.  They kill people left and right, and occasionally trip on the hem of their dresses. The sequence culminates in Wu materializing out of nowhere and cutting Lee’s throat while Lee is stoned on opium with some random whore astride his loins. It’s a really great scene that can’t adequately be described with words. The whole sequence is gruesome yet oddly lyrical.  Anyways, all’s fair in love and war and this is war, baby.
Back in Hearst’s newly expanded room Cy is overplaying his hand big time, trying to blackmail Hearst for more cash than the two big bags that Hearst just gave him as “full and final payment”.  Cy doesn’t get the full and final part evidently and demands 5% of Hearst’s mining profits. As if that wasn’t bold enough, Cy then starts mocking God in order to mock Hearst and one wonders if Cy has perhaps gone completely ‘round the bend.
Meanwhile, the Yankton deal has finally been done and Seth heads for the bar and starts methodically tossing back the drinks like one of those automated characters in a funhouse ride. Out on the thoroughfare, Wolcott has wandered through the street party looking lost and sad and making me feel bad about feeling sorry for a serial killer.
Cy finally pushes his luck too far when he confronts Andy about Bible-talking his whores. Andy warns him that “God is not mocked” but Cy takes no heed and further berates Andy and grabs him by the lapels.  Andy, no doubt still sore from that frontal wedgie Cy gave him last time, proceeds to gut Cy with an evangelical declaration  “God is not mocked, you son of a bitch.” Cy looks to Joannie for help but she just tells the Holy Whore to “see to him”.  We see Joannie having a blast at the party a few minutes later.
At the Chez Ami, Mose is outside practicing some deep breathing exercises that Doc has taught him. As he turns to go inside we see a body fall from the roof of a nearby building and dangle at the end of a rope.  Goodbye, Mr. W, you crazy killer.  You were so very creepy because you were a cold-blooded killer who got no joy from killing.  It was just a compulsion with no reward for you.  Just an amusement for The Universe, you thought. 
Back in town Al is watching the party from his balcony when he sees the triumphant Wu Tang Clan approaching.  Al is obviously pleased to see his boys, and Wu, too and he asks how Wu did in battle. Johnny assures Al that “he give a good fuckin’ account” Wu yells “San Francisco Cocksucka’!” while miming a throat-slitting. Al congratulates them on a job well done, with special thanks to Adams for “a day’s full course, indoors and out.” Dan punches Silas (really hard) in the shoulder as he declares “You saved my fuckin’ bacon in that alley, fuckin’ Adams.” Adams would have probably smiled if not for the pain of his dislocated shoulder.
Then as Al’s boys head inside Wu lingers in the street looking up at Al.  And then he yells “Sweggin!”, holds up a knife and cuts off his braid! He holds it up like an offering and declares “Wu! America!” Then he holds up two fingers—“Heng dai”.  Al signals his agreement. Oh, man, how I loved that scene! Thank God for ReplayTV so I could rewind and watch it again.
Then Al steps out of his office and sees Seth still tossing back the booze. Al yells at Seth “Don’t you have a fuckin’ home to get to?”  I wanted to give Seth a hug ..or smack him-- I’m often not sure which is the stronger urge.
Back at party Ells and Sofia are having one last dance (cutest thing ever) as Alma waits in the wagon.  Seth comes into view and he and Alma exchange a long look of I’m not sure what. Longing? Acceptance? Bygones!? Hard to read and I’ve watched it a few times. I think it’s purposefully ambiguous. Sol and Trixie both see The Look but they probably don’t know what it means either. 
From his balcony Al says under his breath “I believe it’s to your right” willing Seth to go home. Finally, Seth heads for home as does the new Ellsworth family, although I’m not sure where “home” is for them or if they’re actually living together right now.
And for our final scene we have a bookend to last season’s finale.  As Al watches from above Charlie, Jane and Joannie dance together, having a ball.  Sol and Trixie dance together looking adorable and in love. Doc gives Jewel a big hug.  *sigh* At least somebody’s happy.      

Deadwood: The Whores Can Come

This review is so late I’m almost embarrassed to post it, but obviously not quite embarrassed enough.  And anyways, there’s posterity to be considered and also the fact that I do love to entertain myself during the off season by watching the season over again marathon-style and then reading through my old reviews and getting all nostalgic. Good times.
I have no fucking clue as to how to create that critical first paragraph that sets the tone and direction for all paragraphs to follow.  I choose to blame my dim-wittedness on the heinous new drug, whether or not it’s indeed the cause.  I don’t often play the sick card but sometimes it comes in handy. OK, onward and upward and I’m just going to babble away because it is, after all, my blog.
Well, let me get all the wailing over with first so I can dry my eyes, blow my nose and  move on to the fun stuff.  I was depressed enough already without having to deal with the death of my beloved Cow-Eyed Kid and now I have to watch this fucking funeral and poor Martha fleeing in horror at Andy’s description of worms eating flesh. That scene just ripped my heart out. I could hardly bear it as she ran hysterically up to the house to William’s coffin.  Then a few minutes later we come back to her gazing quietly and calmly at William and we know she’s finally let go. I don’t know which scene was sadder.  (HBO, you motherfucked me and then blew my head off .. and I love you for it.)
And there was our poor Seth tightly crossing his arms in self-restraint and we know this must have been really hard for him since self-restraint isn’t exactly his strong suit. I felt bad for him because he really loved William, too, and he’s clearly in a grief-stricken haze.  When Seth said only a quiet “alright” when Al asked him if he would back his play with Jarry I got all misty-eyed.  That was one mono-syllabic response that really worked.
And goddammit, Andy! I have no idea what you were apologizing about last season when you were babbling with the fever, but you should be apologizing for this funeral.  Besides the worm thing, just in general you kinda’ sucked.  But you probably haven’t had much practice and it’s probably hard to go from grifter to god’s mouthpiece in a few short months. So you do get points for realism, but next time try losing the worm part and try not to read the Psalms like it’s a public service announcement, for fuck's sake.  Or perhaps Cy was right and you really are running some kind of scam, ergo your suckiness as a preacher.  If that's the case then you deserved that frontal wedgie and probably need a country ass-kicking for good measure.
I really thought Al was cold to Mr. Wu but perhaps that was a glimpse of the old Al, not the kinder, gentler post-gleet Al that we’ve come to know.  But even Silas and Johnny looked uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed by Al’s verbal crotch-kick to Wu. But Al quickly drew the boys near to share his strategy about the Wu/Lee conflict and how he might use it to his advantage.  I admit, I felt like Johnny watching this scene because I honestly did not know what the fuck Al was talking about until I listened to it again ..and even then I wasn’t absolutely sure I got it. That Al is hard to keep up with, he wears my ass out sometimes, the crafty cocksucker.
There were just so many great scenes in this episode.  I think for many reasons that the scene with Alma and Sofia goes on my list of all time favorites.  I just knew Alma had that kind of kindness in her and that much love for Sofia.  What she said to wee Sofia was just so perfect for comforting her, and so apropos for Alma’s own heartbreak, that I have to put it here. 
“I’ve wished sometimes only to play checkers or to occupy myself some other way than having to see and feel so much sadness…or feel every moment how difficult things are to understand…or to live with.  I’ve sometimes felt I couldn’t live with them, but I find I can, Sofia.  I’ve found I am…even when I think I’m not or that I can’t.  (She reaches out and holds Sofia’s hand) Can you look to me now, Sofia? Can you try? (Sofia looks up) I will be so grateful if you will trust me with your sadness, and I will trust you with mine, so that even when we are sad…we will be grateful for how much we love each other, and know that we are in the world as much in our pain as in our happiness.”  (Sofia comes to Alma and kisses her cheek, then hugs her.  A tear falls down Sophia’s face.) That little tear tore me up.  Poor little Oxboxfox.
For the funniest scene, it has to be that superstition one-upmanship at the Gem.  Dear god, that was funny stuff. Johnny with that bird and just the way he talks and his whole childlike demeanor just killed me.   And then Dan being all parental with “throw it out and wipe your hands”.  The whole conversation is just too good not to quote:

Johnny:    Found it outside dead under the window ( pronounced winder).
Dan:  Well, why’d you bring it inside?
Johnny:  Poor little finch. (Petting it)
Dan:    Throw it out and wipe your hands.
Johnny:  If a bird taps on a window or crashes into one, that means that there has been a death!  (Tosses the bird outside)
Dan:  We know there’s been a death.
Johnny:   We know now, but that bird crashed into the window and died a while ago, before we knew…for all we know.
Dan: (holding boots) I’ve shined me and Al’s, but I ain’t doin’ yours.
Johnny:    Oh, well, I-I got me some new boots.  They pinch bad, but –uh- they got that factory shine still.
Dan: (visibly alarmed)  Johnny, you-you can’t wear nothin’ new to a funeral, especially not new footwear.
Johnny:   Oh—I ain’t never heard that.
Dan: Maybe ‘cause when they was tellin’ it to you, you was too busy listenin’ to that bullshit about birds flyin’ into windows.
(Trixie walks up as Dan sets the boots he’s been shining on top of the bar.)
Trixie: … Boots on a bar?!  What is the fucking matter with you, Dan?  Give me a fucking whiskey bottle.  (Dan moves the boots and hands Trixie a bottle.) I’m sprinklin’ it…at the fucking doorways. (Sprinkles the doorway) Or would you rather evil traipse past this fuckin’ threshold?  (Dan shakes his head)
Johnny:    Must have brought that from the other side.

And the award for best non-verbal communication in a scene goes to Seth--him backing Jarry’s ass down the steps was too perfect for words ..well, that’s probably why they didn’t need any words.
Some other things I loved in no particular order: I loved the fact that Trixie made no excuses for her bad behavior of late.  She just basically told Alma she had no idea why she was being such a bitch.  I thought that was a great idea not to have her go into some deep dark reasoning --letting her just be human for a change, not needing to attach every behavior to her whore-history. I also loved the subtle way she sniffed Alma’s glass.  And her explanation to Sol about why whores run to their pimps made me love her even more, and Sol, too, I think.
Another thing I love is Al’s boys.  When I was watching Silas and Dan explaining the term “on ice” to Johnny it felt like some perverse version of My Three Sons. Silas is our Robbie, the smart, good looking brother with an affect of cool detachment who really cares though.  Dan is our (deadly) Chip, the not-as-smart but tougher brother and Johnny is Ernie, the goofy kid brother who constantly tries his older siblings’ patience with his always needing to have something explained to him. 
Actually I think Johnny, with his childlike ways, is more like Opie or, perhaps, The Beaver but I don’t think you’re allowed to mix sitcom characters in an analogy (even an absurd one).  I think there’s some rule. Anyways, Opie didn’t have any brothers—just Goober and Floyd. So we can see where that analogy comes to a screeching halt.  And The Beav only had one brother, Wally, and he was a real tool.  Although it would be fun to hear Silas say “Geez, Johnny, what didja’ do that for. That’s creepy.”
And I purposely did not talk about that clasping her hands to his heart ending because that is creepy.   I just hope it was well-written intentionally creepy and not just cringe-worthy creepy. Anyways, I repudiate it but I don’t necessarily find it poisonous because I believe it can serve the story well even though  it will put the royal kibosh on my shipperdom. 

Speak to me, Seth

Don’t get me wrong I love this season of Deadwood. I understand and appreciate that there’s a lot of focus on character development.  Character development is a good thing, I like character development, I get character development.  But still, I keep having this feeling that this season is missing a little bit of something that I really liked about last season.  Finally, I realized that it’s Seth’s character—specifically that his character could actually express himself once in a while with actual words last season. 
This season it’s pretty much clenching, and clenching as a stand-alone method of communication can be a little difficult to translate. It leaves Seth’s development (or lack thereof) a bit of a mystery.  And no, I don’t need everything spelled out for me but I also don’t need Mary fucking Pickford.  Oooh, Seth’s clenching!  Hhhhmm.. is he angry? Is his struggling with his inner demons? Is he desperately waiting for Silas to get out of the shithouse? 
What happened to the guy who could, in a moment of introspection and insight, wax philosophically about his to-the-death-encounter with the Indian?  That was some fine talking. Or how about that “perhaps I borrowed my brother’s life” epiphany. See, if we had only seen him clenching and looking a little misty-eyed we probably would have totally missed that one.  Yep, some things are better left said.
And it’s not like words aren’t used to clue us in on the other characters’ development, even when they’ve got nobody to talk to.  If they want us to hear from Al they just give him a head or give him head and let him soliloquy his ass off.  Last season, Seth had great monologues with Sol as the audience but Seth can’t even talk to Sol anymore because Trixie is always there. Just as Seth is finally going to say something to Sol about Alma’s pregnancy here comes Trixie interrupting.  So we still haven’t heard anything from Seth about how he feels about it other than that he thinks Alma looks good knocked up. Color me demanding, but I’d like to hear just a teensy bit more about that.

Deadwood: Advances, None Miraculous

Obviously, as the late date on this review will attest, I found writing about this episode particularly challenging.  Part of this was due to the fact that I found it difficult to watch this emotionally wrenching episode a second time because I felt too raw to put myself through that again.  Then when I did rewatch it I couldn’t make notes.  I don’t know why but I just couldn’t get motivated to do all that stopping and starting and analyzing—I guess I just needed to feel it, not try to analyze it.  It was that kind of episode for me. And then I couldn’t figure out how to put words to all the things swirling around my head and how to explain the lingering heartbreak that I just couldn’t shake. 
I never did find the words until my friend John popped into my office on Friday to ask me about the episode.  John is the only person that I have real life conversations with about Deadwood. It was hilarious the way he did it, too.  He came in with this grim look on his face and said he needed to talk to me about something really important. (And there was some big shit that had hit the proverbial fan that day so I assumed that was what he wanted to talk about.)  But he actually had come to find out what had happened in this episode and wanted me to tell him all about it-- because he had not seen it but also he really likes to hear me talk about it.  It’s our thing.
So, that’s how I finally found my words.  I told him about William’s death right away because not talking about that would have been like ignoring a big white elephant sitting in the room.  And, I think I’ll just try to say it here the way I said it then .
Sometimes I hear people knocking Timothy’s portrayal of Seth as too robotic or too clenched or too stick-up-his-ass but I find the very things that others find fault with to be the things I consider so absolutely dead on about his performance.  Perhaps because I’ve had a whole lifetime to study a man who is darkly repressed, broodingly taciturn, and always coiled to strike I think I’m uniquely qualified to know what that kind of guy looks like.  He looks just like my father. 
But thankfully, unlike my father, Seth fights his inner demons and struggles against his darkness.  We’ve seen him show remorse and self-recrimination—even shock—over his own actions.  If not I couldn’t love him the way I do (and I don’t mean in the lusty way, I mean as a character I care deeply about).
The first time I saw Seth’s stick-up-his-ass stride and that stiff, clenched body language and that darkness barely held in check I probably peed myself in a Pavlovian response. Timothy’s physical interpretation of Seth is eerily perfect.  This kind of guy is all about the clenching. Trust me on this. So, when I see this same guy brought to the place where he can find that tenderness and goodness that still dwells deep inside him to talk the way he talked to William as he lay dying, well…  With his first words “Trixie asked me to thank you for finding her error in numbers this afternoon…ducks have landed on the spearfish pond” my heart broke right in two. By the time Martha said “Rest now, William.  We’ll rest and rise together.” I was utterly destroyed—nothing left but tears and snot.
Yep, the scenes with Seth and Martha at William’s deathbed were played to absolute perfection.  I think it was a testament to the power of that scene that I could recite, almost verbatim, Seth and Martha’s words to their beloved William. And I got all misty-eyed and quivery-lipped just repeating them. I loved that Cow-Eyed Kid the minute I laid eyes on him.  So did my friend, John, who summed it up nicely when he said that William had un-manned us all.
There were so many other heart-piercing moments—those little moments that are done so powerfully, one of those things that I considered a hallmark of Deadwood. Some of my favorites:
Tom Nutall hiding and crying and Jane trying to quietly comfort him Richardson praying with his antlers –this sad and beautiful scene touched me so much I don’t even know how to express it
Dan and Silas sitting together silently at the Gem, drinking but not really drinking, and Dan removing his hat.
Mr. Wu bringing Jewel tea.
That last shot of Al on the balcony. (Ian you are the master)

Then there was the humor with heartbreak but I can’t remember them all and I can’t be arsed to go find them so here’s some of them anyways:
Nigga General to Hostetler:  ‘Cause when it comes to them cases, you’ll blow your own fucking head off.  And once you’ve cheated those white cocksuckers, won’t they just roll around and gnash their teeth?... God damn, Hostetler beat us.  He done come out victorious with his fucking head blowed off.

Silas and Al after their sting
Silas: What just happened?
Al: (Smiling) We knocked the cocksucker up.

A totally exasperated Dan to Silas: You’re about to take a goddamn beatin’ for every fuckin’ time I’ve been asked “What for?” already today.

Oh dear, so many other things I could say but since the next episode is only hours away I’ll shut up. Bygones for the lateness of this post what with me being a fucking big baby and so forth.