Kind of a weird episode, where I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but with interesting scenes despite that?
I don't love the development that Alma's pregnant. It seems like something of a soap opera twist to complicate matters with her and Bullock when their frostiness and him trying out this new life was already working just fine in terms of understated drama and conflict. That said, it led to some great scenes, both between Alma and Trixie, where Trixie's tempestuous umbrage is never not endearing (especially when directed toward the haughty Alma), and between Alma and Doc Cochran whose attempts at reconciliation with her hit the perfect balance between his usual salty self and his desire to help. Plus he had the line of the episode about doing his rounds between gunfights.
The other great scenes were between Jane and Fields. There's a clear camaraderie between them, as two capable people who are shunned by even the "polite society" of an outlaw town like Deadwood. The way that the two of them bond over a bottle of whiskey, the way that Fields very gently and very cautiously feels him out, and the way that Jane, blunt as she is, just tells him to shut up and share a drink with her, is great. And the follow up scene at the doctor's place, where she helps treat Fields's tarred shoulder but harasses the Commissioner Jarry from Yankton who's in protective custody shows who and what Jane values.
The whole bit with Commissioner Jarry, throwing the town into disarray by having Merrick post his statement about claims possibly being invalidated was an interesting examination of what law with no means of enforcement gets you when the regulars get wound up. It may not be so easy for civilization to come to Deadwood, with or without Bullock's sixshooter to help keep law and order.
However, it was also the most puzzling part of the episode to me. It wasn't clear to me why the mob went after Fields. I mean, obviously, it's a racist thing, but it wasn't clear to me how the anger at Jarry got redirected to Fields or why exactly. It wasn't especially clear how we got from A to B there, or what Fields was even doing there. (His exchange with Hostetler was confusing.)
Plus, it's not clear how much Cy was hanging Jarry out to dry. Obviously he got the info about Mr. Wescott's proclivities, and was also concerned about the claims he's been collecting himself, but his endgame or purpose in all of this wasn't particularly well-conveyed either.
Still, a number of good individual scenes, even if I'm not sure they really added up to a coherent whole. The dialogue is starting to grow on me more and more too, and it's nice to get a little more Al here as well. Another of the great scenes was he and Bullock comisserating about all the county commissioners being from Yankton. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and the uneasy alliance between the two luminaries of the town, generally opposed though they may be, has a lot of promise.
Overall, an episode that I didn't necessarily love in a cumulative sense, but which had a number of elements that I liked individually.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-07-23T03:47:12Z
Kind of a weird episode, where I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but with interesting scenes despite that?
I don't love the development that Alma's pregnant. It seems like something of a soap opera twist to complicate matters with her and Bullock when their frostiness and him trying out this new life was already working just fine in terms of understated drama and conflict. That said, it led to some great scenes, both between Alma and Trixie, where Trixie's tempestuous umbrage is never not endearing (especially when directed toward the haughty Alma), and between Alma and Doc Cochran whose attempts at reconciliation with her hit the perfect balance between his usual salty self and his desire to help. Plus he had the line of the episode about doing his rounds between gunfights.
The other great scenes were between Jane and Fields. There's a clear camaraderie between them, as two capable people who are shunned by even the "polite society" of an outlaw town like Deadwood. The way that the two of them bond over a bottle of whiskey, the way that Fields very gently and very cautiously feels him out, and the way that Jane, blunt as she is, just tells him to shut up and share a drink with her, is great. And the follow up scene at the doctor's place, where she helps treat Fields's tarred shoulder but harasses the Commissioner Jarry from Yankton who's in protective custody shows who and what Jane values.
The whole bit with Commissioner Jarry, throwing the town into disarray by having Merrick post his statement about claims possibly being invalidated was an interesting examination of what law with no means of enforcement gets you when the regulars get wound up. It may not be so easy for civilization to come to Deadwood, with or without Bullock's sixshooter to help keep law and order.
However, it was also the most puzzling part of the episode to me. It wasn't clear to me why the mob went after Fields. I mean, obviously, it's a racist thing, but it wasn't clear to me how the anger at Jarry got redirected to Fields or why exactly. It wasn't especially clear how we got from A to B there, or what Fields was even doing there. (His exchange with Hostetler was confusing.)
Plus, it's not clear how much Cy was hanging Jarry out to dry. Obviously he got the info about Mr. Wescott's proclivities, and was also concerned about the claims he's been collecting himself, but his endgame or purpose in all of this wasn't particularly well-conveyed either.
Still, a number of good individual scenes, even if I'm not sure they really added up to a coherent whole. The dialogue is starting to grow on me more and more too, and it's nice to get a little more Al here as well. Another of the great scenes was he and Bullock comisserating about all the county commissioners being from Yankton. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and the uneasy alliance between the two luminaries of the town, generally opposed though they may be, has a lot of promise.
Overall, an episode that I didn't necessarily love in a cumulative sense, but which had a number of elements that I liked individually.