The impending conflict between Al and Hearst is both intriguing and a little dull. For the most part, the rest of the denizens of Deadwood and beyond have been folks Al could manipulate, or at least figure out, in order to get to the outcome he wants. Arguably, the only way that Hearst's people and the Yankton crowd managed to get the upper hand last season was because he was sick. So there's something to be said for Al having a legitimately formidable opponent. Still, it seems like such an obvious fight, and while Hearst puts some weight behind this threats, Major Dad seems like a stock antagonist to some degree, which blunts the excitement of the two leading lights of the town having a disagreement over Cornishmen being killed at Al's Bar.
And Bullock is back on the angry asshole train. Him taking his anger at giving himself away to Hearst vis-a-vis his past dalliances with Alma out on Farnum was an interesting story choice, especially him stewing over it later. It's another instance of Bullock tying his own noose and lashing out at others over it. And there's juice to the idea that he's willing to run for sheriff again, even though he doesn't really want to, simply because the alternatives or worse. There's political commentary there.
We also go back to Joanie's story for much of the runtime here. She's never been my favorite character on the show -- her performance and her conflicts tend to hit the same couple of notes over and over again -- and she tends to be connected to Cy, whom I wish had died in the S2 finale and spared us Powers Boothe's scenery chewing for another twelve episodes. Still, the idea of struggling with depression is one worth exploring, even if this one waxes and wanes in its quality. It is interesting to see her managing the Bella Union in Cy's absence, even when it's clear she doesn't really want to.
And of course there's more Alma drama, this time a faint and a concern about whether or not her pregnancy might be the cause. Trixie's speech to her about taking the laudanum, not for her but for the baby, is an interesting one, and Elsworth's concern for her and rapport with Sophia are sweet as always. Relatedly, Trixie's fuss at Al trying to scheme his way into giving Sol Star a house and Trixie a secretly adjascent room for "appearances" if he's to become mayor was a source of good scenes, if only for Sol's deadpan "I thought you were just going to piss" in response.
There was other stuff at the margins. Jane is still a hoot in every scene; her rivalry with Mose has comedic promise, and she had the line of the night. (Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.") And It's nice to see Martha Bullock finding her place in Deadwood even after the death of her son.
Overall, kind of a business-as-usual episode of Deadwood, without a lot to get excited over, but steady work regardless.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-07-30T12:50:26Z
The impending conflict between Al and Hearst is both intriguing and a little dull. For the most part, the rest of the denizens of Deadwood and beyond have been folks Al could manipulate, or at least figure out, in order to get to the outcome he wants. Arguably, the only way that Hearst's people and the Yankton crowd managed to get the upper hand last season was because he was sick. So there's something to be said for Al having a legitimately formidable opponent. Still, it seems like such an obvious fight, and while Hearst puts some weight behind this threats, Major Dad seems like a stock antagonist to some degree, which blunts the excitement of the two leading lights of the town having a disagreement over Cornishmen being killed at Al's Bar.
And Bullock is back on the angry asshole train. Him taking his anger at giving himself away to Hearst vis-a-vis his past dalliances with Alma out on Farnum was an interesting story choice, especially him stewing over it later. It's another instance of Bullock tying his own noose and lashing out at others over it. And there's juice to the idea that he's willing to run for sheriff again, even though he doesn't really want to, simply because the alternatives or worse. There's political commentary there.
We also go back to Joanie's story for much of the runtime here. She's never been my favorite character on the show -- her performance and her conflicts tend to hit the same couple of notes over and over again -- and she tends to be connected to Cy, whom I wish had died in the S2 finale and spared us Powers Boothe's scenery chewing for another twelve episodes. Still, the idea of struggling with depression is one worth exploring, even if this one waxes and wanes in its quality. It is interesting to see her managing the Bella Union in Cy's absence, even when it's clear she doesn't really want to.
And of course there's more Alma drama, this time a faint and a concern about whether or not her pregnancy might be the cause. Trixie's speech to her about taking the laudanum, not for her but for the baby, is an interesting one, and Elsworth's concern for her and rapport with Sophia are sweet as always. Relatedly, Trixie's fuss at Al trying to scheme his way into giving Sol Star a house and Trixie a secretly adjascent room for "appearances" if he's to become mayor was a source of good scenes, if only for Sol's deadpan "I thought you were just going to piss" in response.
There was other stuff at the margins. Jane is still a hoot in every scene; her rivalry with Mose has comedic promise, and she had the line of the night. (Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.") And It's nice to see Martha Bullock finding her place in Deadwood even after the death of her son.
Overall, kind of a business-as-usual episode of Deadwood, without a lot to get excited over, but steady work regardless.