A very solid episode, that had two interesting motifs.
The first is how Alma was repeatedly trying to make her own way (while seemingly overcompensating with chipperness after losing her unborn child) and having her position questioned repeatedly by the various men in her life, frankly all of them sans the one who matters the most to her. It begins with Doc Cochran trying to ensure that she took the laudanum he prescribed for her, in a way that isn't patronizing exactly, though has some of the ol' Doc irascibility where he means well, but seems to push Alma's buttons in particular.
Then, Elsworth tries to talk her out of going to meet with Hearst,and it's a tough scene to watch because from what we've seen of Elsworth and Heart, we know Elsworth is right. Mr. Hearst is not a man who takes kindly to compromise and negotiation, and on the one hand, it's enervating to see Alma take such an active hand in her own fortune and frustrating to see Elsworth forbid his "wife" from doing anything. On the other hand, Elsworth knows what this is, and doesn't want Alma to be tarred in it.
Finally, she meets with Hearst alone. Both actors in the scene do great work, with Alma displaying the blitheness and then terror given what's happening, and Heart shifting perfectly from barely contained rage as he tries to sit and listen politely to Alma's proposal that's clearly infuriating him to being absolutely terrifying when he won't let Alma leave and insinuates himself where she stands. It's one of the stand out moment of the episode.
Of course, Alma as she is wont to do, shares a meaningful look with Bullock across the way after all of this, and the one man whom she actually wants to be face-to-face with, whom she would trust to represent her and protect her future, is the one she cannot. It's a sharp reminder that however annoying and rude Alma can be, particularly to those below her station (Elsworth chief among them), she is boxed in in many ways because of her gender, and quickly finds herself pushed back by forces she has no control over.
The biggest and scariest of those forces is Hearst, and more than any episode this season or last, "True Colors" explores who this antagonist is, and adds to our understanding of his character by contrasting him with Al. It's no coincidence that we meet someone who, by Al's standards, may be considered a friend. However much he rebukes the people who work for him, you can tell that he cares about them, even if he's a pragmatist at heart. His sentiment to his theater-friend, "will do it if I have to, would prefer to avoid it" sums up Al to a tee. As much as he misses being able to just slit throats, if he could get what he wanted -- this camp flourishing and putting money in his pocket -- with minimal bloodshed or pain to anyone, you get the impression he'd enjoy that, short of a few folks who just rub him the wrong way. He is a pragmatist at base; when push comes to shove he'll do what he must, but even in his singular goal of making this camp into the town her controls, he has room for Trixie to get an education, for Wu to run his corner of it, and for even Bullock, the man who nearly killed him, to live in peace.
And he has friends, equals even. Al's theater pal stands out with him on the balcony and talks with a familiarity. They're old bosom buddies, with the one much more bosomy than the other, and yet you can tell that as perturbed as Al puts on, he likes showing off the town to his buddy, and likes having someone he can speak to as a colleague and not a rival or an underling. There's a desire for human connection and empathy in Al. It may be blunted from time to time, but it's there and important to who he is.
Hearst is just the opposite. He is an island who, if he had his druthers, would never deal with another human being, especially not one he couldn't control. The only person that Hearst confides in his African American cook and maid, who he treats as a confidante, and even she, as is revealed in her game with Deadwood's Chinese, thinks he's a fool. Hearst wants only gold, and is completely unwilling to compromise, bend, or negotiate an inch beyond just getting what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. It's not subtle, but the way he hammers a hole through his own wall because he wants "a veranda" is an illustration of his character, the way he has all of Al's directness with none of his craft of grace, and true to his accusation of Al in the prior episode, that makes him dangerous.
Hearst has never been as frightening in the series as he is here, and you can see that in how he behaves around others. The biggest testament to it is the way that kind-hearted, soft-spoken Elsworth goes off on him when face-to-face with the monster, putting the metaphorical blood on his hands for those who've died in his mines. You see it the horrifying scene where he does not so much as touch Alma, but is shot and framed in such a way that he feels like the Alien lurking ever closer to Ripley. Only Hearst is not a beast, he is a force who aims to turn the whole world into his lapdogs, whether it be Cy, Farnum, Alma, or Bullock. Each of them tries to reason with Hearst, to play him or negotiate with him or make him budge a tiny bit toward their desires, and in each instance his rebuke is as harsh as it is effective. Alma is a woman who wishes to be a force, who wants to have her way and make her own decisions and finds herself stymied at every turn, while Hearst is a man who seeks the same, with far less kind or reasonable aims in the process, and yet he has the force of money, his last name, and a heartlessness that allows him to quickly ascend to the top of the Deadwood food chain. We'll see how long this unexpectedly warmer and kinder by comparison Al allows him to stay there.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-07-30T19:02:15Z
A very solid episode, that had two interesting motifs.
The first is how Alma was repeatedly trying to make her own way (while seemingly overcompensating with chipperness after losing her unborn child) and having her position questioned repeatedly by the various men in her life, frankly all of them sans the one who matters the most to her. It begins with Doc Cochran trying to ensure that she took the laudanum he prescribed for her, in a way that isn't patronizing exactly, though has some of the ol' Doc irascibility where he means well, but seems to push Alma's buttons in particular.
Then, Elsworth tries to talk her out of going to meet with Hearst,and it's a tough scene to watch because from what we've seen of Elsworth and Heart, we know Elsworth is right. Mr. Hearst is not a man who takes kindly to compromise and negotiation, and on the one hand, it's enervating to see Alma take such an active hand in her own fortune and frustrating to see Elsworth forbid his "wife" from doing anything. On the other hand, Elsworth knows what this is, and doesn't want Alma to be tarred in it.
Finally, she meets with Hearst alone. Both actors in the scene do great work, with Alma displaying the blitheness and then terror given what's happening, and Heart shifting perfectly from barely contained rage as he tries to sit and listen politely to Alma's proposal that's clearly infuriating him to being absolutely terrifying when he won't let Alma leave and insinuates himself where she stands. It's one of the stand out moment of the episode.
Of course, Alma as she is wont to do, shares a meaningful look with Bullock across the way after all of this, and the one man whom she actually wants to be face-to-face with, whom she would trust to represent her and protect her future, is the one she cannot. It's a sharp reminder that however annoying and rude Alma can be, particularly to those below her station (Elsworth chief among them), she is boxed in in many ways because of her gender, and quickly finds herself pushed back by forces she has no control over.
The biggest and scariest of those forces is Hearst, and more than any episode this season or last, "True Colors" explores who this antagonist is, and adds to our understanding of his character by contrasting him with Al. It's no coincidence that we meet someone who, by Al's standards, may be considered a friend. However much he rebukes the people who work for him, you can tell that he cares about them, even if he's a pragmatist at heart. His sentiment to his theater-friend, "will do it if I have to, would prefer to avoid it" sums up Al to a tee. As much as he misses being able to just slit throats, if he could get what he wanted -- this camp flourishing and putting money in his pocket -- with minimal bloodshed or pain to anyone, you get the impression he'd enjoy that, short of a few folks who just rub him the wrong way. He is a pragmatist at base; when push comes to shove he'll do what he must, but even in his singular goal of making this camp into the town her controls, he has room for Trixie to get an education, for Wu to run his corner of it, and for even Bullock, the man who nearly killed him, to live in peace.
And he has friends, equals even. Al's theater pal stands out with him on the balcony and talks with a familiarity. They're old bosom buddies, with the one much more bosomy than the other, and yet you can tell that as perturbed as Al puts on, he likes showing off the town to his buddy, and likes having someone he can speak to as a colleague and not a rival or an underling. There's a desire for human connection and empathy in Al. It may be blunted from time to time, but it's there and important to who he is.
Hearst is just the opposite. He is an island who, if he had his druthers, would never deal with another human being, especially not one he couldn't control. The only person that Hearst confides in his African American cook and maid, who he treats as a confidante, and even she, as is revealed in her game with Deadwood's Chinese, thinks he's a fool. Hearst wants only gold, and is completely unwilling to compromise, bend, or negotiate an inch beyond just getting what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. It's not subtle, but the way he hammers a hole through his own wall because he wants "a veranda" is an illustration of his character, the way he has all of Al's directness with none of his craft of grace, and true to his accusation of Al in the prior episode, that makes him dangerous.
Hearst has never been as frightening in the series as he is here, and you can see that in how he behaves around others. The biggest testament to it is the way that kind-hearted, soft-spoken Elsworth goes off on him when face-to-face with the monster, putting the metaphorical blood on his hands for those who've died in his mines. You see it the horrifying scene where he does not so much as touch Alma, but is shot and framed in such a way that he feels like the Alien lurking ever closer to Ripley. Only Hearst is not a beast, he is a force who aims to turn the whole world into his lapdogs, whether it be Cy, Farnum, Alma, or Bullock. Each of them tries to reason with Hearst, to play him or negotiate with him or make him budge a tiny bit toward their desires, and in each instance his rebuke is as harsh as it is effective. Alma is a woman who wishes to be a force, who wants to have her way and make her own decisions and finds herself stymied at every turn, while Hearst is a man who seeks the same, with far less kind or reasonable aims in the process, and yet he has the force of money, his last name, and a heartlessness that allows him to quickly ascend to the top of the Deadwood food chain. We'll see how long this unexpectedly warmer and kinder by comparison Al allows him to stay there.