Comments below for fans.
I’m freaked out. it’s hard to talk after that episode. The crudeness and cruel pain of 19th century medicine is relieved only by the doc’s incredible abilities and persistence. (If Brad Douraf doesn’t win an Emmy this time ’round….)
Then there is Alma’s broken heart in a place, and a time, where there is nowhere for her to seek solace or a friendly ear. Alma lashes out at the governess only because there is nowhere else for her pain and anger to be unleashed and only then, at that, behind closed doors. The governess, hampered to begin with by a stifled personality, listens only because she must be polite to her employer. The child cannot understand. And Seth’s pantomime as a sheriff — indifferent to his regular duties — and as a husband and father, rather perfunctorily, make her pain even more searing.
Booman, I had many interruptions and will watch the episode again. I always do because it’s too easy to miss dialogue the first tmie ’round, and i get so much more out of 2nd and 3rd viewings. But I don’t understand the con going on with Joanie and the new madame and Hearst’s representative. Or is the con with Sy’s new bed mate?
I’m not sure we’re supposed to know. Some things are shrouded in mystery. But Sy is clearly being set-up.
I worry about Al. Losing him would be like losing Tony Soprano. Al must perservere.
It appears they are trying to buy up all the mining claims by causing a panic about the claims being rendered worthless.
A nice scam, and probably one used by some of today’s largest mining companies back in the day.
Al won’t die — he can’t! — and the previews hinted he may have to rise soon from his sickbed.
I wonder what role the Yankton bigshots — in the new So. Dakota state government — are playing in this scam. And we recall Al finding out that Seth has influence, reportedly, with the powerful. Perhaps Seth will rise up to save the encampment’s claims and, most particularly, the claim of his love, Alma.
can go fuck themselves. But we do know that they beat out Montana (where’s Ed in Montana?) and kept Deadwood as part of their territory.
those Yankee’s representative, now working for Al.
Al’s gonna have to take that guy out.
did anyone learn a thing from the reference to hoopleheads tonight? I didn’t.
Me either … No clue yet what hoopleheads are.
P.S. Is that rainbow trout some too-obvious kind of symbol, or just a dinner?
is a slur on the swedish… Was Montana settled by the Swedes?
Sy is thwarted in his buyups of claims, by Al, and his nemesis (Alma) after he recovers.
Alma will be shown as Al’s nemesis during these times Her Holdings will increase, and even compete with Hearst’s backdoor buyouts.
Seth will first sink lower, but a higher standard, he shared with Hickok, will prevail. He will in the long run side with Al.
The only TV I watch are The Daily Show and CSPAN.
that this will be an indulgence of Susan and mine until the season is over.
But Deadwood is probably in the top 5 dramas ever put on a television set. So, my advice is to break down and get HBO.
It is great drama. It is David Milch unfettered by network demands and censors, given great artistic license and the ability to hire the best actors out there — particularly gifted character actors.
Most of HBO’s own movies are better than any theater release. And so are their series. Their documentaries are also exceptional and their funding of documentaries has helped pave the way for the explosion of good documentaries we see more often now.
At the end of last week’s episode, when Seth returned to his new family, Martha mentioned the “bundling board.” When she told him she had removed it, she asked him if that was all right to do. He said yes.
Presumably, this will be a marriage not only for convenience. I predict a showdown between the sheriff’s two women. Or is that too soap operatic?
Two things I don’t understand about Woolcott(?): What authority does he have to overturn the claims of the residents? Also, is he supposed to be a sexual sadist?
Is Sy worried about more than just losing business?
Who is Jewel, the crippled maid, to Al? There’s a mysterious connection there.
This thread is a welcome relief from all the diaries about Terri Schiavo over at Kos.
Deadwood is on Indian treaty land. So, all the claims could be voided if SD becomes a state.
So, they are spreading rumors that this is going to happen in order to buy up all the panicked sellers of claims, who would rather get something than nothing.
I get it now. This program is fascinating!
Thanks for answering.
BTW, Trixie seems to be a one dimensional character this season, unlike the last, when she was more involved. She smokes and drinks and curses.And not much else.
I wonder how they’re going to work Jane in this time.
Something may happen re Seth. Did you notice who she had her rifle pointed at last week? That, and her comments re Seth this week. It’s hard for a woman like Trixie to be anything but what she is. “I don’t want what I can’t have.”
lots of things are driving her anger. Some of the characters feel a little off because obviously a bit of time passed from last season to the first. I felt a little discombobulated during that first episode. Lots of “WTF is going on”, moments, and “why is she so pissed at Seth?”. Obviously things happened and we may or may not find out what they were.
My only itsy complaint is with the female characters on the show; there doesn’t seem to be as much thought put into what drives them, whereas, even if you’re not sure what’s driving the men, you know something is.
Exception: Jane. And that Finn wanted to suck her…you know. 🙂
The same spot he had for the sick preacher. If anyone could kill someone with compassion, that is exactly what Al did at the end of last season to the poor preacher. Topical, no? Jane and Trixie’s talk confirmed that Jewel is also a soft spot for him. He’s just trying to protect him in his own f*cked up way is what Trixie said.
Why I love Al-beauty and beast all rolled into one.
For Seth’s wife, I can see that she wants to seal this marriage as a way of protecting her son, and probably herself. Not enough info yet to go on for her, but I predict she will be with child eventually and Alma will lose it.
I just realized this is from Sunday and thus I am talking to myself. Ahhh, well. I’ll try to make it back next week.
ratings on this site are handed out sparingly. Is it because of the newness, a higher paradigm, or you ain’t handing them out, so I won’t, or are people just caring less about it.
I’m not addicted yet but the latest issue of Vanity Fair
has a report on Deadwood with full-page portraits of all the main characters, all looking dark and eeeeviiil.
Watched the show only once and I couldn’t believe my eyes
and ears but now I am intrigued.
catch you later after I read up on it.
is some history professor at Univ. South Dakota who is, like, the world’s greatest authority on the development of the territory and it’s incorporation into the union…and get him to blog with us after the show each Sunday.
Now, that would rock!
because I don’t want them to color my initial thoughts on the show. Am I addicted? I watch the show practically every time it’s on, so yes, I’m addicted. I’ll be taping (no Tivo yet) the triple episodes airing on Friday night, so I have them for the off season.
Living on the left coast allows me to watch it at 6pm and again at 9pm. The second show is watched with closed captioning along with the sound so I can catch things I might have missed the first time around. Also, my alter egos, Dread & Smee do their take on “Deadwood” Fridays during the Dread & Smee Show diary. If “Deadwood” is something you’re dead (wood) serious about, don’t read it; they can be somewhat irreverent towards some of the characters. They also do a WTF does that mean?”. Last week it was “gleets” and “bundling board” with links and definitions. Right now what has them puzzled is Trixie’s “Next leap of the creature, they’ll be here.” WTF?
I love Brad Dourif as Doc – the acting on this show is usually superb, but Brad shines in every episode for me. I get cranky if he doesn’t get what I consider to be sufficient screen time. And to think, based on the first show, I thought he’d be another Al flunkie. Couldn’t have been more wrong and glad about it.
Al out of it – I hope this is a setup for an amazing storyline, because the most interesting character on the sidelines is a little drag, IMHO. There’s bound to be some ‘splainin to do when Al finds out what’s been going on while he was laid up. E.B. better watch his ass-both cheeks.
I wish I had the compassion for Alma that you display. I’ve never cared much for her character. Sometimes I like her, then she does or says something and I don’t like her, which is most of the time. I think her tossing E.B. out on his ass might be fun for the whole family; Alma is right, he will flounder without his hotel. Unfortunately, the Seth/Alma storyline holds no interest for me, and I usually love a good romance, even the thwarted kind. Missed the stagecoach on that one, I guess.
I think about this show waaaaay too much.