Deadwood Episode Guide: The Trial of Jack McCall

5. The Trial of Jack ,McCall

Written by John Belluso

Directed by Ed Bianchi

(Note: From this point on, the ‘Written by’ credit is something of a misnomer, as every script from this point will have written in the style described earlier.)

God, the law, and one’s health. All three ideas are at the center of what we call civilization. All three are noticeably absent from Deadwood In this episode, we get bits and pieces of all three converging around the death of Wild Bill Hickok.

The idea of God in a place like the camp seems very remote. And yet there has been a presence of sort ever since we arrived in Reverend Smith. I have not delved into his character the same way I have dealt with many of the other leads, but now is as good a time as any. Reverend Smith is the figure of God, or at least whatever counts for his representative on Earth. We have seen him presiding over the funerals of the men Hickok shot in the second and third episodes of the show, and now we find him standing over Wild Bill himself.  Reverend Smith is an aberration in Deadwood, a good man trying to do the right thing. The fact that men like Swearengen and his like have ignored him until now is hardly surprising. Most of his encounters have been through Sol and Bullock, and with each succeeding death Bullock has become more irritated. Now, understandably infuriated at the sudden loss of his friend, Bullock has barely any patience to deal with Smith’s understandable desire to lay Wild Bill to rest. And when Smith starts preaching from St. Paul about the purpose of the body, and not knowing God’s plan, it also Bullock can do to refrain from snapping his head off:

“The man is a lunatic. High water he never made much sense, but now he just utters pure gibberish…What part of my part is your part? Is my foot your knee? What about your ear? What the fuck is that?”

There is a certain amount of logic is Bullock’s rant to Sol – Smith is becoming less and less coherent, for reasons that will soon become unavoidably clear. And it’s also true that Bullock is less interesting in hearing the word of God then acting on vengeance – prior to the funeral, he rushes into the freezer they’re keeping McCall, and barely is stopped from choking him to death. But there is a more pertinent reason to Smith’s sermon and Bullock’s reaction to it. Smith is trying, however distorted the message, to conceive of the idea that we must all come together for a common good. Bullock knows in his gut that he has a part to play in that, and is resisting it firmly, because it’s everything he came to Deadwood to get away from.

Of course, he has more reason to be furious at what is going. As the episode begins, people are standing behind to see the decaying form of Hickok, and also to participate in his trial. Swearengen and Tolliver observe this from the balcony with what appears to be disinterest. But Swearengen seems to see a larger problem with this that has seemingly escaped everybody.  He knows that a trial of Hickok’s murderer will bring notoriety to the camp from the U.S. government, which is considering the annexation of South Dakota. If they starting holding trials and enacting their own laws outside of the United States, there’s a far large that every the camp stands for will be buried. This kind of foresight isn’t the kind of thing you’d expect from the murderous man we’ve seen so far, though my guess is, he’d probably say he was protecting his wallet.

After allowing the trial to place in The Gem, he observes it with dispassion, and then calls to speak with the judge, and puts things in very blunt terms. Being Swearengen, he starts out with a bloodthirsty proposition, offering to have three men go into McCall’s cell, and slit his throat. End of problem.  Then, however, he basically puts in a very succinct terms what he has already told Tolliver, basically trying to instruct the judge that it is in the camps interest for McCall to be found not guilty. The judge then offers very pointed instructions to the jury, and within an hour McCall is found innocent.

McCall himself seems even more disconnected than he was when Hickok was alive. He may be either fighting off a hangover, or simply too ignorant to realize the consequence, but throughout the episode, he barely seems aware of what is going on around him. When Bullock bursts into his cell, apparently still full of the bravado from shooting Hickok, he openly taunts him: “You think they know who I am in New York City now?” Then, when the man appointed to defend him comes in, and tries to put together a defense that will barely hold water, he doesn’t seem to understand it at first, and when he’s cross-examined, he barely seems able to keep his story straight. If the fix wasn’t in, there would’ve been no way, he would’ve hung right there.

And even after all this, he still doesn’t seem to get the danger he’s in. Once again, it takes Swearengen (in the only direct exchange they will ever have) to tell him in basic terms that there is a horse outside, and he’d better get the hell out of time before somebody who cares – or him – will put an end to him. He finally gets it, and manages to ride out of town, moments after Bullock and Sol return from Hickok’s funeral.

This brings us to the third major storyline underlying this episode – health. Andy Cramed is still sickening and getting worse and Tolliver’s reaction is basically “out of sight, out of mind.” He gets one of his lackeys to dump Cramed in the woods. Joanie takes this very badly, and in her first burgeoning sign of independence, she leaves the Bella Union to go to Hickok’s funeral. Cy permits this, perhaps realizing that this out of some degree of guilt of his own. However, Doc resurfaces to check on his patient, and he doesn’t take it nearly as well, spitting as Tolliver that if there are more sick people coming, the closest source of vaccine is in Nebraska. Cy reacts to this by asking one of his aides to go and taste ‘Nebraska pussy”, and not tell anyone else why he sent him.

At this juncture, it’s easy enough to assume that Cramed is a doomed man. But after being left in the woods, he is met by a very drunk but still capable Jane, who despite getting frustrated that all the delirious Cramed seems able to say is “I apologize”, never the less goes about the business of treating him. She is sidelined when she witnesses Wild Bill’s funeral from a distance (a symbol that she will never again quite be a part of the camp), but once again, we get a clear demonstration of Jane’s compassion even under the most grievous of circumstances.

A less extreme case of disability is going on back at camp. Alma is going through a case of withdrawal from her laudanum addiction, and she knows that it’s going to make her life hell, which is now doubly difficult since she is caring for Sofia, now that Jane has abandoned her. Farnum can clearly sense her difficulties, and order to try and more easily ply her, goes to Al and very lucidly lays out his plan: considering the widow is coming up a dope addiction, Al will provide a whore, who will bring her opium to keep her high. Even Swearengen admits this is well thought out. Farnum is clearly far more clever than he looks, and in a marvelous monologue, elucidates that he knows exactly why Al wants him to buy back the claim, why he thinks he entitled to a piece, and just how badly used he feels by Swearengen in general. Sanderson gives a delivery so marvelous, you’d have a hard time believing how terrified was about giving exactly these kinds of speeches.

Indicating the level of trust he has in her, Al sends Trixie to run this particular errand.  This is the first formal meeting between the two, and it’s rather remarkable how well it plays out. Understandably, there’s some awkwardness in the beginning, but some of the buried compassion that we saw in the last episode is clearly there. Rather then follow her pimp’s orders, Trixie goes to Doc, and tries to get her an herbal remedy that will help Alma’s withdrawal a bit easier. The fact that both Doc and Trixie are trying to help Alma stay in camp seems to come as a surprise even to them, considering both think it would be better for her to leave. Perhaps the common link is Sofia who, though she will never real be developed as a character will represent a symbol of a force of good, perhaps as potential for the future.

But not all omens are good ones. Near the end of the episode, just prior to Seth riding out of camp, Reverend Smith returns to his tent. The second he gets inside, he starts to shake in what appears to be some form of seizure. He clutches his bible as if for salvation, and then collapses half in, half out. In the hustle and bustle of the muddy street, no one takes notice. Justice has not prevailed, and God seems notably absent.