Deadwood Episode Guide: Plague

Written by Malcolm Macrury

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

This episode opens with one of the more shocking sequences we’ve seen so far in this series. Bullock is riding hell for leather, when his horse is struck by an arrow, and he falls to the ground. An Indian emerges and begins to attack him, muttering in an unintelligible dialect. Bullock finally recovers; they struggle for awhile, until Bullock grabs a rock and essentially beats him to death with.

This is a sequence that seems bizarre, and not only because it is one of the few sequences in Deadwood that takes place entirely in a state of nature. I believe the main reason that it occurs, and occurs here, is because it is to symbolize the final death knell of the American Indian and the rise of the frontier, but to demonstrate, in a way, that the final response to Custer’s Last Stand is the price in blood that we paid for it.

Despite the opening scene, the episode is, in a rare case of title exactly describing what happens in the story, about the outbreak of small pox in the camp. Doc Cochran’s prophecy to Tolliver that an outbreak was coming was is true.  It’s been several days since the last episode, and there’s a clear case in the Gem. Worse still, the rider that Tolliver sent to Nebraska never made it, and has returns with the same case that Andy Cramed had. Swearengen’s reaction is to come to the Bella Union with Cochran, clearly pissed that Cy held out on them. He still treads carefully, not nearly using the same rage he would use on Farnum or Trixie, seeing that he views him in a special class, and is treading carefully. When it comes time to figure out what to do next, he pointedly tells Tolliver that he wants his assistance.

And that is the main reason why ‘Plague’ is such a critical episode to Deadwood. Swearengen now sees that, as much as in his interest to keep the town without law, there has to be some meeting of the minds in order for the camp to thrive. This is how civilization begins, says Milch, with a group of people gathering around a table deciding how to handle things. There are a lot of important bits to the meeting, which I will get to momentarily, but the most important symbolically is Swearengen’s decision to tell Johnny before everyone gathers, to buy peaches and pears. The fruit’s purpose, ostensibly, is for everybody to help themselves to it as protection from the disease. But in the world of Deadwood, it will become the real representation of society. Long after the plague has passed, every time the elders of Deadwood gather together, the peaches will be on the table.

The elders are Swearengen, Tolliver, Farnum, Sol Starr, Cochran, Tom Nutall, and perhaps the most important figure on the series I have not mentioned yet: A.W. Merrick, the editor and head journalist for the Deadwood Pioneer, the town newspaper. Merrick has been present so far through the series so far, but he mainly seems to figure of bluster and comic relief. He was asking question of Hickok and Bullock about the two men they killed, he gathered at the funerals, often interrupting them with violent sneezes, and his desire to gather information usually seemed to be that of a gadfly. But in the last two episodes, he’s come to symbolize more than that. In the previous episode, he was the main force responsible for assembling the trial of Jack McCall, he was noticeably angered when McCall was turned loose, and he reported to Bullock that McCall had been acquitted, no doubt aware of the consequences.

It is here, however, that Merrick becomes important. Knowing that controlling information is critical to how the camp reacts to the small pox, Swearengen actively seizes on Merrick to try and put forth information about where the victims are being cared for, that riders for the vaccine are out providing, and that there is reason for optimism. Half the elders’ gathers around the printing press, as Merrick dictates what is to come in the story, and they generally help with the editing process, right up until it goes to print. One of the more amusing moments in the entire series comes near the end sequence, where Swearengen reads the article to Dan, and proudly points out the phrases that he helped add to it. Swearengen himself talks to Dan with a pride that the series rarely lets us see, as well as certain regret. “Different path taken at certain forks in the road, who knows what kind of fucking joint we’d be in now,” he says, and given how well Swearengen handles every aspect of the plague, one can actually see why he could have been a great man. Of course, Dan immediately undercuts by asking why the paper couldn’t have had any news about the baseball season (death is all around, and he just wants to know how the White Sox are doing).

Swearengen even expresses a rare amount of admiration for Tolliver when he learns that Cy has bought some territory in the celestial part of town, both publicly and privately, because it seems to indicate a level of foresight for the camp.  He also avoids berating Cy at the meeting for not reporting the earlier case, something which Tolliver thanks him for later. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that Swearengen and Tolliver have very different views on what the future might hold. There are a couple of critical examples in this episode, but I think the clearest one comes in their treatment of the prostitutes that are in their employ. After Dolly, the whore who was trying to have sex with the patient in the Gem, runs into another room and starts crying, Swearengen comes in, and very calmly and patiently finds out what’s wrong (her mother died of small pox) points out that she didn’t do anything that might have led to her catching it, and tells her to ‘stick to handjobs for the next couple of days.” From what we’ve seen of Swearengen so far, this is a ridiculous amount of compassion.

In clear contrast, Tolliver storms back to the Bella Union after the elders meeting dresses down Eddie when he gets a little too smart, and then goes into the background where Joanie is in a brown study. Its clear that they have a history together (there are references to their place in the river), but rather than try and cheer her up, he basically says that the free rides over, that she has a job to do, and then while he gives her a caress, he follows up by saying he doesn’t want to touch her any different.  We’re beginning to see that there something destructive in Tolliver, and he does the most damage to those he claims to care about.

The plagues also ropes in two characters there are more on the fringe. Reverend Smith is invited to the meeting, but halfway through, he suffers another seizure. Swearengen’s seems to be concerned (he mentions his brother suffered from epilepsy), but when Doc finishes the checkup of him, it seems to indicate that their have been similar events in the past. Nevertheless, Smith tells Doc that he wants to care for the patients in the plague tent. Another person that this involves is Calamity Jane, who returns to the camp, still drunk but coherent enough to know what is happening. Doc finds himself trying to get her the help, something she is very reluctant to do, as she is in a combination of intoxication and mourning. But she finds the inner strength to go to the tents and treat the sick (something the actual Calamity Jane did in real life)

So much of what is going is centered on setting up the beginnings of civilization that very little time is spent on the other major stories from the last episode. Bullock’s tussle with the Indians leads to him encountering Charlie Utter. Charlie heard news that Wild Bill was dead, and was riding back to camp from Cheyenne, hoping it wouldn’t be true, but not surprised that it was. He ends up expressing his fury when Bullock insists on stopping his pursuit to laying the Indian who killed him to rest. Dayton Callie is magnificent in the short scene.

As for the continuing saga of Swearengen trying to get the claim back from Alma, it is becoming increasingly clear to Farnum that Trixie has not been following her orders and giving Alma dope. Indeed, she is clearly going through withdrawal, and it isn’t pretty. Al brings Trixie back with the order to make sure she takes the dope this time, but Trixie, who has very clearly learned from her pimp, manages to convince Alma to feign symptoms in order to fool Farnum. This leads to one of the more touching scenes in the series, when Jane comes back to the hotel to check on Sofia, and finds her able to call her by name. Jane and Trixie speak perfectly civilly to each other; Jane thanks Alma, and tells Sofia: “I’ll keep your image in my mind when I’m treating” the ones who are sick. It’s actually a moment of peace; one that the viewers know will not last for long.