Deadwood Episode Guide: Suffer The Little Children

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff

Directed by Daniel Minahan

It’s rare in any medium that you get to see a superstar born. But that’s what happens in this episode when you watch Kristen Bell. This episode takes place mere hours after the events in the previous one, and in her scenes as Flora, she completely dominates and elevates the performances of an already impressive cast.

Flora returns to the Bella Union, apparently shaken by the murder that took place when Dan ‘defended her honor’. She manages to convince Joanie so thoroughly in her scene that it’s becoming increasingly clear that Joanie, who has been tasked in turning her out, has begun to be seduced by her instead. Rather than try and sleep with her, she just holds her the entire night. The next morning, when Flora comes out of the room, Joanie actually tries to convince Cy that she needs to be protected. But Tolliver, who has clearly been around the block, is not fooled for a second. Flora then goes into the other whores’ room, and offers two dollars for food. When one of them offers to sell her a knife, she goes: “I got a fucking knife.” And in the next few moments, when one of her tricks comes to see her, she threatens so calmly, you realize she’s done this dozens of times before.

It is an astonishing performance, and is rather ironic that Bell’s charisma worked against Deadwood. Originally, Flora and Miles story had been to play out until the end of the season. However, Bell got cast in Veronica Mars, the work that has become even now, her signature role. The story had to be resolved quicker, and as you’d expect, it ends badly for the brother-sister team. I’m betting, however, that none of the viewers thought it would end this badly.

Flora is smart enough to know that Tolliver is on to her, but her daring makes her decide to rob the Bella Union anyway. She and Miles make an elaborate con of quitting their job, but when Flora goes up to steal from Joanie, things degenerate incredibly fast. The moment Joanie catches Flora, she tells her point blank: “You’re not leaving here alive.” Flora makes a try for it anyway, but Tolliver has caught on, and is determined to make an example of her and Miles. As they try to escape, he sends two thugs into the street to beat them senseless. Even in a town with no law, this gets the attention of the thoroughfare. At this point, we know Swearengen would never do something like this is in public, which may be the key difference between him and Tolliver.

But even after they’ve been beaten to the point of death, the true horror occurs in the next scene. Tolliver calls Joanie and Eddie into the room, where the dying thieves sit. Not content with merely executing them, Tolliver berates them verbally, saving his worse taunts for Miles:

Don’t be fucking passing out youngster. Next tucking breath you draw the smell of fucking sulfur’s liable to be strong in your nose. WHERE IS YOUR FUCKING NOSE, ANYWAY? Fuck it, Miles! Your found guilty of being a cunt. I’m hereby passing judgment for you letting this little bitch push you around and telling you what to do. When you were supposed to be a man and showing her the fucking rules!

He then shoots him. He then berates Flora, who even brain damaged is still trying to grab the gun from him. And then, he tells Joanie to kill Flora herself. She does, and in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the series, she follows by putting the gun under her own chin.

In many ways, this moment of cruelty is Powers Boothe’s finest hour on the series. His next scene is also incredibly powerful in which he goes to Joanie and comes as close as he will ever come on this series to apologizing for his actions, as well as to saying that he loves her. However, it is too late for this part, as Joanie tells him bluntly: “Either kill me or let me go.” Kim Dickens gives her first extraordinary performance on this series. From her inner tenderness for Flora, to her trying to defend her to Cy right up until he kills her, she reveals a prostitute who is far more damaged than any of the worse looking ones at the Gem.

 This series of events is so brilliant that almost makes you forget the larger stories that are still going on. For one thing, the episode opens with Farnum confronting Swearengen in a rare act of bravery, saying that they should murder Alma and Bullock in their sleep so that they can get a hold of the gold claim. Moments later, however, the riders come in firing off guns, bringing with them the vaccine, and even more importantly word that the Indians have signed a treaty and that annexation from the United States seems sure to come. At that moment, Swearengen reveals once again his ability for foresight.  He knows that they are about to be knee-deep in money, and as much as Bullock rubs him the wrong way, he thinks that he can be the perfect front man for the camp with the government. Therefore, as much as he wants the gold claim, he decides to be patient and withhold action.

At the same time, it is clear he has other things on his mind, mostly what has happened to Trixie. He has a frustrated conversation with Jewel, the cripple who sweeps up for him at the Gem, and who despite her simple nature can give as good as she gets, about the whereabouts of Trixie who never came back after the last scene of the episode. He sends Johnny to try and find her, but he has no luck, because Trixie has gone to Doc’s and tried to kill herself with the same laudanum that she worked so hard to free Alma from the last three episodes.  

Brad Dourif delivers a great performance when he discovers Trixie. He tries to encourage her to live again, and find a way to take Alma’s offer to go to New York to look after the child. He also has two superb scenes with Alma, once where he is grateful that she has decided to leave the camp, and once when he tries to persuade about the legitimacy of her offer. It is becoming increasingly clear that he is the conscience of a place that probably denies it has one and the look on his face at the end of the episode when he sees a recovered Trixie slowly walking back to the Gem expresses more than any of Milch’s words.

In this episode, we finally get resolution involving the Garrett claim, which ties up a couple of other storylines. Dan takes Bullock to Ellsworth to assay the claim, and Ellsworth takes the opportunity to thank Dan for not telling Swearengen. They find the gold formation, and Seth finally tells Alma not to sell. With a genuine reason to stay, she now does so (and does so in such a way to put the knife in E.B.’s gut – metaphorically). She finally goes to Trixie, who is recovering from her overdose, and it is to her the Metz girl finally says her first word: “Trixie” Moments later, she officially calls herself Sofia, and its one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the series that this is where we have the breakthrough for the child.

Bullock returns to the Gem and tells Swearengen what has transpired. They have their first truly civil conversation in the series, in which Swearengen puts forth that because of the annexation, it would be best “if they got their boats rowing in the same direction” Bullock is agreeable, as long as the saloonkeeper stays away from Alma. He agrees to, and Bullock actually stops for a shave in the Gem. This movement pretty much sets up détente between the two opposing forces; they’ll have some notable disagreements throughout the show, but from this point on, Al and Bullock will find it  in their interest to work together.

By the way, after Miles and Flora are murdered and disposed of, we find that it is clear that Al was on to what was going on the whole time. When Dan tries to apologize, it becomes obvious, as Al puts it, “that Dan’s dick blinded him”. He probably could have handled it himself had he not been so concerned with bigger issues. Instead, he simply shrugs it off, and asks Johnny to find out what Tolliver paid for disposing of the bodies.

However, the focus on this episode has been all about the two prostitutes. Joanie has decided to try and find a way to break free of Cy in this episode, while Trixie appears to decide to go back to Al.  However, we can definitely tell that are signs that the two will reverse course. Joanie will never quite recover from the seduction and murder of Flora. In the meantime, when Trixie enters the Gem, she looks at the bloodstain that Jewel and Al have been trying with no success to get rid of all episode along, and she just seems more pissed that Jewel is “on her knees at two in the morning” Then she tells the night man to wakes up, and goes into Al’s room. In a mirror of the last scene of the Pilot, she gives him the gold that Alma gave her when she visited, he slaps her, and she undresses and gets into bed with him. Al clearly has respect for Trixie and cares for her in the same way Cy does for Joanie. But he will be able to do what Cy never can: let her go.