Deadwood Episode Guide: I Am Not The Fine Man You Take Me For

Written by David Milch & Regina Corrado

Directed by Dan Attias

The episode begins with a drunk mounting the hustings that were laid for the night’s speeches, uttering the title phrase, and preceding to lament his utter failure in Deadwood. We clearly see him disturb Al’s sleep, and then the man stumbles off the stage, and breaks his neck. The next morning, Al, Dan and Johnny come to investigate, and find themselves unable to successfully eliminate the idea that Hearst had it done. The idea that things just happen is hard for these men to accept, and it also illustrates just how thoroughly Hearst is beginning to take command of events.

In the early morning, Turner comes with a crude drawing of Hearst’s that would seem to illustrate the bar, and that something very dire is about to happen. Dan and Johnny get increasingly agitated, and Dan asks a question that has surely begun to pervade the mind of the viewer as well:

DAN: If we know Hearst is coming, boss, why the fuck don’t we strike first?

AL: From the moment we leave the forest, Dan, it’s all a giving up and adjusting.

Al knows that a larger force has invaded the camp, and is trying his best to outmaneuver it. He still believes that Hearst can be dealt with, and is still trying to act as a force of restraint. So when several of Hearst’s pistoleros come into the Gem, and position themselves exactly where they were in the drawing, Al thinks he has outmaneuvering them when he and Johnny kill two, and send the other two back with a message to Hearst that the speeches are back on. Dan and Johnny clearly think that they have to, but then Turner returns with the message to Al: “Come watch the speeches with me on my veranda.”

By now, Hearst has torn a hole in the side of Farnum’s hotel, a balcony meant to mirror the ones on the Gem and the Bella Union. At this point, Al still seems to think he can handle Hearst as an equal, and when Merrick appears asking Al what the hell is going on, he refuses to tell him, despite Merrick’s own entreaties:

MERRICK: Are we at war now here in the camp? Has that fact been suppressed as well? Absent formal declaration, Al, information which affects this community is not my prerogative to disseminate: to do so is my sacred duty.

AL: Whores currently disseminating a dose for example?

MERRICK: To inform within decency’s limits. We’ve had this discussion before.

AL: Citizens better die postulating that touch indecent ink

MERRICK: Make a list of the infected whores and account for this morning’s gunfire and I’ll publish it all.

Al: I won’t, fucking Merrick, because neither’s to my fucking interest, just as you owning a printing press proves that you’ve an interest in the truth, meaning up to a fucking point – slightly more than the rest of us, maybe, but short of a fucking anointing or the shouldering of a sacred burden, unless of course the print press was the gift of an angel.

Al knows that Merrick can be valuable to this extent – he has used him in the past, and will continue to do so – he throws him the bone of scheduling the speeches that night. But even now, it doesn’t seem clear whether he views what a danger Hearst is.

Most of the rest of the camp is still dealing with their own messes, and Alma’s is particularly dire. Doc has now evaluated that her pregnancy is now to dangerous to continue, and must be terminated. Alma makes preparation to act in case of the unthinkable – she calls Trixie to witness her formally bequeathing everything to Sofia, and when Ellsworth tells her that Bullock needs to be here to hear this, she acquiesces, and goes into great detail as to how to protect Hearst from getting a hold of her claim if should pass into Sofia’s hands. This is a painful moment for both of them, and Alma takes as much weight as she can off Seth by saying that she regrets nothing. Seth clearly does, and goes to Charlie and asks him to stand watch as Doc performs the procedure. He then comes as close as he can to confiding to Martha his sins, and she comes as close as she can to forgiving him. This is a critical point to the show; up until now, Seth has shown a sense of duty to Martha, and treats Alma with passion and as a confidante. From this point forward, the reverse will be true.

Joanie is still trying to recover from why she put a gun to her head the previous day, and can’t shake her attachment to Cy. She seems to be finding a way to detach herself, when Lila begins to overdose, and she spends much of the day trying to tend to her. She later confides in Charlie that she feels at her absolute nadir, and she doesn’t know how to go forward. Charlie brings up the memory of Bill, who clearly had an affect on Joanie in their single meeting – her departure from the Bella Union to go to his funeral was the first real move of her independence.  His comparison of his level of despair despite his affect clearly serves as some kind of inspiration to her; the last time we see her in this episode she offers words of encouragement to Lila.

Tolliver’s faces a ghost of his own, when Andy Cramed returns to the Bella Union. The scene between Tolliver and Cramed is one of the oddest in Deadwood’s history.  Cramed is asking for Tolliver’s forgiveness, and Tolliver seems about to do the same. But then he emerges from his bed, carrying a derringer, claiming ‘the spirit has overtaken him’. Leon then enters the room, and Tolliver turns the gun at him, speaking like a faith healer himself. Cramed remains utterly unflinching, and departs. Tolliver keeps up the act for a few more moments, and then when Con asks him if he wants to see the speeches, he says all right. Was the scene staged? Did he actually intend to kill Cramed? It’s never clear, but Tolliver tries from this point on to resume his role in the camp, even though by this point, he’s nearly as isolated from the elders as Farnum is.

But the major confrontation comes when Al goes to Farnum’s hotel to watch the speeches with Hearst.  Al previously denied the offers of Adams, Dority and Johnny to come to the hotel, saying that ‘they had no reason to be there.’ Hearst and Al go out onto the ‘balcony’ to watch the speeches be made, but we know that the fate of the camp is being decided between these two men. The two manage to have a civil conversation, but Hearst is clearly speaking in the way he clearly sees Al – as a bug to be squashed. He tells Al casual that Turner has a gun to his head, and is far enough away to take him out before Al’s prowess with a knife can serve him. Al admits casually he’s been outplayed, and walks back insider so as not to terrify the onlookers. The scene that follows is terrifying, because it is the first time in Deadwood that Al is being completely outplayed by another man, even though he does his damnedest to stay even:

HEARST: Accepting your premise, Mr. Swearengen, I’ll not name how you would benefit from the action I wish you to take, saying only instead it’s my will, to which I would have you bend. (Indicating a glass) I’d suggest you’d drink that.

AL: No. (Turner produces a hatchet)

HEARST: I would incorporate into my holdings now held by Mrs. Ellsworth. I’m told you can help me bring this about.

Turner knocks down Al with his pistol, Al goes to all fours. Turner pins his hands to the floor.

HEARST: I will incorporate to my holdings the color held now by Mrs. Ellsworth. Tell me how you will help. (He grabs the hatchet) This is a grip I’m used to.

Al, barely conscious, takes this in

AL: Far as making your way into her, act averse to nasty language, and partial to fruity tea.

Hearst then cuts a part of Al’s finger off, which compared to what he is capable of, seems minor. But in doing so, he has effectively taken control of the camp away from Swearengen. All Al can do now is try to maintain the illusion. He leaves the hotel, looking weak, but convinces Bullock just to let him lean on his shoulder, until he can get to the Gem. He then tells his men to stand down, and just let him walk into his saloon, assuming that everything is normal.

But Al has been shaken by this in a way that he is not willing to even admit to himself. He is completely at a loss for the first time since the series has started. And even knowing Hearst’s endgame, there is little that he – or the camp – can do to prevent. All they can do is try to keep capitalism at bay. But as we learned last season, you don’t fuck the future. The future fucks you.