Written by
Kem Nunn
Directed by
Ed Bianchi
In a series so proliferated with so many
historical characters, Milch and his team have rarely seen fit to place the
more traditional characters that even the casual viewer of the Western would
associate with this oft-studied time period. So when the episode begins with
two young men entering the camp firing their guns and causing a stir, and
introduce themselves to Bullock as ‘Wyatt and that’s my brother Morgan. Earp”,
we’re not entirely sure what to make of it.
But in the typical Deadwood fashion, the writers don’t make the Earp brothers seem
just like they’re there for the sake of attracting a larger audience. At this
point in the historical record, Wyatt Earp was nowhere near the household name
he would become. He’d served as a sheriff in a couple of town, as he relays to
Bullock, and when they arrive by stage, claiming to have been ambushed by road
agents, Swearengen quickly invites them into the Gem. It says something for the
power of Swearengen abilities to decree falsehood that Wyatt is in the room
with him for little more than a minute before he makes it clear: “My opinion,
which may owe to vanity, your tale’s full of shit”, and Wyatt immediately
caves. He says they’ve come to work a timber lease, but this story was more to
build up a reputation. It doesn’t take
much longer than that for Morgan to quickly get on Johnny’s bad side, when he
tries to take an account from Jen as something for false credit. (If Johnny
Burns can tell you’re lying, you’re really
not good at it.)
Wyatt then goes to the Bella Union, and
very quickly manages to earn the attention of Tolliver, who once again sees an
opportunity. He tries to convince Hearst that the best way to get rid of
Bullock would be to arrange to have a gunfight between them. In any other
western (of which, by now, we know Deadwood
is not) this would lead to a confrontation between Bullock and Wyatt. There
seem to be more than a couple of points, particularly when Morgan, meant to buy
tools at the hardware store, and leaves them in the middle of the thoroughfare,
that it seems that Bullock’s usual rage will take over. But later on, he gets a
telegraph verifying the truth of Wyatt’s work history, and he seems to cool
off. In a display of honesty that Bullock could probably reveal to no one else,
not even to Sol or Martha, he reveals one of his truest emotions:
BULLOCK: I took off the badge myself once,
without losing my impulse to beat on certain types.
WYATT EARP: No, that seems never to go.
Even at this stage, the two recognize a
kindred spirit, and though Morgan still seems incline to be more trigger happy,
Wyatt seems determined to carry on with his plans without involving the
sheriff.
Much of this episode involving the
following up of several smaller stories that have been unfolding underneath the
conflict with Hearst. Ever since he bought the livery, it is clear that Steve
is still haunted by what has happened to Hostetler, and is trying in his own
bigoted way to atone. In the previous episode, he offered to let Fields stay in
the livery overnight before he rode off. The next day, in his own bigoted way
he seems to hold a hand out to Fields, offering him a chance for him to work
with him in the livery. When Fields goes off to talk to Aunt Lou about his
failure with Odell, Steve decides that he will try and make it hard for Fields
to leave, first by taking his saddle, and then, after having a discussion with
his horse, by removing a shoe. This being Deadwood,
it goes horribly wrong, and Steve is left in a vegetative state. Fields
finds himself forced to stay on, and initially acts in retribution by throwing
food at the man who tried to kill him last season. But the last time we see him
in this episode, we see him cleaning the man’s face.
Then too, there is the ever changing
relationship between Jane and Joanie. In the previous episode, Joanie brought
Jane into Shaughnessy’s, where in an alcoholic stupor; she made an attempt to
clean her up. This leads to one of the few truly romantic scenes in the entire
series:
JANE: Sponge my fucking tits if that’s
what you do.
JOANIE: It’s nothing like that, Jane
JANE: Well, what’s it like then? I never
had a sister.
JOANIE: I had two. And I slept with both
of them. I don’t know why God left me or if he forgives me when I pray, but I’d
never hurt you Jane, or touch you if you didn’t want.
JANE: I believe that. But I don’t want to
open my eyes. But you can go ahead and fucking kiss me if that’s what you
fucking do.
It is amazing – given one is a broken
prostitute and one is the most foul-mouthed and slovenly character in the
series – that this is one of the most beautiful scenes in the entire show.
In
an act of modesty rare for the series, we only see the two the morning after
their night. Jane seems particularly discomfited – it’s hard to imagine a
situation where she’s not. But the real conflict comes when Shaughnessy
approaches them, and tells he will not appreciate that kind of ‘behavior’ in
his place. He then quotes Romans, which given that the place is the equivalent
of a motel is practically laughable, and Jane reacts by literally telling him
to fuck himself.
I have, for the most part, foregone
discussion of the theatre scenes in Deadwood,
not because they are considered the weakest part of the series, but because
it’s hard to figure out where they fit in with the rest of the story. However,
it must be said that it led to some truly beautiful moments. Throughout the
last few episodes, the company has been waiting for an elderly actor named
Chesterton, who is clearly dying to come see the theater they tend to build.
Langrishe has been trying to deny this the last few episodes, but facing the
inevitable, the company agrees to move him into the theater. On the ‘stage’
that Chesterton (and as it turns out, the viewer) will never see built, the two
men reenact the scene in Gloucester/Edge ‘Dover
Langrishe’s concerns with Chesterton’s
movements, combined with his concerns for the camp, lead him to try an approach
with Hearst. In a more theatrical way then so many of the other cons often
played out in this series, he notes Hearst’s back pain, and goes through a song
and dance offering to alleviate. In a truly brilliant comic scene, he goes
through a song and dance to serve as therapy, and this stratagem seems to work.
Later that night, after Chesterton’s passing, he confides in Al that this might
be a way to handle ‘Leviathan… not via harpoon” And there genuinely seems to be
a moment when Hearst looks upon with genuine respect.
But as we will quickly find out, this is a
fraud. Hearst spends much of the episode being more vicious. The letter that
Bullock wrote is published in the paper. (We now learn Bullock still is not
convinced the plan is a good way, and left the meeting angry and snappish to
Martha. It also explains much of his attitude to the Earps.) The strategy,
however, seems to have gotten to Hearst, and he basically snarls at Merrick later that day. That night, just before the end
of the episode, half a dozens come down the thoroughfare, bearing torches.
Hearst’s muscle has arrived, which leads to Al saying the last line of the
episode (with his own punctuation of course.)
Just before this scene, we see Joanie and
Mose sitting in the Chez Ami, talking about the fact that the theater is about
to come. Joanie asked Mose: “Doesn’t it bother you, watching a dark place light
this?” And Mose – who has been dealing with his own demons ever since his
original sin – says he doesn’t mind “as long as there’s light about to come.”
He might well be referring to the camp and Deadwood
in itself. In a literal sense, ‘light’ has come. In another, there is a
very good chance all the light in the camp, will soon be blotted out.
No comments:
Post a Comment