Deadwood Episode 2

[BreakfastBurrito]

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I think Alma left Bullock as the executor, and Sophia as the sole heir. Ellsworth and Hearst have problems going way back

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I don't remember those problems. Can you elaborate?


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In season 2, Ellsworth sees Wolcott surveying his jobsite, and threateningly approaches him, exposing his holstered gun. I don't remember the exact details of the situation, but the basics are Ellsworth was once a foreman or superintendent or something of the like at a Hearst claim, and he recognizes Wolcott as a Hearst geologist. There was an incident in which Ellsworth acted heroically to save a number of trapped miners, although several dozen were sent to their deaths, unnecessarily in Ellsworth's mind and with blame directed at Hearst's greed and resulting operating practices.

This may be a little off.

[youtalkfunny]

OK, I've had 24 hours to digest this episode, and I've only managed to confuse myself further (and to think, I'm usually the guy calmly explaining the developments to the hoopleheads who can't keep up).

--Hearst didn't kill Al. But he went ahead and hammered him, anyway. Is he trying to intimidate Al Swearengen??? That makes absolutely no sense to me at all. How can anyone who's known Al for more than five minutes, believe that Al could be intimidated? It seems to me, you either make friends with Al, or kill him--there's no third choice. How can a smart guy like Hearst not see that?

--"We'll have to sever our connection. You understand that." That's George Hearst, who is shocked--shocked!!--to discover that Walcott is a blood-thirsty murderer. We certainly can't have such a person working in our fine organization. Oh, and by the way, have Cornishmen killed in the Gem, just to make a point. And let's send a few more boys into Swearengen's ambush. But first, let's pit Wu vs Lee in a battle to the death.

--Prediction: Ellsworth is going to kill somebody. I don't know whom, or when, but ol' Ellsworth is gonna snap, and it won't be pretty.

[Hoya]

What exactly was the point of the letter with the Xs? I get what it meant, but why did Hearst send it to Al? As an offering so Al could kill the guys? Why were they going to stage an argument - what exactly would have happened if Al didn't intervene?

[Hoya]

Nobody?

[Performify]

The two guys at the bar were starting a fight with Al - one ordered a beer, the other ordered a whiskey while Al was preparing to get him the beer. Whichever wasn't immediately served would have pretended offense and would have engaged in a fight, the purpose of which being to kill Al. The two guys at the table were there for backup.

The map was drawn for Al so that, if he were clever enough, he could recognize what was going on and pre-emptively attack Hearst's men. Which is what happened. In the hands of a lesser man, the note wouldn't have been decrypted, which would have led to the fight taking place as planned, which would have also served Hearst's purpose as it would have resulted in Al's death.

It was a peace offering from Hearst, a way of reparations for the offense (killing the Cornish in Al's bar) that Al had told Hearst needed to be remediated so that the elections could commence.

But it was also a test, in that if Al wasn't smart enough to figure it out, Hearst would have had him killed.

[Miamipuck]

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What exactly was the point of the letter with the Xs? I get what it meant, but why did Hearst send it to Al? As an offering so Al could kill the guys? Why were they going to stage an argument - what exactly would have happened if Al didn't intervene?

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If you remember last week where Al basically said he will turn the clock back on the camp and stop the elections etc. etc. because, " There will be no killings in the Gem that I ain't approved" or words to that effect. Al then basically told Hearst this will happen and he will be a thorn in his side if he is not appeased. This was Hearst appeasing AL and enabling him to get AL to his varanda where he gave AL the hammer.

Basically it was Hearst's way of playing chess with Al. Also he might have done this to see how intelligent Al was, to see if he can figure out the clue.......... To see how big an adversay he can really be.

Sorry I did not see performity's post. I was probably typing mine while he posted his. lol

[Miamipuck]

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--"We'll have to sever our connection. You understand that." That's George Hearst, who is shocked--shocked!!--to discover that Walcott is a blood-thirsty murderer. We certainly can't have such a person working in our fine organization. Oh, and by the way, have Cornishmen killed in the Gem, just to make a point. And let's send a few more boys into Swearengen's ambush. But first, let's pit Wu vs Lee in a battle to the death.


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I think it is pretty clear that Hearst is all about the "color". The distinction between Wolcott and killing the cornishmen is they were both done in the name of having the color run. Wolcott killing women in the camp would have most likely resulted in some delays or crimp in his gold mining. If it was in the middle of Mexico where no one really cared I think hearst would not have bothered. Plus he realized that Cy was going to use it for his own gain had Hearst continued with Wolcott in his employ. So he had to cut the connection.

The Cornish I am sure you can see, would have hampered his business if they unionized. So they had to go.

Wu(the funniest secondary character) killing the San Francisco C.S. was just a sacrifice to the camp much the same as Wolcott. The SFCS (sorry I love when Wu says this) was also killing prostitutes, albeit from neglect, which was pointed out by Al. Also I think it was just an appeasement by Hearst to keep the camp happy and out of his way sort of speak.


BTW after watching the whole episode, if these two are any indication this season is going to be one of the best seasons of any show ever!

[MurphAK60]

Totally agree with Miamipuck..this season looks like it could be a blockbuster. Nice - again - to have a show like this in comparison to the drivel we've been getting from the Sopranos and other nameless series.

A few notes:

1. Nice to see Milch not lose sight of the chemistry that Utter and Stubbs have together. I thought that was done well last seeason and I was impressed with the scene they shared together this week (see holding of hand).

2. Yet more comic genius as seen both by the individual and dual scenes involving Farnham & Richardson. "Uh oh!", the ointment and Farnham's speech were priceless this week.

3. Nice to see Rick Simon - err, Gerald McRaney - back in a role that suits his gift. What a pleasure to watch the chess match between Hearst and Swearingen. Can't wait for more this weekend? The dialogue of this show just continues to amaze me, it's brilliant. The scene with Al/Hearst/Captain Turner on the veranda was one of the best ever.

Thank you to David Milch for giving us this outstanding series...the best on TV in my opinion.

As an aside, anyone own the season DVD's? Good extra stuff?

[MattSuspect]

Allegedly this is the last season. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] They didn't contract with the cast for a 4th.

[Ser William]

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Allegedly this is the last season. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] They didn't contract with the cast for a 4th.

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This is the last season. There will be two 2-hour movies next year to wrap everything up.