S05.E04: Struck

[Bort]

Cullen solves a Chinese labor strike in the wake of violence. Meanwhile, Durant pulls Mickey deeper into Union Pacific business.

[SlovakPrincess]

So many questions .... like, what the hell is on that woman's chin?  

 

And ... did I just watch one prostitute pull a misplaced ring out of the va-jay-jay of another prostitute?  And not wash her hands afterwards?

 

This is what happens when I'm bored and I try to get into a new show.   I recognized Colm Meaney, and then I just got terribly confused.

Edited August 9, 2015 by SlovakPrincess

[TV Anonymous]

So Durant and Union Pacific is now in Laramie? Does that mean that they moved westward from Cheyenne and therefore we will not see (Provincial) Governor Campbell again? As well, why is Louise in Laramie following UP operations? Would stay in the territory capital not better for her in terms of news?

[NorthstarATL]

So many questions .... like, what the hell is on that woman's chin?  

 

And ... did I just watch one prostitute pull a misplaced ring out of the va-jay-jay of another prostitute?  And not wash her hands afterwards?

 

This is what happens when I'm bored and I try to get into a new show.   I recognized Colm Meaney, and then I just got terribly confused.

Eva's chin was tattooed by the Indian tribe that had captured her and is part of the reason why she was never able to be in a "respectable" line of work as an adult. Sanitary conditions don't seem to have been as strict back in the day.

  I liked this ep a lot. We finally checked in on the rest of the cast, and I liked the introduction to Mary. Like Mei, she's livig outside of the usual role for women, but, unlike Mei, is not pretending to be a man in order to pull it off.

  Labor relations was a nce connection between the various story lines. Chang got his revenge, but using the other workers, and putting them in jeopardy, in order to extract more from the railroad showed that he is still bottom line out for his own gain and not necessarily about change that benefitted anyone else.

 

As well, why is Louise in Laramie following UP operations? Would stay in the territory capital not better for her in terms of news?

They've never really known what to do with her, and that doesn't seem to have changed. It could be worse. She could be writing about the Mormons, and we'd be saddled with more Swede.

[JWalker]

Louise is a newspaper reporter. Shes covering the building of the railroad. So it makes perfect sense that she is no longer in Cheyenne. As far as Campbell is concerned I suspect weve seen the last of him perhaps.

[nodorothyparker]

There was a lot going on with this episode switching back and forth between all the storylines but it flowed pretty well as it addressed labor issues on both sides and made for a much stronger episode thematically than we've seen this season so far.  

 

It was nice to see all the old faces of the UP again even if I could have done without Eva's do it yourself home gynecology and I continue to want to see Johnny Shea beaten with a railroad tie.  Repeatedly.  To the head.   I can't remember for certain, but I think Louise left things with Campbell on a kind of sour note.  Throw in the railroad continuing to move west and that she was out buying pennyroyal likely for ye olde abortion and it makes sense she would have gone on with everybody else.  I quite like Stagecoach Mary but wish she'd been introduced earlier in the series so she could have been more integrated into the story when it would have mattered.

 

I still have no idea what the point of the Mormon/Swede scenes was and still don't care.  Chang continued to prove that he doesn't really care about his workers except what he can exploit out of them. While he certainly had a right to be angry about the violence directed at him and to want some kind of acknowledgement of that, he was willing to let thousands of his own people go hungry to try to force a gain that would really only benefit him.  Cullen and Tao's workaround was a good one and looks like the beginning of breaking Chang's power in a way that will be good for the railroad and hopefully for the workers as well.

Edited August 9, 2015 by nodorothyparker

[JWalker]

I do miss the "Old Cullen" at times. Makes me wonder how he will deal with the Swede when the time comes. I guess they have to get him all "spit and polished" for that Mormon wife of his.

[Ohwell]

Well now, this episode was much better than the previous ones this season.  It was nice to see the old gang back in Wyoming again.  I want the Dead Rabbit guy to get ground up in some of the railroad machinery. 

 

One of my ongoing complaints about westerns is that you rarely see black women.  It's like they never existed and they only show Indian and white women.  So it's nice to see Stagecoach Mary and I hope there will be a relationship between her and Psalms.  I have a feeling that she's collected a pocket full of teeth in her travails. 

 

I just don't like Louise and I got just as ticked off as Psalms when she interrupted him sweetalking Mary.  She could have waited for a more appropriate time to ask Mary questions.

[riverheightsnancy]

Digging Mary, though it sucks to have a new (interesting) female character so late in the series. Yup, definitely got a vibe between her and Psalms. Mickey's cousin is really a SOB isn't he? That whole family is a bunch of sick fucks.  The other brother who Mickey killed was weird and stalked Ruth, they have shown Mickey to be a little off with Eva during that one scene (and slightly out of character, but they showed it so we have to accept it), and now this guy is really sick. Leaving that eye gouge thing inside a woman is one step from psychosexual serial killer. Seems like the meeting of the two sides will be coming to a head in the upcoming short weeks. 

[ennui]

Well now, this episode was much better than the previous ones this season.  It was nice to see the old gang back in Wyoming again.  I want the Dead Rabbit guy to get ground up in some of the railroad machinery. 

 

One of my ongoing complaints about westerns is that you rarely see black women.  It's like they never existed and they only show Indian and white women.  So it's nice to see Stagecoach Mary and I hope there will be a relationship between her and Psalms.  I have a feeling that she's collected a pocket full of teeth in her travails. 

 

I just don't like Louise and I got just as ticked off as Psalms when she interrupted him sweetalking Mary.  She could have waited for a more appropriate time to ask Mary questions.

I got the impression that Stagecoach Mary might like both Louise and Psalms. However, when she knocked out Dead Rabbit's tooth, I figured he would come after her, so I don't expect to see her around for long.

[JWalker]

I never was quite sure what went down in Boston between Mickey and Shawn. I got impression Mickey killed Shawn because he was about to tell Ruth something he didn't want Shawn to tell. Yes they have added some new interesting characters this season. It remains to be seen how long they get to stay around.

[dohe]

Louise is a newspaper reporter. Shes covering the building of the railroad. So it makes perfect sense that she is no longer in Cheyenne. As far as Campbell is concerned I suspect weve seen the last of him perhaps.

Is he really gone?  Talk about too little too late.  I stopped watching due to the reparative therapy type storyline when he cured Louise of being a lesbian.  Can't believe that Swede is still on the show.  

Edited August 9, 2015 by dohe

[femmefan1946]

. Leaving that eye gouge thing inside a woman is one step from psychosexual serial killer.

 

What was that thing? And dare I ask how it might have got inside her?

[Human]

It was the eye gouge thing.  He wears it on his finger like a fingernail and he uses it to gouge out eyes.  I figure it got inside her because he was an asshole and wore it performing digital stimulation of the vagina and it slipped off and he decided not to tell before proceeding to ram it against her cervix multiple times during intercourse.  

[Ohwell]

. Leaving that eye gouge thing inside a woman is one step from psychosexual serial killer.

 

What was that thing? And dare I ask how it might have got inside her?

Honestly, I don't even want to know what that thing was or how it got there.  That whole scene just made me shutter.

 

 

 

I got the impression that Stagecoach Mary might like both Louise and Psalms. However, when she knocked out Dead Rabbit's tooth, I figured he would come after her, so I don't expect to see her around for long.

Even if Louise thought that Mary played both teams, it was still rude of her to interrupt Mary and Psalms.  And just because Mary is rough and tough and knocked the fuck out of the Dead Rabbit, that doesn't necessarily make her a lesbian; it just shows that a woman without a man to protect her had to be pretty tough in those days.  I do agree that the guy hasn't forgotten and there's some trouble in store for Mary.  The worst outcome would be if Psalms gets involved and gets killed. *sniff*

[Human]

I think the reason it's suspected that Mary might find Louise attractive is due to the way Mary commented on Louise's hair not on how she was performing traditionally male/masculine roles.  

[Ohwell]

Doesn't matter.  Louise was still rude.

[Human]

I don't think anyone has disagreed with this?  

[riverheightsnancy]

I never was quite sure what went down in Boston between Mickey and Shawn. I got impression Mickey killed Shawn because he was about to tell Ruth something he didn't want Shawn to tell. Yes they have added some new interesting characters this season. It remains to be seen how long they get to stay around.

I cannot quite remember, but I believe it was alluded to that Mickey helped Shawn cover up a murder or rape of a women back in Boston because Mickey said something about "not again", but my memory may be a little fuzzy. I think that they also left Boston because of these "issues".  think that was back in season 1 or 2. Back then, Mickey seemed like the rational one, but then there was the scene with feeding the dead guy to the pigs and what he did with Eva, took away all thoughts or him being normal. I remember posters on the board being taken aback by the Eva thing because he always seemed halfway decent, but that scene "seemed" to come out of nowhere. 

[Ohwell]

I don't think anyone has disagreed with this?  

I never said anyone did.

[riverheightsnancy]

It was the eye gouge thing.  He wears it on his finger like a fingernail and he uses it to gouge out eyes.  I figure it got inside her because he was an asshole and wore it performing digital stimulation of the vagina and it slipped off and he decided not to tell before proceeding to ram it against her cervix multiple times during intercourse.  

That must have been so painful. Eva really has no issue with doing these medical things. She really has the stomach for being a nurse, The depictions of how they handled infectious materials shows why so many women would die in childbirth during these times periods. A doctor would be doing and autopsy/surgery and come to help a laboring woman and would not wash their hands. It is amazing how much medicine changed by learning about things like "germs". 

[BusyOctober]

This show isn't "must see TV" for any more so I finally got around to watching it this morning.  Since I'm not fully paying attention every week, I had a couple of questions:

Is Louise an addict now?  What was with the longing looks outside the apothecary shop?  She left the store with "something" as well. 

 

Were the guns packed in rice supposed to be the Swede's guns/rice?  Or is that just how all the gun smugglers pack their crates?

 

I did like the addition of Mary, but with this show's track record for interesting female characters, I"m not holding out much hope.  Good to see the old Cheyenne now Laramie gang again. Hi Psalms!   I'm happy Eva got a new dress but sad she's still tending to whores.  The stereotypical Irish thug cousin can fall down a well anytime, thanks.  I'm over him and his grossness.

[Human]

 

Is Louise an addict now?  What was with the longing looks outside the apothecary shop?  She left the store with "something" as well. 

 

 

She was looking at pennyroyal so she's likely pregnant and wanting to terminate.  

[BusyOctober]

thanks Human!  I was hoping we wouldn't have to see her strung out or moving into the whorehouse to support her habit.

[JWalker]

I was under the impression that Louise was supposed to be a Lesbian. It didn't make much sense for her to get that involved with Campbell even if Cullen asked her to.

[dohe]

I was under the impression that Louise was supposed to be a Lesbian. It didn't make much sense for her to get that involved with Campbell even if Cullen asked her to.

In keeping with tv lesbian tradition, she was either going to become attracted to a guy or die to push a straight person's plot forward.  They went for the former plotline. 

Edited August 11, 2015 by dohe

[ennui]

Were the guns packed in rice supposed to be the Swede's guns/rice?  Or is that just how all the gun smugglers pack their crates?

Maybe they were packed in rice to absorb moisture, kind of like when you drop your cell phone in the sink.

[Ottis]

Something has happened to this show. It has become "Cullen Bohannan: Medicine Woman." i can't pinpoint why exactly. My wife used to watch Dr. Quinn and I would sit in for bits and pieces. HoW now feels exactly like Dr. Q, when it didn't before.