S01.E07: Bullock Returns to the Camp

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

After tracking down a murderer, Bullock returns to Deadwood a changed man--and a marked one--while Utter must pay final respects to a fallen friend. Dority and Stubbs both take special interest when teenagers Miles and Flora Anderson arrive in camp in search of their father, each finding work at a rival saloon; Calamity Jane earns her moniker in the Pest Tent; Swearengen sees through Trixie's latest subterfuge; and Alma remains cold on Farnum's inappropriately advanced bid on her claim.

[Drogo]

Jane and Charlie at Bill's graveside gave me all the feels. "Is it okay if I tell him more tomorrow?" Heck yeah, it's okay, I GARRantee it. 

So the sad lonely teens are looking to rob not only Swearengen but also Tolliver?  The trouble with youth is that it's wasted on the young. Can't wait to see how the master plan works out for them...  Al's dangerous, we know, but Tolliver strikes me as an exceptionally sick puppy.  Fancy hat or no, I just get that eerie feeling he's tortured some cats in his life. 

[Drogo]

My watch-partner upon Bullock's arrival next to Alma at Brom's funeral:  "These two are gonna bang, and not a moment too soon."

[Drogo]

[purist]

I was surprised to see Andy Cramed recovered from the smallpox. When Jane said in the previous episode 'He's better now', I assumed she meant he had died. His line 'Hereafter in calamity, I'll be sure to call for Jane' was a nice touch.

The change in Alma since she got clean of the dope is remarkable. She's like a new woman. EB interrupting her at the graveside, mid-hymn, not once but twice, to try to get her to sell her claim, was hilariously awful.

Dan Dority became positively unhinged about Flora and that drunk leering at her at the Gem. Loved Al mocking him: 'Oh, do you worry for her, Dan, wandering the muck of our thoroughfare, her tiny self all but swallowed up in horseshit?' Hee. In contrast, Cy's 'That's an interesting piece of strange' was downright creepy. Ew.

I was a bit taken aback when Flora used the term 'boyfriend' in her conversation with Joanie. Was that word in use in the 1870s? I would have thought 'beau' or 'sweetheart' might be more usual.

Poor Trixie, getting used to being treated with a degree of respect by Alma and (especially) Sol, only to have Al manhandle her snatch and terrify and belittle her ('Don't kid yourself, Trixie. Don't get a mistaken idea.'). No wonder she lashed out at Alma's fanciful ideas about taking the child to New York and making a fresh start.

Has the poor reverend got a brain tumour? Is that what the doc meant by 'a lesion in your goddamn head'? Jane had tears in her eyes when the doc was talking to the reverend - she's such a big ol' softie underneath all that bluster. Jane and Charlie talking to Wild Bill in his grave was a great scene, too. Hell, I love every scene that features Jane.

It was good to see Clench reflecting on the fight he had with the Native American and how traumatic it was. I'm glad it wasn't just left in the previous episode without further comment.

And finally, Al cracked me up when he started calling Clench 'Your holiness'. Hee!

[nyxy]

Great recap as always, purist.

My feelings about Alma are mixed. I agree Alma really changes after giving up the dope. I watched ahead and was trying to remember  if Seth knew about her addiction, so it was good to settle that question. She tells him openly about her susceptibility in that direction. Good for her.

Each remarks how the other has changed.  To me he now seems more disheveled, less formally and stiffly dressed, and much more engaged with others. Eg when he tells Sol about the Indian man he killed- and I agree that was a very welcome moment. But Seth appears changed most of all when he's with Alma. That was an intense conversation they had- I agree with the post upthread; I could practically hear the sizzle..

I definitely liked Alma a little more in this episode, but am still seeing traces of an uppity, thoughtless person- not ill-meaning per se but someone who isn't instinctively empathetic. We've already seen her being defensive around the doctor- I don't think she ever forgave him for telling her she needn't fake various illnesses to get her laudanum- he was perfectly willing to give it to her, but needed to save his time for people who really needed him and were going untreated. Rather than appreciate the point- that resources were scarce, and she really shouldn't take them away from others in need just in order to save face, she gets annoyed with the doctor for having the effrontery to be straightforward with her on this. Her encounters with Trixie in episode 7 reinforced my feeling that she is not an empathetic person- she doesn't instinctively see the needs and worries of others. When Trixie asked her to pretend being doped when she's leaving the hotel, Alma first made a joke of it - "Shall I reel and stagger?"- and though she quickly saw how thoughtless the joke was and apologized to Trixie who was taking a big risk for her, when the moment came to do the simple thing Trixie asked she still didn't- deciding all on her own that it wasn't necessary. Maybe Trixie should have told her Al had spies everywhere, but even without that, Alma knew how dangerous he was and someone who's doing so much for her has asked for it- so why not just play safe? I don't think she refrained from doing it because she didn't see Al watching her. I think she either forgot or didn't want to appear discombobulated before others.

And that whole conversation with Trixie about sending her on to NYC with the child- Trixie is right to call her on her unthinking elitism. After all this tense and unpleasant stuff, Alma immediately wants to have a nice little BFF talk with Trixie about the delicious little frisson she felt in that flirty breakfast with Bullock. Trixie, on the other hand is focused on getting the child to a safe place, and rightly is concerned that Alma will use this flirty feeling to delay getting out of a dangerous situation. I liked the way Trixie shut down Alma's attempt to have that BFF girly conversation- she did it pleasantly and firmly but didn't give in. Even when she's not high, Alma doesn't, at this point, have a very clear sense of priorities.

While there were many unpleasant moments, the worst of which was Al's brutal punishment of Trixie, this episode overall marked a lull. I remember feeling reassured just reading the title- Bullock Returns to the Camp. And there were other reassuring things. The guy whom Cy dumped in the forest recovers. Jane& the doc are out there in the Pest Tent doing their thing. Someone responsible is finally noticing the poor Reverend's state of health. I think from the first episode on I felt that having the doc in a scene, any scene, makes it so much more reassuring. Except for poor Trixie, it was a calming and pleasant mood- welcome after the horrors of the previous two episodes.

Flora and her brother could be interesting, but unfortunately that must mean we'll see more of Cy and that's never a good thing IMO.

Very Shallow Thoughts:

1. I agree with purist: LOL at Al's dubbing Seth "his Holiness."  Though for Seth I would think not His Holiness so much as His Holy Hotness. But that's just me.

2.  Alma is always so beautifully and expensively dressed. And Molly Parker would look lovely in anything, but her dresses here are a sight to behold. Those Chinese laundryfolks must be happy at all the work- if she trusts them with her fabulous dresses.

But while I like looking at her clothes- and at her; she really is a visual treat- her accent grates on me. It's affected and jarring. I quickly checked her Jackie Sharp character in House of Cards, where she is a brisk, high power, very well put together congresswoman and there she speaks faster and with a neutral accent. And without the random breathy little pauses that seem to punctuate her speech randomly in Deadwood. And when she was doped the affected accent, breathiness, etc was even more marked. It was fun to compare.

I was focusing a lot on clothes this episode. Something about the way Joanie dresses really appeals to me. Her clothes aren't as classy as Alma's, nor early as expensive, and they can someetimes looked soiled and even tawdry- not surprising really- but despite that she manages to look elegant on occasion- I loved that dress with pearl strings  on her shoulders and upper arms.

And as for the men, I really love the period dressing. I loved their ties. I think Seth wear them- but strangely, so did Dan. Maybe in honor of Flora. I love Al's pinstripe suit. It sits so ill on him & completely fits his character. And it's the only one he seems to have.

Edited July 16, 2016 by nyxy
I've given up on my hopes of writing a typo-free post on first try

[Guest]

"Guess ya wanna soften him up before ya make your offer."  hee.

"I'm waitin' to be kept happy by the next fuckin' fairy tale."  hee.

Dan is in love!  It's creepy, sweet, and scary.