S02.E08: Childish Things

[purist]

Quote

Wolcott offers on the claim of two ornery brothers, and reports to Hearst on their progress overall. Miss Isringhausen strikes a deal with Swearengen, who discusses his options with a friend in a small box. Alma receives very different proposals from both Mrs Bullock and Ellsworth. A Russian telegraph operator arrives in camp, and Joanie befriends a reluctant Jane.

[purist]

That summary of the episode (which I got from IMDb; see first post) completely omits the wonderful 'Tom Nuttall's triumphant ride on his new boneshaker' storyline! The delivery of his penny farthing brings such delight to the camp, and then his ride down the boardwalk to the quagmire outside the Bella Union made EVERYONE smile - even Wolcott. I adored the sequence of his ride, with the fantastic music and the brilliant way it was filmed and everyone's thrilled reactions.

There were many other things in this episode that made me smile: Merrick's delight at the arrival of Blazanov, the telegraph operator; Al's 'conversations' with Chief Head-in-a-Box; Ellsworth confiding in his dog about proposing marriage to Alma, and then his adorable proposal itself; Jane and Joanie's first meeting, engineered by Charlie Utter; and EB suffering from a tooth infection in his terrible office with its stuck door and the junk everywhere. I also had to admire Miss Is's putdown of the haughty Alma. Mean Alma and clenched Seth were both back in force in this episode.

There were some less enjoyable moments, of course, like the excruciatingly awkward meeting between Alma and Martha, and the exploitation of the miners (by the Hearst operation) and of the desperate Chinese whores (also by the Hearst operation, though indirectly). Poor Doc was so horrified, and seemingly the only person to care about the Chinese women.

My favourite line was from Al to Chief Head-in-a-Box after Johnny had been his usual dumb self: 'Dead and without a body, you still outstrip him for intelligence.' Poor Johnny. Hee!

Edited August 17, 2016 by purist

[Mindthinkr]

Mose's eyes were very shifty. He never seemed to focus as they kept moving from side to side. Unnerving. 

I thought it was kind that Jane went to see Joanie. Then later when Jane was walking down the street with her gun, I felt she was going after Wolcutt until she questioned him and he didn't lie.  

Loved the bicycle ride. It gave some lightness to the episode. 

Poor Doc. He really wanted to help those Chinese girls even offering to do it "pro bono". Good for him for refusing to treat anymore of Cy's girls unless he was allowed to access to ALL of the whores. I'm sure if anyone (in Cy's employ showed up at Docs he would treat them because he has a sense of compassion. 

I wondered what had happened to the Indian's head. Funny seeing Al chatting with it like a friend. 

[purist]

On 12/28/2017 at 6:07 AM, Mindthinkr said:

Mose's eyes were very shifty. He never seemed to focus as they kept moving from side to side. Unnerving. 

The actor playing Mose, Pruitt Taylor Vince, has a a condition called nystagmus, which causes involuntary movement of the eyes.