So it begins
Dec. 19th, 2011 04:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniI have seen the first disc of the season 3 box which means three episodes of Deadwood in a row!
The episodes in question being "Tell Your God To Ready For Blood", "I Am Not The Fine Man You Take Me For" and "True Colors".
I had forgotten how difficult it is to follow the dialogues and how much subtitles in English come in handy. Did I really watch season 1 online without any subtitle before I bought the show on DVD?
I will have to rewatch the episodes to make proper reviews for each one, for as usual, there's so much to chew on and parse, but here are some thoughts à chaud.
It was nice to get reacquainted with the places and the characters but so far I must confess that I'm a bit disappointed. The episodes had all great moments but weren't as gripping as the beginning of season 2, and the writing structure looks a bit messy.
The opener had a great title, borrowed from the scene when Al left Hearst and passing by Richardson in the stairway, saw him praying his Stag God (or whatever the antlers belong to). It foreshadowed the war between the one who once was the All-Knowing and All-Seeing god of Deadwood and the Boy the Earth Talks To who wants to run the place.
After seeing the second episode, the title and the scene suddenly have more meaning since it's Al himself who turned out not as ready as he should have, and ended up losing blood...and a finger!
Al's fall from godhood seems to continue then. He underestimated his enemy or, very humanly-like, overestimated his own power, being therefore guilty of hubris.
Hearst didn't look much when he arrived in season 2 but he already did something very significant, he broke a wall in the hotel he had bought, thus changing its infrastructure.
And he does it again now, demolishing a wall again because he wanted a veranda (which put him a bit higher than Al on his balcony)!
He isn't just a super villain, he is the wall-breaker. I wonder if this applies to other things in season 3, in a meta way. Al the character, saying "Tell Your God To Ready for Blood", was a bit like talking about himself while adressing the audience, thus breaking the fourth wall in a twisted Deadwoodesque way.
BTW the funny scene between Trixie and dear Sol kinda established that, even though he is not named (dare I say he who shan't be named? It would be fitting for a conversation with "the Jew"!), Al is all the characters talk about:
TRIXIE:"The wrist business on Adams' house loan. Adams being nothing but his fucking stalking horse from the gambit's fucking beginning. You sign to take those over, we'll move in your 12 possessions, you will be free to come and go by your own front fucking door, and as you lay in your beddy-bye, I'll pop from the wall like Grandma Groundhog in a storybook and attend to your Johnson, as he'd not see you jeopardize your mayor's campaign, whore-fucking in your place of business. And I'll be installed in room 3-fucking-C or the like of Shaunnesy's adjacent shitbox that he's paid Shaunnesy to cut a hole through to ease my fucking fucking you."
SOL: "Swearengen has."
TRIXIE: "Who the fuck was I just talking to?"
SOL: "I don't know. You said you'd just gone to piss."
And there are all the stage talks, here and there, and the actual stage on which the candidates, running for office of Mayor (vote Sol Star!!!!!) and sheriff, deliver their speech, and of course my favourite scene from "I Am Not The Fine Man" happening during Al's sleepless night when a drunk guy talks in the street, takes the candidates' place on the piedéstal, literally acting as an impostor or a stand-in (a stuntman even), and saying the line that is the title of the episode...before falling over (pushed off the stage by a Power That Be?)and breaking his neck!
It looked like a foreshadow of either what might happen to Al himself or what Al might do to Hearst before the end....especially since Al got to fall asleep after that. It reads both way. Al could rest at least after getting rid of the annoyance that kept him awake, or his sleep could be a preview of his own death.
And finally the theatre people show up in episode 3, along Aunt Lou. I don't know what to do with the theatre folks yet, but I bet it's some meta commentary on a show that has always been very theatre-y, especially trhough E.B's monologues or his scenes with Richardson.
To carry on the metaphor of structure breaking and changing of set...I notice that we are given two tours of Deadwood, the first one happening, in the opening sequence, when Seth walks Martha (along Ellsworth and Sofia) from the Bullock's house to the school. And it turns out that the school is located at Joanie's Chez Ami! From brothel to school, that's a big change and a bold move.
The second tour is led by Al himself who's showing his theatre pal around. And at some point he doesn't even know to whom the buildings belong to!
Oh and there's Mr Wu's new attire. It was nice to see Mr Wu come back and "Sweargin"(btw Seth impersonated it well!) is always super funny when interacting with Wu. His suit, like the school, seems to indicate that the norm is overcoming chaos. Just like the elections being held, or Sol buying a house and probably settling in with Trixie, like a normal couple.
Speaking of couple, I'm mad at Alma for treating Ellsworth the way she did. That said, losing her baby and the scene in which Hearst threatened her was probably enough in terms of punishment.
In "True Colors" Hearst continues to show what he is capable of and makes a true confession to Cy (and his confessing to Cy is relevant!): "My dealings with people I ought solely to do with niggers and whites who obey me like dogs". He sounds even more disconnected from humanity than Wolcott was. BTW I wonder if they thought of Hearst when they created The Commodore on Boardwalk Empire...
The dog metaphor is used twice by Bullock too. He's angry because he realises that Hearst makes them look like they are chasing their own tails. But Bullock is always angry...and he even thinks that his temper might be an issue as he's running for an office!
Al is interested in the small creatures among him, he's even sorta attached to some of them, but Hearst has only one passion: "the color" as he calls it. Damn...now I can hear Shirley Bassey singing "Goldfinger"!!!!
Other quick observations or great lines:
Johnny's naked bottom! Hee!
Plus Steve's line: "It's my family luck over centuries to get repeatedly fucked up the ass"
And I guess, from his conversation with Al, that Langrishe is an homosexual? When Al says that he might be queer he replies: "You've seen more to admire in the male asshole than you'd realized hitherto?"
But one of my favourite quotes has to be Silas' when following Al: "If he was trailing water, we might get took for ducklings."
Oh and of course E.B to Richardson who's been attending to his wounds: “I'd like to use your ointment to suffocate you.”
E.B's speech was extremely anti-Semitic of course and I laughed at his "Farnum: Twice Measured. Star: Once cut."
The episodes in question being "Tell Your God To Ready For Blood", "I Am Not The Fine Man You Take Me For" and "True Colors".
I had forgotten how difficult it is to follow the dialogues and how much subtitles in English come in handy. Did I really watch season 1 online without any subtitle before I bought the show on DVD?
I will have to rewatch the episodes to make proper reviews for each one, for as usual, there's so much to chew on and parse, but here are some thoughts à chaud.
It was nice to get reacquainted with the places and the characters but so far I must confess that I'm a bit disappointed. The episodes had all great moments but weren't as gripping as the beginning of season 2, and the writing structure looks a bit messy.
The opener had a great title, borrowed from the scene when Al left Hearst and passing by Richardson in the stairway, saw him praying his Stag God (or whatever the antlers belong to). It foreshadowed the war between the one who once was the All-Knowing and All-Seeing god of Deadwood and the Boy the Earth Talks To who wants to run the place.
After seeing the second episode, the title and the scene suddenly have more meaning since it's Al himself who turned out not as ready as he should have, and ended up losing blood...and a finger!
Al's fall from godhood seems to continue then. He underestimated his enemy or, very humanly-like, overestimated his own power, being therefore guilty of hubris.
Hearst didn't look much when he arrived in season 2 but he already did something very significant, he broke a wall in the hotel he had bought, thus changing its infrastructure.
And he does it again now, demolishing a wall again because he wanted a veranda (which put him a bit higher than Al on his balcony)!
He isn't just a super villain, he is the wall-breaker. I wonder if this applies to other things in season 3, in a meta way. Al the character, saying "Tell Your God To Ready for Blood", was a bit like talking about himself while adressing the audience, thus breaking the fourth wall in a twisted Deadwoodesque way.
BTW the funny scene between Trixie and dear Sol kinda established that, even though he is not named (dare I say he who shan't be named? It would be fitting for a conversation with "the Jew"!), Al is all the characters talk about:
TRIXIE:"The wrist business on Adams' house loan. Adams being nothing but his fucking stalking horse from the gambit's fucking beginning. You sign to take those over, we'll move in your 12 possessions, you will be free to come and go by your own front fucking door, and as you lay in your beddy-bye, I'll pop from the wall like Grandma Groundhog in a storybook and attend to your Johnson, as he'd not see you jeopardize your mayor's campaign, whore-fucking in your place of business. And I'll be installed in room 3-fucking-C or the like of Shaunnesy's adjacent shitbox that he's paid Shaunnesy to cut a hole through to ease my fucking fucking you."
SOL: "Swearengen has."
TRIXIE: "Who the fuck was I just talking to?"
SOL: "I don't know. You said you'd just gone to piss."
And there are all the stage talks, here and there, and the actual stage on which the candidates, running for office of Mayor (vote Sol Star!!!!!) and sheriff, deliver their speech, and of course my favourite scene from "I Am Not The Fine Man" happening during Al's sleepless night when a drunk guy talks in the street, takes the candidates' place on the piedéstal, literally acting as an impostor or a stand-in (a stuntman even), and saying the line that is the title of the episode...before falling over (pushed off the stage by a Power That Be?)and breaking his neck!
It looked like a foreshadow of either what might happen to Al himself or what Al might do to Hearst before the end....especially since Al got to fall asleep after that. It reads both way. Al could rest at least after getting rid of the annoyance that kept him awake, or his sleep could be a preview of his own death.
And finally the theatre people show up in episode 3, along Aunt Lou. I don't know what to do with the theatre folks yet, but I bet it's some meta commentary on a show that has always been very theatre-y, especially trhough E.B's monologues or his scenes with Richardson.
To carry on the metaphor of structure breaking and changing of set...I notice that we are given two tours of Deadwood, the first one happening, in the opening sequence, when Seth walks Martha (along Ellsworth and Sofia) from the Bullock's house to the school. And it turns out that the school is located at Joanie's Chez Ami! From brothel to school, that's a big change and a bold move.
The second tour is led by Al himself who's showing his theatre pal around. And at some point he doesn't even know to whom the buildings belong to!
Oh and there's Mr Wu's new attire. It was nice to see Mr Wu come back and "Sweargin"(btw Seth impersonated it well!) is always super funny when interacting with Wu. His suit, like the school, seems to indicate that the norm is overcoming chaos. Just like the elections being held, or Sol buying a house and probably settling in with Trixie, like a normal couple.
Speaking of couple, I'm mad at Alma for treating Ellsworth the way she did. That said, losing her baby and the scene in which Hearst threatened her was probably enough in terms of punishment.
In "True Colors" Hearst continues to show what he is capable of and makes a true confession to Cy (and his confessing to Cy is relevant!): "My dealings with people I ought solely to do with niggers and whites who obey me like dogs". He sounds even more disconnected from humanity than Wolcott was. BTW I wonder if they thought of Hearst when they created The Commodore on Boardwalk Empire...
The dog metaphor is used twice by Bullock too. He's angry because he realises that Hearst makes them look like they are chasing their own tails. But Bullock is always angry...and he even thinks that his temper might be an issue as he's running for an office!
Al is interested in the small creatures among him, he's even sorta attached to some of them, but Hearst has only one passion: "the color" as he calls it. Damn...now I can hear Shirley Bassey singing "Goldfinger"!!!!
Other quick observations or great lines:
Johnny's naked bottom! Hee!
Plus Steve's line: "It's my family luck over centuries to get repeatedly fucked up the ass"
And I guess, from his conversation with Al, that Langrishe is an homosexual? When Al says that he might be queer he replies: "You've seen more to admire in the male asshole than you'd realized hitherto?"
But one of my favourite quotes has to be Silas' when following Al: "If he was trailing water, we might get took for ducklings."
Oh and of course E.B to Richardson who's been attending to his wounds: “I'd like to use your ointment to suffocate you.”
E.B's speech was extremely anti-Semitic of course and I laughed at his "Farnum: Twice Measured. Star: Once cut."