Deadwood "No Other Sons or Daughters" Review (1x09)

“Taking people’s money is what makes organizations real, be they formal, informal, or temporary.”

And so, the march toward civilization continues. Annexation is drawing nearer, but because Al is Al, he’s able to step into a new role, able to analyze the situation and be as efficient as ever. As he tells Trixie in the first scene of the episode: “I don’t want to talk to these cocksuckers, but you have to…in life, you have to do a lot of things you don’t fuckin’ want to do. Many times, that’s what the fuck life is, one vile fucking task after another. But don’t get aggravated. Then the enemy has you by the short hair. It’ll be different after the annexation. That’s all. There’s nothin’ to be afraid of. Everything changes. Don’t be afraid.”

Everything certainly is changing in Deadwood, and while Al’s doing something that he doesn’t want to do, what matters is that he’s able to do it. Someone like Cy, on the other hand, doesn’t know how to deal with change in any way other than what he’s used to: being a huge asshole. He continues to sport a disheveled look here, one that stands in contrast to the tidy, “civilized” appearance we saw earlier on in the series, and he ends up going off on poor Eddie at the end of the episode. After seeing the relationships among the Bella Union crew disintegrate over these few episodes, it’s interesting to look at their introduction episode in hindsight; they were presented as the civilized world, as a tight-knit crew of people who knew exactly what they were doing and what needed to be done, as a serious threat to Al’s way of life. Now, though? Al’s the one who looks the best coming out of all this, and he’s rolling much better with the influx of civilization than Cy is.

Essentially, this is an episode about change, about the effects of change on our characters and the decisions made to change. Jane, for example, is slowly being eaten away at, and at the end of the episode, she decides to get out of Deadwood. “I will not be a drunk where he’s buried,” she says, “and I cannot stay fucking sober.” Elsewhere, Charlie has a new business opening as Joanie’s looking for her own place, and the two come across each other in a truly wonderful scene for Callie and Dickens. When Joanie tells Charlie about her business, the latter advises: “I tell you what, something’s ready for you to do somethin’, don’t seem to matter if you’re ready or not.” You just got to do take the initiative and do what you want to do, he’s saying, and it’s interesting that these words of wisdom come right after Joanie sees Flora’s and Miles’s clothing in the pig pen; their demise is the result of Cy taking that idea and warping it beyond recognition.

The final scene of the episode consists of Bullock revealing to Alma that he has a wife and son who are coming to Deadwood, and this is another moment that causes you to view previous scenes in a different light; what would’ve been different had Bullock told her earlier? Would anything have changed? Aside from it being a great Molly Parker-Timothy Olyphant moment, it also brings up the idea of change, of the past possibly tying you down. However, it’s also clear that the town is in a period of transition, that civilization is approaching rapidly, and that E.B. Farnum is going to be a fantastic mayor.

GRADE: A-

OTHER THOUGHTS:

-Cocksucker count: 11 (That’s more like it)

Total cocksucker count: 77

-For some reason, I never realized it was Ray McKinnon playing Reverend Smith until now. This guy is not only a talented actor, but also a very talented writer; Rectify is one of the best things I have ever seen on TV.

– “Be over in a couple of hours. We gotta form a government for the settlement.” “Who does?” “Us! You and me. Come to me in a vision! You stupid bastard.”

-The Cochran-Smith scene is yet another fantastic scene in an episode filled with them. David Milch once stated: “Art, storytelling, I believe, is the dynamic process which embodies spirituality, even in a seemingly Godless society. God is just a name for whatever is the spirit that has given us rise.” So here, Smith feels as if his connection to God is waning, but what matters is that humans themselves embody the grace of God in a Godless society. “As long as He wills, this must be my part.” “Well, if this is His will, then He is a son of a bitch.”

-More pears and peaches!

– “Al, I have hoped for this conversation ever since you gave me that Indian head to hide.”

– “You did a fucking great job with this place.” Excellent Al moment there.

– “I have just fled my office in horror at his fucking dimwittedness.”