Deadwood "Requiem for a Gleet" Review (2x04)
May 23, 2015 19:08:49 GMT -5
nowimnothing and Lady Bones like this
Post by Pear on May 23, 2015 19:08:49 GMT -5
“Something terrible is going to happen here.”
Rumors are powerful because fundamentally, they’re thoughts that spread among a crowd. When you dwell on the past or anticipate something in the future, you’re exploring the realm in which your thoughts reside; they can involve wishful thinking or overwhelming pessimism, relentless determination or dull apathy, powerful fear or bubbling joy. They can influence actions of an individual and of a community, and this is a show in which people are often in need of expressing their thoughts; because they’re all of one body, these thoughts can spread and influence a certain mood around the town.
The prevalent mood with Al near death is one of foreboding. People like Trixie and Johnny are clearly struggling without Al, and the town itself has a power vacuum being filled with the likes of Wolcott and Cy. Stephen Tobolowsky also shows up as county commissioner Hugo “Your titties!” Jarry, but he’s not so much an example of an outside force taking power as he is an example of all-around corruption and manipulation. Right now, Cy and Wolcott are manipulating the town to their liking, and even Mr. Wu is feeling the effects of the power shifts; after all, Mr. San Francisco Cocksucker Lee is ready to stand in opposition to his business.
It’s not all going to stay this way for long. Doc and co. are able to remove the gleet from Al’s body, and by doing so, they figuratively remove the gleet from the Deadwood body. In one of the most beautiful shots of the series thus far, they all collapse on him in relief, happy that the glue holding the town together won’t be going away just yet. It’s a physical representation of a major idea governing the show, and this moment–along with the final shot of Al on the bed–is extremely well done.
And so maybe, just maybe, Ellsworth is right when he tells Alma that he’s “betting that the levee’ll hold”. It’s a thought, but also a powerful one, and the episode builds off of that idea as it continues the show’s wonderful characterization of Ellsworth. He stands in contrast to Wolcott, and the two come into conflict early on in the hour when he sees Wolcott at Alma’s claim. This conversation between the two of them also brings up the idea of choice that plays out throughout the episode: “Always a choice…to count the saved or the lost,” Wolcott says, and Ellsworth responds with “Just as a man opposed to inevitable change needn’t invariably be called a luddite, another choice might be simply to describe him as slow in his processes”.
Aside from that, I think the bit of dialogue that really gets at the heart of the episode’s themes is one that comes out of the mouth of E.B. Farnum. I’ve transcribed it here: “It is no disloyalty to be a realist, Richardson, as we are mortal. One hopes for the best. One perseveres. One reevaluates constantly. One is an asshole if one doesn’t. Loyalty expanded is not loyalty betrayed. I contemplate no disloyalty to Al Swearengen. I feel exposed. I don’t like being weak, and I know that I am. I yearn to rely on a stronger will. I fear what I’m capable of in its absence.” It’s hard to deny that the power structure in Deadwood is changing quite a bit, so the question becomes: what do you do when you might have to look forward to change, to a lack of what you thought you knew? A body is only mortal; sometimes, it must do what it has to in order to survive.
GRADE: B
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-Cocksucker count: 16
Total cocksucker count: 178
– “Eamon, we live life however we choose.” “And you choose life as a c**t standing behind the bar.” Relevant to the themes mentioned above, but also hilarious.
-Thanks to Lovely Bones for this bit of info: “On the commentary for this episode, Milch remarked that (‘probably’ ) Wolcott and his sister were sexually abused by their mother and have since been kept silent with extensive financial support.” And I think this is key to note when the show’s exploring the connection between Wolcott and Joanie.
-The uncomfortable discussion between Seth and Martha at the beginning of the episode is pretty much the “anti-Raylan Givens”.