207: The Deadwood Episode

[00:00:28] Welcome to fucking Deadwood. It can be combative. Welcome to fucking Deadwood. I'm very pleased because I have said, Tom, you should watch this 20 years ago. And all it took was you getting laid off. Pretty much. Welcome to Anime Sickos Podcast where we talk about anime, gaming, posting, and jobs. In this case, anime, specifically Deadwood. But Deadwood is an anime about frontier jobs.

[00:00:56] I always, in all of these things, do the funny joke of like, it's not, what if I made some funny justification for why this thing, which is clearly not anime, was actually anime. But for Deadwood, we actually have a fucking meat on the bone. Yeah, there's something there.

[00:01:13] So the reason that we had to do this Deadwood episode, obviously we were gonna because I was like, Deadwood, Joe loves Deadwood. I was watching Deadwood finally. I'm like, I love Deadwood. This is like Severance Season 1 all over again. I can't believe I missed this show. It's so good.

[00:01:29] But then when we made our little Deadwood game, the proof of concept game, a lot of people were like, what is Deadwood? And I didn't think that made any sense because like, I'm just looking at the facts as I see them. And like, Deadwood is playing like 10% of every day.

[00:01:46] And I know that because I know how many hours in a day I'm up. And I was watching two episodes of Deadwood a day. So I just don't understand how anyone, given the facts of the case, didn't understand what Deadwood is. But we're here to explain to Joe what's Deadwood? What's Deadwood? Explain Deadwood.

[00:02:02] Deadwood is a frontier town in this fictional land called America, where the slurs are similar, but not the same. So what the show is about is about the unincorporated Dakota territories outside the Black Hills where there was a bunch of gold and prospecting.

[00:02:25] So the town of Deadwood sort of pops up as this sort of bustling frontier, I don't know, backwater? I don't know. What would you call it?

[00:02:33] It starts out, yeah, as like a true, like, very close to being Meteor City, the city from the dump from Honor X Hunter. Like, like, when our, you know, so we'll get into this, that there is, there's no one protagonist. But in the first episode, there are protagonists.

[00:02:51] And like, when they get to Deadwood, their first thing is like, I sure hope we can like put up a canvas tent. Like it would really be like...

[00:03:00] Without someone killing us? Yes.

[00:03:01] Yes, yeah. But like by the end of the series, it like is becoming like a legitimate small city.

[00:03:11] L gets like a nice balcony on his office.

[00:03:15] Yeah. So here's the thing about Deadwood is I mentioned that in the beginning, there's protagonists. Here's what it's really about. And here's why it is an anime or more specifically a manga.

[00:03:26] That sort of, you know, general overview of the plot that Joe gave, like it's about the town. It's like, well, what it what? That's very vague. Like, does it ever get more specific than that? No, no, it does not.

[00:03:39] The plot is a very, very low priority in the show's estimation. What it's really about is just like, what if there's a lot of side characters?

[00:03:52] Like, what if we just made a lot of side characters, like from manga, and we just had them pair up in various different pairs over and over, almost like a tournament, except they're instead of fighting, they just talk.

[00:04:05] Except sometimes they do fight. And it's incredible. The answer being like, you would get a show that fucking, like absolutely whips fucking sack.

[00:04:14] The point of this show is dialogue. The plot doesn't matter in the sense that like, the historical forces of what happened are known.

[00:04:22] The town fucking burns down. Like, this is a thing you can look up.

[00:04:27] Yeah. And then you we also know, because we live in current day, it obviously gets incorporated into the United States, which is one of the like, main concerns, which is like, you know how we have this town where like, you can kill people and it's fine, because we all agree that if you kill someone for a reason, it's fine.

[00:04:44] Yeah.

[00:04:45] The problem is Uncle Sam doesn't love that. And he's on his way with a bunch of scary forms.

[00:04:53] Yeah. And we again, we also know that like, Uncle Sam fucking wins. The boot of capital that destroys these organic, self determined communities has crushed them all like, like Deadwood loses hard as as did we all.

[00:05:09] But like, it doesn't matter because like, what matters is the fucking dialogue I have here a so W Earl Brown, who is an actor who plays one of the supporting characters and who was also in the writers room, in addition to acting, went on a tear about a year ago on Reddit, just saying Deadwood facts to people.

[00:05:30] If I was in Deadwood, that's all I would do. I would just, hey, do you want me to tell you how the dust machine worked? You stood in front of it, you got real dusty.

[00:05:40] But so Deadwood is mostly the brainchild of the creator and showrunner David Milch.

[00:05:46] And here, this is what W Earl Brown has to say about David Milch.

[00:05:51] Dave was always two steps ahead of me. He did not work with any outlines. Plot was a secondary or tertiary concern of his. Language and how its usage reveals character was the primary concern.

[00:06:05] That tracks. Yes, this is the show where they say cocksucker all the time. But like, I cannot emphasize that like, yeah, it's kind of funny.

[00:06:13] But what's actually very funny is that you have to listen to the show that says cocksucker and then also be like, yeah, so all the other words are so good.

[00:06:21] It's, I mean, cocksucker is a great word. It's a really, it's just like it becomes a pronoun just like a general.

[00:06:29] It's like a new steadies.

[00:06:32] And there's, so there is, I'm getting a little ahead of ourselves, but I just got to say there's a Chinese character, Mr. Wu, because there are as a Chinese, you know, being, you know, the old West, there's a lot of Chinese immigrants.

[00:06:45] And they're sort of like the boss of the Chinese in Deadwood is Mr. Wu.

[00:06:49] And he is in an alliance with Al, who will get to Al.

[00:06:55] Al is one of the main characters we love.

[00:06:57] But Mr. Wu doesn't speak English.

[00:07:00] And at one point he has something really important to tell Al.

[00:07:04] And the only English word that he can like remember to like try to get across as important thing is cocksucker.

[00:07:12] And he says it so many times.

[00:07:13] And at the end, Al is just like, I'm so fucking sorry I taught you that word.

[00:07:19] So good.

[00:07:20] So, okay.

[00:07:21] If you hear about Deadwood, chances are you're going to get told, people always say this, they're going to get told, you know, it's actually, it's like it's Shakespearean.

[00:07:32] This dialogue, it's like Shakespearean.

[00:07:34] It's like Shakespeare, they say.

[00:07:35] To me, I want to push back a little bit.

[00:07:38] I think this is not quite accurate and a little bit misleading.

[00:07:41] And the main reason is that Shakespearean as a term has a stink on it for most people.

[00:07:47] It is like when people hear Shakespearean.

[00:07:49] It means sucks.

[00:07:50] It doesn't, it shouldn't mean sucks.

[00:07:52] Yeah.

[00:07:52] But like it's used to mean like, oh, you know how this is boring and you don't want to get through it.

[00:07:57] It's like you have to have a degree from NASA to understand what they're saying.

[00:08:01] They say anon instead of before.

[00:08:03] And it's just like that makes most people just like start fucking crying.

[00:08:07] And even like me, who is like a highfalutin English major guy, like if I am watching a Shakespeare play, if I'm hearing the dialogue and I'm not, it's not like a play that I've like recently read the text of, half the time I'm not going to understand what the words are.

[00:08:24] And like.

[00:08:25] There's like literally a cognitive like, like it wouldn't watch Shakespeare when you're like tired.

[00:08:31] Yes.

[00:08:31] And you wouldn't watch Deadwood when you're tired either, but you could watch it when you're a little tired, which you couldn't do for, you can't do for Shakespeare.

[00:08:40] Like, yeah, objectively, it was a show made for people from today.

[00:08:47] I mean, well, 2004, but that's close enough.

[00:08:50] Like they do speak in a dialect of English that is not fucking very far away from what we speak.

[00:08:57] And Shakespeare, they do speak in a dialogue of English that is very far from what we speak.

[00:09:01] And thus there's like a kind of a stigma there.

[00:09:04] Also, it's stilted.

[00:09:06] Like there's like this layer, the Shakespearean sort of syntax is like, even if you're used to it, you are doing a little bit of decoding.

[00:09:12] Yeah.

[00:09:13] Deadwood sounds conversational, even though the writing is amazing and everything.

[00:09:18] Like it's a, what was that?

[00:09:19] I didn't catch that.

[00:09:20] Everything is very clear.

[00:09:21] Yes.

[00:09:21] Yes.

[00:09:21] And like, obviously in Shakespeare's time, his language was like, like everyone's going to fucking understand this, obviously.

[00:09:26] But like, that's just the, that's going to be the case with Deadwood in 600 years.

[00:09:31] That's not the fault of their writing.

[00:09:33] It's just that when people say Shakespearean to mean really, really good, it also includes a bunch of other connotations that do not apply to Deadwood.

[00:09:41] The reason that people do say a Deadwood's dialogue is Shakespearean, and this is the accurate part.

[00:09:47] This is the part that's undeniably true that makes them say it over and over.

[00:09:50] Is that it is a very, very rare thing in the modern day for a piece of art to take specific effort.

[00:10:00] And in this case, like the most effort.

[00:10:03] Like this is the main thing that the show is trying to do.

[00:10:07] To use language in a beautiful way for its own sake.

[00:10:13] Like you can have great writing that is not in itself gorgeous.

[00:10:18] Like the Sopranos is great writing, but like no one on that show is like saying a beautiful thing.

[00:10:24] Because they're all fucking dumb as shit.

[00:10:26] The main goal of Deadwood is like, like, is it not wonderful that we humans have created this, this thing that allows us to express beauty into the air?

[00:10:39] And the goal of Deadwood is to get everybody doing that?

[00:10:41] You get all the guns lined up and firing?

[00:10:43] I mean, this is the quote that everyone says every time someone mentions Deadwood.

[00:10:48] It's so it's like the stock one.

[00:10:50] It's kind of overused.

[00:10:52] However, what can you fucking say?

[00:10:55] Like this, it's for a reason.

[00:10:57] Like, hear this.

[00:10:59] And and how can you resist the show it comes from?

[00:11:03] My bicycle conquers boardwalk and quagmire with aplomb.

[00:11:08] Those who doubt me suck cock by choice.

[00:11:13] So it's amazing.

[00:11:15] It's one of the I can't wait to return to this because you identified something about this plot when when the bicycle thing happens that I did not realize, which is very funny.

[00:11:25] So Deadwood has a power system.

[00:11:26] It does.

[00:11:27] The power system is who can have the highest rhetoric stat.

[00:11:30] That's the power system.

[00:11:33] And what we just read is a really good feat because he turned the word cocksucker into a whole paragraph.

[00:11:40] That's something you can only do if you are a high level Deadwood guy.

[00:11:44] And the guy who does this, he's like a TN.

[00:11:47] Like he's he's fine.

[00:11:49] Yes.

[00:11:50] It's so funny because like you were like, wait till Tom Nuttall rides his bike, dude.

[00:11:55] Oh, you're good.

[00:11:55] That's the best scene.

[00:11:56] I'm like, OK, who's Tom Nuttall?

[00:11:58] And you're like, he's the guy who runs the bar like Al runs the bar.

[00:12:01] And you're like the other bar.

[00:12:02] And I'm like, oh, I realize I've seen him in a couple episodes, but he made no impression because he's just a guy who's like standing behind the other bar.

[00:12:09] He hasn't got a bike yet.

[00:12:11] Yes.

[00:12:11] And then like when he gets his bike, he's like super sane.

[00:12:14] And it's like Tom Nuttall is the most important character in the show.

[00:12:16] This is the greatest acting performance ever.

[00:12:19] It's so easy to say, fuck.

[00:12:22] Like anyone who doesn't like my bicycle is a cocksucker.

[00:12:24] It is those who doubt me.

[00:12:29] Suck cock by choice.

[00:12:31] And he's doing like a stump speech in a bar and everyone's like, yeah.

[00:12:35] If you sucked cock by under duress, you didn't get tricked.

[00:12:40] No one can say anything to you.

[00:12:42] That you had to do what you had to do.

[00:12:44] But if you chose to suck cock, then sir, you're a cocksucker.

[00:12:49] One quick thing before we get into a little more specifics.

[00:12:52] This is a great example of what we mean by the ensembleness of the show.

[00:12:57] So like this B or C plot is like Tom Nuttall, who is this tavern owner, is going to ride an old timey bike.

[00:13:05] And everyone's like, you're going to eat shit and fall over.

[00:13:07] And like the entire town, it feels like every single human being in the town.

[00:13:14] Like I mean like literally every human, not like the actors characters, is plugged into this bet.

[00:13:19] And it's, that only works when you're able to capture a sense of ensemble and like energy for a scene and sort of a show.

[00:13:29] And like it works because like that's all Deadwood is.

[00:13:31] It's so fucking funny because it's just like, I won't go into specifics, but there's a very serious A plot that's happening.

[00:13:39] So just this happening in the back when Columbo is trying to find something out is top shelf shit.

[00:13:48] I'll just fucking say it.

[00:13:50] I'll do it real quick because like I don't want to lose this.

[00:13:54] Like if we forget and don't come back to it.

[00:13:56] So one of the characters is the sheriff and he's trying to prove that a guy murdered his brother.

[00:14:02] Like it's very obvious that he did, but he's just trying to find some proof.

[00:14:06] And like the big like gotcha is when he says to this guy, why weren't you watching?

[00:14:15] Like where were you during Tom Nuttall's bike ride?

[00:14:17] Why weren't you watching his ride?

[00:14:19] Did you not see him conquer Boardwalk in Quagmire?

[00:14:22] Why were you not doing that?

[00:14:23] Like the idea that someone would not be watching Tom Nuttall's bike ride is like so unthinkable that like you had to have been using it as cover for murder.

[00:14:31] And he was!

[00:14:33] He was!

[00:14:35] Like that was the plan.

[00:14:36] It's like everyone in the town is going to be watching the bike ride.

[00:14:39] Perfect town to do a murder.

[00:14:41] Okay.

[00:14:42] Okay.

[00:14:42] We've set it up.

[00:14:44] Deadwood is the fun language show with an ensemble cast where the plot doesn't matter.

[00:14:48] That's all true.

[00:14:49] That's set up.

[00:14:50] Now let's get into the main reason we're all here.

[00:14:53] Ian McShane as Al Swearengin.

[00:14:55] What a role.

[00:14:56] Just one of the TV roles of all time.

[00:15:01] Al Swearengin is a fun character.

[00:15:03] Just wonderful.

[00:15:06] So when people say like a character is funny, they usually mean like, oh, the character is on screen and he's doing things that make you laugh.

[00:15:16] What?

[00:15:16] Yes.

[00:15:17] Like Homer Simpson is funny, but he's not.

[00:15:19] If you told, if Homer Simpson tried to tell you a joke, he would be bad because he's too stupid.

[00:15:25] Like Al is actually and knows he is funny.

[00:15:30] Like in the, but he does not want laughter.

[00:15:33] Like he, he literally is just like this machine that runs a whorehouse.

[00:15:37] And he is Mr. Logistics.

[00:15:40] Yeah.

[00:15:41] He starts out the series and like you, you go to the town and there, he's basically a crime boss who runs the town.

[00:15:47] He owns the saloon, which is also a whorehouse.

[00:15:49] Well, all the saloons are whorehouses.

[00:15:52] And he does crime.

[00:15:53] He has like henchmen who do violent crime in order for him to make money.

[00:15:58] You get someone killed for a gold claim.

[00:16:00] Like that's what we're dealing with.

[00:16:01] Like you think to yourself, this is a big villain.

[00:16:04] I hate this guy.

[00:16:06] And at the beginning, yes, he is.

[00:16:08] But like the thing about him is that like, he's just, he's just smarter than everyone else in the show.

[00:16:15] Like he really is.

[00:16:17] Not like in a Mary Sue way.

[00:16:18] Like he just, like it just is.

[00:16:19] Okay.

[00:16:19] He just, he, it's, it's very clear that like he's the only one who was like able to think two steps down.

[00:16:25] Yes.

[00:16:26] Like there's a smallpox plague, as you might imagine.

[00:16:29] Yes.

[00:16:30] And he's like, he's literally like the only one who was just like, what if we do two steps down the road?

[00:16:36] Like when the smallpox got, like there's a guy with smallpox who shows up and I'm like, oh my God, I see how this is going to play out plot wise.

[00:16:45] And like, there's going to be an awful plague in the town.

[00:16:47] And Joe's like, no, not really.

[00:16:49] I'll make sure they get vaccines right away.

[00:16:52] Like people get sick and die, but like it is under control.

[00:16:57] Like that's the thing.

[00:16:58] It's, it's the CDC could learn a few things.

[00:17:02] Like it's.

[00:17:02] Like there's a, there are big lines where everyone's going and getting their vaccine that Al got.

[00:17:09] And, and again, I'm glad you brought up the smallpox shit because it segues into like the, the ultimate example of like Al just being the funniest guy.

[00:17:17] This is one of the rare times he tells a joke and he's like wants to get a laugh because he's like, oh, this is good.

[00:17:23] Um, which is, they are sort of doing a investigation.

[00:17:27] Like, are we sure that there's smallpox in the camp?

[00:17:29] Cause like there's a smallpox guy.

[00:17:31] Who got sick after being by who?

[00:17:33] Yeah.

[00:17:34] And they think there's, there's this one guy who has smallpox and they're like, when did he have it?

[00:17:37] Like when, and they talked to one of the prostitutes that he slept with or rather was going to.

[00:17:43] And they're like, did he have smallpox sores on his prick?

[00:17:47] And she says, I don't know.

[00:17:49] He never took it out because he only wanted me to see it once it was hard.

[00:17:54] And Al says, now that's what you call a mistake of youth.

[00:17:58] And he's got this big smile.

[00:17:59] It's like not a joke though.

[00:18:00] It's just like a knife stab in the middle of this conversation.

[00:18:03] It's so, it's a writerly show because it's funny and it doesn't look at you like, aren't I funny?

[00:18:10] It, it is just a sucker punch.

[00:18:14] That's what you call a mistake of youth.

[00:18:15] Ian McShane as Al, I like, it is insane to me that there was a time where you could turn on your television set and see a new episode of The Sopranos with James Gandolfini giving one of the acting performances that's ever been done.

[00:18:31] And then on the same night, even, uh, you watch Ian McShane giving one of the acting performances that has ever been done.

[00:18:39] And it's just like, it, like, oh, Al is so, like, there are a new, a number of scenes at, like the end of episodes when Al is, uh, getting his dick sucked by one of his, uh, employees.

[00:18:54] There's, there are some, uh, monologues as you get snuffed off that, that happens.

[00:18:59] And he just gives these monologues and like, one, it is very funny that there is a little, a head wiggling up and down at the bottom of the frame.

[00:19:09] It's also like monologuing and telling her to slow down.

[00:19:11] Like, you got a stage coach to catch?

[00:19:13] Hold on.

[00:19:13] It's just, Jesus.

[00:19:15] But like, this is where, it's, as stupid as this is that there are dick sucking monologues.

[00:19:23] Like, he, Ian McShane, like, makes an absolute meal of these.

[00:19:28] They are incredible to watch.

[00:19:30] And they deepen his character so much because this is the one of the few times where he's able to talk about something other than, how do I, how do I manage the circumstances that are besetting me right the fuck now?

[00:19:42] He's constantly reacting to bullshit occurring around him and trying to maintain his power and independence despite, uh, entropy.

[00:19:50] This is one of the few times he can just talk about something else.

[00:19:53] And he talks about himself.

[00:19:54] And it's like, you learn so much about Al and why he is the way he is from his dick sucking monologues.

[00:20:01] Like, the fact that, like, well, he was a child prostitute himself.

[00:20:04] He was an orphan and he, like, he and the other orphans were prostituted out.

[00:20:08] And then all of his, uh, orphan siblings got sold to different whorehouses all around the world.

[00:20:14] Oh, and that's why he's so ruthless.

[00:20:16] That's why he has so little, uh, opinion of his fellow man.

[00:20:20] Okay.

[00:20:20] That's why, oh, and that's why he hates, uh, the, the U.S. government and, uh, authority.

[00:20:26] I get it.

[00:20:27] Uh, it's, but, and he's gotten this while he's, he's taken fucking, interrupts his own monologue to be like, why so much drool?

[00:20:36] Yes.

[00:20:38] There's one part where he's, uh, uh, uh, there's one part where he's doing this and he's like talking about like, because something recently happened to him where he was helpless.

[00:20:49] And he's like, I hate that feeling of being held down.

[00:20:51] I've always hated it.

[00:20:52] I've always hated it.

[00:20:53] And the prostitute is like me too.

[00:20:56] And he's like, what are you talking about?

[00:20:57] It's like when they hold me down, I don't like that either.

[00:20:59] And he's just like, oh shit, I do that to you.

[00:21:02] And I hold, pull your hair, don't I?

[00:21:04] And she's like, no, Al, cause he's the boss.

[00:21:07] And he's like, oh, well, thank you for fibbing.

[00:21:09] Uh, and it's like, ah, ah, I mean, cause he is ass.

[00:21:13] Like he's deepened and humanized and there are much worse villains that show up, but we do always have to remember like he is an asshole.

[00:21:19] Like he, he does commit a lot of murder.

[00:21:22] And he has a whore master.

[00:21:23] Like that is his thing.

[00:21:26] Uh, he's not nice to the whores.

[00:21:28] I'm sorry to say it.

[00:21:30] So moving on, as far as just screen time, I would say Seth Bullock is next.

[00:21:36] Yep.

[00:21:37] He's the one who you, in our game.

[00:21:40] Yes.

[00:21:40] He's justified.

[00:21:41] He's Timothy Oliphant.

[00:21:41] In our game, you ride with them to set up a hardware store.

[00:21:44] So he is like the angriest man who ever lived.

[00:21:48] And you know how they say like, he can't yell.

[00:21:51] Oh.

[00:21:51] So like there's levels of anger.

[00:21:53] Like you get peeved and you get angry and you sort of get red and, and loud.

[00:21:57] And that's pretty angry.

[00:21:58] And then teed off.

[00:21:58] And, and if you get like angrier than that, you stop being red and you just get like bone white.

[00:22:06] And you stop like, you stop like pounding your fist and stomping and yelling and just become perfectly still.

[00:22:13] That's him like 100% of the time.

[00:22:17] Uh, it's so fucking funny.

[00:22:19] He doesn't want his character is, I forget which town they came from, but he used to be the sheriff.

[00:22:24] And the thing is, Deadwood does not have a sheriff because there's not a government and he is disillusioned with sheriffing because why wouldn't you be?

[00:22:34] Yeah.

[00:22:34] You see the worst of your fellow man.

[00:22:37] They resent you.

[00:22:38] You constantly have to whisper full of rage at them.

[00:22:42] Uh, he didn't want to do it no more because he, so he is, uh, joined up with his friend Saul Starr who's Jewish and they don't let him forget it.

[00:22:51] Uh, that's a wonderful way to put it.

[00:22:53] Oh.

[00:22:54] There's an election leader.

[00:22:56] Uh, and like the other guy's stump speech is just like, you know, he's Jewish, right?

[00:23:03] Hey, they did weird stuff to his dick with their Jew knife.

[00:23:06] Um, uh, got it.

[00:23:08] So they go to open a hardware store.

[00:23:11] They want to open up a legitimate business selling pickaxes and pans to the prospectors and never have to be the sheriff again.

[00:23:19] And they get there and, uh-oh, due to Al, there is a lot of crime and, uh, nonsense going on in the town.

[00:23:27] Uh, he ends up being the sheriff.

[00:23:30] He's so, he's constantly just like...

[00:23:34] Yeah, he's angry.

[00:23:36] He's a quiet avatar of rage.

[00:23:39] He, he...

[00:23:41] Really good rage whispering.

[00:23:43] Yes.

[00:23:43] In the category of rage whispering, this is a great performance.

[00:23:47] His...

[00:23:48] The tension with his character is that, like, he doesn't want to be the sheriff.

[00:23:52] And as you might imagine, as the town legitimizes and becomes like a government, they will need a sheriff.

[00:23:57] So when Al's like, oh, I know a guy who actually, uh, has some experience with that.

[00:24:02] I think he was always saying he wanted to do it forever, right?

[00:24:04] And then...

[00:24:05] And, like, the, the dynamic is just, like, basically Al, like, trying to hand him the badge and him being like, eat shit.

[00:24:13] Yes, yes.

[00:24:14] It's so, uh, it's so funny.

[00:24:16] Al's dynamic with everyone is...

[00:24:18] There are, it's variations on the theme.

[00:24:20] When Al first meets someone, he tries to do something to them, which is an unforgivable crime, which is to say, have them killed.

[00:24:30] Have them defrauded out of a large amount of money.

[00:24:32] The relationship always starts off on a rocky foot.

[00:24:36] It's rough.

[00:24:37] And eventually that person who hates Al encounters a situation where there's an intractable problem.

[00:24:43] Some circumstances are occurring that it's, this is gonna really fuck up everything.

[00:24:48] And Al comes to them and presents the perfect plan.

[00:24:52] And they have to just, like, grit their teeth and be like, whatever you say, boss!

[00:24:58] Like, I know you killed me or tried to.

[00:25:00] Like, you, we both know this.

[00:25:02] But that's a good plan.

[00:25:03] He's like, at the time, your death was what was best for the camp.

[00:25:09] I wasn't able to pull it off, so I let it be.

[00:25:13] Now, there is a better use for you for the good of the camp.

[00:25:16] And that's the thing.

[00:25:16] He always talks about, like, the good of the camp.

[00:25:18] And, like, he's right.

[00:25:20] He's right.

[00:25:21] He's still selfish, but he is right.

[00:25:23] He is just smart.

[00:25:24] Like, when I say he's the smartest one, he is smart enough to know that having a camp, a town is gonna become a town.

[00:25:32] He knows this.

[00:25:33] Having a town that is self-determined and is not beholden to government interests far away that don't understand what the town needs,

[00:25:41] that are just gonna extract resources from it, is what is best for everyone.

[00:25:46] And he is going to be able to most selfishly thrive in that independent, self-determined community.

[00:25:53] He was also one of the first people in the camp.

[00:25:55] Yes.

[00:25:56] Like, they were the original settlers, I guess, is the weird word.

[00:26:01] But yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:26:01] One second, I just want to talk about Saul Starr real quick.

[00:26:05] He doesn't really do anything plot-wise ever, which is the case for a great number of the characters in this ensemble.

[00:26:12] Which is nothing against that.

[00:26:14] But he plays a very vital role.

[00:26:17] There are people like this in life.

[00:26:19] And they're very important that you recognize their behavior and their role in the great cosmos.

[00:26:25] And Saul's job is to just, like, give life a really good college try.

[00:26:31] And then, like, everyone being like, you stupid motherfucker.

[00:26:35] You piece of shit.

[00:26:36] And he's just like, okay.

[00:26:37] And then that's him.

[00:26:38] And there are countless people fighting this fight.

[00:26:41] And his character is for you if you are that person.

[00:26:45] Like, if you're just like, ah, gosh, I'm just trying to get by.

[00:26:48] I'm trying to have a good time.

[00:26:50] You're Saul Starr.

[00:26:51] Because Saul Starr's best friend, Seth Bullock.

[00:26:53] Like, all he wants to do with Seth is have a good time and run a hardware store.

[00:26:58] And every single day, Seth gets infuriated by something.

[00:27:01] Storms out.

[00:27:02] Comes back.

[00:27:03] Saul is like, hello.

[00:27:04] I restocked this shelf.

[00:27:06] And all that tension that Seth's been holding in explodes out.

[00:27:11] He's like, what the fuck are you talking to me about, Stock 4?

[00:27:13] He bites his fucking head off.

[00:27:15] And Saul's just like, gosh, Seth.

[00:27:18] Anyway.

[00:27:18] And then later on, Saul's girlfriend, Trixie, who was Al's top whore.

[00:27:26] And I think he was in love with her.

[00:27:29] He slept in bed with her every night.

[00:27:32] It was his main squeeze.

[00:27:35] It was the real deal.

[00:27:36] She falls in with Saul Starr.

[00:27:40] And this is one of the humanizing things.

[00:27:42] Like, Al being a person and not a Satan.

[00:27:45] He knows she is happier with him.

[00:27:48] And it's like, all right, go on.

[00:27:49] And every time she shows up, he says, how's the Jew fucking?

[00:27:53] Yeah, like the weather.

[00:27:53] It's so funny.

[00:27:55] He also builds her a secret fuck tunnel.

[00:27:58] Oh, yeah.

[00:27:58] Yes.

[00:27:59] Because Saul buys a house.

[00:28:01] I forget why.

[00:28:02] There's some reason that for the purposes of some sort of fraud.

[00:28:07] Oh, they have to be residents to be mayor.

[00:28:09] They're living in the hardware store.

[00:28:11] And that's not a house.

[00:28:12] Yes.

[00:28:13] Yeah.

[00:28:13] Okay.

[00:28:13] And they want to install Saul as mayor.

[00:28:16] So they give him a house.

[00:28:17] And it adjoins a hotel.

[00:28:19] And Al pays the hotel guy to make a secret tunnel so that Trixie can live in that room and pop over.

[00:28:27] And they can live together without it seeming untoward that they're living together unmarried.

[00:28:32] And you get...

[00:28:33] What a nice thing for me.

[00:28:35] You see the shitty heart of gold we're talking about here?

[00:28:38] It's like, this is scummy.

[00:28:39] They're bad.

[00:28:41] But in the turd, there are gems that should be polished.

[00:28:45] Yeah.

[00:28:46] And I'm getting off that...

[00:28:48] We've got to get through more people.

[00:28:50] We've got to get through more people.

[00:28:51] But the reason I bring up Trixie and Saul is...

[00:28:54] So Trixie is very sort of focused on justice and what should be done and people being treated right.

[00:28:58] And that never fucking occurs.

[00:29:00] And when that doesn't occur, she gets so angry.

[00:29:04] She gets so fucking upset about the injustice of the world.

[00:29:08] And she can't stand to think that people are being treated incorrectly.

[00:29:12] And no one's doing anything to fix this problem.

[00:29:14] And her way to deal with these feelings is to become the angriest, meanest fucking person.

[00:29:22] And just say the most hurtful thing she possibly can to anyone in earshot.

[00:29:27] And who's in earshot most of the time?

[00:29:29] Her boyfriend, Saul Starr.

[00:29:30] Who she is constantly saying the cruelest things on earth to.

[00:29:35] And he's always like, golly, dear.

[00:29:37] He's just waiting on the other side of the sex tunnel for her to come out and yell at him and then go away.

[00:29:42] Like, that's his life.

[00:29:43] He's very funny.

[00:29:44] There's one scene where he's in bed reading.

[00:29:46] She pops out of the sex tunnel and it gives him like five minutes of the cruelest fucking treatment anyone's ever had.

[00:29:53] And she sort of runs out of energy.

[00:29:55] And this whole time he's sort of had a look of like, oh, golly, on his face.

[00:29:59] And at the end she sort of is like, want some pussy?

[00:30:04] And he's like, yeah!

[00:30:06] It's great.

[00:30:07] It's great.

[00:30:08] It's childlike in simplicity a little bit.

[00:30:10] But it's, he, so that's Saul Starr.

[00:30:15] That is the business partner of the eventual sheriff.

[00:30:20] Next up we have Alma, New York.

[00:30:24] The New York woman.

[00:30:26] Alma, so she is a rich woman from New York who hates it in Deadwood because she's here because her husband is doing business.

[00:30:35] Claims, business.

[00:30:36] Yeah, he wants to get big time gold.

[00:30:39] And she, she also did not want to marry him.

[00:30:42] So she hated him from the jump when they were living in New York.

[00:30:44] But now she's in Deadwood.

[00:30:46] Yes.

[00:30:47] So as we have said earlier, Al's way to find out about someone is like, what are they doing?

[00:30:53] Well, if I kill them, I would increase my position.

[00:30:57] So he arranges to get her husband killed so they can sell or buy the gold claim or whatever.

[00:31:05] I think it was that like the gold claim was a dud and they were gonna, because he's an idiot, they were gonna trick him to thinking it was a great gold claim.

[00:31:11] And he'd pay a super high price for it.

[00:31:13] Then they'd kill him and they'd buy it back from his widow for a super low price because she wants, she's wanting to get out of town because she hates Deadwood.

[00:31:23] Classic grift.

[00:31:24] So she is also addicted to opium?

[00:31:28] Yeah.

[00:31:29] She takes it in a tincture.

[00:31:31] She's not, or is it, is it laudum?

[00:31:33] I don't know.

[00:31:34] Laudum.

[00:31:34] Laudum.

[00:31:35] Well, that's just what they called opium in the old days.

[00:31:37] I don't know.

[00:31:38] Yeah.

[00:31:38] So she, her thing is she's like the rich widow who is like doped out.

[00:31:42] She's very sweaty and in bed a lot initially.

[00:31:46] But her character is interesting because she fucking hates the town, man.

[00:31:50] So when you see her be put into situations where she is throwing in with Ale, the guy who got her husband killed.

[00:31:57] And it's like, like not like, oh, this is a reluctant thing, but like they are actually agreeing and are eye to eye.

[00:32:05] That was, that's what makes the show kind of cook.

[00:32:07] Yeah.

[00:32:07] Because also Alma is nice because everyone is like a dirty frontiersman and you get this sort of like.

[00:32:14] She's never dusty.

[00:32:16] She's never dusty.

[00:32:18] She takes issue with the things in the camp that no one else cares about, like how everyone shits everywhere.

[00:32:25] That sort of thing.

[00:32:25] So she's good for that perspective because she, otherwise it's a rough and tumble town.

[00:32:30] To go back to when she finally throws her lot in with Ale, not only did Ale kill her husband, which she knows, it's so clear.

[00:32:37] And she's like whatever on.

[00:32:39] Yeah, well that, yeah, that's just like, that's more of a principle thing.

[00:32:42] Like she didn't, she did not like her husband.

[00:32:44] The only reason she married her husband is because her awful father, who it is implied did some stuff to her as a child, who she hates a lot.

[00:32:55] Her awful father basically sold her to her husband's family for money to pay off his debts.

[00:33:00] Like her father comes to Deadwood and is like, I heard you have a gold claim, honey.

[00:33:03] Can I have some gold?

[00:33:04] Yeah, he sniffs a payday.

[00:33:05] Like he's just like, oh, all right.

[00:33:06] She's like, didn't all your debts get paid off when I married my awful husband?

[00:33:11] And he's like, well, yeah, those debts, but I've got new debts, honey.

[00:33:15] Anyway, so she has like adopted a daughter because one of Ale's big crimes in the beginning of the season was a family of Norwegians was leaving Deadwood because their gold claim didn't pan out.

[00:33:27] And they had a bunch of valuables on their wagon.

[00:33:29] And Ale was like, henchmen, kill them and take the valuables.

[00:33:34] And there was one child who was alive and Al tried to have her assassinated to prevent her from saying who did it.

[00:33:42] Because the kid knows who killed her family.

[00:33:44] They're the people in the town.

[00:33:46] Yeah, because it was made to look like Indians did it, but it was not.

[00:33:50] And so he's like, I got to kill the witness to shut her up.

[00:33:54] It doesn't work.

[00:33:55] Eventually it becomes clear that she's not going to talk to the kid.

[00:33:58] And it's like, whatever.

[00:33:59] And, you know, this orphan girl is basically taken in by Alma.

[00:34:04] And eventually they do say like, this is my daughter.

[00:34:08] And she's like, you are my mommy.

[00:34:09] Like, it is like a little family.

[00:34:11] Like, this is legitimate.

[00:34:13] And the whole time she knows Al tried to have her daughter killed.

[00:34:18] It's not ambiguous.

[00:34:20] She understands cause and effect.

[00:34:21] But the circumstances, again, you still got to throw in with Ale.

[00:34:25] Yeah.

[00:34:26] Oh, God.

[00:34:27] We got to get through so many characters.

[00:34:28] We got to go to Al's main guy, Dan.

[00:34:32] Dan is like his main henchman.

[00:34:35] Like, if we need someone killed, he says, Dan, kill this person.

[00:34:38] And Dan's like, I'll do it, sir.

[00:34:40] And he does it easily.

[00:34:41] He's in interesting shape for a henchman.

[00:34:43] I don't mean like he's not strong.

[00:34:44] It's just like he's built like, is it 23 that becomes the super henchman?

[00:34:49] Or is it 24?

[00:34:50] Who dies in Venture?

[00:34:51] Oh, 21 becomes the super henchman.

[00:34:54] He's kind of built like 21 before.

[00:34:56] I mean, like this is, this is like how a real unbeatable henchman would look.

[00:35:02] Where he's just like so fucking thick.

[00:35:05] Frontier times.

[00:35:06] Yes.

[00:35:06] Like his armor is so high because of his fat.

[00:35:10] Like if he had all the same amount of muscle that he has and no fat and thus looked like a, like a superhero, he would lose every fight because he just has 50% less fucking momentum on all of his moves.

[00:35:22] So this guy is who kills Alma's husband at Al's behest.

[00:35:30] He is the guy that generally does like the bloodier stuff for Al.

[00:35:34] The thing that's so great about this character is that he could just easily be like, you know, basically like a glorified extra.

[00:35:41] Like he doesn't say much and he just does, you know, action scenes when he needs to kill.

[00:35:45] Is that like the relationship between Al and Dan is like adorable.

[00:35:50] Like it's so precious because like Dan very clearly thinks that like I am just good.

[00:35:57] Like Al, he gets hearts in his eyes.

[00:35:59] Yeah.

[00:35:59] Like I am a low down chump.

[00:36:02] My life was going to be me doing bush.

[00:36:05] I was going to be bushwhacking all my life until I caught a stray bullet.

[00:36:09] That was all that was there for me.

[00:36:10] And there was no opportunities elsewhere until Al saw something in me.

[00:36:14] And now I'm second in command to the most powerful man in Deadwood.

[00:36:18] Oh boy.

[00:36:19] And like when Al gets a new henchman, like Dan gets very jealous.

[00:36:25] Yeah.

[00:36:26] Yes.

[00:36:26] In a toddler way.

[00:36:28] Yeah.

[00:36:28] Like Al likes me best though.

[00:36:31] Right.

[00:36:32] There's this very sweet.

[00:36:33] I think it must be the second or third season.

[00:36:35] I don't remember the specific plan they're hatching, but there's a very sweet moment where Al is telling everybody like what they're going to be doing.

[00:36:42] Dan is not mentioned.

[00:36:44] And then afterwards, Dan is like, hey, man, like what the like, what about me?

[00:36:49] And he's like, dude, you know, I need you for this other thing.

[00:36:52] Like, it's just like, you know, you're my dude.

[00:36:53] Yeah.

[00:36:54] It's like, Al, are you freezing me out?

[00:36:56] And he's like, no, Dan, this is just something that you're not suited for.

[00:36:59] I need you in my pocket in case something really bad happens and I need my best guy.

[00:37:04] And he's like, I'm your best guy?

[00:37:06] It's great.

[00:37:07] Oh my God.

[00:37:09] We got to get through so many fucking characters.

[00:37:11] We got to talk about E.B. Farnham.

[00:37:13] The worm.

[00:37:15] There's a type of character that Tom and I call the worm,

[00:37:17] worm, which is just any character that is supposed to just be like subservient and disgusting.

[00:37:22] He wiggles in the dirt.

[00:37:24] Yes.

[00:37:25] And of that type of character, which fiction has countless of them,

[00:37:30] E.B.'s got to be at the top of the heap because he is wormy with a little bit of extra sauce.

[00:37:38] And I will get into it.

[00:37:39] So he his role in the town is he owns the only hotel.

[00:37:42] So he's important because people do need to stay in town.

[00:37:46] And he's important for screen time because every single person will need to walk past him

[00:37:52] and allow him to say some annoying shit to them.

[00:37:56] And they will go and have to respond to E.B. Farnham the worm.

[00:38:00] And also as the owner of the hotel, he's up into people's shit and getting information and just being a weasel.

[00:38:06] So, yeah, and thus he is valuable to Al.

[00:38:09] So he's constantly going over Al and telling him he's like one of Al's henchmen.

[00:38:13] He tells him the news and Al gives him some fucking chores every once in a while to do.

[00:38:19] His job is to be Buggy the Clown.

[00:38:21] I don't know if that's quite accurate because one of the hallmarks of Buggy the Clown is despite being a worm who sucks at everything,

[00:38:28] he constantly fails upward.

[00:38:30] He becomes mayor.

[00:38:32] Yeah.

[00:38:33] Well, what do you mean?

[00:38:34] He doesn't mean anything.

[00:38:38] But he's a wonderful worm.

[00:38:40] He's just a character that makes you disgusted to see him talk.

[00:38:45] It should evoke that emotion in you, and he does.

[00:38:48] They mention at the very near the beginning that it's like, sir, you look damp.

[00:38:53] He's like, I sweat more than usual and normal people do.

[00:38:57] And he is constantly damp.

[00:38:59] He also, so this is a great example of language used for its own sake, is that if there is a character who does speak in sort of a real Shakespearean way,

[00:39:11] it is EB because he wants to be like a city father.

[00:39:16] He wants to be important.

[00:39:17] I have the hotel.

[00:39:19] Everyone has to respect me.

[00:39:20] I work for Al.

[00:39:22] Al respects me.

[00:39:23] He obviously knows deep down that no one does, but he wants to like, he's like, I'll fake it till I make it.

[00:39:29] And so like, he talks in the most ridiculous, pretentious way of all the characters.

[00:39:35] And also he is constantly wearing these, like, he's wearing the shirt from Seinfeld, this pirate shirt.

[00:39:40] Like that's his shirt.

[00:39:41] He's bloody, because he's been living in it for years.

[00:39:46] He looks like shit to be clear, but he's like the most regalia.

[00:39:50] It's just filthy.

[00:39:52] He's so, and like.

[00:39:55] And as he becomes mayor and moves up, like he becomes like more dressed, but while remaining disgusting.

[00:40:02] So the reason he becomes mayor is Al realizes, like, there's going to be, like our days as a frontier town out on our own are coming to an end.

[00:40:11] There will be United States officials coming here.

[00:40:14] And if they see a town that knows how to handle itself and is, has order and has, like, has, like, the things you need to make a town work.

[00:40:26] Well, they're going to be more likely to be like, it's all set up for us.

[00:40:29] Come into the U.S. and we're not going to change a thing.

[00:40:32] And if we have already people in seats of government, they'll say, why have new elections?

[00:40:37] You're already here.

[00:40:39] And so this is very smart of Vale.

[00:40:41] This is like an example of like how he's the only one who understands the concept of like next week.

[00:40:47] Yes.

[00:40:48] Fucking yes.

[00:40:49] And Evie is just like, I'd like to be mayor.

[00:40:53] And he just sort of hit the table and goes mayor and points at him.

[00:40:58] And you can tell that Evie thought this would be like a big, like, how am I going to get them to agree to let me be mayor?

[00:41:05] And Al just gives him mayor.

[00:41:07] And it becomes very clear that, like, that means nothing.

[00:41:10] You have no, there's no mayor work you're doing.

[00:41:13] And no one respects you anymore either.

[00:41:15] And he's so sad.

[00:41:17] Oh, OK.

[00:41:18] Who else we got?

[00:41:19] We were talking Farnham.

[00:41:20] We got to talk Richardson.

[00:41:21] Richardson is Farnham's Farnham.

[00:41:23] He is the cook at the hotel.

[00:41:25] He's an old, old man who looks like a cartoon of an old coot prospector.

[00:41:31] He's in the jammies.

[00:41:32] He's in his jammies 24-7.

[00:41:35] And his main purpose is so that Farnham can have somebody who he is 100% much better than and can look down on.

[00:41:45] Because Farnham can look down on no one.

[00:41:47] Because everyone agrees this is a revolting little creature.

[00:41:50] Like, he's referred to as a rodent man.

[00:41:52] And Alma always, when Alma has to refer to Farnham's restaurant, she always says, like, that little man's ridiculous restaurant.

[00:42:02] She hates it because it's silly.

[00:42:05] That's the biggest crime.

[00:42:08] And the fun dynamic, of course, with the Richardson thing is, like, he's actually, like, smarter than Farnham.

[00:42:15] Richardson is, like, basically, like, doesn't talk or do anything.

[00:42:21] But, like, you get little insights that, like, oh, he's actually got, like, a better brain than Farnham.

[00:42:26] Yeah.

[00:42:27] Well, that's not a hard thing to do.

[00:42:28] But, like, he only talks like this very rarely when asked to speak by Farnham.

[00:42:35] But, like, at one point, like, the newspaper comes in with some, like, big news.

[00:42:38] And he, like, runs to read it.

[00:42:40] And he's, like, I can't wait.

[00:42:41] And it's, like, fucking Richardson can read?

[00:42:44] Also, later, like, a real chef comes to town.

[00:42:47] And she, like, takes him on as her assistant and, like, teaches him how to cook well.

[00:42:52] And, like, respects him as, like, my assistant.

[00:42:54] She loves it.

[00:42:55] Or he loves it.

[00:42:56] Like, he is so excited to learn.

[00:42:58] Yeah.

[00:42:58] And as EB's situation gets worse, which eventually, obviously it does.

[00:43:03] Because the entire town situation gets worse.

[00:43:05] And as the guy who's on the fucking bottom, that just means there's more people.

[00:43:10] There's more shit on top weighing down on him and pushing him into the mud like a worm.

[00:43:13] And so he starts lashing out at Richardson more.

[00:43:16] And this is one of the greatest lines of all time.

[00:43:19] He just says this to Richardson because he's, like, walking by.

[00:43:22] And he's, like, hi, Mr. Farnham.

[00:43:24] And he's, like, I gotta lash out.

[00:43:28] I have to zing this fucker.

[00:43:29] Could you have been born, Richardson?

[00:43:32] And not egg-hatched?

[00:43:34] As I've always assumed.

[00:43:36] Last week you were, like, you hit that line.

[00:43:38] And I'd forgotten about it.

[00:43:39] I was, like, egg-hatched is so...

[00:43:40] Are you egg-hatched?

[00:43:42] Can you say that at work?

[00:43:43] Excuse me.

[00:43:43] Are you egg-hatched?

[00:43:47] There's another one on that same token.

[00:43:50] I'm just looking at the list of quotes.

[00:43:52] I imagined the pool that spawned you, Richardson.

[00:43:55] I am filling it with rocks.

[00:43:57] I am holding shut your gills to keep you from taking in air.

[00:44:01] And, like, as he's saying that, Richardson's looking like, no, not my pool.

[00:44:05] Yeah, he's worried.

[00:44:06] I love that pool.

[00:44:07] Oh, God damn.

[00:44:10] Okay.

[00:44:11] We gotta talk about Tolliver.

[00:44:13] Oh!

[00:44:14] So, Tolliver is the first of a pattern that occurs in Deadwood, which is we start off with

[00:44:19] Al, and you think, Al is the worst guy.

[00:44:21] Oh, my God.

[00:44:22] He's constantly visiting such trauma and crime and evil on our beloved heroes.

[00:44:29] I hate Al.

[00:44:29] And then a wagon shows up, and a new guy gets off, and it's like, Al's the Pope.

[00:44:35] Yeah, like, I love Al.

[00:44:38] What would we do without Al?

[00:44:39] He's the heart and soul of this town.

[00:44:41] He's the only thing keeping the evil at bay.

[00:44:43] I love how he only kills the right people.

[00:44:46] Yeah, and when he fails to kill the wrong people, and it becomes clear that you shouldn't kill

[00:44:51] this person, he's like, my bad, and doesn't try again.

[00:44:54] So, the first new villain who comes up is Cy Tolliver, who is just like, you'd think is

[00:45:00] gonna be, like, Mirror Al.

[00:45:03] Like, he is also setting up a saloon in Whorehouse, which Al gets furious at because he's like,

[00:45:07] I fuck, competition.

[00:45:08] And, like, the gem, Al's saloon, is like, kind of like, rough and tumble.

[00:45:13] Like, it's like a front-tier saloon.

[00:45:15] And this new guy, Cy's...

[00:45:17] Fancy, fancy.

[00:45:19] Yeah, the Bella Union looks nice.

[00:45:21] It is high-end.

[00:45:23] It's high-class.

[00:45:25] They have felt craps tables that look like they're from now.

[00:45:29] They're so beautiful.

[00:45:32] And he would...

[00:45:33] And fucking Cy wears a cool suit.

[00:45:35] He wears, like, Farnham clothes, but they're good.

[00:45:39] Yeah.

[00:45:40] And fucking Cy, however, is Powers Booth, who, if you've seen Tombstone, he's Curly Bill

[00:45:46] Brocious.

[00:45:48] He fucking, like, man, oh man, he's so good at just being, like...

[00:45:53] He's got the rumbliest voice of all time.

[00:45:55] It's so rumbly.

[00:45:56] We got back to it.

[00:45:57] You think he's, like, this is, like, Mirror Al.

[00:45:59] Like, they're gonna be rivals, and they're gonna be, like, the Clash of the Titans.

[00:46:03] Cy Tolliver and Al Swearingen.

[00:46:05] It becomes very clear that Tolliver is eviler than Al because he is too stupid.

[00:46:15] He lacks vision.

[00:46:17] So, like, rather than...

[00:46:19] You know how I said Al can, like, look into next week by virtue of understanding time?

[00:46:24] Tolliver can only do three days out.

[00:46:26] And the way he makes up for that gap is he's just insanely cruel.

[00:46:29] He's so much crueler than Al.

[00:46:32] He has so much less vision.

[00:46:33] He cannot see beyond the reach of his own arms.

[00:46:36] The thing about Tolliver is that he's a really...

[00:46:39] His, like, talent...

[00:46:41] The thing he would be really good at if he didn't try to, like, get Peter principled above

[00:46:45] his perfect job title is con man.

[00:46:49] Like, he's a great con man.

[00:46:50] Absolutely.

[00:46:51] Like, the cruel thing that he does is there are these two con children who come to town

[00:46:57] to swindle the saloons.

[00:46:59] And one of them is Kristen Bell, and it's hilarious.

[00:47:02] And he...

[00:47:03] Because he is a great con man, he sort of fucking figures it all out right away.

[00:47:08] He knows exactly what their game is.

[00:47:10] And his thing is, like, we gotta teach them a lesson.

[00:47:13] We gotta show everybody.

[00:47:14] We gotta put up appearance.

[00:47:15] We gotta show everybody that no one steals from us.

[00:47:17] And so he and his two best pals at the saloon take them up to a room, and Cy fucking tortures

[00:47:26] and murders them in a way that is so cruel that his two best friends who work with him

[00:47:31] are like, Cy, I hate you and need to get out of here today.

[00:47:36] Like, I feel ill every time I see you.

[00:47:39] And he's just like, oh, you know, that was just a show.

[00:47:43] You know I hate doing that.

[00:47:44] It's just we have to put...

[00:47:45] We have to show people.

[00:47:47] You're not like, Cy, we did that in a locked room with no one else here.

[00:47:51] Yeah.

[00:47:52] Yeah, no one's...

[00:47:52] We're not gonna send people in to look at this.

[00:47:55] Yeah, it's a really harrowing scene.

[00:47:57] But it has one of the greatest fucking lines of all time that makes you laugh out loud,

[00:48:01] which is, Cy wants someone to walk to his left.

[00:48:05] And the way he says that is, come over here to what the Dagos call my sinister side.

[00:48:10] This is so funny.

[00:48:11] And when he started watching it, I was like, hey, so like, I don't know what season that is.

[00:48:15] But Powers Booth is gonna say the following words.

[00:48:19] You need to be ready.

[00:48:20] So the thing that's great about Talvert, I love this, is that there are times, it's generally when he is trying to be sort of magnanimous and let the people in his orbit go and do their own thing.

[00:48:36] He'll be like, I'm doing the right thing.

[00:48:37] You know, I'm gonna let this...

[00:48:39] Like, I'm not no cruel taskmaster.

[00:48:42] Like, you don't have to stay here.

[00:48:44] And he's very like, yes, yes.

[00:48:46] No, I will.

[00:48:46] Yes, yes.

[00:48:47] Like, the main thing is that Joanie, his main squeeze, his top prostitute, who he's like in love with, she's disgusted.

[00:48:55] Who's also a lesbian.

[00:48:55] Yeah, she's disgusted by him due to the fucking killing that he did and the torturing that she had to watch.

[00:49:01] Uh, so she, he's like, if you don't like me, you know what?

[00:49:06] You can start your own whorehouse and you can be the madam.

[00:49:09] And I'll actually, I'll bankroll you.

[00:49:11] Like, I'll give you the startup cost and I won't even, you won't even have to answer to me.

[00:49:15] I won't even, I, I'll never even come by unless you ask.

[00:49:18] Like, never ever.

[00:49:20] And she's like, golly, Cy, that's a pretty good deal.

[00:49:22] And then when she goes to do it, he's like, all right, see you ladies later.

[00:49:26] And as it becomes clear that, like, she is actually leaving.

[00:49:30] And it's, the switch is so good.

[00:49:33] The switch is so good.

[00:49:34] He's, again, it's like when Trixie starts getting cruel.

[00:49:36] Like, something is happening that I don't like.

[00:49:38] So the thing I'm going to do is become the cruelest, meanest.

[00:49:41] And he, like, gets so scary.

[00:49:43] Because it's like, oh, he might, like, kill them.

[00:49:45] Because he could.

[00:49:46] He's a man and they're prostitutes.

[00:49:48] If he killed them, it wouldn't be a problem.

[00:49:49] And it's so fucking scary.

[00:49:51] And what makes it so interesting is even as he is being so scary and vicious,

[00:49:56] like, there are line reads where he is on the verge of tears.

[00:50:00] And it's just like, okay, this is why you're so stupid.

[00:50:04] Because you are a child.

[00:50:06] Like, you're a little kid.

[00:50:07] You're both, like, evil and cruel.

[00:50:11] But also a baby at the same time.

[00:50:14] Yes.

[00:50:14] Like, he can only think of himself.

[00:50:17] And thus, if anything happens that hurts him,

[00:50:20] he just, like, can't take it.

[00:50:22] Like, he can't think of, like, well, this, I need to take a lump here

[00:50:27] so that I win later.

[00:50:28] Which Al does fucking constantly.

[00:50:30] He just can't take it.

[00:50:33] Calaver's thing is he's obsessed with optics.

[00:50:35] Like, he has to be seen a certain way all the time.

[00:50:39] Because he's got no confidence in himself.

[00:50:41] He has no core.

[00:50:42] He needs to feel in charge all the time.

[00:50:44] He needs to be the big man.

[00:50:46] Because he knows that he's deeply insecure.

[00:50:48] He needs his personal invalidation right away all the time.

[00:50:52] And he legit does have insecurity towards Al insofar as Al is a camp father.

[00:50:57] I mean, like, he was there before him.

[00:50:59] Yes.

[00:50:59] And, like, there are so many times where he's like, oh, I know.

[00:51:02] Like, Al is, you know, garnering solidarity and support from all corners of the town

[00:51:09] for this thing that he's doing.

[00:51:11] So my move is I'll do the opposite.

[00:51:14] And then I'll be better than Al.

[00:51:15] And it never fucking works out for him.

[00:51:17] And he gets lower and lower.

[00:51:20] At season three, he really doesn't do much of anything, which is a shame.

[00:51:23] Because Powers Booth is incredible.

[00:51:26] Oh, my God.

[00:51:27] Who else is, who else we got to talk about?

[00:51:29] We got to talk about the Doc.

[00:51:30] The Doc.

[00:51:31] Doc fucking Cochran.

[00:51:33] Brad Dourif.

[00:51:34] The voice of Chucky.

[00:51:35] He's so good.

[00:51:36] But it's one of the, I love when actors who, because of the way their face is shaped, are

[00:51:44] always cast as the freak.

[00:51:46] Oh, a scary freak.

[00:51:48] A weird monster, man.

[00:51:50] Barely human.

[00:51:51] More simian than man.

[00:51:52] Like, they finally get a role where they get to be, like, a normal guy.

[00:51:56] And it's just like, oh, yes.

[00:51:58] And, like, Doc Cochran, the only doctor in town, is just, like, such a great character.

[00:52:04] And he does such a good job.

[00:52:06] He's so cantankerous.

[00:52:07] He's very cantankerous.

[00:52:09] He's obviously driven by a sense of, like, social good.

[00:52:12] Because he's obviously vested in, like, the health of the camp.

[00:52:17] But he is also shady, I guess would be the word.

[00:52:21] Because he, later, when they're trying to legitimize and they're like, oh, you know,

[00:52:26] you could run for office.

[00:52:27] He can't because he is, like, a worn out for him for grave robbing.

[00:52:31] The way it's delivered is so good.

[00:52:33] Because you don't see the scene.

[00:52:34] You see Seth Bullock and Saul Starr talking about the meeting later.

[00:52:39] And they're like, gosh, can't believe that about Doc.

[00:52:42] Who would have thought?

[00:52:43] And Seth is just like, no, Saul, they do it for science.

[00:52:47] They cut him open so that they can learn about the body.

[00:52:50] And it's like, yeah, I understand that.

[00:52:52] But he could have said that instead of just saying, I can't be health commissioner because of my arrest for grave robbing.

[00:53:02] And he's so content.

[00:53:03] Like, he, this comes up.

[00:53:06] You learn this eventually, that he was a Civil War doctor.

[00:53:10] And he got fucked.

[00:53:11] So he's seen the worst stuff.

[00:53:13] Like, I just, I can, what are you doing there?

[00:53:16] Sawing through bones all day?

[00:53:18] It's probably the worst thing.

[00:53:19] There's one part where he thinks that he is going to need to perform surgery.

[00:53:24] And he really, really, really, really doesn't want to.

[00:53:26] Because he's just like, so there's like a 10% chance this is going to work.

[00:53:30] And like, as he's about to do it, he's just like shaking.

[00:53:33] And he just goes like, I cannot kill another man.

[00:53:36] It's like, oh, when you were a Civil War doctor, you killed everyone.

[00:53:40] Like, it never worked.

[00:53:41] Because how could it?

[00:53:42] You're an army doctor in the old days.

[00:53:44] He's like, ugh, you're in the worst situation possible and using oldie time medicine.

[00:53:49] So he's so fucked up.

[00:53:50] But like, he's also such, he's like a sweet, because again, despite how like cantankerous

[00:53:55] and scarred up he is, like, he's one of the few guys who just does want what's best for everyone.

[00:54:02] And like, he will go to anyone who needs him.

[00:54:05] And there are times when like, someone's like, you know, they're mistreating someone because of,

[00:54:10] I don't know, they're the, you know, on the wrong side of some conflict.

[00:54:14] And he's just like, shut the, like, get the fuck out of my way.

[00:54:18] It's like, I need to do doctoring.

[00:54:20] He's great.

[00:54:21] As fictional doctors go, he's in the, he's on Mount Rushmore, in my opinion.

[00:54:25] He also wears little round glasses, which is always welcome.

[00:54:29] Which are made for taking off, to emphasize a point.

[00:54:32] Yes.

[00:54:33] Uh, God, who's next?

[00:54:34] Who should we talk about next?

[00:54:35] Let's do Jane.

[00:54:36] Let's do Jane.

[00:54:37] She's with the doctor.

[00:54:38] So, uh, you guys maybe know about Wild Bill Hickok, like the historical figure, the entertainer, all that stuff.

[00:54:48] Yeah, gunman, Wild West man.

[00:54:50] He is a character in this and less so it's about him, but more so like the people that were attached to him.

[00:54:57] Mm-hmm.

[00:54:58] Because like he shows up and you think like, oh, this is going to be an important guy.

[00:55:02] And it's very clear that like, oh, he didn't show up to Deadwood to like do things.

[00:55:05] He showed up to Deadwood so that he could commit very slow suicide.

[00:55:10] Like, yes.

[00:55:11] And there are basically two key people that are with him that are just his friends and also like handlers.

[00:55:18] One of them is, uh, Jane who is this very drunk woman who can only yell.

[00:55:22] Like she, she's always like so drunk.

[00:55:25] She, I talk like fucking this.

[00:55:27] Like it's just like, uh, it's just the definition of unladylike in like sort of like Victorian Wild West terms.

[00:55:35] Yeah.

[00:55:35] She has a great sort of running gag, which is because she's drunk.

[00:55:38] She's constantly being found by people, uh, passed out and they help her up and she'll just say in the process of standing up, like I farted by the way.

[00:55:48] Who fucking cares?

[00:55:50] I don't care.

[00:55:50] Just let you know, I farted.

[00:55:53] Yeah.

[00:55:53] And she has a nice relationship with, with doc because doc's like, oh, you're like fucked up.

[00:55:59] Uh, and she's like, yeah, you're probably gonna tell me to stop drinking.

[00:56:04] And he's like, oh no, no, you should just do it off work.

[00:56:06] I drink all the time.

[00:56:08] You just, you have to just do it in like a, uh, you have to have a plan.

[00:56:13] Yeah.

[00:56:13] And like, she's with the doc because like, despite the fact that she is constantly yelling and constantly drunk and like so many of the characters you described, when something is happening that she does not like, which is all the time, uh, her way of reacting to that is I will just be so mean to everyone I see.

[00:56:31] Uh, despite that she does have a heart of gold and doc can see that.

[00:56:34] And so like when there is the smallpox outbreak, which is not devastating because of there's vaccines, but like some people still get it and they need tending to like, she works at the, uh, fucking tent where they keep the sick people.

[00:56:47] And like, this is sort of her thing the whole time.

[00:56:50] Like she, she was either drunk, uh, yelling, screaming and lying on the ground or a caretaker.

[00:56:57] Yes.

[00:56:57] And she, and it's so, she's great.

[00:57:00] She's great.

[00:57:00] There's, this is something that pisses me off.

[00:57:02] Is it like near the end of the series?

[00:57:06] There is the beginnings of, she's going to have a romance with Joanie who Joanie also.

[00:57:13] So Joanie is a great character, but of all the characters who do nothing in the plot, she really does the most nothing.

[00:57:19] Like in season three, all she does is sit in an empty building and go, huh, I wish this building had stuff in it.

[00:57:26] And they're the, the fucking Jane and Joanie romance is like, okay, they're going to get to do something.

[00:57:32] And then the series fucking ends furious.

[00:57:35] Uh, the wild bill's other friend who is, man, talk about, uh, there's no role models for strong, non-toxic male masculinity.

[00:57:46] Yes, there is Charlie utter the, the, like you look up homie in the dictionary.

[00:57:51] You look up best friend.

[00:57:53] There's a picture of Charlie utter, the nicest human being who ever lived.

[00:57:58] When Charlie utter tells you some bad news, you better believe he's holding his hat in his hand.

[00:58:06] It's so, uh, it's so funny.

[00:58:09] Not funny.

[00:58:10] It's, it's just very, very interesting.

[00:58:14] So many times when wild bill is alive, wild bill in the show gets shot by a fucking rube, by a drunken idiot, just like he did in real life.

[00:58:24] But before that, so like Charlie believed it when wild bill said, I'm going to go to Deadwood and I'm going to prospect for gold.

[00:58:33] I'm sick of this rough and tumble life I've had.

[00:58:36] I want to settle down and put down roots and do real work.

[00:58:39] And the gets there and wild bill spends all this time, uh, drinking and playing poker with a look on his face.

[00:58:47] Like he's about to burst into tears.

[00:58:49] Uh, and every once in a while, Charlie utter will be like, gosh, bill, um, you think you might want to do some prospecting today.

[00:58:58] Okay.

[00:58:58] And eventually, eventually bill just has to be like, again, like, do you not understand that I'm committing a very slow suicide?

[00:59:05] Like, do you, like how, I'm not going to do any work.

[00:59:08] I, I, I just said that so I could get closer to these cards.

[00:59:12] Yeah.

[00:59:13] Uh, and like, as the show goes on talking about like, the reason we said it was like a manga is that like the, like a manga, like a lot of manga artists are artists first and writers second.

[00:59:26] And so that they're focusing mostly on is I want to draw some cool stuff, actually coming up with a plot and dialogue.

[00:59:32] That's not my strong suit.

[00:59:34] I'm focusing on another thing.

[00:59:36] The Deadwood sort of analog to that is like, I don't want to focus on plot.

[00:59:41] I want to focus on the dialogue.

[00:59:43] We've talked about that.

[00:59:44] You know, the plot is a tertiary concern.

[00:59:46] The main thing is language being beautiful and doing something amazing as you hear it.

[00:59:51] And, uh, and so the, as we said, the tournament is just like characters.

[00:59:55] Like what have these two characters talked before?

[00:59:57] I bet if they did, it would sound really cool.

[01:00:00] And Charlie just becomes friends with everyone.

[01:00:03] Like literally Joni is just walking down the street and he is outside because he has just opened up a freight company and it's his first day.

[01:00:12] And he's standing outside in the suit.

[01:00:14] And as she walks by, she says, I just opened a freight company today.

[01:00:18] And she stops and they have a conversation and become best friends.

[01:00:21] You're underscoring how like both proud and scared he is when he does that.

[01:00:27] Like he's like literally just, I can't wait to tell someone.

[01:00:29] And also he's so nervous because he bought a new frock coat.

[01:00:33] He's wearing like a nice suit.

[01:00:34] Like he, before he was wearing like dusty prospector crap and he's wearing a nice suit and he's both so proud of his frock coat.

[01:00:42] And also everyone who sees him in it, he's like, this looks ridiculous.

[01:00:46] Doesn't it?

[01:00:47] Doesn't it?

[01:00:47] Does this look good?

[01:00:48] Am I stupid?

[01:00:48] I'm like stupid for buying this, right?

[01:00:50] Oh gosh, I'm dumb.

[01:00:52] And like Jane constantly, you know, she's his best friend.

[01:00:57] She is, and like a mean person who's mean to everyone, to their best friend.

[01:01:02] She's most mean to him.

[01:01:04] And like she says truly unforgivable things about Charlie Utter.

[01:01:07] But like he is, like you could not write a more beautiful, perfect friend.

[01:01:13] Like he's always there for her.

[01:01:14] And it's like Jane, if you ever need, if you ever decide you want to take me up on this offer I'm making you, it's always there.

[01:01:21] He's always willing to help her when she's fucking too drunk.

[01:01:25] He's the best guy.

[01:01:26] Like he really is the best guy.

[01:01:27] There is in season two, a fucking serial killer comes to town.

[01:01:32] Like a true fucking psycho who does murders.

[01:01:37] Like he kills.

[01:01:38] He's a geologist too, which is a pervert science because it's just for oil.

[01:01:41] Yes.

[01:01:43] The oil of the old days, which was gold.

[01:01:46] They're sort of a piece.

[01:01:48] But like he, there is a, the worst man on earth is going to come to town and take up all the gold because he's a capitalist.

[01:01:55] And he sends his geologist to make sure that there is gold and buy a lot of claims before he gets there.

[01:02:01] And his geologist is again, a fucking serial killer who ruins Joanie's business by killing all the prostitutes.

[01:02:09] Uh, and she knows correctly.

[01:02:13] Well, if I bring this up, if I like make a stink about this, uh, Mr. Hurst, the guy, the, the man who hired the serial killer will, uh, have me wiped out because he wants to protect his interests.

[01:02:27] And it's against his interest for his geologist to be arrested as a serial killer.

[01:02:30] So she kind of can't do anything, but she goes to Charlie Utter to tell him like, Charlie, I've had a very bad day today.

[01:02:37] All of my friends were murdered by a, by a fucking maniac.

[01:02:40] And now I don't have a business.

[01:02:42] Uh, what will I do?

[01:02:44] And so the next day, Charlie Utter is in line for Fardim's Ridiculous Restaurant and he makes up an excuse like, oh, you scuffed my shoe, sir.

[01:02:52] And the guy's like, I don't think I scuffed your shoe.

[01:02:55] And he just starts beating the shit out of him.

[01:02:56] And it's beautiful because like you never, so rarely in the show does someone who's like evil just get simple comeuppance.

[01:03:04] And Charlie Utter beats the shit out of this guy.

[01:03:06] He's like, gets him into the mud.

[01:03:08] He pushes him down.

[01:03:09] He like gets on top of him and starts like pounding on his face.

[01:03:12] And he's like, see now, do you see now what it feels like to be helpless and have no one stick up for you?

[01:03:17] And it's just like, Charlie Utter, you were the greatest human being ever lived.

[01:03:20] Charlie Utter, I'll do anything for you, my homie.

[01:03:23] Uh, do you want to go get burgers?

[01:03:25] I love his business card.

[01:03:27] Charlie Utter Freight.

[01:03:28] What a good business.

[01:03:30] Yeah.

[01:03:31] There's one part where I forget what the context is, but like this is, he misreads the situation and he does.

[01:03:39] He thinks it's more like friendly and jocular than it is, but like, it's actually very serious.

[01:03:43] And they mentioned something about mail and he's like, I don't mind telling you.

[01:03:47] We lose more letters than we deliver.

[01:03:49] And like, he does like a laugh and then he sees no one else is laughing and he's like, whoa.

[01:03:54] Uh, later there's just some part where Jane is like lifting or something and she's just like fucking Charlie Utter Freight.

[01:04:02] It's just, I don't, it's wonderful.

[01:04:04] Wonderful stuff.

[01:04:06] Let's now talk about the Pinkertons and, uh, uh, Mr. Hurst because Mr. Hurst is kind of like Frieza, uh, in like the events of Dragon Ball in the sense that like he represents the money and like the ultimate exploitation of the earth and everything there.

[01:04:23] And he, even though he's not there until the third season, his forces and machinations sort of wind down in the camp early on, like immediately.

[01:04:36] Yeah.

[01:04:36] I mean like at the near the very beginning, Al sort of cottons on this, like some, like there is a storm coming there.

[01:04:42] There are going to be interests coming who have more capital and more power than we can resist that are going to take this camp from us.

[01:04:50] We need to prepare for it.

[01:04:52] And in season two, you obviously have Wolcott who is Hurst's man, but also, uh, you, you already start to see the Pinkertons who are, uh, working for him because there is a, uh, a fucking undercover agent who like was hired to secretly be Alma's daughter's tutor who the whole time was actually a Pinkerton agent doing evil.

[01:05:14] And from the jump, Al is like the Pinkertons are going to be here.

[01:05:18] It's going to suck when the Pinkertons show up.

[01:05:21] It's going to suck.

[01:05:22] Like he's like, if this happens, the Pinkertons are going to come sniffing around and that is when bad things happen.

[01:05:29] And he's correct.

[01:05:29] There is, uh, the reason why he gets in good with Alma, despite all the evil he has done to her is when it is revealed that her daughter's tutor was an undercover Pinkerton agent.

[01:05:40] He's like, he calls her in.

[01:05:41] He's like, all right, I'm on your side now.

[01:05:43] Like you're going to fuck this Pinkerton up.

[01:05:46] The reason being, I hate the fucking Pinkertons.

[01:05:48] The reason why they work for the bosses and they already have enough fucking advantages.

[01:05:53] And then like, eventually, like there's not just undercover guys.

[01:05:56] Like when Hearst is starting to come, like whole battalions of Pinkerton guys show up.

[01:06:02] They're still around, aren't they?

[01:06:04] They, not only are they still around, uh, this isn't like one of those things where like they rebranded and like they have a different name now.

[01:06:11] And you can like go to Wikipedia and see like, oh, they used to be called this.

[01:06:14] And now, no, they're like, there's subsidiaries of the Pinkertons.

[01:06:18] But like, do you remember the, the canine units that used to be on the L?

[01:06:23] Like it was the guys, the dogs.

[01:06:24] Those were Pinkertons.

[01:06:25] Like they were, they, Christ, those were under that umbrella, which is crazy because we're talking about the people that shot miners while they were striking in wild west times.

[01:06:36] It's so okay.

[01:06:38] When Hearst comes to town, so he has, he buys up every single gold claim except Alma's because Alma's gold claim is incredibly, uh, lucrative and she won't sell.

[01:06:49] This is the skyscraper from Yakuza thing.

[01:06:52] It's just like, we just need this one piece of land and then I can have my ultimate dream.

[01:06:58] But like when you see Hearst's mines working, um, it is so funny because every single scene is just, they're like a gaggle of fully nude Cornish men with their dicks flopping out who are forced to like wash under, uh, crappy buckets of water and have Hearst Pinkertons like open their assholes up to make sure they're not hiding any gold in there.

[01:07:23] And then one of them gets shot because he says the word union and it's just like, man, oh man, this is the Pinkertons.

[01:07:29] I think the reason they can't change the name is because having it still be the Pinkertons sort of self-selects for the most evil men on earth.

[01:07:37] Because like who's going to apply for a job at the Pinkertons?

[01:07:41] Well, someone who's really going to do a great job of evil.

[01:07:45] Uh, Jesus Christ.

[01:07:47] I love, who else?

[01:07:48] Uh, Mr. Hearst.

[01:07:50] Oh, I got to talk about Ash, the actual character because he does show up even after his Pinkerton people have been around for a long time.

[01:07:56] Mr. Hearst, when he first is there, so he's kind of gotten like an affable vibe to him.

[01:08:00] Like the previous villain, Wolcott, his geologist, as soon as he spoke, you're like, this is one of the-

[01:08:06] He's like, I'm clocking you as evil.

[01:08:07] You're going to slit a throat, my man.

[01:08:09] Like I can just tell you love that.

[01:08:11] Um, and he does.

[01:08:13] Hearst kind of seems like, I'm just like a friendly guy.

[01:08:16] Like when he meets people, when he's having his first scenes, he's like, nah, I'm not looking to cause any trouble in Deadwood.

[01:08:22] You know, the only thing I care about is the color, which is what he calls gold.

[01:08:25] Like all I care about is the color.

[01:08:27] I'm not going to get involved in any feuds or any, uh, politics for me as long as I can get the color and, uh, do it efficiently.

[01:08:34] Well, that's all I need.

[01:08:36] And of course, you think, oh, well maybe this is a change of pace.

[01:08:40] You think that, like, your lizard brain thinks that.

[01:08:42] Your intelligent brain knows that this is the season's antagonist.

[01:08:45] That won't be true.

[01:08:46] But like, it's so, like this, the thing about Hearst as a villain is that he is around today and won.

[01:08:53] Like he won the election for president a couple of days ago.

[01:08:56] Uh, like he is here and he will never leave.

[01:08:59] And it is all the same.

[01:09:00] It's like, oh, like, I, I don't care about politics.

[01:09:03] I'm just here to make a living for myself.

[01:09:05] And it's like, well, if you really think that, if that is the only thing you care about, that is the most evil person, actually.

[01:09:10] Like, like that is say, you're say, you're say, it means there is nothing you won't do.

[01:09:15] You are the fucking, you are what the disco Elysium guy is talking about where he says the mask slips and you see that the bourgeois are not human.

[01:09:22] That's.

[01:09:23] Uh, yeah.

[01:09:23] The mask has to be dropped for the killing.

[01:09:26] It has to happen.

[01:09:27] And you do have to kill.

[01:09:27] You, it, yeah, it will happen.

[01:09:29] Uh, so that's a lot of fucking people in this show.

[01:09:33] And that's not even everyone.

[01:09:34] Like, not even close.

[01:09:36] Not even close.

[01:09:37] But I cannot stress this enough.

[01:09:39] And there's not enough shows like this, I think, anymore, where you can truly say this is an ensemble show.

[01:09:45] Mm-hmm.

[01:09:46] What happens doesn't fucking matter because of the reasons Tom said.

[01:09:51] What matters is that each character, and the guy who wrote this show basically did this as much.

[01:09:57] He saw the actors as wonderful action figures and Barbies that he could make smooch and fight.

[01:10:03] Mm-hmm.

[01:10:03] So the purpose of the show, and it's evidenced by this, is just like, these two people are going to have a conversation and that's why it's happening.

[01:10:10] Doesn't matter.

[01:10:11] Like, he wanted to write this and that's fine.

[01:10:14] Mm-hmm.

[01:10:15] It's so good, dude.

[01:10:17] There's so many people we didn't talk.

[01:10:18] We didn't talk about the degenerate tit licker.

[01:10:20] We didn't talk about how Wyatt Earp and his brother Morgan show up, and they're just kind of shitty guys.

[01:10:24] And Seth is like, hey, fellas, you might want to consider moving along.

[01:10:27] We got enough shitty guys.

[01:10:28] And they're like, yeah, probably.

[01:10:30] In the third season especially.

[01:10:32] I don't know if this happened in the third season.

[01:10:34] But what you described happens, which is just like, yeah, I know you guys just got to town, but you better move it along.

[01:10:40] We can't really land this plane.

[01:10:42] Yeah.

[01:10:44] I don't want to spend too long on this, but the newspaper man, who is a great character and a great performance.

[01:10:50] You kind of can't get around the fact that the actor is a known pedophile.

[01:10:57] Like, he's on the sex offender registry, and it was known before they started filming.

[01:11:06] Not really sure how they got away with that.

[01:11:09] That actor has been in other stuff since.

[01:11:11] Not sure how he got away with that.

[01:11:12] I mean, like, I understand that, like, the temptation to be, like, he is a great character actor.

[01:11:17] He was the principal from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

[01:11:19] He was the emperor of Austria from Amadeus.

[01:11:22] Like, he can do the work.

[01:11:24] But, like, how come there's a...

[01:11:27] Every scene with him, there is a vibe of just, like, I don't know how much I should be enjoying this.

[01:11:34] Yeah.

[01:11:35] Is this allowed?

[01:11:36] Also, I just want to talk about Dan's fight.

[01:11:40] Can we talk about Dan's fight?

[01:11:41] Yeah.

[01:11:42] The third season has a stand battle.

[01:11:44] The stands are Dan, which is Al's stand, and then Captain Turner, which is Mr. Hurst's stand.

[01:11:52] Captain Turner is, like, he's the mustache guy from Mythbusters.

[01:11:56] Yeah, he looks like Jamie Mythbuster.

[01:11:59] He is Hurst's Dan.

[01:12:01] He is the one who's always standing next to him and who, when someone needs to be killed, does that.

[01:12:08] And they're fighting because Hurst wants to crush Al.

[01:12:13] He knows that Al is his biggest competition in the town for power and control.

[01:12:18] And he didn't really think very much of Al.

[01:12:20] He thinks he's a small-town rube who's up-jumped is the word.

[01:12:25] And he's like, I gotta crush him.

[01:12:27] And the way to do that is by killing his man and showing him that he is powerless before me.

[01:12:32] And so, like, they basically call him out.

[01:12:35] They're like, hey, Captain Turner goes up to Dan and is like, I know you're scared of me.

[01:12:40] And so you either have to fight or admit that you're scared of him, which is a defeat in itself.

[01:12:45] And so they have the stand battle.

[01:12:47] And these are, they are sort of, when I say that he's Hurst's Dan, like, they are the same shape.

[01:12:52] They're both, like, big, portly, barrel-chested 40-year-olds.

[01:12:57] So it looks evenly matched.

[01:12:59] And describe the fight.

[01:13:01] Yeah, so there's a lot of killing in this show.

[01:13:04] There's a lot of violence.

[01:13:06] I guess what's different about this fight is that a lot of the violence in Deadwood is sudden.

[01:13:13] Someone gets their throat cut.

[01:13:15] Something like that.

[01:13:15] This is a very drawn-out fight.

[01:13:17] It's two 40-year-old guys rolling around in the mud in the street.

[01:13:23] It's a very, like, laborious, like, slow grapple fight.

[01:13:27] Like, they are muddy and disgusting.

[01:13:30] And you actually can't really see what's happening because it's, like, there's two mud orbs trying to mount each other.

[01:13:36] But they're obviously, like, punching and kicking each other.

[01:13:38] And Dan is, like, literally about to just get suffocated.

[01:13:42] He's going to get choked out.

[01:13:43] And although, like, the specifics of what is happening is not super clear because of the mud, you could tell he's going to lose air and die.

[01:13:51] At which point, Dan fucking reaches in and pops out his eyeball.

[01:13:57] And man, oh, man, he responds by going, like, oh, shit, my eye is out.

[01:14:03] I hate this.

[01:14:04] And then Dan grabs a log and beats him to death with it.

[01:14:08] And it takes a while.

[01:14:09] And I cannot stress enough that it's, like, this is happening in the street with everybody watching.

[01:14:16] It's just such a, like, barbaric spectacle.

[01:14:21] How much watching?

[01:14:23] It literally is a stand battle.

[01:14:24] And Al is up on his balcony looking down at this.

[01:14:27] And then across the street, the hotel.

[01:14:30] Because, oh, because Hearst bought the hotel from Farnham and immediately busted a bunch of holes in the wall.

[01:14:36] So we get adjoined a bunch of rooms into one super room, which is where he lives.

[01:14:40] And then he busts a hole in the fucking exterior wall so we can get up on the balcony.

[01:14:45] So they're both, like, standing there, like, ten feet away from where this is all happening.

[01:14:49] And, like, also looking at each other.

[01:14:51] And when Joe says it takes a while to kill him with the log, that's because, well, it would take a while to do that.

[01:14:57] But also because...

[01:14:58] They're very tired.

[01:14:59] Yeah, Dan can, like, barely lift the log.

[01:15:01] Like, it takes a lot of work for him to get this log over the head.

[01:15:06] This is a fun fact I learned from W. Earl Brown's, what do you call it, Reddit account.

[01:15:14] So the plot, the amount of plot was, so you and Captain Turner are going to fight.

[01:15:20] It's going to look like you're going to die.

[01:15:21] But right at the last second, through blind chance, you...

[01:15:25] I can't say that.

[01:15:27] Through random chance, you turn the tables and win.

[01:15:34] And that was, like, they didn't know what the fight was going to be.

[01:15:36] And, like, the fight choreography does not exist.

[01:15:38] Because, like, this is a real fight.

[01:15:40] And real fights do not have, like, martial art choreography.

[01:15:43] It's sweaty guys rolling around until one of them runs out of air.

[01:15:46] Exactly.

[01:15:47] And so the reason that the eye-popping shit occurs is because W. Earl Brown, the actor, in real life, is friends with Jerry Cantrell, the guitar player from Alice in Chains.

[01:16:00] And one time, when they were hanging out, Jerry Cantrell told W. Earl Brown a story about something that happened to his brother David.

[01:16:08] Where he was in a bar fight, in a biker bar.

[01:16:11] And he was mounted on a pool table.

[01:16:14] And he was being beaten to shit out of.

[01:16:16] And he was getting strangled.

[01:16:17] And he's like, oh my god, I can see my vision closing in on me.

[01:16:21] I'm going to die right now.

[01:16:23] And he just starts flailing his arms at random.

[01:16:27] Feels something squishy.

[01:16:29] He got a critical.

[01:16:30] Strangle suddenly isn't getting strangled.

[01:16:32] And looks and sees what he's done.

[01:16:34] And he pulled the eye out.

[01:16:35] And it's hanging from the eye strings.

[01:16:37] And the guy's going, ah, my eye.

[01:16:40] And so the actor's just like, hey, how about I do that?

[01:16:43] And David Milch was like, oh, yes!

[01:16:47] And then hit him with a log.

[01:16:49] Another fun fact is that, uh, I learned this from W. Earl Brown.

[01:16:54] Saying fucking deadwood facts on Reddit.

[01:16:58] The one time in the entire history of the show that David Milch made a decision that did not forefront dialogue and language was.

[01:17:08] After Dan's had this fight, people are like, is he going to die?

[01:17:11] Like, did he break?

[01:17:12] Did he, like, get a punctured lung?

[01:17:13] Like, what's going to happen?

[01:17:14] Is he going to recover?

[01:17:15] You know, like, internally bleed?

[01:17:16] Is he okay?

[01:17:17] What's happening?

[01:17:18] And, like, nobody knows.

[01:17:19] Dan is just in another room.

[01:17:21] And no one has any news.

[01:17:22] And at one point, Johnny, who is, uh, the comedy henchman, he, like, goes in to check on Dan.

[01:17:30] And originally, there were going to be, uh, there were pages of dialogue.

[01:17:35] There was going to be Dan and Johnny talk.

[01:17:37] Classic deadwood.

[01:17:38] And W. Earl Brown was just like, I think it would be better if I just said nothing.

[01:17:43] And also was naked.

[01:17:45] And so he opens, what the scene is, is he opens the door and there is Dan, nude, sitting, looking at the corner, just, like, in a dark, dark room.

[01:17:55] Like, the fucking Blair Witch Project.

[01:17:57] And Johnny's like, you okay, Dan?

[01:18:00] No, no response.

[01:18:01] Like, you want to talk?

[01:18:03] No response.

[01:18:04] And, like, what...

[01:18:05] This is a fun anecdote because it's, to me, useful.

[01:18:09] Because, like, obviously what was chosen is correct.

[01:18:13] No dialogue.

[01:18:14] But it's funny that the person who wrote this fucking show, who I have nothing but respect for, like, was absolutely in the wrong on that front.

[01:18:22] Like, just no words needed.

[01:18:24] Yeah.

[01:18:24] Yeah.

[01:18:25] I mean, I see where he's coming from in that, like, it is easy for you to see the whole world as a nail when you have the greatest hammer on Earth.

[01:18:35] And hammering things with your amazing hammer has given you nothing but W's your entire life.

[01:18:42] But, man, yeah, this is why you gotta have collaborators.

[01:18:45] Because, like, it's...

[01:18:47] Because the whole point of that is, like, Dan's been a killer his whole life.

[01:18:51] But as you say, all of his kills have been by surprise.

[01:18:54] Like, he has never been in a fight.

[01:18:56] And he has never been in danger.

[01:18:58] And, like, he knows...

[01:18:59] I did lose that fight.

[01:19:01] Like, I was gonna drown.

[01:19:02] The eye shit was...

[01:19:04] Like, I had zero agency in the eye shit.

[01:19:07] That just happened.

[01:19:08] So, essentially, I did die.

[01:19:11] Al is like, the problem with the fair fight is you see the light go out.

[01:19:15] Yes.

[01:19:15] In the other guy's eyes.

[01:19:17] When you kill...

[01:19:18] Not that I know, but he's like, when you just kill someone, it's different.

[01:19:21] If it's a fair fight, you get to watch it go away slowly.

[01:19:24] And that's different.

[01:19:26] Fucking Christ, what a great show.

[01:19:27] I love this fucking show.

[01:19:30] Talk about a character who does nothing.

[01:19:32] Brian Cox, as the theater man, shows up midway through season three.

[01:19:37] And it's like, ah, Al, my friend.

[01:19:39] I remember you from Virginia City.

[01:19:42] And he's like, ah, Jack.

[01:19:44] I'm so glad you're here to be a theater man in Deadwood.

[01:19:47] And I'm like, I wonder what they're gonna do with this character.

[01:19:52] Because he does, you know, the class...

[01:19:53] He does the rounds that you do as a new Deadwood character.

[01:19:56] If he talks to this person, then he talks to that person.

[01:19:58] You go to the hotel.

[01:19:58] You go to the restaurant.

[01:19:59] You go to...

[01:20:00] I'm like, I wonder what they're gonna do with him.

[01:20:03] Um, nothing.

[01:20:05] Because season three was the last season.

[01:20:07] And it got canceled.

[01:20:09] Uh, for no fucking reason.

[01:20:11] And I'm so mad.

[01:20:13] I cannot stress this enough.

[01:20:14] Tom is correct to be banned.

[01:20:15] I'm mad as well.

[01:20:16] Yes, it did get canceled.

[01:20:18] Uh, if you are going to watch this show and you have it.

[01:20:20] And you should.

[01:20:21] Because everything we're saying is correct.

[01:20:22] And we have, uh, immaculate tastes.

[01:20:25] Uh, we are trendsetters.

[01:20:26] Uh, basically sort of a cultural gravity.

[01:20:28] That sort of thing.

[01:20:29] Mm-hmm.

[01:20:29] Um, just understand that, like, the first and second seasons, although obviously they end

[01:20:35] and there's stuff after, they end in a place that feels like, well, like the footing is

[01:20:42] correct.

[01:20:43] Like, yes, if there's nothing else, this is still kind of a bow on it.

[01:20:47] Fine.

[01:20:48] The third season is literally just like, next time on Dragon Ball Z!

[01:20:53] And then it's done.

[01:20:55] Like, the first two season finales, again, I don't feel like they would be satisfying

[01:21:00] series finales because there's a million threads that aren't, uh, still aren't resolved.

[01:21:05] But it does feel like it is written to be a finale.

[01:21:10] It is meant to be like, and this is wrapping up this season.

[01:21:15] It's not wrapping up the show, but it's wrapping up this season.

[01:21:18] So, if that were the series finale due to some awful circumstance, well, that would be very

[01:21:24] devastating.

[01:21:24] It would feel like a big loss.

[01:21:26] But there would still feel like, there's like the flavor of conclusion in the air.

[01:21:33] The finale of season three, which is the series fucking finale, Hurst has been fucking jockeying

[01:21:39] with Al this entire season.

[01:21:40] And he is a force unlike anything Al has ever fought before because he has basically unlimited

[01:21:45] influence and unlimited money and unlimited, uh, muscle because of the fucking Pinkertons.

[01:21:51] Uh, and unlike any other, uh, villain in the show before, like, and he does admit this.

[01:21:56] Hurst says this on screen.

[01:21:57] He's just like, I hate Deadwood and I want to see it burn.

[01:22:01] Yeah.

[01:22:01] This town sucks.

[01:22:02] Like, I, I do not, I'm not in on this project longterm.

[01:22:05] I wanted to be a, uh, crater that I've exploited and gotten a fat dollar from.

[01:22:10] Like, I would love it if there was just no fucking town here and it was only my people

[01:22:16] getting me my gold.

[01:22:17] My naked Cornishman running around.

[01:22:20] And like the big thing in the final couple episodes is like, we just got new, like, this

[01:22:26] is one of the great things.

[01:22:27] It's like, Al is so evil, but like, even the nicest, best people are like, I gotta, well,

[01:22:33] he's like the good kind of evil because like there is the, the comedy telegraph man who

[01:22:38] is this like uptight Russian guy with a funny mustache who always follows the rules.

[01:22:42] And he's like, it is so important to be completely, uh, the telegraph is sacred.

[01:22:48] He eventually completely caves and tells Al every time a telegraph comes in for Hurst

[01:22:54] and gives it to him first, because he's like, he can tell what's going to happen to him

[01:22:58] and the people he loves and his life if Hurst has his way.

[01:23:01] And so the telegram comes in, Hurst is just, is calling for like another fucking battalion

[01:23:06] of like essentially soldiers from the Pinkertons.

[01:23:09] Like there is going to be a standing army occupying the town and it's going to absolutely

[01:23:13] do everything that, uh, Hurst says.

[01:23:17] And so Al is scrambling to get guns, hire guns for himself.

[01:23:21] Uh, he knows that Mr. Wu, the Chinese guy, he has a bunch of guns and he has men who will

[01:23:26] fight and he's like, let's get them into town.

[01:23:28] We got to do everything we can to get them into town and they get into town and that's

[01:23:32] the end.

[01:23:35] So there's a movie that they made, uh, 80 years later after everybody died.

[01:23:40] Uh, we have not watched it.

[01:23:42] Tom and I, I have not watched it for the same reason I've not watched, uh, I think the last

[01:23:47] season of Venture Brothers in the movie because it's like, I don't want it to end.

[01:23:51] It's good.

[01:23:52] It's like this, it's this cultural item in my life that I really like.

[01:23:57] Uh, and the fact that it's not done is something I've reckoned with.

[01:24:02] So now that there's a way for it to be done, I guess I'm hesitant because I just assume,

[01:24:09] I don't know, even if I want it to be good and I'm sure I will not dislike watching it.

[01:24:15] It's just, I feel there is such a loss, insurmountable loss of like creative momentum to just have

[01:24:21] 20 years of nothing between shooting the last season in the movie.

[01:24:28] I could get behind the idea of a finale movie as like a fucking olive branch.

[01:24:36] Like, okay, dude, you have one movie to do all your shit.

[01:24:38] Okay.

[01:24:39] Be fucking quick about it.

[01:24:41] That I could get behind, but the fact that it was like a shot 20 years later, it's like,

[01:24:47] okay, well, there's no way.

[01:24:51] Well, Power's booth is dead, right?

[01:24:52] So there's that.

[01:24:53] There's no fucking Asai.

[01:24:55] There's no Richardson.

[01:24:56] They're dead.

[01:24:58] But it's just like how the, there's no way you're going to resolve the threads because

[01:25:03] these are threads that were following events that were occurring 20 years ago to these characters.

[01:25:09] Like, and they don't, they don't like hide it.

[01:25:12] Like it's like 20 years later on Deadwood.

[01:25:14] And it's just like, I, it feel, I, I, I, I fear that it cannot be anything other than

[01:25:21] like a reunion tour.

[01:25:24] Yeah.

[01:25:24] It's a Wikipedia page for the show.

[01:25:27] You're like, yeah, this is, I, I, and I, again, I cannot stress enough, not saying it's

[01:25:31] going to be bad or anything.

[01:25:32] I just, I, it is going to have to overcome a lot.

[01:25:37] Yeah.

[01:25:37] It's a challenge to make something with that much of a, I guess one advantage is that because

[01:25:43] everyone is shitty and dusty, the aging is like a more softer touch.

[01:25:49] I don't know.

[01:25:50] I'm just, I'm the thing that's coming back to my mind over and over is when the replacements

[01:25:54] had their reunion tour in the mid 2010s.

[01:25:57] And I saw them at Riot Fest and they were great.

[01:25:59] I can't say I didn't love it, but I loved it in the way that I probably would love watching

[01:26:03] the Deadwood movie and being like, it's Al, ah, it's Saul Star, ah, like it's Paul Westerberg,

[01:26:09] ah, ah, it's Bastards of Young, ah, just like, I remember that.

[01:26:13] I remember that.

[01:26:14] Um, but then I recall how, like after they did the reunion tour and even during it, like

[01:26:20] Paul Westerberg was like insanely depressed because it felt like to do this.

[01:26:26] It admits like the best years of my life were behind me.

[01:26:30] There's not, like I have no future because the only thing people care about is my past.

[01:26:34] There was the big thing.

[01:26:35] He wore t-shirts with one letter on them, uh, to a bunch of shows in a row.

[01:26:40] And if you put the letters in order, it says, I love you, but I must whore my past.

[01:26:43] Uh, it feels like that, like there's no, and I know that it is, there is a way, but it

[01:26:51] feels like, I fear that there is no way that this movie is like an artistic, like we needed

[01:26:58] to do this.

[01:26:59] Like, it's not just like, I bet it would pop to do a Deadwood thing again.

[01:27:04] Like, I don't know.

[01:27:06] This is checking a box.

[01:27:07] Uh, maybe we'll see.

[01:27:09] We'll see if it's checking a box.

[01:27:10] I, again, I'm happy to be wrong, but we've made stuff.

[01:27:14] I'm not saying I know how to make Deadwood, but I know that the longer you put in between

[01:27:18] things, uh, you lose something.

[01:27:22] And that something could be the lives of the main characters.

[01:27:26] Yep.

[01:27:32] I, the thing about Deadwood that makes me so fucking pissed off that it's gone.

[01:27:37] And like, imagine if you've watched The Sopranos, folks, think about The Sopranos.

[01:27:41] Imagine if The Sopranos ended after season three.

[01:27:45] Like, what a fucking, like, think of how much was just taken from you in that imagined scenario.

[01:27:51] Like, are you kidding me?

[01:27:52] Like, that's ridiculous.

[01:27:54] That's so, that's underthinkable.

[01:27:56] Seasons four, five, and six of The Sopranos are incredible.

[01:27:58] Like, are you, without those, like, the show wouldn't fucking work.

[01:28:02] Like, it doesn't, it doesn't come together.

[01:28:04] I mean, it would work.

[01:28:05] It would still be great.

[01:28:06] But like, it wouldn't be anywhere near as fucking good.

[01:28:08] And like, it's so unfair.

[01:28:12] And it, and it, it contributes to this feeling that I have that it feels like Deadwood is,

[01:28:20] it's like a show that doesn't come from Earth.

[01:28:23] It comes from, it's like it leaked in from the good timeline.

[01:28:28] Like, there is a timeline where writing and language is still valued as an art form in itself.

[01:28:37] Beauty in language and dialogue is enough to carry a show that people like.

[01:28:42] And a show can be sort of like harsh and vulgar and beautiful and difficult.

[01:28:49] It's not difficult in that, again, it's not like Shakespearean.

[01:28:52] Like, you can understand what they're saying.

[01:28:53] But it is not second screenable.

[01:28:55] Like, you can't be playing fucking subway surfers while you're watching this.

[01:28:58] That is so true.

[01:29:00] This is a non-second screenable game.

[01:29:04] It requires your focus.

[01:29:06] Not in an overbearing way.

[01:29:07] It's just, it has to be the only screen.

[01:29:10] It's like, a good sort of way to put it would be,

[01:29:14] imagine if there was a show where like, every time a character said a line,

[01:29:20] they did an incredible juggling move.

[01:29:22] And like, half, like the reason you watch the show is to see them juggle.

[01:29:26] And it's like, if you're looking at subway surfers on your phone and missing the juggling,

[01:29:31] it's like, that's like, well, that's it.

[01:29:32] Like, you're missing the whole thing.

[01:29:34] And similarly, like, if you can second screen like a sitcom,

[01:29:37] because like, I don't really need to follow the plot.

[01:29:39] The plots are so obvious.

[01:29:40] And they like show, like, you know how it's going to go.

[01:29:43] And like, you're going to hear the laugh line.

[01:29:46] And you're going to hear that over the subway surfers and be like,

[01:29:48] ha ha ha, I remember that.

[01:29:50] No, like, Deadwood requires your full attention.

[01:29:53] And it really rewards you for it.

[01:29:55] It's so rich.

[01:29:56] It's so beautiful.

[01:29:58] I'm going to read some fucking quotes.

[01:30:01] Just out of context.

[01:30:03] In life, you have to do a lot of things you don't fucking want to do.

[01:30:06] Many times, that's what the fuck life is.

[01:30:08] It's one vile fucking task after another.

[01:30:11] Ain't that true?

[01:30:12] Yeah, that stuck with me.

[01:30:14] That is always in the chamber.

[01:30:16] He's putting on his boots.

[01:30:17] Al is talking and putting on his boots as he says that.

[01:30:20] Life is one fucking vile task after another.

[01:30:23] It's hard to disagree with that.

[01:30:25] Yep.

[01:30:27] Every fucking beating I'm grateful for.

[01:30:29] Every fucking one of them.

[01:30:31] Get all the trust beat out of you.

[01:30:32] And then you know what the fuck the world is.

[01:30:34] That's again, that's Al.

[01:30:36] Goddamn.

[01:30:37] This is George Hurst talking to Seth, the sheriff.

[01:30:40] Seth wishes to punish Hurst for doing incredible amounts of crime.

[01:30:46] Hurst knows that I cannot be punished.

[01:30:48] I am a man of capital.

[01:30:51] And so he says,

[01:30:52] When I say go fuck yourself, sheriff,

[01:30:54] will you put that down to drunkenness or a high estimate of your athleticism?

[01:31:00] God, that's good.

[01:31:01] I love these quotes.

[01:31:02] I'm just looking down.

[01:31:03] Oh, this is a good one.

[01:31:05] This is the one you were talking about.

[01:31:07] I think this is a good one to end on.

[01:31:08] This is the one that Al says to the newspaper man.

[01:31:11] After the newspaper man, who has been sort of like a neutral sort of figure of comedy among the camp.

[01:31:18] Like everyone sort of realizes like this is kind of a kooky guy.

[01:31:21] He needs a big brother though.

[01:31:23] That's what he needs is a big brother.

[01:31:26] Yeah.

[01:31:26] And he has just for the first time been sort of touched by the politics of what's going on because he's trying to be neutral in his newspaper.

[01:31:35] And the moneyed interests do not like that.

[01:31:38] He did not take the moneyed interests side.

[01:31:41] So they beat him the fuck up.

[01:31:43] They smashed the machine.

[01:31:44] Yeah.

[01:31:45] And so he looks like for the first time is like, oh, no, like what?

[01:31:48] I'm not for the violent world.

[01:31:50] Like, what do I do?

[01:31:52] And he goes to Al and he's like in despair.

[01:31:55] And he's like, I don't know what I'm going to do.

[01:31:56] And Al says, pain or damage don't end the world or despair or fucking beatings.

[01:32:02] The world ends when you're dead.

[01:32:03] Until then, you got more punishment in store.

[01:32:06] Stand it like a man and give some back.

[01:32:08] You should also mention how right before that line, the conversation starts with him hitting him.

[01:32:16] And he's like, what?

[01:32:17] And he's like, are you dead?

[01:32:18] He's like, what?

[01:32:20] Are you fucking dead?

[01:32:22] So good.

[01:32:23] And I mean, as much as he is like trying to like be a hard ass later, Al gets the Pinkerton who beat up the newspaper man in his office under the auspices of like, let's negotiate.

[01:32:35] Like, I can't like there's no point in fighting you.

[01:32:38] Like, we got to come to a compromise and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[01:32:43] And obviously wrong.

[01:32:45] Al starts beating the shit out of him.

[01:32:47] Yeah, and he's like absolutely destroying him.

[01:32:49] Kick and kick, kick, kick.

[01:32:50] You blah, blah, blah, blah.

[01:32:51] And as he's like on the ground screaming, Al's like, how many ribs do you think you broke?

[01:32:57] And the guy is like touching his chest.

[01:32:59] He's like, I think two or three.

[01:33:01] And he's like, I mean the fucking newspaper man's ribs, you asshole.

[01:33:05] And it's like, oh, you do care.

[01:33:07] You do care.

[01:33:08] That's his way of caring.

[01:33:10] Al.

[01:33:11] What a, Jesus.

[01:33:12] I want to watch Deadwood again.

[01:33:14] Deadwood is a show you can watch again.

[01:33:16] Yes.

[01:33:17] Can I end with a final pitch just to reiterate kind of what we talked about here?

[01:33:20] I am a plot person.

[01:33:22] Like, I do like plot.

[01:33:23] I do like when like machinations move along.

[01:33:26] I think about just cause and effect.

[01:33:29] I like it.

[01:33:29] It's, I'm the same reason I like fighting mangas because it's like plot is the power of.

[01:33:35] So all that shit happening, whatever.

[01:33:38] I say all of that.

[01:33:40] And if you are a person who likes those things, this is a wonderful opportunity to throw that shit in a grave and just listen to dialogue.

[01:33:54] And I really do mean that.

[01:33:56] It is the point of the show.

[01:33:59] It is front and center.

[01:34:00] It is the price of admission.

[01:34:01] You might think, oh, it's a period piece because like that means like there's obviously a lot of good set.

[01:34:05] And there is all that stuff is very good.

[01:34:07] It's very immersive.

[01:34:09] What matters is that you can put on this show for an hour and you're going to hear people say the most insane, awesome shit for an hour.

[01:34:17] Some of it will be old timey slurs.

[01:34:19] Some of it will be meaningful and make you want to cry.

[01:34:23] And some of it will be about life.

[01:34:24] But a lot of it will be current day slurs.

[01:34:27] They say the N word all the time.

[01:34:29] There's no hate to it.

[01:34:30] It's just like that's what you call those people.

[01:34:32] So be aware of that.

[01:34:33] Yeah, but it's just there is some hate to it occasionally.

[01:34:37] But there are there are nice people who say it with no venom.

[01:34:41] Sorry.

[01:34:42] I can't think of anything that comes close to this.

[01:34:46] Like I've obviously enjoyed TV shows and movies that have wonderful dialogue.

[01:34:51] But this thing where like the point of the show, the actual price of admission is just two people talking usually.

[01:35:01] Like that's it.

[01:35:01] Like that's the Wild West stuff doesn't matter.

[01:35:05] Like it was going to be about ancient Rome.

[01:35:08] You told me.

[01:35:08] I didn't know that.

[01:35:09] This is so fucking funny.

[01:35:10] His original pitch to HBO was like, I would love to do a show that follows the interlinked lives.

[01:35:19] The day to day goings on of people living in ancient Rome.

[01:35:23] And they were like, OK, so that's crazy because we're we're working on the show called Rome.

[01:35:30] And I don't think we're going to do two.

[01:35:32] Are we going to do two?

[01:35:32] No.

[01:35:33] OK, we're just going to do.

[01:35:34] Did you know about Deadwood?

[01:35:35] Yeah, because you Wild West.

[01:35:36] He's like, yeah, I can do Wild West.

[01:35:37] And then he made Deadwood.

[01:35:39] So the fact that like this show wasn't even like his initial like down strike, like this was my idea.

[01:35:44] It's like I wanted to actually do something else.

[01:35:46] This is my silver medal.

[01:35:47] It's so good.

[01:35:49] It really it again.

[01:35:50] It just feels like something is leaking in from the good timeline.

[01:35:54] It's so special.

[01:35:56] I haven't been able to start another show since I finished it because it just feels like what's the point?

[01:36:01] It's an everything show.

[01:36:03] What I mean by that?

[01:36:04] I mean, like it's like you know how Bollywood is like you get all the emotions in the three.

[01:36:09] Like this is the same thing when the show is funny.

[01:36:11] It is fucking funny in a way that isn't.

[01:36:13] Oh, it's kind of funny.

[01:36:14] I mean, like it is funny in the way that like a really good writer is funny.

[01:36:18] Tom brought this up early on and it's one of my favorites just of like kind of like what I mean when I say like it's funny on its own merits.

[01:36:25] It's just really well written is like there's this episode where there's this piano that shows up and like Al because it's always playing like ragtime stuff.

[01:36:34] And he hates it.

[01:36:35] And like it's like a D plot.

[01:36:38] But the ongoing thing that keeps happening is just like every time he's trying to like why did this fucking piano show up?

[01:36:43] And everyone's like you told me if I didn't get this piano here as soon as possible you kick my ass.

[01:36:48] And it was just like him like having to live with like I did this to myself.

[01:36:52] Because it was when the Bella Union opened up and it was like a high end saloon.

[01:36:56] He's like, oh my God, I have competition.

[01:36:58] We need a new piano now.

[01:37:00] And then it became clear later that like the Bella Union is not.

[01:37:03] They're different audiences.

[01:37:06] Yes.

[01:37:06] And he's also not a shrewd enough operator to threaten me.

[01:37:10] So when the piano shows up, he's like what the fuck?

[01:37:12] Also, the piano shows up in like the middle of a meeting and he's like interrupted.

[01:37:16] He's like why the fuck you interrupted me about a fucking piano?

[01:37:18] It's like Al, you told me to tell you as soon as the piano got here no matter what.

[01:37:23] It's like well why'd you buy it?

[01:37:25] Like why didn't you wait a bit until we could figure out if we should?

[01:37:28] It's like Al, you specifically countermanded against any delay saying that you would kick my ass if I delayed.

[01:37:33] And just like all these reasons why like this happened.

[01:37:37] Like every single thing that's bugging you is your orders being followed exactly Al.

[01:37:42] And he's so mad.

[01:37:45] This is an example of like what I think makes a good show.

[01:37:47] It's when there's just like, hey, we're making this weird small arbitrary choice for this character.

[01:37:52] And one of them is Johnny, the like dumb henchman.

[01:37:55] There's one episode where he just doesn't have a voice.

[01:37:58] I forgot about that.

[01:38:01] It's like it doesn't matter why he doesn't have a voice.

[01:38:03] And it sounds stupid to say like, oh, this show is really good because like this guy couldn't talk because he didn't have a voice.

[01:38:10] But it's just like this very stupid spice that is going to play out in the background of all like the heavy hitting stuff.

[01:38:21] I have said it before and I'll say it again.

[01:38:24] This is my this is one of my like top five writing advice things for for all you creatives out there.

[01:38:32] If you want to have a piece of art that portrays the world in an accurate way and it does not contain at least a few truly stupid things that are very funny.

[01:38:45] You are not like you have failed.

[01:38:48] You may it may be you don't want an accurate portrayal of the world.

[01:38:51] And you want it to be very dark and grim the entire way through and serious.

[01:38:55] However, if you are trying to accurately depict the world as it is, there is no situation that does not have dumb, funny shit going on all throughout.

[01:39:05] And Deadwood fucking does it.

[01:39:08] Like there's it does it effortlessly.

[01:39:10] It just puts it's like a garnish.

[01:39:12] OK, you have this really fun story and then you have this very wonderful little spice on it.

[01:39:18] Like it's funny, but it's not doing the thing I can't stand, which is like, oh, I'm winking.

[01:39:21] Like, isn't this so clever?

[01:39:22] These scenarios that I've concocted does not feel like that.

[01:39:26] Everything feels very slight of hand.

[01:39:28] Talk about spice spice money about spice.

[01:39:31] Let's talk about unauthorized cinnamon.

[01:39:33] There is a point where they have to have a meeting when Al's out of commission due to health reasons.

[01:39:38] And and Jewel, who is the they call her the gimp.

[01:39:42] She's a woman who I think she has M.S.

[01:39:45] Her legs.

[01:39:46] Yeah, she is.

[01:39:47] Her legs are effectively different lengths.

[01:39:49] Yeah.

[01:39:50] And also she can't talk completely normal.

[01:39:55] Al is constantly mean to her.

[01:39:57] But then it's revealed later.

[01:39:58] It's like, well, the reason she's here and pulls a check is because she's like his childhood friend.

[01:40:03] Also, she is mean to him back.

[01:40:05] And he like he.

[01:40:07] Oh, God.

[01:40:07] Yes.

[01:40:08] When when he recovers from his illness and is walking around and he doesn't have full mobility yet.

[01:40:16] And she walks by and she goes, he's always dragging that fucking leg everywhere he goes.

[01:40:21] He like he wants to get mad.

[01:40:25] But he's just like, fuck, I am.

[01:40:26] I am dragging my leg.

[01:40:27] Like, I do say that.

[01:40:30] Anyway, they have to have a meeting where there's no Al to do it.

[01:40:34] And Al always serves peaches, canned peaches.

[01:40:36] At one point, he has a meeting at the hardware store.

[01:40:39] And as he's leaving, he's just like, by the way, I serve refreshments at my meeting.

[01:40:44] So you had to put out peaches.

[01:40:46] And Jewel wants to put out cinnamon for the peaches.

[01:40:49] And Dan is like in such a fucking huff.

[01:40:51] He's like, like, Al doesn't put out cinnamon.

[01:40:54] Like, I don't want to get in trouble for putting out cinnamon.

[01:40:56] It's like, what's wrong with putting out cinnamon?

[01:40:58] Why can't we put out cinnamon?

[01:40:59] Cinnamon is good on peaches.

[01:41:00] Like, Jewel, I don't want any unauthorized fucking cinnamon at the meeting.

[01:41:04] And like there it's very funny and very silly.

[01:41:08] But it's like real because like Dan is panicking.

[01:41:12] He is the muscle.

[01:41:13] He doesn't do this planning.

[01:41:14] He's afraid any decision I make that Al doesn't make could be the wrong one.

[01:41:18] And this cinnamon shit could be it.

[01:41:20] Like, it could.

[01:41:21] And it kind of is because Harry Manning has a bunch of cinnamon on his peaches.

[01:41:26] And he's allergic to cinnamon.

[01:41:27] And he has a bunch of diarrhea.

[01:41:31] God, good show.

[01:41:33] Fuck.

[01:41:34] There's so many diarrhea bits.

[01:41:37] Like, at one point.

[01:41:38] Shitting for sure.

[01:41:40] Al is beating up one of his henchmen who is an opium junkie.

[01:41:44] Because he has been compromised by Tolliver.

[01:41:47] Because Tolliver provided him with opium.

[01:41:49] And he's been feeding Tolliver Al's secrets.

[01:41:51] So he's beating the shit out of him.

[01:41:53] And he has beaten his henchmen down.

[01:41:56] He's on the ground going, oh, oh.

[01:41:58] And like Al goes to the window to sort of like brood or whatever.

[01:42:02] I don't know why.

[01:42:03] He's farther away though.

[01:42:04] And the henchman on the ground is just like, Al, you should know that I have shit myself.

[01:42:08] I mention it only so you know in advance.

[01:42:10] And do not find out when the smell reaches you.

[01:42:14] It's so fucking funny.

[01:42:18] This guy is just like, if he discovers that I shit myself, he's going to be so mad.

[01:42:25] So I have to be a worm and just kind of cue up the information that I shit myself.

[01:42:33] Like I'm owning it.

[01:42:34] Like I did shit, sir.

[01:42:36] There is shit in there.

[01:42:39] I'm tired.

[01:42:40] We got to wrap it up.

[01:42:41] You have to watch Deadwood.

[01:42:42] If you don't watch Deadwood, I'll fucking kill you.

[01:42:45] Like it is one of the great, like great show.

[01:42:49] Like it and The Sopranos, absolutely towering works.

[01:42:54] Like it's amazing to think that it exists.

[01:42:56] Very different shows, but just so fucking good.

[01:43:00] You really owe it to yourself.

[01:43:02] Consider watching it with subtitles.

[01:43:05] And that's both because so you don't miss anything.

[01:43:07] And also because like you're basically hearing all the dialogue twice.

[01:43:11] Because you hear them say it.

[01:43:12] And you're hearing it in your head as you read it.

[01:43:13] I really want to second that.

[01:43:15] I always have subtitles on anyway just because I like to see the words written.

[01:43:19] Just for some reason that helps.

[01:43:21] But this is a show where you should do that.

[01:43:24] As dumb as this sounds, it's like, okay, yeah, like this was written and those are the words.

[01:43:30] I can't believe it took me so long to watch this.

[01:43:32] I can't believe I didn't watch this in college.

[01:43:34] But as Al Swearingen says, that's what you call a mistake of youth.

[01:43:39] That's all the time we have for Anime Sickos.

[01:43:40] I've been Tom and Anime Sicko.

[01:43:42] I've been Joe and Anime Sicko.

[01:43:44] Watch Deadwood.

[01:43:45] Bye-bye.

[01:43:46] Thank you for listening to Anime Sickos.

[01:43:49] I've been Tom, a sicko.

[01:43:51] You can follow me on Twitter at TomHarrison19.

[01:43:53] Joe is also a sicko.

[01:43:55] You can follow him on Twitter at ShariaUncle.

[01:43:57] You can follow Anime Sickos on Twitter at AnimeSickos.

[01:44:01] Or email us at AnimeSickos at gmail.com.

[01:44:04] Please leave us a review or something.

[01:44:06] I don't know.

[01:44:07] Tell a friend.

[01:44:08] Anyway, until next time, bye.