So, I'm watching Deadwood S1 Ep4 this morning (we're on a break as S talks to her brother on the phone), and I can't help but feel that this is the episode where Wild Bill dies. He's the first character we see in the episode, and there are many lines referring to his death in one way or another. Hickok's own "Will you please let me go to Hell the way I want to?" to Charlie Utter, just before Charlie leaves for Cheyenne. Plus the line "He too is God's handiwork," about the droopy-eyed cunt mouth hoople-head, just after he bragged about having a gun and then refused to sell it to his more level-headed friend poker partner.

It's also the episode where Hickok gets Seth to investigate Mrs. Garrett's claim, after her husband comes back all murdered.

Also? It's nice to be watching DVDs that have been out for a while, 'caz I don't have to white font all this stuff.

If that's correct, is it the same episode where Ellsworth states his line about fucking up his life flatter than hammered shit?

is it the same episode where Ellsworth states his line about fucking up his life flatter than hammered shit?

Yep.

Just finished. Poor Jane. It was so vividly clear every time she got anywhere near Bill that she was madly in love with him, and that she would never admit it, even to herself.

Poor Jane.

Just finished Ep5 -- The Trial of Jack McCall.

I find all of the characters so fascinating. It's such a damn shame Hickok has to die so early in the series, he's one of the best characters in the show. But, of course, what makes his character so damned good is that it's a portait of a man grimly walking (sauntering?) to his own death. Kind of locks you into the end of the arc.

And Saul Bullock. How do I love Saul? Let me count the ways. A man who is good and honorable, or at least want to be, yet is clearly haunted by the things he's done and seen, else why leave the law business to sell hardware? Good and honorable as he may be, it's surprisingly easy easy to get under his skin, isn't it? Perhaps it's because he truly doesn't know what he wants to be, and Hickok's presence in the camp and subsequent murder, not to mention the matter of Alma Garrett, aren't helping his conscience.

I enjoyed seeing the reference to 1 Corinthians: 12-13 so early in the show, seeing as how it was the primary feature of the ads for Season 3.

And since I'm taking over the tread and going all "Deadwood loves carrots," it seems S has a new idol in Al Swearingen. Every time I cut the cheese now, she threatens me with throwing me out the window.

Seth Bullock. and Sol Starr. Not that makes him less lovable, if tightly-wound. Yeah, I'd have enjoyed more Bill, too. But it's totally Swearingen's world and we're all living in it. The top Vocational Rehab guy in the state is Michael Swearingen. I foresee lots of gimps being trained to clean up bloodstains. I'm tempted to call up, yell "Sweargin." and hang up. I hope I would not be the first.

Hickok's short tenure in Deadwood is roughly true to life. The man casts a shadow, though.

Also, Milch has described Bullock as essentially a sociopath on the right side of the law. I don't think that's accurate, but it's out there.

But it's totally Swearingen's world and we're all living in it.

It surely is.

Hickok's short tenure in Deadwood is roughly true to life. The man casts a shadow, though.

Carradine portrays Hickok as a man who seems to know he's come to Deadwood to die, particularly in his last episode.

I think that's a little extreme, Corwood. Even though I find Milch insightful. Could that have something to do with Olyphant playing things that aren't on the page? Cause I would agree he's not sheriff out of big respect for the Law as an ideal, but "sociopath" makes me think of someone far more antisocial than Bullock.