Right, so further thoughts on New Money and Requiem for a Gleet:

Wow.

And I thought New Money was wince-inducing. Yikes.

The exchange in the jail cell between Charlie Utter and Jane in New Money was so marvelous. Vulgar and touching at the same time. There's also a moment near the end of the scene, when they're talking about Bill's coat, that Jane looks downright beautiful. I grow to adore Robin Weigert more with every moment she's on screen.

I also love listen to Charlie Utter. He's got such a wonderful voice, and such a great way of phrasing things. Everybody on the show has such great phrasing in their speech patterns, though each character's phrasing is unique (with E.B.'s being by far the most flowery and circuituous). S loves listening to Cy's voice. Apparently she's long been a fan of Powers Boothe's voice.

Speaking of E.B., his amazing transition from triumphant, scheming rat to obsequeous, penitant worm when Wolcott revealed he was in the employ of George Hearst was absolutely seamless. Invisible!

Alma arriving at the hotel lobby and the brief eye contact with Seth was so heartbreaking. Ouch. Deadwood has changed Alma. She's become stronger, but not necessarily to her betterment.

And in Requiem for a Gleet -- "Seth...." "Martha...." Guh. Such a subtle change, that speaks volumes. I'm so conflicted -- I was a Seth/Alma shipper, but now I think I'm a Seth/Martha shipper too.

Of course, everybody knows it's SethNAl4Evah!

The exchange between Jane and Trixie was hi-larious and intense all at once -- Trixie worrying herself mad over Al's condition and subconsciously showing off that she's been paying attention in her lessons with Sol, Jane having a completely different conversation than the one Trixie was having and having her assumptions about certain events both challenged and reinforced at the same time. Jane's face throughout the conversation was a joy to watch (as always).

Doc's shakey hands, Ellsworth confronting Wolcott and later being calmly reassuring to Alma, Alma daring E.B. to sell the hotel, Miss Isringhausen's ominous rendezvous with Silas Adams, and Al narrowly avoiding the Doc's knife in the climactic, er, scene, all made Requiem for a Gleet into a prime example of this show. As Corwood said, complex emotions, not all of them pleasant, but net positive, and the reason we watch this show.

I think Trixie is my biggest favorite. I like her mix of toughness and vulnerability, and now I feel bad about thinking I wouldn't like a show because most of the women are whores.(And she has great hair. Although Melissa Leo still sets the hair standard for any actress I ever watch. "Oh, So-And-So has great hair." "Better than Kay's?" So far, I haven't said "Yes," yet though sometimes "Almost,")

Oh, and the capper is, of course, Al's exhalation in the final shot. He still looked horrible, but he looked a thousand times better than he did before he passed the stone.

Nice write-up! That final tableaux in Requiem for a Gleet is just gorgeous, and even more emotionally satisfying because of the characters involved.

I said it before, but Doc thanking Al for not making him have to operate was one of my favorite grace notes in this episode. Anyone who's only seen Dourif in LotR or as the voice of Chucky is missing a whole world of gruff lovlieness from one of the most underrated character actors we have in this country.

HBO has picked up to series Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's one-hour comedy "12 Miles of Bad Road," starring Lily Tomlin, and the half-hour drama "In Treatment," starring Gabriel Byrne and executive produced by Mark Wahlberg.

[link]

Last week, I thought Vorenus was Kayser Soze.

Now I know better, poor schmuck.

Oh, and I'm about halfway through the second season of the Wire. Loving it! I don't have anything to say about it, really, but Gah! So Good! But I'm getting more of y'all's references.

EXCELLENT! Now you know why I bring my duck to the bar, too.

"English, motherfucker, English."