Three really great scenes in this one, some other interesting stuff on the margins, and the rest of the time spent slogging through crud.
Let's go with the good stuff first. Al's conversation with Merrick in the opener, and his speech about taking some pain, staying standing "like a man," and maybe giving some back, is an all-timer. I've sung McShane's praises enough, but he owns scenes like that, and it speaks to his independent, persevering philosophy on life.
That also helps provide the backbone of the episode, namely the contrast between Al and Cy. Al wants nothing to do with Hearst or the Pinkertons or the other outside forces that threaten to come in and replace them all with folks who'll treat 'em special. He wants to stand up to them, knowing there'll be some pain involved, but thinking that the fight is worth it, to try to keep what they've built there. Cy, on the other hand, is very much of the "go along to get along" school, and is willing to capitulate to even the whiff of those big moneyed men on the outside if he thinks it'll serve his position. The episode makes the contrast clear.
The same comes through in the two city fathers' treatment of their prostitutes/crushes. When Trixie comes back, tired of her own frustrations with learning accounts and ready to come back, Al sends her back out with them. Sure, it's partly self-interest in that he wants to have someone loyal to him snooping on the hardware boys, but you get the impression that as much as her affair with Sol may hurt his feelings, he really wants Trixie to better herself and not give up at the first sign of trouble where she might "tumble into something new." Al, astute as he is, has to know that this may take her away from him for good, but he doesn't try to hold on if he thinks its futile or not in her best interest. Cy, on the other hand, is still trying to manipulate Joanie and uses something as horrific as the murders that happened at Chez Ami as a way to keep her trapped and close and prevent her from developing any personal growth or independence. I tired of the Cy and Joanie stuff just because the show hits the same notes over and over with them, but again, the differences between the two men couldn't be more clear and I like that thematic tie.
The other great scene in the episode is between Al and Alma, a pairing that as Swearengen himself pointed out at the end of S1, we've never gotten before. Alma's clear disdain for the man she understands killed her husband and tried to take out Sofia to boot, combined with Al's labored attempts at gentility and decorum made for a great back and forth, to show why these two people who have everyone reason to be opposed to one another find themselves with their interests aligned and making nice, or at least as nice as each can manage. (Al in particular was great here in his final bit about the tea.)
And there was even a great scene on the same terms between Alma and Bullock! The scene did well at showing Bullock and Alma hinting around the topic of Alma's pregnancy without coming right out and saying it, as you might expect, and I even appreciated how Alma called Bullock on his bullshit, basically saying that if this development is too much for him, then he can choose to leave, but she's not going to absolve his conscience or participate in his fantasy that he's doing it for someone else's good.
And when it comes down to it, I even liked the bit with Charlie Utter trying to defend Joanie's honor to some degree, and it being tied up with Bill's letter. His pretense to beat up Wolcott was well-done, and the fall out, where as Al notes, it tips the rest of the movers and shakers as to what his motivation was and what mnust have happened, worked well. Wolcott's still not someone I really enjoy spending time with on the show, but his using the letter to make sure Utter wouldn't tattle on him was an interesting turn, and it's nice that the letter had some relevance.
And even at the margins, I loved the sort of side bits, like Leon and his partner/rival in Cy's employ trying to figure out how to market Chinese prostitutes and finding themselves upstaged by the tall Asian man who works for Hearst or someone from Yankton. Plus, E.B. feeling left out by the rest holding a town meeting without him and annoying the rest of the townsfolk about it was good for a few chuckles.
That's the thing. when I step back and think of a lot of the threads of the episode individually, I like them, and I like what I think the show's trying to do with them. I just find myself losing interest in particular scenes or elongated moments between Joanie and Cy that run over the same ground we've gone over ten times already, or the third rehash of what happened with Charlie and Wolcott in the same 45-minute period. There's plenty of good scenes and good actors here, but at times it feels like the focus and direction of the show is off, and not necessarily using them all to their greatest potential.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-07-23T20:51:19Z
Three really great scenes in this one, some other interesting stuff on the margins, and the rest of the time spent slogging through crud.
Let's go with the good stuff first. Al's conversation with Merrick in the opener, and his speech about taking some pain, staying standing "like a man," and maybe giving some back, is an all-timer. I've sung McShane's praises enough, but he owns scenes like that, and it speaks to his independent, persevering philosophy on life.
That also helps provide the backbone of the episode, namely the contrast between Al and Cy. Al wants nothing to do with Hearst or the Pinkertons or the other outside forces that threaten to come in and replace them all with folks who'll treat 'em special. He wants to stand up to them, knowing there'll be some pain involved, but thinking that the fight is worth it, to try to keep what they've built there. Cy, on the other hand, is very much of the "go along to get along" school, and is willing to capitulate to even the whiff of those big moneyed men on the outside if he thinks it'll serve his position. The episode makes the contrast clear.
The same comes through in the two city fathers' treatment of their prostitutes/crushes. When Trixie comes back, tired of her own frustrations with learning accounts and ready to come back, Al sends her back out with them. Sure, it's partly self-interest in that he wants to have someone loyal to him snooping on the hardware boys, but you get the impression that as much as her affair with Sol may hurt his feelings, he really wants Trixie to better herself and not give up at the first sign of trouble where she might "tumble into something new." Al, astute as he is, has to know that this may take her away from him for good, but he doesn't try to hold on if he thinks its futile or not in her best interest. Cy, on the other hand, is still trying to manipulate Joanie and uses something as horrific as the murders that happened at Chez Ami as a way to keep her trapped and close and prevent her from developing any personal growth or independence. I tired of the Cy and Joanie stuff just because the show hits the same notes over and over with them, but again, the differences between the two men couldn't be more clear and I like that thematic tie.
The other great scene in the episode is between Al and Alma, a pairing that as Swearengen himself pointed out at the end of S1, we've never gotten before. Alma's clear disdain for the man she understands killed her husband and tried to take out Sofia to boot, combined with Al's labored attempts at gentility and decorum made for a great back and forth, to show why these two people who have everyone reason to be opposed to one another find themselves with their interests aligned and making nice, or at least as nice as each can manage. (Al in particular was great here in his final bit about the tea.)
And there was even a great scene on the same terms between Alma and Bullock! The scene did well at showing Bullock and Alma hinting around the topic of Alma's pregnancy without coming right out and saying it, as you might expect, and I even appreciated how Alma called Bullock on his bullshit, basically saying that if this development is too much for him, then he can choose to leave, but she's not going to absolve his conscience or participate in his fantasy that he's doing it for someone else's good.
And when it comes down to it, I even liked the bit with Charlie Utter trying to defend Joanie's honor to some degree, and it being tied up with Bill's letter. His pretense to beat up Wolcott was well-done, and the fall out, where as Al notes, it tips the rest of the movers and shakers as to what his motivation was and what mnust have happened, worked well. Wolcott's still not someone I really enjoy spending time with on the show, but his using the letter to make sure Utter wouldn't tattle on him was an interesting turn, and it's nice that the letter had some relevance.
And even at the margins, I loved the sort of side bits, like Leon and his partner/rival in Cy's employ trying to figure out how to market Chinese prostitutes and finding themselves upstaged by the tall Asian man who works for Hearst or someone from Yankton. Plus, E.B. feeling left out by the rest holding a town meeting without him and annoying the rest of the townsfolk about it was good for a few chuckles.
That's the thing. when I step back and think of a lot of the threads of the episode individually, I like them, and I like what I think the show's trying to do with them. I just find myself losing interest in particular scenes or elongated moments between Joanie and Cy that run over the same ground we've gone over ten times already, or the third rehash of what happened with Charlie and Wolcott in the same 45-minute period. There's plenty of good scenes and good actors here, but at times it feels like the focus and direction of the show is off, and not necessarily using them all to their greatest potential.