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Deadwood


The Monkey

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I don't know, man. Joannie Stubbs had a chat with Alma in a later scene. They talk about how Alma doesn't feel bad for her father after the maniac sheriff breaks his face, and Jonnie assures her that's normal, and relates her experiences with her own incestuous father. I'm probably wrong, but I got the feeling that Joannie could sense that Alma had had similar experiences.

Hm, I don't remember that exchange at all. Maybe I just haven't gotten to that episode in my rewatch yet.

Though that would cast a rather more disturbing light on what Otis said to Alma after 'selling' her off to be married to Brom.

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Just to jump in- I never got the sense that Alma was molested by her father and I don't think that scene articulates the truth of that assertion nor does it indicate evidence thereto. Joanie is explaining what happened to her and how Joanie's father was a monster; she is saying it to relate to her experience with her father and how terrible Joanie thinks Alma's dad must have been to her. But that does not mean molestation. In fact, Alma's anger towards her father is not amorphous; its incredibly clear.



Much like Joannie, Alma was sold. But in Alma's case it was in the form of a dowry to pay off her father's many debts. Alma is basically paying for her father's sins and her father's greatest sin is that he's an irresponsible fool and does not learn. Her hatred for him is not sexualized; its far more social and psychological. THis is all explained. In fact, the episode itself is called "Sold Under Sin" and that seems to explain Alma and her relationship with her father.



Also, Alma never indicates in that scene that she relates to that relationship of sex with her father; in fact Joannie does not seem to be saying this in order to get Alma to admit anything OR that Joannie even suspects that Alma is hiding this trauma. (I actually think it was a deft move by Mitch to give us an excuse NOT to discover more about Alma, but to find a place to have us discover more about Joannie not only did her dad fuck her and sell her into prostitution... its WHO he sold her to... he sold her to Cy Tolliver)



Miltch discussed a lot in Deadwood about the role of women and their life. Most notably, was how isolated, lonely and pedantic it was. Men could work, drink, gamble etc; women basically sat in rooms and cared for their children and that was really it (or get high on laudanum) . That proximity to the children could be suffocating (this is illustrated very well in Alma's relationship with Sofia's tutor, Ms. Ingringhouse and why she hates her so much). Well, both Joannie and Alma grew up without mothers (or at least without strong ones) to protect them from their fathers, and thus that proximity to their father's and their fathers' foibles and flaws grew more intense.



In other words- those feelings of hatred are not only found in relationships involving child rape, and not every childhood scar needs that element to be traumatic. I think Alma being sold because her father is a leech, corruptible, weak and childish is more than enough reason to feel okay that Seth beat his face inside out.



ETA:



Oh, and everytime you fast-forward a scene in Deadwood, a Hoople-Head dies.


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  • 2 weeks later...

We are one season in....

Holy Shit .... i couldn't love this show more if it gave me a hand job and made me a sandwich... Thanks so much to everyone here who suggested it... I hope you all hit the lottery.

:cheers:

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We are one season in....

Holy Shit .... i couldn't love this show more if it gave me a hand job and made me a sandwich... Thanks so much to everyone here who suggested it... I hope you all hit the lottery.

And you could not be more wrong. S2 manages to top S1, and by a wide margin. There is more awesomeness crammed into the last five minutes of the S2 finale ("The Boy The Earth Talked To") than most series have in their entire runs.

"God is not mocked, you son of a bitch."

"They dance on, Chief. However much at home, as at yours and mine, comfort and love await."

"Wu! America!"

"Hey! We ain't done fuckin' dancing!"

The episode that precedes it is pretty awesome, too, but impossible to quote or describe without spoiling.

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I really don't think it would be that difficult to kill Hearst, of course not openly in "Wild West style", but if he was shot by covertly like Elsworth or even killed by someone like Trixi, I don't think there would be full scale invasion by outsiders like you said... He would be just another rich man who was killed in lawless town. Also Bullock and All were not dealing the enemy more subtly, they were not dealing with him at all. That was a problem with 3rd season - a lot of talk about what to o with Hearst and then - rolling over and doing nothing.

It's not just about getting invaded by Pinkertons. It's also about getting invaded by the US Government. The lingering fear from everyone in the camp is that their titles and deeds will be invalidated upon annexation. if a man like Hearst is murdered in Deadwood, that gives the Yankton cocksuckers the opportunity to take over the camp with the backing of the government.

Really? Those guys were the worst part of show IMO, I always fastforward every scene they are in, all of them were incredibly boring

I agree, but if not for them, we'd have never gotten this scene.
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