Adding Brian Cox to your cast should always be thought of as a win, but the relationship between his John Langrishe and Swearengen comes off as counterfeit the way the grandiloquent theater producer rolls into town and cozies up to his supposed old friend is about as organic as Roy suddenly showing up in the Simpsons’ kitchen. The dreaded theater troupe arrives in camp.
On the whole, this one’s a lot of resolution and setup, but not much of consequence happens. A few fresher developments also prepare us for what’s ahead - namely, the introduction of two traveling siblings (one of whom is played by Kristen Bell!), who, of course, aren’t quite what they claim to be.
Some other lingering business is wrapped up, as Brom Garret finally gets his funeral and Andy Cramed receives a clean bill of health after Calamity Jane has nursed him through smallpox. Garret Dillahunt’s Jack McCall is dealt with swiftly - Bullock and Charlie Utter track him down in the episode’s opening minutes in order to bring him to Yankton, where he can answer for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok - and that more or less sets the agenda for this mid-season hour, which serves as a soft reset. “Bullock Returns to the Camp” (Season 1, Episode 7) (Though, we will admit, the scene where the sickly actor drifts off has some poetry to it.) All that said, this episode deserves some credit for silencing Steve the racist - easily the most repellent character in the Black Hills - with a horse kick to the head.ģ5. Even worse, there are two (!) subplots involving Deadwood’s much-maligned theater company: one focusing on the death of a bit player to whom we’ve got no connection, and another in which Brian Cox’s John Langrishe tries to help Gerald McRaney’s George Hearst with his back trouble. Wyatt and Morgan Earp blow into camp, claiming to have defended a stagecoach from (likely nonexistent) road agents, and suck up all of the oxygen in the process, feeling like nothing more than special guest stars. Without question, the least essential entry in the entire series.