Having already done a number of reviews of individual episodes in this extraordinary series, I intend something unusual in this particular epistle.
Among a long list of superlative performances, is it possible to focus on one that stands out from all the others? The answer is yessir, and I respectfully draw the viewer's attention to the performance, in this episode, of Gerald McRaney.
McRaney is one of those TV character actors you have probably seen a dozen times but may not remember. Up until this point I thought his best work had been in TBAA (and related spinoffs) but his work in Deadwood reaches new highs.
There is a scene at approximately the 23:00 minute mark in this episode where his character, already irritated at spending a night in jail, finds that the adult son of his Negro cook has joined his mother in the hotel (a hotel owned by McRaney's character) without prior permission.
In a startling scene that boils with undercurrents of stark racism, McRaney delivers to the young may what superficially seems like a pleasant welcome to the inn, but as the camera moves closer and closer to a closeup on McRaney's eyes, the viewer suddenly gets an entirely different interpretation of what is actually going on.
I repeat: McRaney does a scene almost entirely with his eyes, and it is a stunner. That is the quality of the acting he brought to this series, and that is the quality of the acting I wanted to observe in this review.
Among a long list of superlative performances, is it possible to focus on one that stands out from all the others? The answer is yessir, and I respectfully draw the viewer's attention to the performance, in this episode, of Gerald McRaney.
McRaney is one of those TV character actors you have probably seen a dozen times but may not remember. Up until this point I thought his best work had been in TBAA (and related spinoffs) but his work in Deadwood reaches new highs.
There is a scene at approximately the 23:00 minute mark in this episode where his character, already irritated at spending a night in jail, finds that the adult son of his Negro cook has joined his mother in the hotel (a hotel owned by McRaney's character) without prior permission.
In a startling scene that boils with undercurrents of stark racism, McRaney delivers to the young may what superficially seems like a pleasant welcome to the inn, but as the camera moves closer and closer to a closeup on McRaney's eyes, the viewer suddenly gets an entirely different interpretation of what is actually going on.
I repeat: McRaney does a scene almost entirely with his eyes, and it is a stunner. That is the quality of the acting he brought to this series, and that is the quality of the acting I wanted to observe in this review.
