The Trial of Jack McCall (18 Apr. 2004)

Swearengen transforms the Gem into a courtroom as Deadwood is forced to make its own laws to try a cowardly murderer. With Calamity Jane off on a bender, Trixie is enlisted by Swearengen to... See full summary »

Director:

Ed Bianchi

Writers:

David Milch (creator), John Belluso

Stars:

Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Timothy Olyphant	...	Seth Bullock
Ian McShane	...	Al Swearengen
Molly Parker	...	Alma Garret
Jim Beaver	...	Whitney Ellsworth
Brad Dourif	...	Doc Cochran
John Hawkes	...	Sol Star
Paula Malcomson	...	Trixie
Leon Rippy	...	Tom Nuttall
William Sanderson	...	E.B. Farnum
Robin Weigert	...	Calamity Jane
W. Earl Brown	...	Dan Dority
Dayton Callie	...	Charlie Utter
Powers Boothe	...	Cy Tolliver
Keith Carradine	...	Wild Bill Hickock
Jeffrey Jones	...	A.W. Merrick

Storyline

Swearengen transforms the Gem into a courtroom as Deadwood is forced to make its own laws to try a cowardly murderer. With Calamity Jane off on a bender, Trixie is enlisted by Swearengen to help Alma with the orphaned child and to keep her pliable to his purposes. Fearing Andy's illness might threaten his business, Cy banishes him to the woods, where he is discovered by Jane.

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Plot Keywords:

19th century

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | History | Western

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Melody Ranch - 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Red Board Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Al Swearengen: [of a newly-acquitted murderer] That type guy hanging round gets people agitated. Forces them to take a position, one side or the other. And agitation brings a slight bump up in whiskey sales, but sale of cunt plummets.

User Reviews

Law comes to the corrupt camp as the Gem is transformed into a courtroom

This is a brilliant episode as the possibility of democracy and law coming to Deadwood is played with as Swearengen's Gem is transformed into a courtroom as the people of Deadwood are forced to make some kind of laws after the coward Jack McCaul shot Wild Bill Hickcock in the back of the neck and killed him in the episode "Here was a Man". The jurors are selected from a hat and when recess is called, they get 'some pussy' up in the whores rooms with no apparent discussion taken place. Give it time, I suppose. McCaul is nearly strangled to death by Seth 'Montana' Bullock before the trial, and his lawyer instructs him to tell the court that Wild Bill murdered his brother a few years back so his shooting of Wild Bill is somewhat justified. The court believes him, and he is set free. When he is celebrating later on, Swearengen instructs him to leave town before someone decides to kill him. Swearengen informs one of his men later that he only did it because the likes of him hanging around makes people question right and wrong, therefore they stop drinking and the sale of c**t plummets. A true business man, that Al Swearengen. Seth rides out after McCaul as the episode ends, promising a superb revenge saga in the works for the next episode. This is one of the best episodes I've seen so far. The funeral of Wild Bill was very well done and very true to what a funeral in the wild west would have been like. Nothing glamorous at all about it. A depressed and drunken Calamity Jane finds the Bella Union man with the syphilis in the woods and takes care of him, paving the road for a possible outbreak in the camp if she takes him back in. Meanwhile, Swearengen instructs the whore Trixie to befriend the widow Garret and to get her hooked on something stronger than the morphine she takes as he attempts to get rid of her. Brilliant episode. Swearengen's speech on how the flag will eventually be raised on Deadwood and law will arrive was very moving and added another dimension to his sadistic character. "Maybe I should take down that picture of Abe Lincoln," he says at the end of the episode.