"You can't cut the throat of every cocksucker whose character it would improve"
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 23rd May 2004
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 1, Episode 10
WRITTEN BY: Bryan McDonald
Deadwood has a large assortment of characters, but this episode's titular character Mister Wu is definitely one of the most memorable. This episode centres on a dispute between Wu and two white thieves who stole his dope. It's interesting to see the show deal with racially-motivated crime, as in those times people were a lot more casual about racism. Fair warning - the word "Chink" is thrown around a lot, even from the people that are on Wu's side.
First off, I love the character of Mister Wu. His interactions with Al are very funny - the failure to communicate "Who" instead of "Wu" is some great wordplay, and I love that the only English word Wu truly understands is "cocksucker". In a show that, whilst generally very witty, is not normally praised for its laugh out loud humour, this whole first scene manages to be hilarious.
In the end, Swearengen gets what he wants - as usual - following a really great scene involving the two thieves in a bathtub drawing straws to see which one of them lives and dies, and then Al drowning the unlucky one. Swearenegen at his ruthless best!
The episode also introduces Silas Adams, who quickly becomes an enemy then friend of Swearengen. The relationship between the two is one of the best in the series, and it's obvious right from the start how well they work together.
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