Deadwood: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Al

Larger-than-life saloon owner Al Swearengen dominated HBO’s Deadwood with his loquacious profanity and charismatic tightrope walk between good and evil. Beyond his complex characterization and many eccentricities, he was a fascinating study of the sort of chaos born of progress in a frontier town, perfectly captured by veteran theater actor Ian McShane.

Al could just as readily produce a bowie knife to someone’s neck as he could a helping hand, but despite being somewhat contradictory he had a moral code and logic that governed his narrative arc. When he exhibited character inconsistencies like the ones featured here, they were obvious and jarring, causing fans to wonder about his motivations.

10 HE WOULDN’T LET THE REVEREND STAY AT THE GEM

Despite having a brother who had gone through seizures as well, Al’s empathy for Reverend Smith seemed conditional. The Reverend loved to spend time in The Gem while the piano was playing, but several times Al thundered from the balcony for the preacher to be thrown out.

It seemed harmless to allow the Reverend to remain in a corner listening to the music, especially given the simple fact that death was an inevitability for hi. However, it seemed that Al was insistent that he have no final pleasures in life during his final days in the town.

9 HE NEVER GOT JEALOUS OF SOL

Watching Al’s behavior around Trixie made it clear that she held a special place in his heart, and despite how vexing he could find her irascible personality, he was always concerned for her safety and the company she kept.

Curiously, though Seth tried to wound Al with the knowledge that Trixie and Sol were intimate, he didn’t convey any bitterness or jealousy. This, despite the fact that he was not only losing his highest-earning employee but the closest he would get to a true partner.

8 HE DIDN’T STOP DRINKING

Al suffered gravely in season 2 due to some horrendous kidney stones that nearly killed him. He was instructed firmly by Doc Cochran to stop drinking to inebriation and adapt his lifestyle to something healthier.

Al refused to do this despite having to undergo some incredibly painful medical procedures to lessen the pain of the stones. Despite the knowledge of his impending mortality, Al continued to drink to excess and drive himself to an early grave.

7 HE TALKED TO A ROTTING HEAD

Al could command his minions to do his dirty work, but he would never ask them for help. It was injurious to his pride to think he needed anyone in that vulnerable way, but his nightly soliloquies bellied his need for companionship.

Al took to speaking to the head of a decapitated Native American when he wanted a confidante. The head could never respond and therefore never put him in a foul mood, but it also made him look mad and must have stunk to high heaven.

6 HE WAS ODDLY GALLANT WITH ALMA

When walking to open the bank an attempt was made on Alma Garret’s life by one of Hearst’s agents, provoking Al to come to her aid and help her to seek shelter in The Gem. The sudden gallant turn by the cantankerous saloon owner seemed inconsistent with other depictions of his character.

While it was true that Alma’s health and vitality at the bank ensured that Deadwood’s citizens would continue to circulate a lot of money in the camp (and therefore his establishment), Al had already had her husband killed and attempted to kill her daughter, so a turn for the protective seemed atypical.

5 HIS INTENSE HATRED FOR HAWKEYE

The partner of Silas Adams originally, Hawkeye became an infrequent character after Silas became one of Al’s minions. But their relationship wasn’t exactly severed, and Hawkeye pulled through in the final season when Al needed hired guns.

Hawkeye wasn’t very discreet and held Silas back in many ways, but Al seemed to have an exaggerated and all-consuming hatred for the man. His name was scarcely mentioned without a “c********r” accompanying it for good measure.

4 HE WAS SURPRISINGLY STANDOFFISH TOWARDS DAN

After Dan’s triumph over the Major in the streets of Deadwood, Al left him to nurse his wounds alone. He had looked to Al on the balcony to determine whether or not to kill his opponent, and Al had made it clear he was to fight to the end.

Not only did this wound Dan’s conscience grievously, but it also showed Dan that he would have no comfort from someone he considered a mentor. That Al didn’t try to speak with him after the fight and instead left him to stew for days in his own dark thoughts betrayed the bond that had been built between them.

3 HE UNDERESTIMATED HEARST’S BRUTALITY

Al may have been the most powerful man in Deadwood, but in the company of a true empire builder, he was little more than a lickspittle. His audacity and brazen defense of his autonomy made him feel as though he could push back against Hearst with no repercussions.

For someone who instantly felt threatened by the likes of Seth and Sol when they arrived in Deadwood and befriended Wild Bill, Al should have exercised the same paranoid planning when it came to Hearst. He should have known that if he behaved in a reckless and arrogant way with a man as diabolical as Hearst, he would lose more than a finger.

2 HE WAITED TOO LONG TO GET REINFORCEMENTS

Al knew fairly early on in season 3 that a standoff would be inevitable between him and George Hearst if the latter insisted on putting his particular stranglehold on the camp. After gobbling up many of the surrounding claims and putting them under his banner, ever citizen became a minion of Hearst’s whether they liked it or not.

Though he has Wu waiting with men within a few days ride of Deadwood, Al waits to have them get any closer to town. Unfortunately, he nearly waited too long while he was sizing up his opponent and chaffing at Hawkeye’s involvement and nearly let Alma Garret get shot by Hearst’s agents.

1 HE WAS A SHELL OF HIMSELF IN THE MOVIE

By the time Deadwood: The Movie debuted, over ten years had passed since season 3, and roughly the same amount of time had gone by in the camp. Characters looked much more haggard by the time fans saw them again.

Al seemed to be a shell of his former self. Whereas once he showed vulnerability and compassion on occasion, he seemed to have gone soft in the film, with a much more avuncular quality to his personality rather than becoming even more ornery and fiery with age.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1344 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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