Deadwood: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Joanie

Of all the characters in Deadwood, brothel madam Joanie Stubbs was one of the most mysterious. She arrived in the middle of the first season after the hierarchy of the ensemble was well established, on the arm of a man who simultaneously represented the means of her release and her imprisonment. Her relationship with her employer Cy Tolliver, who occupied a great many roles in her life from father to lover to boss, was mercurial and contradictory.

A naturally pensive person, Joanie constantly appeared as though she was mentally somewhere else, a practice that may have began during her earliest days of childhood trauma. Her salacious upbringing motivated many of her decisions in the series, but the particulars of her origins didn’t leave fans any less perplexed or confused. The changeableness of her character was both alluring and in these respects, confounding.

10 HER RELATIONSHIP WITH CY

Cy Tolliver was Joanie’s whole life from the time she was 14 until she was 32. He made proclamations like, “your happiness means everything to me” and then tried to make her complicit in the murder of two con artists at the Bella Union.

Cy was ignorant of the fragility of her mental health and didn’t recognize her severe depression, all the while showering her in jewels in lieu of pay because he thought it’s what made her happy. The series implied that aside from offering her fatherly advice, they also had a sexual relationship, although that was never shown.

9 WHY SHE DIDN’T TRY TO LEAVE CY SOONER

Joanie worked up the courage to leave Cy because he’d become a violent and malevolent force of nature, able to murder in cold blood and sleep soundly at night. No doubt this aspect of Cy had been simmering beneath the surface of his smoldering personality for a long time, and Joanie just needed an excuse to leave his employ.

If his bestial nature bothered her, Joanie could have left any number of times over their 18-year relationship. Surely she had saved up enough of the jewels Cy gave her in lieu of money to start a venture long before she was pushed to the breaking point.

8 HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ALMA

After Alma Garret got an unfortunate surprise in the form of her father Otis Russell showing up to the camp, Joanie paid her a visit. The women spoke about Seth Bullock accosting Russell in the Bella Union and the subsequent fight that ensued.

Shortly thereafter Bullock arrived to interrupt Joanie, who was previously clutching Alma’s hands and bonding with her over shared trauma. Given Joanie’s proclivities and preferences for female company, fans wondered if she was, in fact, making a pass at Alma, but this was never confirmed because Joanie left at Bullock’s arrival.

7 BEING FINE WITH DORIS BEING KILLED

Joanie Stubbs knew of the sadistic reputation of Francis Wolcott when Maddie informed her that they would need to set aside one girl to let him act out his devious sexual acts. She was to arrive separately from the other girls for just that purpose, and Joanie didn’t see anything wrong with that.

Even if Wolcott didn’t cut Doris’s throat and only tortured her, Joanie’s own history with irascible men like Cy Tolliver should have made her not want any part in allowing him to be so debased. That she would let another woman be traumatized for payment seemed against Joanie’s character.

6 WHY SHE DIDN’T STOP WOLCOTT SOONER

After Wolcott killed Doris, he went on to slit the throats of Carrie and Maddie, leaving Joanie as the sole survivor of the massacre (given that she had already helped facilitate the escape of the other prostitutes).

After Wolcott killed Doris, Joanie should have gone to Seth Bullock, Charlie Utter, or even Cy Tolliver. Even after the rest of the women were murdered, she didn’t share the information for quite some time with anyone who could make use of it. Her delay cost the lives of women who like her seemed to only want a better life.

5 WHY SHE WOULDN’T ACCEPT CY’S MONEY

Cy offered on numerous occasions to provide Joanie with adequate funding to open her own brothel, but she refused his generosity on the grounds that she wanted to be able to do the venture on her own terms. As long as she accepted his money she would always be beholden to him.

Her principles were sterling until she decided to accept money from Eddie Sawyer, who had stolen the money from Cy and given a portion to her before leaving Deadwood. She ended up taking Cy’s money regardless, except by partnering with Eddie’s schemes she incurred Cy’s wrath instead.

4 WHY SHE WENT FOR SOMEONE LIKE JANE

Calamity Jane was an acquired taste like many of the citizens of Deadwood, and despite her friends wanting to help her was a lone wolf in many respects. She caught the eye of Joanie Stubbs despite being incredibly intoxicated every time she saw her.

While there could be worse companions than Jane, there could also be better ones for Joanie who weren’t so obstinate and determined to self destruct. Joanie already had her own bouts of depression to need to help fix the broken pieces of another battered soul.

3 WAITING FOR FRANCIS WOLCOTT

After Francis Wolcott effectively drove out half of her employees and murdered the other half, Joanie had to make the tragic decision to close down the Chez Amis. She didn’t vacate the premises however and waited for Wolcott to return to finish her off.

Why Joanie sat in the dark waiting to die only pointed to a death wish on her behalf, but when the time came to face Wolcott, she didn’t seem ready to die. She could have gone to any number of friends, from Jane to Charlie Utter to Sheriff Bullock, but she unnecessarily resolved herself to further violence by Wolcott.

2 WHY SHE KEPT GOING BACK TO CY

Joanie and Cy enjoyed a relationship that was as symbiotic as it was codependent, and fans thought by Joanie leaving the Bella Union she would be rid of its unhealthy and cloying parameters. It didn’t help that she returned to it in moments of weakness.

Joanie was very forgiving of Cy’s temper and his combative and mercurial personality. She didn’t stand up to him the way she knew she should, and it allowed him to believe there was still a part of her he could exploit.

1 WHY SHE DIDN’T GET HELP FROM DOC COCHRAN

From the moment Joanie arrived in Deadwood, melancholy encapsulated her like a shroud. She put a gun to her temple numerous times throughout the series, indicating hopelessness had settled around her existence she felt powerless to extricate herself from.

Unlike other characters who battled malaise like Jane or Alma, she was never seen getting help for her mental health from Doc Cochran. He seemed to leave Joanie to her depression, which made her find solace in various vices.

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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