Deadwood: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Sol

Though he was lumped into the category of Seth Bullock’s right hand and best friend on Deadwood, Sol Star was an integral part of the titular frontier camp in his own right. Besides offering the best pick axes in town to prospective prospectors at his hardware store, he held court at The Gem whenever Al Swearengen dictated that “titans” gather, and helped characters like Trixie discover their own hidden depths.

Historically Sol was a much more influential figure than the series gave him credit for, and other characters pulled focus from the significance of his development. Viewers had cause to wonder about several character inconsistencies with the astute entrepreneur, and whether or not they stemmed from an omission of historical details or the curious relationships he had with certain members of the town, they made little sense for his narrative arc.

10 HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH SETH

From all appearances Seth was the more dominant of the pair, and Sol let him make a lot of the decisions for the pair of them. During their initial dealings with Al Swearengen when purchasing the plot for their hardware store, Seth made Sol his proxy but made it increasingly difficult for him to speak for them when Seth disagreed with Al’s deal.

When it came to their livelihood, it was curious that Sol wasn’t more concerned with Seth’s behavior. It could potentially ruin their business and make them enemies, and as Seth’s friend Sol should have been the one talking him down not backing his aggressive plays.

9 HIS WORK LOAD

Whether Sol wanted to or not he always made sure the hardware store was open in the morning, with Seth arriving late nearly every day. And when it came to physically manning the store, that was left to Sol too as Seth gallivanted all over camp in self righteous fury.

Sol never took Seth to task when it came to his lackadaisical approach to their enterprise, and never complained about being the only one stuck at the store all day while Seth spent his time in The Gem or the Bella Union causing problems for their proprietors.

8 HE LET PEOPLE DISRESPECT HIM

From the moment Sol and Seth arrived in town, Al was busy referring to Sol as a “Jew bastard” any chance he got. Sol’s heritage came into every conversation Al had with anyone, including Sol. To his credit, Sol never let on that the antisemitic references disturbed him.

Al had passed the disparaging vocabulary to Trixie, who also took to insulting Sol’s heritage anytime that suited her. In every instance Sol allowed the verbal abuse to happen, which made him seem meek.

7 HE NEVER GOT JEALOUS OF AL

Trixie remained devoted to Al Swearengen even when she was spending more time with  Sol, and Sol was aware that she reported the dealings at the hardware store to Al to use the information in his camp schemes.

Somehow, Sol never managed to get jealous of Al’s hold over Trixie. She always returned to Al whenever life dealt her a harsh hand (when she couldn’t add up the hardware ledger), and rarely confided in Sol without insulting him.

6 HE LET TRIXIE TREAT HIM BADLY

Fans have ruminated that perhaps it was feelings of inadequacy or inferiority that Sol selected Trixie as a lover and remained with her even when she spoke to him in disparaging language. Most of the respectable women in the camp were either already married, and it’s possibly he felt Trixie was his best option.

It didn’t excuse the fact that she verbally abused him and often incited confrontation when he did nothing to instigate it. That she brought in his Jewish heritage didn’t even seem to cross a line with Sol.

5 HE BOUGHT ADAMS’ HOUSE

Sol wasn’t even contemplating domesticity when Silas Adams reneged on his loan for a house. Little did Sol know this was at the behest of Al, and done so that Sol would have no choice but to accept the house and move him and Trixie into it.

Al wanted Sol and Trixie to live in a house commensurate with his new campaign to become mayor of Deadwood, which made political sense, but seemed a choice Sol wouldn’t have made if he felt he was being manipulated by Al.

4 HIS AGE IN THE MOVIE

Deadwood: The Movie was supposed to take place roughly ten years after the events of Season 3, yet many of the characters seemed to look twenty to thirty years older. Sol looked like he had aged the most of any of the cast.

Whereas he had looked to be in his mid 30s in the series, he looked to be in his 50s by the time the film debuted, with hair that was almost completely grey and a diminished stature.

3 HIS RELATIONSHIP TO TRIXIE AND THE BABY

That Sol showed concern for Trixie’s well-being as a pregnant woman was not surprising – her yelling at George Hearst from The Gem did nothing to keep her from going into an early labor. He wanted his wife and child to be as healthy as possible.

That he should show so little concern for himself as a new father was the reason him grabbing his gunbelt and joining Seth on a rampage after Hearst was problematic. At worst it was dangerous, and at best made him seem like a hypocrite for admonishing Trixie.

2 HIS LACK OF BUSINESS COMPLEXITY

Before moving to Deadwood, the real Sol Star was an auditor and personal secretary to the governor of Montana. When he went to the camp to profit off the gold mining craze, he opened the Office of Star and Bullock, Auctioneers and Commission Merchants.

He would later start the S&B Ranch Company with livestock, and become the general manager of the Deadwood Flouring Mill. He expanded his business interests to Spearfish, Custer, and Sturgis. The series didn’t mention his business acumen in such a large variety of ventures, which would have given his involvement with the Deadwood Bank far more clout, as well as his standing at Al’s “table of titans”.

1 HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Sol, like Ellsworth and Charlie Utter remained a dependable and upright character throughout the series, but  unlike them he received none of the prominent character development.

Historically Sol was a significant figure in Deadwood, with his hand in multiple businesses, and by all accounts as heavy a hitter as Al Swearengen or Cy Tolliver but the series doesn’t communicate it. He got significantly less screen time, and his most prominent storylines involved the major growth of other people in the camp, like Trixie and Seth.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1349 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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