Deadwood: The 10 Worst Things Joanie Stubbs Did, Ranked

Joanie Stubbs, the soft-spoken madam of the Bella Union, was never as brazen as Trixie or as haughty as the widow Garret, but had in her way a clandestine nature that made her untrustworthy and almost dangerous over the course of Deadwood’s three seasons. Her debilitating indecisiveness coupled with her pervading melancholy meant she often remained silent when she ought to speak up, and spoke up long after her words could have made a difference.

A product of a traumatic upbringing, Joanie was a survivor and cultivated the sort of habits and personality that coincided with navigating a treacherous camp town like Deadwood. She did what she needed to do while dreaming of a better life. Unfortunately, some of her worst actions (or in many instances, inaction) almost cost her her shot at it.

10 Leading Charlie On

While it would be hard to make a case that Joanie led Charlie on with malevolent intent, the fact remains that she knew the application of a well aimed glance would have a tacit affect on him.

Through their convivial relationship (which Charlie gave the impression of always wanting more), Joanie was able to find the perfect location for the Chez Amis, as well as guarantee that Mr. Wolcott would be summarily dealt with while keeping her affiliation mute.

9 Threatening To Kill Cy

Joanie’s abuse at the hands of Cy Tolliver began when he purchased her from her father at the age of 14, and continued when he groomed her into being an operative who could weaponize her body to whatever ends he chose.

She told Cy that if she stayed in his employ at the Bella Union she’d have to kill him, the sort of threat that would have made a lesser man bristle. Cy seemed to understand that for his part in manipulating Joanie he might deserve to die, but he also knew she was all too aware life would be even harder without his influence.

8 Not Standing Up For Andy

When Joanie’s old friend Andy Cramed arrived at the Bella Union in Season 1, she was happy to see a familiar friendly face. He was feeling poorly and she was tasked with making sure he remained in his room lest word of his condition frighten off customers.

When Cy found out he had smallpox, he had him smuggled out of the hotel and into the woods where he was left to die. Joanie felt powerless to stand up for Andy, and if she had made a bigger commotion about the reason for his disappearance, Deadwood might have found out about the contagion sooner.

7 Accepting Stolen Money From Eddie

Cy continuously offered to give Joanie money to put towards a business of her own, but she was too proud to accept it. She knew that taking any favor from him would give him even more control over her life.

She would only accept the money for the Chez Amis if it came from Eddie Sawyer, Cy’s longtime friend and card sharp. As it turned out, Eddie had stolen it from Cy, which meant that he needed to promptly get out of Deadwood.

6 Not Standing Up To Cy

No one had the same sort of hold over Joanie that Cy did, and he was able to simultaneously build her up and tear her down, making her self esteem built on a very precarious foundation.

When Cy killed Miles and Flora in front of Joanie, something inside her changed. It wasn’t quite enough to leave Cy’s employ, but it made her decide to conceive a plan to escape. Unfortunately, Flora and Miles paid with their lives because Joanie felt powerless to intervene.

5 Taking Advantage Of Jane

Joanie suffered sexual abuse all her life, first at the hands of her father, and then at the hands of her employer. She relayed to Jane a story about even coercing her sisters to engage in the same sort of behavior that she did, innocent to its effects on their young psyche.

Joanie showed signs of being prepared to take advantage of Flora, but their relations only went as far as cuddling. With Jane, Joanie pressed her further on the occasions when she helped her undress, which made Jane incredibly uncomfortable. The first time Joanie kissed Jane, it was while she was drunk and unable to give consent.

4 Relapsing Into Addiction

As much grief as Joanie gave Lila and other prostitutes at the Bella Union about abusing dope, she wasn’t immune to its appeal herself. After Jane left Deadwood to travel, she began to use again.

By the time that Jane came back in Deadwood: The Movie, Joanie was doing opium and drinking hard alcohol to cope with Cy’s death and Jane’s departure, as well as exploiting her own employees in much the same way Cy did.

3 Almost Killing Herself

Joanie seemed to live with the lingering whispers of dark thoughts most of her waking moments. There was a sadness and a melancholy about her that warranted Cy speaking about her attitude more than a few times.

That her life was so joyless and her future so uncertain made her thoughts turn to suicide, especially after Mr. Wolcott made sure that she couldn’t safely allow the Chez Amis to keep operating. She put a gun to her temple and almost pulled the trigger before,thankfully, changing her mind.

2 Lying About Mr. Wolcott

After Mr. Wolcott satisfied his lustful urges, Joanie kept silent about the nature of his crimes. She feared retaliation if anyone was made privy to what he’d done, especially given his connections to George Hearst.

Unfortunately, her lying about what he did made it just as likely that he would continue to murder without fear of repercussion. It took some prying by Charlie Utter to get her to open up about the particulars, when she should have gone straight to Seth Bullock from the very beginning.

1 Exploiting The Girls At Chez Amis

When Joanie opened the Chez Amis, she needed to populate it with girls to entice the camp’s clientele. To do so, she turned to women funded by Mr. Wolcott. He paid handsomely for the chance to perform acts of sexual deviancy to them, many of which turned violent and deadly.

Knowing full well what Mr. Wolcott was capable of, Joanie still put her girls at risk. She knew that one girl in particular was going to be sacrificed to make sure his particular hunger was satiated, and that death ended up being the first of many.

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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