Scream 2 (1997)

 "How do you know that my dim-witted inexperience isn't merely a subtle form of manipulation, used to lower people's expectations, thereby enhancing my ability to effectively manoeuvre within any given situation?"

SPOILERS, in case it needs saying when discussing a slasher that is also a sort of whodunit.

I suppose this film isn't quite as good as its predecessor. But when a sequel is this good, who cares? And, naturally, the film is sufficiently self-aware as to tackle this very subject in the film class discussion scene. Sequels to slashers abound: indeed, one might say that they infest. So it's a joy to see all the knowing references to the specific tropes of slasher sequels.

The plot may be less original than the, er, original, but the narrative is dripping with witty commentary on how the plot is going to unfold. We have a much-maligned red herring in Derek, and a reveal that is a nod to Mrs Vorhees in Friday the 13th.

Yet we also have a cast that shines, and genuine chemistry between Gail and Dewey. The set pieces- the one with Sarah Michelle Gellar as Cici especially- are magnificently done, as one might expect from Wes Craven.

Most of all, though, we have a witty and highly literate script that, at one point, riffs heavily on Aeschylus' Agamemnon. We also get a reminder of how deeply unsettling and weird those American sorority and fraternity things are. Can't they just, like, lower their drinking age to something less insanely puritanical and have their students just drink in bars on campus as happens in every other country?

As sequels go, this may not be an Aliens, or a Godfather: Part II. But it's bloody good, and makes Scream a proper franchise.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger

 "Can we takre your helmets for a cleaning?"

Well, Boba Fett is in this one. A bit.

This is a most oddly structured series. There are seven episodes in total, with the next one being the finale. The first four are the meat of the series, buioding up to the finale... but the fifth and, now, sixth episodes suddenly move off to follow other characters entirely.

And it's a disjointed series of scenes that dance around the preparation for the strike against the arrogant Pyke Syndicate that is to come. We have extended scenes of the Mandalorian trying to visit Baby Yoda (Grogu) with a Luke Skywalker played jointly by Mark Hamill and some surely very expensive-looking CGI, returning him to 1983 vintage. We have lomg scenes of Luke training Baby Yoda that are enormous fun, We have Ahsoka Tano looking cool and spouting exposition. We have some rather cool insect droids building that structure we see in the recent film trilogy. And yet there's pathos- Mando is discouraged from seeing Baby Yoda as encouraging his attachments will supposedly harm his Jedi training. And, when Mando gives his gift of Beskar armour, cruel Luke makres him choose between that and the lightsabre, at such a tender age. The Jedi attitude to attachments is, without a doubt, wrong.

Then, on top of all this, we have Sheriff Cobo Vanth, armourless but with his trusty sharpshooter and hat, trying to protect his town from trouble, with the Pyke Syndicate lurking in the background. It seems uncertain whether he's going to be able to convince the peace loving townsfolk to fight for Fett at Mando's urging, but then the Syndicate send a sinister black-hatted alen, terrifying to look at, who shockingly shooyts not only the sheriff but also the deputy.

Meanwhile, there's Boba Fett and co aboiut to stike. What will Grogu choose? Is Vanth dead? Will Boba Fett be in the finale of his own show? This is all very oddly structured and disjointed. Yet it's oddly compelling.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 9- The Marshal

 “There's no such thing as an abandoned Sarlacc pit."

"There is if you eat the Sarlacc..."

I simply cannot emphasise simply how good this opening episode is to this second season of the greatest science fiction Western since Firefly. I's a masterful piece of telly, however much the role of the Krayt Dragon may owe to Dune.

And a Western this episode most assuredly is, as the framing of the opening shot, with Mando and Baby Yoda walking towards the camera shows us. As the season opener this episode is quite arc-heavy, and so we're teased, after a superbly effective opening sequence which entertains us wth lots of action while subtly dropping a lot of exposition, with rumours of of another Mandalorian on Tattooine, in the forgotten town of Mos Pelgo. The apparent Mandalorian we see- the Marshal- is of course a red herring, but how did that armour get into the possession of those Jawas from whom he bought it, and who is that mysterious watching figure at the end, played- very interestingly- by Temuera Morrison?

The Marshal is, of course, blatantly a sheriff straight from the tropes of the Western, and to drive the point home he's even played, rather well, by Timothy Olyphant, Seth from Deadwood- and the fact the Weequay barman is played by W. Earl Brown makes this almost a Deadwood mini-reunion.

The plot- the villagers and Tusken Raiders must make common cause and use cunning to slay a massive burrowing dragon (yeah, that bit owes slightly less to Westerns), gives us loads of entertainment while eminding us how much we like our protagonist, whose face is hidden but who shows himself yet again to have surprising depths as a character. And it's a rollicking tale that feels much shorter than it is. 

I love the genre playfulness, too; Mando and the Marshal are set to have a typical Western duel, holsters ready, in the saloon, when the ground begins to shake and the Western is interrupted by a trope from another genre. And there's some nice world building- as soon as the Empire is destroyed at the end of Return of the Jedi, the mining corporation moves in and enslaves everyone. It's Star Wars, but definitely a Western and not fairytale.

Welcome back, The Mandalorian.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 12- Sold Under Sin

"Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh..."

This season finale is fascinating, thematic, perfect, and very much centred on the difficulties and dilemmas facing its two central characters as the military and magistrate arrive. Annexation and civilisation are almost here, and both Al and Seth must face what it means for them.

We begin as the camera pans away from Al, for whom the moment of truth arrives: the magistrate with the warrant for his arrest on a capital charge. He eventually deals with this problem decisively, but not without risks that the problem will return. And yet he carries out a more merciful killing, too: that of poor Reverend Smith, at the subtle urging of an upset and despairing Doc, who can at least take solace in the fact that his care has made a positive difference to a cheerful and smiling Jewel as he drinks himself to oblivion.

Al has other problems, though. The newly appointed sheriff is corrupt and, worse, acting in the interests of Cy in striking at Mr Wu and the Chinese. And this is not a problem, to Mr Wu’s fury, he can make go away.

Worse, Alma’s father turns out to be an utter blackguard, who wants to use his daughter to finance his growing and huge gambling debts- and is willing to blackmail his own daughter to achieve this. Seth, ever the gentleman, gives him a jolly good thrashing for being a cad and boulder- but comes close to arranging his murder at the hands of Al. At last he comes back from the abyss, but not before breaking his empty wedding vows by finally shagging Alma- and accepting, at last, with Al’s blessing, the position of sheriff.

This is a finely crafted, multifaceted ending to a superlative first season. I’ll be back before too long to begin the second...

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 11: Jewel's Boot Is Made for Walking

"You pay or she pays..."

Al Swearengen is truly the puppetmaster in this penultimate episodes, pulling all sorts of strings. We begin with him bribing Silas Adams to make his judge go away, and it is he who ultimately decides on a dodgy new sheriff- although he later seems to warm to the idea of Seth. He has worrying designs on the increasingly unwell Reverend. His jealousy at Sol when he finds he's been sleeping with Trixie on a non-commercial basis is solved by his asserting his "rights" as pimp.And yet this, along with the judge's warrant over his head, could be the harbinger of the potential threat to his position of the coming of civilisation and annexation. In controlling the process, can he control the threat?

Less clever is Alma's dodgy father, who is after her claim but is seen through by all, although he explicitly gives his blessing to her and Seth, of whom he approves, in full knowledge that Seth's wife and ward are coming. Ominously, too, Tolliver gets the surviving junkie to spread racist rumours about the Chinese, rumours that reflect badly on Swearengen, our antihero.

Yet it's not all theme and simmering plot threads: poor Jewel and the Doc get a lovely scene. As we approach the end it becomes clearer and clearer just how finely crafted this first season has been. This is first class television.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 10- Mister Wu

“August commencement to my administration, standing stymied outside a saloon next to a degenerate tit-licker.”


This is a subtle, well-written script, well realised. As ever, there’s a lot going on. The Reverend continues to deteriorate- the Doc thinks it’s a tumour. Business is good for Charlie while Joanie is stuck. Fascinatingly, Bullock honestly talks to Sol of his doubts about a wife and boy he barely knows as “she” is a beautiful woman. But the episode is, as ever, about the town’s slow process towards annexation and order... and systemic racism.

The episode shows us the racism, and doesn’t tell us how to react. Certainly, Wu is not a nice man. He supplies opium to Al and feeds murdered bodies to his pigs- and the other members of the Chinese community are clearly afraid of him. He is, I suppose, a community leader of sorts- but, because of his ehnicity, there's no possibility of his being considered one, and there is uproar when he enters the Gem through the front door. He is, in a sense, respected- certainly by Al- as an individual, but it seems to be accepted by all that there's a "proper" separation of "races". Racial slurs are everywhere, whores find his entering by the front door scandalous, and Cy even comments that a white dope fiend is "still while"- and Al is wary of being seen as too close to the "celestials".

It's interesting that this structural racism is clearly shown, and shocks with how clearly ingrained it is, without a need for a sympathetic character. Interestingly, too, we meet Hostetler, our first black character.

Beyond this, civilisation grows nearer, although not without Al having to pay extra bribes to make a murder charge go away. Already there's tension between using tax for corrupt purposes and for public services. There's a lot of nuance and subtlety here. It is, as ever, superb telly.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 9- No Other Sons or Daughters

"Taking people’s money is what makes organizations real, be they formal, informal or temporary."

So annexation is coming- and it terrifies Al, much as he simultaneously longs for it. Like all the other businessmen, he craves respectability but, unlike some, is less keen on the responsibilities that flow from that. He dominates this episode, at once insecure and firmly in charge, with most of the best lines, but it's about so much more than him.

The episode centres around the meeting, on Al's territory, in which they all try to form a kind of proto-government. It may be laughable that E.B. is appointed mayor, but ths is ultimately how such thngs happen, in microcosm. Farnum may be the face of government, but Al is the unseen power behind the throne. And it is the public, of course, the little people, who are to be manipulated into paying the necessary bribes. This is extremely clever telly.

Other things happen, of course- the Reverend is clearly unwell, and it will be interesting to see where this is going. Poor, likeable Jane is drunk again and, for now, leaving town, full of thinly disguised self-loathing. Meanwhile, her friend Charlie is setting up as a postmaster- and has an interesting meeting with Joanie. Cy, meanwhile, is somewhat sensitive to having overstepped the mark last episode. And his henchman, Eddie, seems to be revealed as our first overtly gay character. Then there's the ever-present dance between Bullock and Alma.

This feels like a real community, and is offcially about to become one. This continues to be extraordinary relly.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 8- Suffer the Little Children

"You might, Dan, want to learn how to indicate interest in a girl other than murdering another person."

Another dense, complex yet warchable, well-shot and well-acted episode doesn't surprise me at this point. It's 200's HBO, its a literary novel in the medium of television, it's bloody good. You're expecting me to say this.

Even so, I can't help but admire the structuring of the storyteling here. The main plotline here is probably young sublings Flora and Miles, who turn out to be cleverly manipulative thieves, and are both caught and killed, after much roughing up, by Cy. It's a hard word. And that Anna from Frozen has quite the potty mouth.

And yet there's so much more. Al's relationship with Trixie (attempting suicide, much to the gult of Alma after last episode) is shown at full force complexity here, very much mirrored by Joanie and Cy, whose own relationship clearly has many layers. More generally, the smallpox vaccine finally reaches camp, as well as rumours of a possible treaty with the Sioux. Could law and civilisation be coming?

Yet the mot fascnating thread is that of Alma, persuaded by Bullock to stay after he discovers her claim has promise. And above it all is the fascinating Al Swearengen, forever playing a prticularly potty-mouthed type of three dimensional chess, leaving E.B. struggling to keep up. He's an utterly fascinating character.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 7- Bullock Returns to the Camp

"We understand each other..."

This episode introduces a teenage brother and sister arriving in camp (interesting that word is used instead of "town", given the settlement's ambiguous and provisional status), both forlornly looking for a missing father and, of course, for work. The girl, courtesy of Cy and under Joanie's tutelage, is starting out as a prostitute. And she's played by the actress who would later go on to voice Anna in Frozen, Little Miss Llamastrangler's favourite Disney film...

Anyway, more splendid character and world building is in evidence here. Bullock and Utter have bonded, and together they take a drunken Jack McCall- to face justice, interestingly, and not revenge. Deadwood may be lawless, but I think this is a harbinger of the inevitable; law and order is coming. Revenge must be tempered by justice, a viewpoint as old as Aeschylus.

There is much drama surrounding Alma's claim- E.B., brave enough to confront Al Swearengen here, is still working for him, and pressing Alma hard. But the honourable Bullock has her interests at heart, and clashes with Al- the struggle between these two will, I expect, form the spine of the series.

Just as interesting is Al's complex relationship with Trixie, veering between mistrust and a curious trust born of a long hstory. Alma suddenly offends Trixie enormously when she clumsily asserts her class background. And the Reverend's seizures continue.Could his religious visions have a medical cause? Jane, too, continues to be compelling.

All this is masterfully woven, with such subtlety of character, such clear themes and with a real historical sense. I can't believe the season is more than halfway through. This is top telly.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 6- Plague

"Swearingen's a cue and Farnum merely is a billiard ball."

There's a lot happening in this episode besides the title. Alma continues to pretend to be a junkie still while undergoing cold turkey, fooling E.B., playing for time until seth returns. Seth, meanwhile, is attacked by an opportunistic Sioux, succeeds in killing him with a rock, and is ultimately rescued by Charlie Utter, who now learns of Bill's death. It now seems they are after Bill's killer, but it looks as though this plot thread is to simmer for a bit. Good strategic writing.

Jane is a fascinating character- very much not conforming to the archetype of a lady, acting in many ways like a man, portrayed here (and potentially in reality) as of possible LGBT nature, to use an anachronism; her sexuality and, indeed gender identity, is as ambiguous as one might expect in 1876.
 But she is a fully rounded person- drunk to blot out the memory of her best friend's death, but having cared for what she knows full well was a amallpox sufferer at the end of last episode. She's uneducated, uncouth, unladylike, deeply racist as per her upbringing, but not unkind beneath it all.

Then there's Joanie, who seems a bit down- but could the harsh, cynical Cy Tolliver have a thing for her? This promises to be a subtle little character thread that could run and run. Again, good writing. And the Doc, a decent man, taking centre stage while Merrick, a stereotypical newspaperman, is upstaged by Al in reporting the arrival of smallpox.

The arrival of this pestilence in the settlement dominates the episode, which makes it resonate somewhat now in June of 2020. It leads to stage managed fear and, fascinatingly, a meeting of the great and the good in which both Al and Cy relish the role of community leader and both reconcile somewhat. And we see the Reverend Smith collapse- very publicly- with his second fit. This is superbly written drama. I'm loving Deadwood, and we are nearly halfway through this first season.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 5- The Trial of Jack McCall

"Hickock breaks my balls from the afterlife..."

This is another multifaceted, complex gem of an episode as the people of the town walk past Wild Bill's body to pay their respects while a man stands around loudly trying to sell the severed head of a "heathen" Inevitably, this lawless community moves to try the killer, but the issues surrounding this are fascinating and fundamental. Meanwhile, so many characters get meaningful development.

Bullock is grumpy all episode, particularly with the ingratiating evangelism of the Reverend Smith- it seems that, like many quietly irreligious people in societes where outright atheism is frowned upon, this makes him very uncomfortable. Yet Smith himself is behaving strangely, and ends the episode with some kind of seizure. This is a man we know to have been traumatised by war- there are clearly depths to him.

E.B. shows signs of deep resentment towards Swearengen, and signs of an independent agenda. He's a man needing security for his declining years. Meanwhile Al is getting Trixie to manipulate the newly widowed Alma by replacing her addiction to laudanum with another substance as part of Al's getting her caim back. But she's leaving her agency in the literal hands of a man (not much feminism in 1876)- and, if the first meeting between her and Seth is anything to go by, a man she rather likes the look of. Future lovers, I wonder?

Meanwhile the relationship between Tolliver and mistress Joanie is shown to be complex- how loose is her leash? And she clearly has desires of a Sapphic nature. Tolliver, callously, has his sick old friend Andy dumped in the wilderness where he finds himself looked after by a drunk but nevertheless crudely kindly Calamity Jane, upset at the loss of her "best friend" who never judged her. This is all masterful character development.

But the trial is fascinating- and so is Al's word with the judge. Does this lawless community, wishing for eventual annexation by the United States, really want to look like a society with pretensions of its own legal system, a part of the infrastructure of a functioning state? Would this not be a provocation? And yet, what else can they do?

The killer is ultimately acquitted, and genly reminded to leave town pretty sharpish. But it seems, from coughng at Bill's funeral, that getting rid of Andy (not quite dead) may have brought a plague. How very topical.

This is superlative television.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 4- Here Was a Man

“Can you let me go to Hell the way I want to?"

Wow. That was sudden, shocking and out of nowhere- but then so are most shots in the back. I know the real life Wild Bill Hickock was shot in this way soon after moving to Deadwood, but the season has consistently kept up the anticipation- wringing lots of pathos from Bill knowing this would happen but passively awiting his fate- while keeping us guessing as to when exactly the moment would arrive. Death, as ever, is unprdedictable. None of us know when our time will come, which are resonant words to be writing in the midst of a plague.

Obviously, Keith Carradine really shines here, but there's so much pathos in how sympathetic Bill is. He's kind to the (thankfully recovered) little girl, who clearly feels comfortable in his presence, always a sign of a nice character. He continues to develop a human connection with Seth, and behaves with integrity (I think) when Alma asks him to help, yet to almost everyone he's a gunslinging celebrity, not a human being- and his death has parallels to that of John Lennon. Most poignantly, as the whole town rounds on the killer, only Jane and Seth run to the body, genuinely sorrowful.

Other plot threads develop, too, as Al continues to show us what a superbly menacing yet nuanced character he is, a villain but a three dimensional one. There's a newcomer, an old friend of Cy Torrance, who is not at all well. Alma confesses to Jane that her marriage to Brom was an ordeal, with hints of aristocratic arranged marriages. Things continue to unfold. But the episode is about Wild Bill, and the fatalistic end to the melancholic life of a seemingly decent man. Superb telly.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 3- Reconnoitering the Rims

"I don't think he took your point, quite."

"I think he quite missed it."

Only the third episode, and it's already very clear indeed that a single viewing is hardly adequate to do justice the density of the script, visuals and performances. I shall plead that there's some value in a first impression, and do my best.

On the surface this episode is about a few prominent plotlines- the opening of the rival saloon over the road and Al's preparation for war; the sort-of agreement between Swearengen and the Seth and Sol duo; and of course the tragic end of swanky New York dude Brom.who seeks "satisfaction" for being swindled by Al and ends up lured to his death in spite of many, many warnings, not only from Charlie but his junkie wife Alma. This is nicely paralleled with Al's decision to spare the slightly treasonous E.B.- after all, he has the poor hotel owner by the balls.

Elsewhere there's casual racism directed towards the "heathens", and equally casual bile (sexism and possible homophobia?) directed at Jane, whose disinclination to perform the rituals of femininity do not go unnoticed. But the most tragic character is the tactiurn Bill, whose reputation precedes him so that he's constantly being abused and challenged by wankers. No one ever treats him as a person, just as the legendary gunslinger he has become, and his life is shorn of any human interaction- no wonder he's drawn to the decent Seth, and that he spends his days drinking and gambling until the day he is inevitably shot by some twat. And yet beneath the gunslinger is a gentleman who will sleep in a corridor so a traumatised little girl can remain undisturbed.

At the core of this is a superb cast of actors- Ian McShane is a revelation; Lovejoy this ain't- but also, again, a peerless script. I'm loving this.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 2- Deep Water

“No loose ends now...”

I’m really getting into this already. I already feel I know these characters and am invested in the storylines.

Much of this episode revolves around the complex consequences of Seth and Wild Bill's shooting las episodes of the man who took part in the killing of the "squareheads"- Seth is now tied to Bill whether he likes it or not, and clashes very much with an untrusting Al. Already I'm seeing why Ian McShane is so praised for this performance.

The ripples widen and widen, as Calamity Jane (a facinating, eccentric and damaged character) ends up stealing the little "squarehead" girl (interesting to see that casual racism, the first thing we see in the episode directed towards a Chinaman, was once applied to the many German and Scandinavian settlers), and that there's a power struggle for her between the principlied Doc and wily Al.

We also find Brom beginning to realise he may have paid £20k for a pup, while his wife Ada turns out to be a junkie. Also interesting is Wild Bill himself, who perhaps gets on with Seth (the hero so far) because Seth just treats him as a normal man- Bill comes across as a man sick and tired of the falseness of fame.

It's only the second episode, and already I feel I know these characters and care about them. This is looking so far like another HBO triumph.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 1- Deadwood

"Goddammit, Swearengen. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you. But I enjoy the way you lie."

A very impressive start to Deadwood with this hour of telly, with the premise and the characters introduced with good storytelling beats and the "show, don't tell" type of exposition- no bad feat with this showing early signs of having the complexity of a fat novel.

It all fees very much like an HBO of the '00's both structurally and visually- It reminds me very much of True Blood in spite of the differences in genre.

Our first scene nicely establishes things as kindly sheriff Seth, somewhere in Montana Territory, mentions to a prisoner that he's off to Deadwood shortly. It's 1876 and, we learn, following Custer's recent last stand, the Black Hills in Dakota Territory are the focus of a gold rush.The only thing is that, legally, it's Sioux land, and the town has no legal basis and therefore is quite literally lawless. But this is nicely followed by an example of "law" in the "civilised" west- Seth is faced by a posse looking for blood, and is forced to hang the prisoner himself in a vague gesture towards "law".

No wonder he's planning to open a shop and give up the law business. But we're also introduced to the likes of a very menacing (and famous) Wild Bill Hickock, and the sweary gun girl with a heart, Calamity Jane- one of the few speaking women not pimped out and beaten up; no wonder the dresses and acts like a man. And we also meet the dangerous publican-cum-crimelord Al Swearengen, whose oddly mid-Atlantic accent is apparently deliberate. Intelligent and ruthless, he seems interesting.

Three characters are seen being shot dead in the course of the episode- it's a dangerous existence. And a family of Germans (?) trying to go home to Minnesota are massacred. It's a violent, harsh world but one redolent with what feels like realism. I much enjoyed this meaty and fascinating episode. Hopes are high for the next thirty-five.