Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilltown
I watched Deadwood for the first time recently and loved it.
Only complaint is I find they changed the characters a bit when the seasons ended.
Al in the first season is way more vicious and evil feeling than later on. Hearst took kind of a weird turn too.
I don't want to be
that guy who has conversations in spoilers so I'm gonna speak freely. Avert your eyes if you don't want to read about
Deadwood plot developments.
Al would do whatever he could to further his interests. When he found an easier way to deal with the problem of the orphaned girl without killing her, he took it. Even though the "no hard feelings" line is a bit of dark humor from Al, there's truth to it; he never had any hard feelings toward the girl, only toward forces that would threaten his position in the camp.
I do agree they softened Al a little bit, but I like to think part of that is due to his brush with death. But the exchange you mention isn't inconsistent.
I also think Hearst's shock at Wolcott's deeds rings true. Sure, Hearst had people killed, but every one was killed for a reason, even if that reason was sometimes just to intimidate the survivors into bending to his will. Wolcott's act was the definition of senseless. Not only can't Hearst be associated with Wolcott after that, he can't even begin to understand it.