In HBO’s Deadwood, the gravel-voiced dandy in charge of the Bella Union managed to present an aristocratic aura of influence and power, but beneath his scarlet coat and the smoke from his expensive cigars, there lurked a rabid cur waiting to be unleashed. Cy Tolliver was a man for whom morality was a matter of perspective and whose core belief system was as rigged as his faro tables.
As cutthroat as Al Swearengen and as merciless as George Hearst, Cy was a dangerous man because he possessed neither the former’s altruistic streak nor the latter’s formidable resources. Having neither integrity nor credibility, Cy was simply a wolf in sheep’s clothing. These are the worst of his offenses, which ensured that by the time Deadwood ended, Cy didn’t have a friend left in camp but the devil.
BLACKMAILED WOLCOTT
George Hearst’s lieutenant Mr. Wolcott was a violent minion who slithered into Deadwood with one aim: to cause disruption and discord so that his employer might build an empire from its chaos.
Cy blackmailed Wolcott (a serial killer) with a letter detailing all of the devious sexual activities he preferred in an effort to get some leverage over him, and it only partially worked — it drove Mr. W to suicide.
BELITTLED EDDIE
Even though Eddie was one of Cy’s closest compatriots and card sharps, he still received the brunt of Cy’s temper when he crossed him. Eddie showed remorse for what Cy did to Miles, and Cy tore into him with every insidious implication.
Cy brought up Eddie’s sexual preferences and orientation, and belittled his ability to perform his intended function in the Bella Union. For 17 years Eddie never questioned Cy’s methods, but his look of disgust and disappointment revealed to his employer that he took umbrage with them, and that seemed to rattle Cy more than the murder itself.
GROOMED JOANIE STUBBS
Cy became Joanie’s employer when she was just 14 years old. He groomed her for a life that required her self-worth to be tied to her ability to cajole men into sex, rigged card games, and any other pleasurable vice. He would later make her his lover and his confidante.
Cy twisted Joanie into a version of himself, and as a well-informed seductress, she began to have difficulties with boundaries. She exploited her own employees when she founded the Chez Amis, and forced Jane (despite her discomfort) into various romantic situations. If Joanie didn’t get what she wanted, she became miserable and aimless.
HAD MERRICK’S PRINT ROOM RANSACKED
Never a fan of what was printed in the Deadwood papers, and unhappy with the fact that its editor and his rival Al shared such a convivial relationship, Cy had A.W. Merrick’s print room ransacked.
It came directly after he refused to print a specific document about the camp’s claims (which Cy stood to profit from buying) in his next edition, preferring to pin it on a note near the door.
TRIED TO USURP WU’S BUSINESS
In exchange for facilitating Hearst’s vision for the camp, Cy was given opium courtesy of Mr. Lee to sell to white prospectors, as well as 50% percent of the profits from the gaming tables in Celestial Alley.
All of this undermined aspects of Mr. Wu’s business as well as Al Swearengen’s to some extent, especially when it came down to purchasing prostitutes from Mr. Lee.
SPREAD MISINFORMATION ABOUT DEADWOOD’S FUTURE
Knowing that at word from Yankton government officials, all legal right to claims made in Deadwood would get thrown out, Cy Tolliver decided to spread misinformation about the camp’s future in the hopes that worried prospectors would anxiously sell their claims and leave.
Claim futures were ambiguous, but Cy decided to plant his feet firmly while Leon and Con fanned the flames of panic. Cy was able to make himself wealthy by never dissuading landowners from doing what they could to profit while outside government jurisdiction.
LEFT ANDY TO DIE
Despite being one of Cy’s oldest friends, Andy Cramed found no solace in coming to the Bella Union. Instead of being welcomed with open arms, he was hustled up to a room and kept out of sight. He showed signs of having smallpox and Cy wasn’t taking any chances of his condition scaring off customers.
Instead of letting his friend convalesce in his establishment, Cy hustled him out the back and instructed him to be taken deep into the surrounding hills and left to die. Andy miraculously survived thanks to Jane’s intervention, and made Cy deeply regret he didn’t honor their friendship.
JOINED FORCES WITH HEARST
One of the most deplorable things Cy ever did was eschew the camaraderie of his own community and join forces with an outsider. He pandered to the powerful man in the hopes of being rewarded, but George Hearst treated him no better than he treated his own minions.
Being Hearst’s lap dog got Cy nothing but scraps of respect, and the facade of their relationship became apparent to him once he realized Hearst would leave the camp (and him) with a mess to be cleaned up.
KILLED FLORA AND MILES
When Cy found out a brother and sister team was running a con out of the Bella Union, he had them rounded up by Leon and Con and dragged into his office, where he beat them severally in front of Eddie and Joanie.
Letting his anger get the better of him, Cy made an example out of the pair by murdering them in cold blood and then having their bodies tossed to Wu’s pigs. It was the last straw for Joanie and Eddie, who quietly made their arrangements to abandon their employer.
KILLED LEON
As the reality of his predicament set in and George Hearst stood gloating on his veranda, Cy wondered where it had all went wrong. Arguably the best man in the camp Whitney Ellsworth was dead, and Cy had managed to obtain no real power and influence through his alliance with Hearst.
He reached for a purse gun and angrily pointed it at Hearst but was unable to pull the trigger. Feeling powerless and impotent, he savagely attacked Leon, his most trusted lieutenant, stabbing him in the femoral artery and leaving him to bleed out.
