Headscratchers / Deadwood

• Why is the Gem and the newspaper building connected by a walkway? Swearengen arrived in town when it was still tents and had the Gem made himself. Why would the builders have connected the buildings' walkways if Swearengen didn't order it, and how could Swearengen fail to realize it had happened until well over a year later?
  • Why wouldn't he have ordered it, necessarily? As the true and veiled leader of the town, controlling the mayor and other important figures, having a direct connection to the town's newspaper writer (as in, he can walk in directly to his office without being seen by prying eyes) would be very useful in terms of establishing propaganda and influencing the tide of Merrick's editorial slant.
    • We know he didn't order it because he only discovers it in the third season. He walks in on Merrick and asks in amazement, "Did you know this fuckin' walkway connected us?" Merrick responds that he knows because patrons of the Gem occasionally stumble into his office.
      • Folks, Al built a bolthole to escape the Gem. Then, when he needed access to the paper for clandestine purposes, he "discovered" the bolthole, feigning ignorance. This is very much the kind of thing Al does. He obfuscates what he knows and constantly reprimands people for letting the enemy know what they are thinking.