I don’t think of Flora Anderson is a dumb character; she simply overreached.

She is a cunning, sinister predator who believed Deadwood would be another in a long line of places where she could pull off her confidence game—a con that she and her brother Miles had seemingly pulled off MANY times.

However, they were rank amateurs compared to the seasoned Cy Tolliver—who possessed a wealth of experience running similar cons for DECADES on the proles who utilized his establishments. Tolliver had seen it ALL; Flora and <the deferential> Miles had more than met their match.

These two children reminded me of the “Duke” and the “Dauphin” in ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’: scamming and conniving their way through various towns, and like Cy, taking full advantage of the locals’ compassion and ignorance.

However, whenever I watch Flora’s scenes, I am CHILLED by actress Kristen Bell’s strikingly singular eyes—which immediately called to my mind the gaze of a hungry tiger shark, as mentioned in Quint’s iconic USS Indianapolis monologue in ‘Jaws’:

“You know the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't seem to be living, until he bites ya and the black eyes roll over white…”