Deadwood
Deadwood
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I finally watched most of the first season of "Deadwood" in one sitting the other day, and it's one hell of a good show. Sure, the show uses harsh language in a big way, but I believe it keeps on the right side of the line between natural language and unintentional comedy. (By natural language, I mean sounding like the way you'd expect the characters to speak, and not glaringly artificial, ala the witty quips of a 6 year old on a sitcom.) There's a number of scenes where swearing is used to solid comedic effect while still feeling like part of the way these characters speak - witness conversations between one of the main characters, Al Swearingen (Ian McShane, with an apropos character name if ever I heard one) and Mr Wu, the boss of the camp's Chinese underworld, for example. I'd put the one English word Mr Wu knows here, but this is meant to be a G rated review. The story of the show itself is ostensibly that of ex-sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and his partner, Sol (John Hawkes) who move to Deadwood, a relatively new mining camp on Sioux land, not under the laws of the United States, to open a hardware store. Complications ensue for our heroes when they meet up with the boss of the camp, Al Swearingen, who runs the local saloon as a base of operations for all sorts of criminal and otherwise intriguing activities. Cheap whisky and pussy isn't all that Al provides for the locals, either. Al's character is nowhere near a one dimensional villain, and Ian McShane does an amazing job portraying him - you'll be impressed, amused, startled and transfixed, possibly even at the same time. While the show is definitely an ensemble piece, everything going on revolves around Al, with the occasional strange attractors popping up to influence things in one way or another. As the show progresses, it becomes clear that it's not just the story of Seth Bullock or Al Swearingen, but a history of the development of the camp itself, and progress from the old world to the new. Practically every character in the show gets some degree of attention, and all these characters are well realized. Examples of individual story threads pursued include the arrival at the camp of Wild Bill Hickock (Keith Carradine) and Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert), a rival saloon / gambling den opening in town causing problems for Al, and a scam involving a gold claim and a rich couple from New York city.. these plot lines are just the tip of the iceberg, and mesh well with the maturing of the show and further development of its characters. "Deadwood" is also worthy of note for its basis in reality - there was a real "Deadwood", and a number of the characters (beyond Wild Bill and Calamity Jane) existed in real life, or were based on similar people. I'd suggest not researching the history of the real people until you've watched the show, however, as otherwise you might spoil some plot points. Due primarily to the great acting and rich, realistic presentation, it's very easy to get immersed in the world of "Deadwood". The ongoing storylines will keep you coming back for more, but as a result you really need to be watching from the beginning to make much sense of what's going on. The show has aired (and been released on DVD) two seasons already, a third is being made, and production of a fourth has apparently been approved by HBO. Just some of the advantages of watching Deadwood include:
If you can't think of any other reason to watch, keep in mind that you might very well learn all sorts of new uses and applications of swearing. I learned a few things myself, and the way I normally speak would make a drill instructor blush. "Deadwood" comes highly recommended - my only regret is that it took almost a year after everyone else I know recommending it to me to actually take the time to watch it.
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