▶▶▶ Deadwood: The Complete Series

Deadwood: The Complete Series Review

I should probably begin my review of Deadwood by saying that I have never been a fan of the Western as a genera. For some reason, it normally fails to ignite my cinematic senses. For this reason, the series was already long off the air before I garnered an interest but am I ever glad I dispelled my earlier reservations. I am not a big fan of TV shows just in general, but after watching a few episodes over at my GF's parents house, I quickly came to amazon to scoop this series up.

If you are the type of person who cares about the opinions of professional film critics, a quick look around the major sites and you will be able to see that Deadwood received almost unanimous critical acclaim. For me, I either like it or I don't, but this series had me captivated after the first 20 min of the initial episode.

Perhaps there is some sort of primordial urge in me that enjoys the fantasy and vivid storytelling of the old west, but this ensemble cast hammers the plot lines home in striking fashion.

I am not the type of person who enjoys giving out spoilers as I do not want to tarnish anyone else's experience, but I can say that Deadwood has become my most favorite series in history.

I had heard there was originally plans to make 2 additional films to add closure to the various character arcs, but it appears as thought that possibility remains remote.

I highly recommend this to all except to those with small children as the episodes are riddled with profanity and violence, but I would argue rightfully so as to demonstrate the lawlessness and cavalier nature of the inhabitants of Deadwood.

Oddly enough, when I was visiting relatives in South Dakota last Summer, I was able to pay a visit to the actual town of Deadwood. A great deal of the old historic district consists of recreations since much of the town succumbed to fire prior to the beginning of the 20th century, but it was still fun for a history nerd such as myself.

If you are a newbie to the world of Deadwood, you really should give it a try. It certainly surpassed my expectations.

Deadwood: The Complete Series Feature

DEADWOOD

Deadwood: The Complete Series Overview

The Black Hills of South Dakota. Witness the birth of an American frontier town - and the ruthless power struggle between its just and unjust pioneers. In an age of plunder and greed, the richest gold strike in American history draws a mob of restless misfits to an outlaw settlement where everything - and everyone - has a price. The settlers, ranging from an ex-lawman to a scheming saloon owner to the legendary Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, share a constant restlessness of spirit, and survive by any means necessary. Welcome to Deadwood...a hell of a place to make your fortune.

Deadwood: The Complete Series Specifications

Deadwood represents one of those periodic, wholesale reinventions of the Western that is as different from, say, Lonesome Dove as that miniseries is from Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo or the latter is from Anthony Mann's The Naked Spur. In many ways, HBO's Deadwood embraces the Western's unambiguous morality during the cinema's silent era through the 1930s while also blazing trails through a post-NYPD Blue, post-The West Wing television age exalting dense and customized dialogue. On top of that, Deadwood has managed an original look and texture for a familiar genre: gritty, chaotic, and surging with both dark and hopeful energy. Yet the show's creator, erstwhile NYPD Blue head writer David Milch, never ridicules or condescends to his more grasping, futile characters or overstates the virtues of his heroic ones.

Set in an ungoverned stretch of South Dakota soon after the 1876 Custer massacre, Deadwood concerns a lawless, evolving town attracting fortune-seekers, drifters, tyrants, and burned-out adventurers searching for a card game and a place to die. Others, particularly women trapped in prostitution, sundry do-gooders, and hangers-on have nowhere else to go. Into this pool of aspiration and nightmare arrive former Montana lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and his friend Sol Starr (John Hawkes), determined to open a lucrative hardware business. Over time, their paths cross with a weary but still formidable Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) and his doting companion, the coarse angel Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert); an aristocratic, drug-addicted widow (Molly Parker) trying to salvage a gold mining claim; and a despondent hooker (Paula Malcomson) who cares, briefly, for an orphaned girl. Casting a giant shadow over all is a blood-soaked king, Gem Saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), possibly the best, most complex, and mesmerizing villain seen on TV in years. Each of these characters, and many others, will forge alliances and feuds, cope with disasters (such as smallpox), and move--almost invisibly but inexorably--toward some semblance of order and common cause. Making it all worthwhile is Milch's masterful dialogue--often profane, sometimes courtly and civilized, never perfunctory--and the brilliant acting of the aforementioned performers plus others. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Deadwood (Click for larger image)