Deadwood

Top-level TV entertainment that stands as testament to the value of superior dialogue and casting (clearly talking about Richardson here). Takes its pursuit of themes to do with the bloody rise of something resembling law, and the even bloodier rise of something resembling capitalism, fairly seriously, yet at its heart remains a high-grade soap opera, but with better jokes. That said, I wouldn't mind spending a lifetime trying to make Joanie Stubbs smile again. Powers Boothe died one day later.

there isn't a lot of TV i'm inclined to put on a pedestal of this sort, but the season 1 finale of deadwood is as masterful and profound as any piece of american filmmaking this century, and the show as a whole surpasses even the wire in illuminating the american identity (and it's so much wittier and funnier, too).

Amazingly acted period piece with so many swear words you will blush. It's gritty, and mean and brutal, but its genuine and honest despite its questionably eloquent speeches. The third season is disappointing and a pox on HBO for ending it too early.

Season 3 was such a bore that it ruined this entirely for me

Awesome show which was cancelled way too soon. Complete series.

Too bad I'm not big on westerns, because this is a great series. Ian McShane is unflinchingly brilliant as the foul-mouthed Al Swearengen.

Gritty, heavy and extremely brutal take on the last frontier in the United States. It has some weird theatrical monologuing throughout, and lays out a decisively bleak view on humans in general, but undoubtedly one of the greatest most realistic Westerns ever done.

Pairs well with Herzog's Stroszek. The American Dream is a fantastic, fun, fatally disastrous fucking joke.

A show that tries to hold your interest and show how cool it is by using an incessant flow of profanities. But we all know swearing is not big and it's not clever. Dickwads

Ended too soon -10. Mr wu handdown best role ever.

Narratively uneven & prematurely cancelled with a woefully unsatifying ending but a personal favourite of mine. Incredible writing & acting/casting find a perfect match, creating a diverse myriad of the most delightful character interactions. Its theatrical structure is nicely contrasted by the gritty staging which fosters a rich & unwavering tone. Although the plot often feels meandering it manages to keep everything on its poignant thematic course. The soundtrack too was directly up my alley.

how in the fuck do you cancel this. cocksuckers

Slow, cussword, slow, cussword, cussword western soap opera with a Shakespean-like language slant. They likely pulled off what they intended to do and it was interesting from a historical timepiece point of view but I didn't find myself liking any of the characters or caring about their outcomes. Watched the entire series but never felt like "Can't wait to find out what happens next" when sitting down to watch.

S1: 69 S2: 64 S3: 61

Do you enjoy plot over everything else? Then this snow is not for you. Plot is stretched very thin. It prefers style over substance. Was a snooze fest for me and I gave up after S1E2.

I was really into it season 1, but then got quite bored and stopped watching after S02E05. Looking back, was it as good as I was feeling it was? Perhaps its frequent placement on 'best TV ever' lists influenced my perception. It could also be that I just got tired of the tone—it felt like a play, which I can only handle for so long...

Too needlessly over the top with violence and sadism. Maybe if those things weren't so glossy and stylized, it would be fine, but it's a little grotesque the way the camera's eye seems almost to revel in it. A shame, because there were a lot of good elements, but ultimately just too ghoulish overall. Even for ghoulish junkie ex-con punk rock ex-boyfriend, okay? Not just hothouse flower over here. He was sated like a mosquito bloated to bursting on the grotesqueness of it at times.

Watched it for awhile. Too self consciously brutal and violent. Through the rhetoric and mannerisms, it had a theatrical stylization that made it feel like a play rather than reality. This wasn't a mistake through bad acting or directing, but a stylistic choice, to create a certain surreal tone to the whole drama. I didn't care for it.

I also like to curse.

Mah. I pareri entusiasti mi hanno spinto a recuperarla, ma non so se sia perchè non è il mio genere o semplicemente perchè quello che poteva sembrare innovativo 15 anni fa ora non lo è più, ma non mi ha mai appassionato veramente. E' una serie indubbiamente realizzata e recitata bene, ma ha un ritmo molto lento con dei protagonisti che parlano molto ed agiscono poco. La parte migliore resta il pilot, realizzata come un western vecchio stile.

Some of the best dialogue writing done in a TV series. And wonderful examination of human reason. 3rd season the highlight.

Deadwood's dialogue is so self-conscious and self-absorbed that it hurts. Season 1 does a fine job introducing its main cast, but every subplot and character introduced after that is transparently used to advance the narrative and then they're immediately tossed aside. At least Ian McShane knocks if out of the park.

Rewatch?

Great moments can be had - mostly in the first few episodes -, but it degrades noticeably towards the ungraceful ending.

good series

Deadwood is a period piece executed to perfection. Some of my favorite writing I have encountered in all of television. Somehow the show avoided being overwrought in its attempt to stay true to its time period. Ian McShane's performance as Al Swearengen will always be one of my favorites.

Sex scenes set in the Victorian era, are a race between the film canister & the costume design. Great call setting the show at the time it was, watching institutions like the press, local industry & small government crawl out of the primordial ooze. To think Swearengen & Malcolm Tucker were on air in parallel, what a time to be alive. Finally, it should not be lost on the audience that the voice of god became an incoherent psychotic in the town of Deadwood, and rightfully so. 88 for Mr. Wu.

i was supremely excited about this when it came out, seamed right up my alley for the longest time.................then the narrative got boring and stretched thin, and eventually, i grew bored of it. certainly starts strong though.

I was never quite as head-over-heels in love with it as others (I even remember some TV sites calling it one of the greatest shows of all time). Everything with Ian McShane onscreen as Al Swearengen was fantastic and gripping. When he was off screen my interest waned a bit.

Season 1 is the best, but each season gets a little bit worse. It's a shame it got cancelled though.

Could be paired with The Wire as the birth and decay of American capitalism. Obviously much of the attention goes to Swearengen and the word cocksucker, but Deadwood is at its core about the confluence of interests. While on its face cynical, the growth of the settlement and its web of relationships around financial benefit becomes something more substantial when Hearst arrives to nakedly exploit everyone. The fight between Dan & Hearst's man is one of the most tense things you'll ever watch.