TV: Ode to Deadwood

 I found this old review I wrote January 5, 2016. Things have changed since! 

I am re-watching Deadwood Season One... It's funny to me how deep I fell into this show immediately even now as I'm watching it for the second time. This is notable because The Wire, which is possibly my favorite TV show, has a slow start each season and it takes about three episodes before you get fully invested and wanting to know what is next.

Deadwood hits you... BAM! Who's this guy who walks funny? Why is that whore so dedicated to that mean dude?  What the heck happened to that family and why is that plotline taking so much time in these episodes?

I think this show is shot beautifully. The cinematography manages to take in the landscape of this mining-camp-growing-up and also focus on the characters. The dialogues are framed really well, and just leave the audience wanting to know who is the real bad guy in this situation. Some scenes are just downright artsy fartsy, but nothing seems out of place.

I particularly like David Milch's character dialogues and monologues in this show. I like the way the word "fuck" is used so artfully and sometimes completely appropriate and intelligently. He does good dialogue, but not always good story as was evidenced in John From Cincinatti, which was the flop-of-a-TV-show he carelessly tossed Deadwood aside for. Butthead.

So, now I'm re-watching and loving Deadwood, a show that will never offer me a finale. A show who's characters are forever stuck in screen-written purgatory. May you one day rest in peace.