Dogmatic

The spring of 1877 brings major changes to the teeming outlaw camp of Deadwood, as civilization makes its way to town. New arrivals will usher in an era of power struggles with the camp founders-and power struggles in Deadwood have a way of turning violent…

Created and executive produced by David Milch (NYPD Blue), Deadwood is one of most acclaimed dramas on television. The series was nominated for 11 Emmys and two Golden Globe Awards in its debut season. And after going through the season 1 DVD over the past week, it is easy to see why.

I had been meaning to catch up with Deadwood for several months now but just didn’t have the time to devote to it. The press surrounding the show has been nothing but favourable and I usually make it a point to check out anything that HBO airs because the vast majority of their programs are pure quality.

The story in Deadwood starts two weeks after General Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn. Deadwood is actually an illegal settlement in Indian country that is made up of a collection of buildings and temporary tents, from saloons and hotels to bathhouses and various types of stores.

With its unflinching realism, adult themes and wickedly inventive storylines, Deadwood is an intense, character-driven drama that takes elements of the traditional western and turns them upside down. “I had always wanted to do a series set in some period where it was legitimate to explore the genesis of law,” Milch (Deadwood’s creator) says. “What interested me about Deadwood is that it was an outlaw settlement, on Indian territory, so the American law didn’t apply — there were no laws at all.”

It took a few episodes to learn the traits of each of the many characters that feature throughout the show. Despicable characters scattered throughout the lawless town of Deadwood seemingly all under the control of town pimp and saloon owner Al Swearengen (brilliantly played by actor Ian McShane). Swearengen is quick of wit and rules over Deadwood with a foul-mouthed devlish charm.

Counter-balancing the menacing charm of Swearengen is the town’s good guy Seth Bullock (Timoty Olyphant) a one time law man looking for a new start and a life away from the law. Will the corruption and evil that envelops the town of Deadwood destroy him or will he become the town’s enforcer of the law?

The language is extremely harsh and the dialect is somewhat hard to understand until after a few episodes when one gets used to the timbre and pace of the language at hand. In short, the dialogue is ‘fuckn’ amazing - almost poetic in its delivery and punctuated with every curse word one could care to imagine. They had ‘cock-suckers’ back in the West?

It is amazingly refreshing to see such a show produced in the sickengly Christian Right Wing fiasco that has become the United States of America. It is also a welcome breath of fresh air to see free-speech alive and well in the confines of HBO. Deadwood is an incredibly absorbing television experience and completely recommended by this author to all and sundry.