'Deadwood' is another marvel coming from the stables of HBO. Season 1 comes to DVD in a four disc set (this is the Region 2 edition up for review) just weeks before Season 2 comes to its TV airing. And to be honest I cannot wait !
At first this is quite hard to get into, mainly due to the dialogue. Sporting more motherfuckers and cocksuckers than a gansta rap movie and more colourful expletives that would make your granny's toes curl with fright, it seems somewhat odd that your average everyday Western folk would spout such stuff. Within a few episodes though, this seems quite natural as you are immersed into the world of the grimy and filth spewing Deadwood.
Set in the up and coming cesspit that is Deadwood, a sink hole little town in the Black Hills of Dakota just shortly after Custer had his last stand. This lawless little place is full of corruption, deceit and murder. Gary Cooper would seem so out of place in this muddy and bloody hyper real environment.
Into the mix of stunning performances we have the two mains; Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), a saloon owner, brothel operator and general mastermind of all the wheeling and dealing going on, and then there is Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), a one time law man looking for a new start but underneath that attire is a whole heap of anger and violence just waiting to go pop. This is one of the main reasons this show works so well, on one hand you have the ‘bad’ guy, Al, with his hand in every pie (almost quite literally) and with a deadly conviction but he actually wants the town to prosper and the folk to live well, and then you have the ‘good’ guy Seth, which you think that just one push could send him to a darker and blacker place than any other inhabitant in Deadwood.This series is filled to the brim of great characters, the above mentioned Ian McShane has never been better and fans of ‘Lovejoy’ will hardly recognise him here as Al, but there is such a wealth to get your teeth into. Alma Garret (indie fav Molly Parker) is a laudanum addict almost loosing herself into oblivion, and her husband meets more than what he bargained for when dealing with a possible gold claim. Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif) is a war vet who has more than a few skeletons in his cupboard. Trixie (Paula Malcomson), a whore with a heart of gold but a knife in her hand, goes through more than just an emotional time. Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert), as you have never seen her before, she could make the paint strip from the walls just by breathing on them and what comes out of that mouth defies description, this is a long way from the folksy singing rootin’ tootin’ of Doris Day and the Hollywood musical. And then there is hotel operator E.B. Farnum (the ever reliable William Sanderson), a shrewd, weasel of a man with no end to his greed. These are just a few of the characters to walk the muddy streets that are not always paved with gold.
Seth Bullock and his friend Sol Star (John Hawkes) come to Deadwood looking to start a new life and a hardware store. Deadwood is a small prospecting town that has no legal jurisdiction and is a hive of activity with the current gold rush. When they get there, they hire a plot of land from local businessman Al Swearengen, to set up camp and sell their wares. People come here for various reasons, like ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok (Keith Carradine), the celebrated lawman and gunslinger, is one of many who joins in with the townsfolk hoping to get in the odd game of cards and more than the odd whiskey. Weather it’s gold or whoring you are here for there is something to take your pleasure, the Titilicker is one such wonderful creation. It would be an injustice to give too much detail to the plot and subplots of the series, and it would deter from the natural progression of the character arcs to say much more of those also.With the odd gory moment, people meet their maker and end up at a boot hill or more commonly as food for the Chinaman’s pigs. This is not the bastard child of the sanitised ‘High Noon’ or ‘Shane’ and in some ways harks back to the old serial westerns, but with it’s bloody and muddy look with frequent cussing, it is definitely something you have not seen before.
Unlike the Region 1 edition, this extra free territory, not a commentary or a featurette, but please do not let that put you off as this is very much class television, just make sure the young ones are firmly in bed first.
'Deadwood Season 1' is out to own now and available via
AmazonUK and
Amazon .
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