Deadwood

"If I'm to go, I'd as soon get started before the darkness."

"Goin' means the darkness is upon us."

Having just watched all 36 episodes of "Deadwood", I venture it to be one of the best dramas ever made. It's one of my favorite shows of all time, I reckon.

A period western made by HBO from 2004 - 2006, the show tells the story of the goings-on of Deadwood (now of South Dakota) from 1876-1877. As Season 1 begins, Deadwood, as a town, doesn't belong to any U.S. territory and is therefore outside the jurisdiction of ANY government. The only law is that there is no law. And being "in the state of nature" (in Lockean terms) every man is his own police officer, judge, jury and executioner. Murder, prostitution, gambling, thievery, drug use and profanity abound.

No discussion of "Deadwood" would be worth its salt if it didn't mention the profanity. This is the most filthy language you'll probably ever see on any television show... ever. It's estimated that the word "fuck" alone is said 1.53 times for every minute of runtime. The characters generally make Jeff Lebowski look like a school teacher. This is one area where the creators of the show chose to not be true to the time period. That is, the swear words used in the show didn't exist in the 1800's. But this is understandable as any characters going around saying "goldarned", etc. are likely to be laughed at - which would have detracted from the reality of the situation. Not just the type of profanity but the amount of it was an artistic choice. If the characters live in a world without rules - the thinking goes - then their speech should reflect that. The "shock value" of the language serves to draw the viewer into the reality of a lawless world.

But the delightful contradiction of the language of "Deadwood" is that it's simultaneously profane and beautiful. All the while that the characters' language is injected with effin' and jeffin' the writing is almost Shakespearean. Soliloquies, literary references, visual imagery, wit, word play, the "western" use of metaphor and the vocabulary of period language all combine to create dialog that's almost poetic. As in Shakespeare, people today don't sound like the characters in "Deadwood" but you'll wish that they did. It's lyrical to the ear whether the content of the meaning is clever, funny or brutal.

"Deadwood" contains all the usual "western" elements (prostitution, drugs, gun slinging, revenge), but  the show is really primarily about characters. The first few episodes set up 12+ fully-formed three-dimensional characters, each with their own logic, motivations, past history, loves and loyalties. Then it places them in the same town at the same time and then it seemingly "let's them go". Like molecules in a vacuum, they bounce off each and react in every possible way, forming alliances, forming grudges, falling in love, fighting, and so on. The show is a complicated and constantly evolving web of loyalty and conflict. The expected western "good guys and bad guys" routine is partially adopted, at first, but (as previously noted) all of the characters are multi-dimensional. As the show progresses, the "good guys" will do bad things and the "bad guys" will do good things. Well into the series, the lines will  disappear and the viewer will be left with characters without convenient labels.

The writing, acting and characters are so superb and the plot so addictive, it came as a slight shock to me that "Deadwood" is based on actual history. Deadwood, South Dakota is a real town. Former lawman Seth Bullock, "Wild Bill" Hickok and "Calamity" Jane were real people and really did arrive and live in Deadwood in 1876 (Season 1). Saloon owner Al Swearengen, Charlie Utter, Sol Star, George Hearst, again, are all characters and all real people. Some days after arriving, Bill Hickok was assassinated by "the cowardly" Jack McCall just as depicted in the show. In mid-1877 (Season 3) former lawmen Wyatt Earp and his brother arrived in Deadwood - again, actually history. And each episode of the show roughly translates to one historical day. But, it should be noted that the show is not a documentary and it is not meant to be. Historically accurate accounts of the "wild west" are impossible as the history is inextricably entangled in myth and legend. The point is that any level of historicity adds that much more richness to an already-amazing show.

For all its splendor, there is one notable weakness to the series. The show was cancelled abruptly and without warning by HBO after just its third season. This means that although there is some closure in the sense that the season ends, there is no real closure to the series. The plot builds to an unbelievable tension but is left somewhat unresolved as the creators fully expected to make another season. It's a huge disappointment that such a great show was cancelled and that we'll only ever have 3 seasons. Perhaps I don't have a right to be angry. Afterall, I've only started watching the show 6 years after it went off the air - I can only assume few people were watching when it was new. Even now, I don't think it's really caught on with people - certainly not the general public. Even so, HBO, usually so good at recognizing quality, definitely blew it when they cancelled this show. It's an example of dramatic writing and acting at their best. It's a brilliant gold nugget in the increasingly played out mine known as television.