Deadwood - The Complete First Season

Rating: NR

Distributor: HBO Home Video

Release Date: February 8, 2005
Review posted: February 15, 2005

Reviewed by Greg Malmborg

Welcome to Deadwood…a hell of a place to make your fortune

SYNOPSIS

From innovative creator David Milch (creator of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue) and HBO comes the DVD release of Deadwood: The Complete First Season (currently beginning the second season on HBO).  Deadwood is another brilliant series from HBO (nothing else comes even close in writing, acting, and direction to these HBO shows), which is set in 1876 just after Custer’s Last Stand in a small frontier town in the Black Hills of South Dakota during the gold rush.  Based on true people and events (like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane) combined with fascinating fiction, Deadwood is a revisionist Western in combining traditional western backdrop with more modern, complex and dialogue-heavy storylines.  Deadwood has a lot in common with (and is on par with) one of HBO’s other great series, The Sopranos, with its unfolding crime saga blurring the lines between morality and responsibility with one key figure at its core calling the shots.

Deadwood begins following a Montana sheriff, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), who wanting to abandon his violent past and live a lower key lifestyle, decides to pack up and move to Deadwood to start a hardware business with his friend and business partner Sol Starr (John Hawkes).  Deadwood is located in the Black Hills, which is rumored to be blanketed with gold, so settlers are migrating from far and wide into town for a shot at riches or a life free of laws and government.  Once in Deadwood, Bullock ends up in a gunfight with help from none other than Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) where they both end up killing a man for slaughtering an entire family just outside of town for their goods.  This triggers a budding friendship between the legendary Hickok and Bullock and leads Bullock down a path he had sought to abandon but can’t seem to escape.  Bullock and Hickok are both very honorable and just men, both being former lawmen, although both have very dark and violent pasts and reputations.

On the opposite end of this spectrum is saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), who, despite the fact Deadwood has no laws or official rules, runs everything in town, showing hospitality to all until it threatens any piece of his business where he can just as easily shows a relentless brutality.  Everyone answers to him and nothing happens in town without him knowing about it.  It is not long before Bullock and Swearengen butt heads and sides are drawn.  There are many characters and storylines that branch out from this, but they are too numerous to get into.  This is the centerpiece of the series and serves as the driver for most other storylines. 

In Deadwood, unfolds a very human saga surrounded by plunder, greed and corruption yet balanced with honor, friendship and loyalty.  The evolution of this frontier town is a study in societal evolution showing the effects human behavior has on shaping society and how rules and law govern regardless of official presence.  Allies are forged, feuds are recognized, disasters strike, murders occur, and through it all Deadwood is established.   

CRITIQUE

Deadwood is another brilliant, original series from HBO that manages to balance both a dark and hopeful energy by never overstating the good or the bad in these characters (as is the case with most Westerns).  The series builds its storylines and characters slowly and thoroughly which results in magnificently complicated characters, which builds a vested interest for the viewer.  The show is simply addicting.  Even if you are not a Western fan, you will be hooked by the terrific dialogue, great acting, and the interesting, unfolding saga.  And by combining fiction with real characters and events, it turns the Western genre upside down and throws the viewer into this fascinating, untamed world of brutality mixed with honor and responsibility.  The keys to the series success are the fantastic writing and acting, the amazing sets and costumes, and the strong and steady direction.

The dialogue is what resonates and is what truly sends you into this world.  You have never heard this much cursing in a television show.  The constant barrage of cursing is at first a bit oft putting, but it slowly builds into a language all of its own, you become a part of Deadwood just by the exposure to it.  The use of language is much like that of Mamet and is just as effective at creating another world with its own vibe and tongue.  The plot and storylines build up very slowly but all come together seamlessly.  The story unfolds in such a delicate and detailed way that you walk away from each episode with admiration at the great writing (the dialogue, plot, and story structure are incredibly sound).

The dialogue and storylines wouldn’t have a leg to stand on though if the actors working them weren’t first rate.  Well, the acting on this series (as with many other great HBO series) is absolutely brilliant.  From the smallest of supporting roles to the heavy hitters, this show has one of the best casts on television.  It also boasts one of the best written, best acted, and most complicated and complex villains ever devised for television in Al Swearengen played to utter perfection by the great Ian McShane.  He has just recently won a Golden Globe for this remarkable performance.  His Al Swearengen is what makes this show tick, he is the reason to watch every week.  The way he balances hospitality and intense brutality at any moment is like an acting clinic.  He has the character so grounded in moral right and yet you never know for a second what the character will do next.  Every conversation he has is heaped with tension (over what he might do to them if they cross him).  His chief rival is Seth Bullock played with great intensity and moral goodness by Timothy Olyphant.  It feels like a war between good and evil when these two are in the same room, and yet Olyphant keeps Bullock complex and dark, careful not to make him a Western cardboard cut out character.  This gives the show it’s grounding and it is fascinating to watch these great actors in these perfectly written characters. 

But Bullock and Swearengen are such dark forces that it is key that the show have lighter and more hopeful supporting performances, which it most certainly has.  Among the standouts are Brad Dourif as Doc (the voice of reason and logic), John Hawkes as Sol (a warm hearted and good man), Paula Malcomson as Trixie (a prostitute looking for a way out and falling for Sol), Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane (providing constant humor with touches of sadness), and, best of all, is Keith Carradine as Wild Bill Hickok.  Carradine encompasses Bill with an understated sadness at his state in life, yet with a fiery intensity hinting at the dark skills of Hickok and with a common sense of goodness and morality.  It is a truly unique and wonderful performance.

The set for Deadwood is amazing.  They have fully recreated a frontier town paying attention to each and every detail.  From the inner workings of a saloon and brothel to the way newspapers were printed, they do not miss a detail.  This makes it even easier for the viewer to be fully immersed in this world.  Also, along these same lines, are the great costumes which also pay exacting detail to the times being portrayed.

The direction is first rate, there are different directors throughout the series but the consistency is maintained.  It is not easy to juggle so many different storylines and events, but each director understands where to spend most of the time (with McShane, Carradine, and Olyphant) while giving smaller stories room to breathe.

THE VIDEO

The video transfer is exceptional, crisp, lucid and lush in color.  The show is blanketed in earthy tones as it is set in the frontier so the colors are not bright and vivid, but the images are quite clear and lucid.  I was impressed by the enhanced DVD transfer, time was obviously put into it and the show is more than deserving.

THE AUDIO

HBO Television presents Deadwood in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the audio is only average.  The dialogue is crisp and clear, but the balances sounded a bit off.  The surround seemed to be all front-loaded with almost no activity.    

THE EXTRAS

4 Audio Commentaries over various episodes – The audio commentaries are actually quite good and informative.  They are mostly with the cast who discuss what it was like to be on set, what the other actors are like to work with, how difficult the language is, and so on.  The commentaries are from actors Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Keith Carradine, Brad Dourif, and Robin Weigert, as well as commentary from creator David Milch who is a very charismatic and interesting guy who has a lot to say on the making of the show.  The best commentary by far is the one with Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, the two play very well off each other (as they do in the show), very funny and engaging commentary.

Making Deadwood: The Show Behind the Show – This is a run of the mill, behind the scenes, sneak peek type promo, it is only about 13 minutes long.  Feels like an unnecessary extra.

The Real Deadwood – A fascinating and great extra, its is a half hour feature giving a detailed history on the real town of Deadwood, going through significant events and characters.  It shows pictures of the real people many of these characters are based on.  Just a terrific extra.

The New Language of the Old West – This is a one on one discussion with creator David Milch and actor Keith Carradine discussing the use and creation of Deadwood’s language and some other aspects of the show deemed harsh.  Carradine and Milch work well off each other and provide some interesting discussion on one of the shows strongest assets.

An Imaginative Reality – This is another one on one with Carradine and Milch, this time they discuss the difficulties and successes in melding fiction with real characters and events.  Since this is where I had most of my questions, I found this extra informative and helpful although it still left some unanswered questions. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Deadwood is a slow burner getting richer and deeper with each terrific episode.  The acting is fascinating, the writing is award worthy, and the direction is solid.  The language and exacting sets create a world unto its own.

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Home | Back to Top