Deadwood - Complete series

HBO is known for making great series and Deadwood is no exception. Let yourself be carried away and imagine yourself in a western of unprecedented quality, welcome to Deadwood. The series is set at the end of the nineteenth century in Deadwood, South Dakota, a town that was then dominated by the gold rush. A hellish place full of crime and corruption. Life is hard, very hard. A mob of restless misfits, feverishly seeking gold, flock to this outlaw settlement where everything and everyone is for sale. From an ex-cop to a calculating saloon owner, from the legendary Wild Bill Hickok to Calamity Jane, the settlers must survive at all costs. Welcome to Deadwood...a hellish place to make your fortune.

Welcome to Deadwood... A hellish place to make your fortune

Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant, Justified), leaves his job as Marshal in Montana to start a business in Deadwood with his friend and business partner Sol Star (John Hawkes, Too Old To Die Young). Upon arrival, the viewer is taken through the muddy streets of Deadwood and sees some signature locations that you will return to many times throughout the series. Al Swearengen (Ian McShane, American Gods) is the owner of The Gem, a local saloon and brothel. Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) is his competitor and owner of The Bella Union which is a gambling den and also a brothel. You can also stay at The Grand Central Hotel, which is run by E.B. Farnum (William Sanderson, True Blood). Famous gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok is also coming to Deadwood, joined by Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie, Sons of Anarchy) and Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert, American Horror Story). There's a local doctor named Amos Cochran (Brad Dourif, Chucky) who has his hands full dealing with the ups and downs of the people of Deadwood.

Deadwood is more of a camp than a city in the beginning and during the series, you as a viewer are taken into the build-up. The largest gold discovery in American history brings the above and many other characters to Deadwood and they compete brutally against each other. It is a mishmash of political considerations and brutal retaliation, anything to get a piece of the available gold or just to settle a personal feud. It's nice to see Deadwood developing more and more and the residents want to be taken seriously. In the beginning there is total chaos and there is no form of legislation. They try to shape this in a structured way, but of course under strict conditions of the residents. The chief villain is George Hearst (Gerald McRaney, NCIS: Los Angeles) and he wants to take over all of Deadwood to take advantage of all the gold that can be found. He is mentioned from the beginning, but only appears later in the series. He ensures that mutual rivalries are put aside and characters start working together with fresh reluctance. This state of affairs continuously produces beautiful dialogues and surprising moments.



Besides the general story that can be read above, there is so much more that properly describes Deadwood. The beautiful sets, the clothing typical of that time, the contrast of neat language and rudeness, the rawness that radiates every corner of your screen, and especially the fantastic cast whose chemistry is incredibly fun to watch. There are so many characters that deserve to be featured, but that would be too much for a review. Instead, I'll highlight my personal favorites. Timothy Olyphant plays fantastically as the stoic, tenacious, and temperamental Sheriff Seth Bullock. He has most of the features of a wild west character. In addition, Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane is definitely worth mentioning. Her character does not really have an essential purpose for the story, but every time she appears on screen she puts a smile on your face with her inimitable and hilarious comments when she has once again looked too deeply into the glass (or bottle). Finally, for me, the absolute star is Ian McShane as Al Swearengen. He comes across as powerful and convincing that you almost get the idea that he is actually his character. He is magnificent in the many brilliant dialogues that characterize the series and his dialogues with Mr. Wu (Keone Young) are truly a joy to watch. It is quite right that he has received several awards for this role.

As a worthy conclusion to this series, Deadwood: The Movie was released in 2019. This movie takes place about ten years later from the last season. The great thing is that almost the entire cast returned for this film and literally look ten years older. The film immediately brings you back to the wonderful world of Deadwood and can rightly be called a worthy conclusion to a great series.