Deadwood - The Complete Second Season

I purchased this item as a gift for a friend's birthday. I had given him the first season for Christmas. This item cost me almost half of what it did when I bought it through Blockbuster. I had also priced it out through Best Buy who came in at less than Blockbuster, but more that Amazon. I now know where to get the best pricing on movies.

My wife watched the DVD's as avidly as she watched the HBO series. And she didn't have to wait a whole year to sit in front of the TV either.

The best writing on film. The use of language to move the plot and create the time period is without peer. Every time I watch it (yes, over and over) I shake my head in disbelief that the series is canceled!

"Deadwood" does a good job of portraying how violent and depraved Western Civilization can be. After slaughtering the Native people, or sending them off on forced marches, etc., people made a living scrambling around for gold in them thar' hills. Same story in California and other places. In fact, it's the same story today, where mining firms like Newmont (located in Denver) turn ecosystems of indigenous people into dead zones. Once the local economies and ways of life are destroyed, people struggle to get by through working for the mining firms, or the lumber companies, or for the massive hydroelectric projects. Corruption of politicians helps the projects go forward, oftentimes officials are seduced via sexual favors. All this is exposed in "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. Although, when someone reads a book by Perkins, or maybe "Resource Rebels" by Al Gedicks, there is nothing appealling about it. "Deadwood" seems to try to normalize and even glamorize the worst of human behavior.
It's kind of sad to consider all of the youth, not just in this country, but around the world, who will view these DVDs and come away thinking that being a thug or a prostitute is the way to go. The objectification of women and the crude language will be another regressive contribution toward our sick society. There's a scene where a character says "A lot of screaming comes from Al's room." Al is a character who some reviewers feel is likable. That he sexually brutalizes and exploits women doesn't impress me.
The gun, tobacco and liquor industries must really appreciate all the product placement they receive in this series. I imagine the directors probably received some bags of money for their efforts.

I guess I was hoping for something thoughtful and well-written like "Northern Exposure" Northern Exposure - Seasons 1-3 Bundleor "Six Feet Under" Six Feet Under - The Complete Series Gift Set. Instead, just endless moments of depravity. I guess it makes the violent and corrupt corporatists of today feel good about themselves and their role in the world, kind of like how "The Sopranos" celebrates the worst sort of human.
How people come to see this sort of thing as entertaining is beyond me.
Maybe I'm missing something, and I'll watch a few more episodes to see if something worthwhile comes from this show. It all seems very negative to me, and it's kind of fitting that another reviewer expressed his anger over the show being cancelled by saying he wanted to "put a bullet in the head of an HBO executive." That's exactly the sort of energy this show casts off - violence and aggression - along with deceit and greed. The same is found in Shakespeare, which is probably why we're all supposed to worship him in Western Civilization; but writers like Rumi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Joseph Campbell and Alice Walker are more my speed. If people are so fascinated by violence and corruption, they should check out the writings of William Blum. I doubt his "Killing Hope" will be turned into a tv series, but at least people can feel a bit closer to the action since we invest our tax dollars in the bullets and cluster bombs.Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II-Updated Through 2003

My hope was to at least find this program bearable enough to use as a tool to study Spanish. I use the audio options to read Spanish subtitles, or to hear the Spanish dubbing and read the English; but Deadwood is just so ugly and boring that I think I'll re-watch episodes of Six Feet Under, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Weeds instead.

Perfect! As I don't have HBO this is my way of viewing this excellent series. Can't wait for the third season.