Deadwood - The Complete Third Season

I really liked this season, but it is not as good as the first two which are supurb. I did not like the theatre company that really adds nothing to the plot whatsoever. Aside from that it is a must watch!

It is unfortunate that this third season of Deadwood had to be its last, but this hard-hitting cowboy drama rides off into the sunset in style in every way.

Season three picks up some weeks after the end of the second season. With the First Bank of Deadwood opening under the aegis of local mining magnate Alma Ellsworth, the camp and the surrounding community are preparing for their first elections - with Seth Bullock and Sol Star running for sheriff and mayor, respectively. At the same time, however, the specter of the camp's latest resident, half-mad robber baron George Hearst, looms large, as he stretches out his hands in an effort to take the camp - and its wealth - for himself. As a result, Sweringen and Cy Tolliver play a dangerous game of politics with Hearst and the camp in an effort to keep themselves, their dependents, and their interests afloat in a sea of increasingly brutal intrigue. On other notes: a company of classical players come to town, the camp acquires a new school, and a tragic dispute ensues over ownership of the local livery stable.

Ian McShane is as brilliant as ever as Al Sweringen, a darkly sympathetic figure who exhibits harrowing ruthlessness and light pathos in equal measure; he is the character one always counts on, and McShane does not disappoint. Timothy Olyphant's Bullock is as hard-bitten and angry as ever, but seems to mellow in this season, adjusting himself to married life. The real treat of the season, however, is Gerald McRaney's (TV's "Major Dad") portrayal of George Hearst. A rough-hewn figure of the Gilded Age, Hearst is a violent, cruel, and brilliant counterpoint (and counterpart) to Sweringen's more backwoods boss figure. Hearst wears gentility and streetsmart bravado in equal measure, barely masking a mad and insatiable lust for power that reveals itself in unsettling subtle, silently explosive ways.

As ever, the show is well-acted and brilliantly designed; costumes and sets remain impeccable. While certain of the secondary plots fail or ring hollow, he overall thrust of the season is fast-paced, raw, and scintillating. For fans of the series, this is truly a fitting end. Highly recommended.

Deadwood is simply the best thing I've ever seen on film. It is absolutely breathtaking. It's been called Shakespearean, and it is, with poetic and beautiful language and images, albeit filled with vulgarity and violence. The writing is poetic, the plots unpredictable-- particularly considering the show is based in part on history-- the characters are memorable and complex, all the acting is seamless, and the photography, courtesy of the director, I suppose, can bring tears to my eyes. The show is addictive, and it is difficult to believe that even a corporate entity would dare to cancel a show this good, no matter what it cost to produce. All three seasons are excellent.

This is perhaps the only Television series I have ever seen that could claim to be a truly great artistic achievement. It is like transposing a combination of Dickens and Shakespeare into the Wild West (however bizarre that may sound), and it amazingly always has the sense of a dramatic (staged) production rather than a TV show. The performances are without exception magnificent. Ian McShane gives one of the great performances anywhere, ever, and the rest of the cast are hardly less worthy of praise. If David Milch never does anything again this will go down as a work of genius. Inspiring to see the potential of television glimpsed in this glorious achievement; depressing to acknowledge it is a show that reaches well beyond the carefully and cynically dumbed-down limits allowed by the vested political and commercial interests that run this country.

Interesting premise: fact based stories, realistic production design and a good cast all set in a real town from the old west but all undermined by some silly competition to see which of the low-lifes can use the F-word the most. One well played scene after another gets the dramatic momentum ripped out from under it by this over-the-top dialogue. Perhaps they thought that if it worked for the Sopranos it would work here.