Topic: Deadwood

[red mongoose]

Don't think so? Just up to where they treating people for small pox.

As an aside I'm surprised this thread has had so little discussion? Does it get better/worse as the seasons continue?

I would say it maintains its quality from start to finish, but it gets better in the sense that the character's grow with familiarity - you really end up caring for all of the cocksuckas. I think the reason the show doesn't get more discussion is that it is really a demanding show to watch in some ways. I mean, you can watch casually and get SO much from it, it's just that entertaining - but to have in-depth discussions about it would take some real concentration, because of its tremendous depth. It's compared a lot to Shakespeare, and with very good reason, and like Shakespeare, it takes some time and some real concentration to eke everything out of it. I've actually only watched it once all the way through. It took me a few episodes to catch the flow of it, and once I had done that, rather than try to catch everything, I just sort of sat there and absorbed it, basking in everything I did catch while realizing that there were vast strata of undiscovered greatness waiting for me if I ever chose to watch it again.

[The G in Gerrard]

At times it's as good as The Wire and better than everything else..answer your question.

The dialogue is this is better than any show I've ever watched...and the ending is actually perfect.

Good. Starting season 1 episode 8 later today. Very promising start. 

[The G in Gerrard]

I would say it maintains its quality from start to finish, but it gets better in the sense that the character's grow with familiarity - you really end up caring for all of the cocksuckas. I think the reason the show doesn't get more discussion is that it is really a demanding show to watch in some ways. I mean, you can watch casually and get SO much from it, it's just that entertaining - but to have in-depth discussions about it would take some real concentration, because of its tremendous depth. It's compared a lot to Shakespeare, and with very good reason, and like Shakespeare, it takes some time and some real concentration to eke everything out of it. I've actually only watched it once all the way through. It took me a few episodes to catch the flow of it, and once I had done that, rather than try to catch everything, I just sort of sat there and absorbed it, basking in everything I did catch while realizing that there were vast strata of undiscovered greatness waiting for me if I ever chose to watch it again.

High praise indeed. As stated earlier, I am enjoying this. Only 7 episodes in but Jane has been my fave person so far.

[Brian Blessed]

High praise indeed. As stated earlier, I am enjoying this. Only 7 episodes in but Jane has been my fave person so far.

You watch Sons of Anarchy, right? You know Jane is in that aswell?

[rob1408]

It's a brilliant piece of work and despite the cancellation, it ends very well, although I didn't think so at the time.  The final line, and what Swearengen is doing while he says it, is a perfect summation.

It's up there with The Wire for me, I don't think I've ever missed a show as much as Deadwood though and the writing is peerless.

[The G in Gerrard]

You watch Sons of Anarchy, right? You know Jane is in that aswell?

Thought she looked familiar I thought she was in House of Cards for some reason

[Brian Blessed]

haha, I did the same thing. I couldn;t quite place her. Thank you, IMDB

[Titi Camara]

Don't think so? Just up to where they treating people for small pox.

As an aside I'm surprised this thread has had so little discussion? Does it get better/worse as the seasons continue?

Spoiler

A stage coach goes by which wakes her, she screams cocksucker and then falls back to sleep on her horse, had me in stitches.

[close]

I'm on the final episode now. Just stopped for a second to make a drink (and cos I don't want it to end). It will rank in my top five ever, an absolute belter of a show. Lovejoy is a fucking beast!

[sideshowme]

another six episodes might have been enough, but i was left very unsatisfied by the ending.  a truly superb show though - not a single bad episode (and there's only BB and the wire that share that status for me).  it was brutal but often hilarious, vulgar and poetic simultaneously... i loved it.  there's one particular sequence in the first season that reduced me to floods of tears, and still (nearly a year after watching) haunts me almost every day, and you know a work of art has done its job when that happens.

just a shame so much of the last season was spent building up things that never had a payoff as it was cancelled too soon.

[Party Phil]

Didn't enjoy it at all. Bored the arse off me and I didn't even finish the 2nd series.

[Yiannis]

Glad there is a discussion about and more people picked up on this and watched/watching it. It's truly great. First on my re-watch list.

[Titi Camara]

Didn't enjoy it at all. Bored the arse off me and I didn't even finish the 2nd series.

"My bicycle masters boardwalk and quagmire with aplomb. Those that doubt me... suck cock by choice." - Tom Nuttall

[sideshowme]

"My bicycle masters boardwalk and quagmire with aplomb. Those that doubt me... suck cock by choice." - Tom Nuttall

[Titi Camara]

Calamity Jane: "Maybe I will have a fuckin' drink, for sociability's sake and 'cause I'm a fuckin' drunk."

Joanie Stubbs: "What's your preference?"

Calamity Jane: "That it ain't been previously swallowed."

[The G in Gerrard]

haha, I did the same thing. I couldn;t quite place her. Thank you, IMDB

[rob1408]

Calamity Jane: "Maybe I will have a fuckin' drink, for sociability's sake and 'cause I'm a fuckin' drunk."

Joanie Stubbs: "What's your preference?"

Calamity Jane: "That it ain't been previously swallowed."

Have you finished it yet ?

[Titi Camara]

Have you finished it yet ?

Yep finished.

Spoiler

Bit gutted the cocksucker didn't get it in the end and that Al didn't get to serve up a dish best served cold

[close]

...

...but that said it's a titan. Fantastic from start to finish and the best script of any series I've ever watched. I've an urge to seek Lovejoy out to see when and where he's set to tread the boards!

[MagicHat]

Recently watched it for the first time. Once I got used to the language (and bar second episode of season 2), looked forward to watching each episode, I'm just sorry there wasn't more. Interesting use of language with inventive insults and wit combined with some eloquent monologues, fascinating characters even the half a season ones, plots and schemes aplenty and the ability to provide a shock.

[The G in Gerrard]

I hope to get season 1 finished by end of today

[sideshowme]

just looking through the quotes on IMDB.  so very well written, and it's not just monologues but the whole back and forth of it...

Al Swearengen: [to Cy Tolliver] You do not wanna be a dirt-worshipping heathen from this fucking point forward,

[to Joannie Stubbs]

Al Swearengen: pardon my French.

Joanie Stubbs: Oh, I speak French.

and ellsworth, that rarest of things in deadwood:  a nice guy...

Ellsworth: Well'm, I've got myself a working gold claim.

Joanie Stubbs: Well, sir, is that a damn fact?

Ellsworth: A hell of a working gold claim, and if we knew each other better I'd throw "fucking" in there somewhere.

Joanie Stubbs: If you did I'd try to catch it.

Ellsworth: A working fucking gold claim, Joanie, and thank you for allowing me my full range of expression.

wonderful stuff. 

on another note...

Spoiler

...i read somewhere that cy tolliver was meant to be written out at some point, but the actor had been promised a role throughout the series and so the writers had to keep him on with virtually nothing to do.  any truth to that?  his role is hugely diminished in the later episodes.

[close]

[red mongoose]

Recently watched it for the first time. Once I got used to the language (and bar second episode of season 2), looked forward to watching each episode, I'm just sorry there wasn't more. Interesting use of language with inventive insults and wit combined with some eloquent monologues, fascinating characters even the half a season ones, plots and schemes aplenty and the ability to provide a shock.

This is another way it was Shakespearean - those monologues were proper monologues, like you would see in a play. The show was so stylized that these monologues were perfect for it. I just loved every minute of it, really. I'm getting the serious bug to watch it all again right now.

[Bird Bird Bird The Bird Is The Word]

I recently watched the whole thing and will need to watch it again at some point, it is Shakespeare in the West.

It didn't feel character or plot oriented in a sense, a bit like Twin Peaks, it felt like every episode you were being invited for a brief visit, the series feels lived in and real. The scene where Tom Nuttal cycles through the thoroughfare might be the best scene in the entire show, it captures everyone and everything.

[rob1408]

I recently watched the whole thing and will need to watch it again at some point, it is Shakespeare in the West.

It didn't feel character or plot oriented in a sense, a bit like Twin Peaks, it felt like every episode you were being invited for a brief visit, the series feels lived in and real. The scene where Tom Nuttal cycles through the thoroughfare might be the best scene in the entire show, it captures everyone and everything.

While I think both are plot and character orientated, I kind of get what you mean.  The towns of Deadwood and Twin Peaks are brilliantly realised, so much so that you miss the place when you're away.  Both are characters in a sense.

I'm with Mongoose, I'm going to watch Deadwood again after I finish justified.

[The G in Gerrard]

I'm with Mongoose

Bet you never thought you'd say that when you woke up this morning

[The G in Gerrard]

EB is quite a funny character as was Mr Wu saying same phrases as Al

[Card Cheat]

EB is quite a funny character as was Mr Wu saying same phrases as Al

He might just be my favourite character in the whole thing. A feeble, grovelling sycophant, but opportunistic enough to be the most likely of the original settlers to survive the coming age.

I'm with Mongoose, I'm going to watch Deadwood again after I finish justified.

Which you're only watching to fill the Deadwood void anyway?

I recently watched the whole thing and will need to watch it again at some point, it is Shakespeare in the West.

It didn't feel character or plot oriented in a sense, a bit like Twin Peaks, it felt like every episode you were being invited for a brief visit, the series feels lived in and real. The scene where Tom Nuttal cycles through the thoroughfare might be the best scene in the entire show, it captures everyone and everything.

I was disappointed the series didn't have a satisfactory conclusion (I was all geared up for the apocalyptic confrontation), but as you say every episode was like a brief visit, a window into their world. For that reason I think I can accept the series as it is. In the general scheme of things we know what's going to happen: the camp which was once Swearengen's fiefdom has died and despite his stoic efforts, he's powerless to prevent the relenting march of progress. In that sense the series is like one long funeral procession, they just deny us the final burial.

[sideshowme]

one of the best things about the series was that it was told as a continuous narrative per season, where each episode took up exactly where the last one left off (except perhaps the next morning on some occasions).  it really gave the impression of living the events with the characters in something closer to real time, and really heightened the sense of a situation unravelling out of control on more than one occasion.

[Bird Bird Bird The Bird Is The Word]

Also, the further I got into the show, the less I liked Seth Bullock and Olyphant as an actor.

Mr Swedgin though, hang dai.

[red mongoose]

Also, the further I got into the show, the less I liked Seth Bullock and Olyphant as an actor.

I felt the exact opposite - I could not take my eyes or ears off that character. In fact, whenever I see him now in something else, I just start smiling. One of my all-time favourite characters on TV. Utterly hilarious.

[red mongoose]

Bet you never thought you'd say that when you woke up this morning

I never thought I'd see it on here either 

[Bird Bird Bird The Bird Is The Word]

I felt the exact opposite - I could not take my eyes or ears off that character. In fact, whenever I see him now in something else, I just start smiling. One of my all-time favourite characters on TV. Utterly hilarious.

Thought he was a confused whiner.

[red mongoose]

Thought he was a confused whiner.

The thing I loved about him was that his confusion led to his unhinged anger. I just thought it was hysterically funny. He just got SO fucking angry over absolutely anything 

[Brian Blessed]

HBO Go has all the episodes, so I'm going to have a nice research - although I didn't watch the third season, so new episodes for me!

But it will have to be after I'm finished with Hell on Wheels. Which is a highly entertaining substitute.

[Yiannis]

But it will have to be after I'm finished with Hell on Wheels. Which is a highly entertaining substitute.

Is the current season the last one?

[Brian Blessed]

I have no idea. I'm watching on Netflix, which have the first three seasons.

[Titi Camara]

Also, the further I got into the show, the less I liked Seth Bullock and Olyphant as an actor.

Mr Swedgin though, hang dai.

Swegdin stole the whole fucking thing for me, he was absolutely fucking boss. Every time he delivered a diatribe/monologue/tirade it reminded me of that line from the matrix about cursing in French....

"Like wiping your arse with silk, I love it!"

...which given his fascination with bottoms is even more appropriate!

Olyphant in Justified found his true role, cool under pressure, a crack shot, able to deal with the unsavoury elements as just under the surface that's who he actually was too.
But in Deadwood he was ever so slightly off key, that's not to say that he's not absolutely fantastic in it but I can understand why some might not dig his performance. His wild eyed stares reminded me a touch of Carrie in Homeland (maybe it's to do with seeing him so cool in Justified first) and just didn't seem "quite right" (and I mean that in a performance sense rather than the character)...

[Titi Camara]

Coincidentally, there was a film a few years back called 44" Chest and even though it boasted one hell of a cast it was pretty dire (probably better suited to the stage actually) but again Swedgin was absolutely marvellous, delivering line after line with authority and aplomb!

[Bird Bird Bird The Bird Is The Word]

Swegdin stole the whole fucking thing for me, he was absolutely fucking boss. Every time he delivered a diatribe/monologue/tirade it reminded me of that line from the matrix about cursing in French....

"Like wiping your arse with silk, I love it!"

...which given his fascination with bottoms is even more appropriate!

Olyphant in Justified found his true role, cool under pressure, a crack shot, able to deal with the unsavoury elements as just under the surface that's who he actually was too.
But in Deadwood he was ever so slightly off key, that's not to say that he's not absolutely fantastic in it but I can understand why some might not dig his performance. His wild eyed stares reminded me a touch of Carrie in Homeland (maybe it's to do with seeing him so cool in Justified first) and just didn't seem "quite right" (and I mean that in a performance sense rather than the character)...

There are certain characters who, as the show progresses, suffer from their lack of dimensions. Bullock, Cochran, maybe even Star. Whereas some characters got better and better. Swearengen, Dan Dorrity, I'd George Hearst as well, because he seemed to be the perfect counter to Swearengen, lawful evil vs chaotic evil.

In the beginning, I really liked the doc, the scene where Jane says "You've got a dark turn of mind" really stands out, but he eventually boiled down to pent-up frustration and shouting. Bullock was confusion then shouting. Star was confusion.

Swearengen could've had his own show dedicated to arses.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/W35I1DwdrW4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/W35I1DwdrW4</a>

[sideshowme]

Olyphant in Justified found his true role, cool under pressure, a crack shot, able to deal with the unsavoury elements as just under the surface that's who he actually was too.
But in Deadwood he was ever so slightly off key, that's not to say that he's not absolutely fantastic in it but I can understand why some might not dig his performance. His wild eyed stares reminded me a touch of Carrie in Homeland (maybe it's to do with seeing him so cool in Justified first) and just didn't seem "quite right" (and I mean that in a performance sense rather than the character)...

that take on olyphant is exactly how i felt about him in deadwood.  good but... off, somehow, having seen him as raylan first.  and not as cool as in justified (well, the early seasons of justified when he was all about the cool hat rather than the later seasons when he became all about double denim).

There are certain characters who, as the show progresses, suffer from their lack of dimensions. Bullock, Cochran, maybe even Star. Whereas some characters got better and better. Swearengen, Dan Dorrity, I'd George Hearst as well, because he seemed to be the perfect counter to Swearengen, lawful evil vs chaotic evil.

In the beginning, I really liked the doc, the scene where Jane says "You've got a dark turn of mind" really stands out, but he eventually boiled down to pent-up frustration and shouting. Bullock was confusion then shouting. Star was confusion.

i'll not hear a word against doc cochran.  a superb character, the conscience of the town and a quiet, understated power and authority that comes with knowledge and experience rather than willingness to spill blood.  a superbly drawn and performed character from start to finish, and probably my favourite overall (notwithstanding lovejoy, who is a given, obviously).

[MagicHat]

I felt the doctor was great in first two seasons for similar reasons as sideshowme said, also had quite a tongue on him. Very much felt sidelined in the last season