Deadwood - The Complete First Season (2004)

Gritty. Chaotic. Profane. Poetic.

At this time in the west, America was in the grip of major economic, geographic, and political changes. It seems they all collide in this mucky, filthy, adolescent backwater mining town called Deadwood.

I have never seen such rich character development in a television series. We have heroes and villians, ladies and whores, elegance and skullduggery, and in the midst of it all - a man of the cloth with a great heart and failing body. The clash of cultures, the rapid growth of a strike-it-rich economy, lawlessness, and the over-arching sense of "manifest destiny" in this coming of age of a nation propel this powerful story.

It is fascinating, though, that the moral high ground isn't so high and even the worst villianous rascal, Al Swearingen, has his redeeming moments. There is something terribly real about that.

The show is so real, so vived, so honest that it captures someting very special about the human condition and an episodic moment of American culture.

About the language - I guess I can't imagine Calamity Jane without her string of foul-mouthed epithets but I don't think the amount of profanity is justified. After some point, the listener turns a deaf ear to it all and it adds little to the "reality" of the characters.

The show is so saturated with profanity, many viewers will never enjoy the creative genius and brilliant performances. Too bad.

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