I just finished the first season of "Deadwood" and it must have the finest writing of any television show I’ve ever seen. The series portrays the South Dakotan town of the pioneer days the way I imagine it really was, blowing off the antiseptic conceits of traditional Westerns for an atmosphere of existential dread more in league with under appreciated films like "The Wild Bunch" than "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." I didn’t know where the different threads of the story were leading at first, but by the fifth episode it became clear they were weaving together a drama of great intricacy and ambition.
The deadly schemes the characters have afoot are brought to light by the highly figurative 19th century dialogue as carefully and secretly as an assassin’s steps through the dark. It can be difficult to follow the speech of the more sophisticated among them, and even the meaning of the illiterate drunks can be hard to cinch together when every three slurred words are separated by expletives, but the extra effort required of viewers is more than justified by the beautiful way this deliberate stylistic approach enriches the story’s subtext. (I’ve turned on subtitles to follow movies with heavy foreign accents before, and I imagine seeing what’s said in addition to hearing it might be helpful in a different but still practical way to anybody who finds themselves frustrated.)
It’s such a shame that the two movies that were being talked about to wrap up the story probably won’t be made. I’ve been told to expect to be disappointed by the way the third season leaves things, though with my expectations set as high as they have been by the brilliant first season it’s hard to imagine I wouldn't have been let down even if it had been properly finished. I think "Deadwood" aired too early to get the exposure that the greater ubiquity of mail delivery DVDs and online streaming has more recently granted subsequent shows, but it’s a truly great drama that shouldn't be overlooked by those now using these services to seek out the best television shows ever made.