Deadwood: Season One DVD Review:

1876, the Black Hills of South Dakota. In an age of plunder and greed, the richest gold strike in American History draws out a throng of restless misfits to an outlaw settlement where everything-and everyone-has a price. Welcome to Deadwood...a hell of a place to make your fortune…

Deadwood
After executing a last act of justice as a Montana marshal, Seth Bullock relocates to a gold-mining camp known as Deadwood, where he and partner Sol Star look to start a hardware business. Bullock soon crosses paths with another new arrival - legendary gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok - and clashes with the formidable boss of the Gem Saloon, Al Swearengen. For his part, Swearengen must handle the deadly result of a run-in between one of his whores and a trick, while brokering the sale of a gold claim to wealthy New York socialite Brom Garret. When reports come of the massacre of a frontier family by Indians, a suspicious Bullock and Hickok ride out in search of survivors; for Swearengen, the results are bad for business.

Deep Water

As suspicions arise that "road agents" may have been the true perpetrators of the massacre, Swearengen takes a special interest in the health of its sole survivor, a young girl ministered to by the unlikely team of Doc Cochran and Calamity Jane. Meanwhile, Bullock and Star attempt to buy property from Swearengen, who suspects an alliance between Hickok and these hardware boys. At the Grand Central Hotel, Brom Garret rethinks his recent investment, while his wife Alma medicates her anxieties. And as a confrontation brews over the young survivor, Hickok asks Bullock to cover his back in a tension filled poker game.

Reconnoitering The Rim
Competition arrives for Swearengen in the form of the Bella Union, a new gambling outfit from Chicago operated by savvy Cy Tolliver, Madame Joanie Stubbs and gaming guru Eddie Sawyer. Hickok puts up precious collateral in a poker game with McCall; Bullock and Star strike a deal with Swearengen on a lot for their store and, with help from Hickok and Utter, set to building; Brom threatens Swearengen with The Pinkertons before he and Dan Dority are dispatched to reconnoiter his claim.

Here Was A Man
Swearengen directs Farnum to buy back the Garret claim; Alma prevails on Calamity Jane and Hickok for help; Hickok commissions Bullock in his stead; Charlie Utter leaves the camp; an ailing colleague, Andy Cramed, rejoins the Bella Union; and Hickok's run of luck at poker yields an unexpected return.

The Trial Of Jack McCall
Swearengen transforms the Gem into a courtroom as Deadwood is forced to make its own laws to try a murderer; with Jane off on a bender, Swearengen employs Trixie to help Alma with the Metz Child; Doc Cochran fears Cramed's illness might threaten the camp; Tolliver sends Cramed to take air in the woods, where he meets Jane; and Bullock decides to take the law into his own hands.

Plague
Bullock encounters native resistance in his quest to bring a murderer to justice. Swearengen presses a resentful Farnum to keep tabs on Alma and Trixie; the camp fathers pool their resources to dispatch riders after precious vaccine and build a sick tent; Cochran enlists Jane as a nurse; and Swearengen collaborates on an article appearing in the Deadwood Pioneer.

Bullock Returns To The Camp

After tracking down a murderer, Bullock returns to Deadwood a changed man--and a marked one--while Utter must pay final respects to a fallen friend. Dority and Stubbs both take special interest when teenagers Miles and Flora Anderson arrive in camp in search of their father, each finding work at a rival saloon; Calamity Jane earns her moniker in the Pest Tent; Swearengen sees through Trixie's latest subterfuge; and Alma remains cold on Farnum's inappropriately advanced bid on her claim.

Suffer The Little Children

Deadwood breathes easier when riders arrive with precious vaccine--and word of a possible treaty with the Sioux. Awaiting Trixie's return, a pragmatic Swearengen resists counsel from a bloody-minded Farnum; results of Bullock's assay of her gold claim moves Alma to reassess her plans and sets up a confrontation between Bullock and Swearengen; and Tolliver teaches Stubbs a deadly lesson at the expense of a couple of con artists.

No Other Sons Or Daughters
With annexation looming, Swearengen calls a meeting to set up an informal government. Bullock and Alma compare notes on Ellsworth, and each other; Farnum gets a special-delivery letter from Hickok; Utter offers Jane a job; and Stubbs prepares to make a go on her own, with Tolliver's avowed blessings.

Mister Wu
An opium theft leaves Swearengen trying to find common language with his supplier, as well as navigating tricky waters to deal with the mess. Meanwhile, Silas Adams, bagman for the magistrate from Yankton, arrives with bad news for Swearengen; Bullock regrets having raised his hand at the government meeting; Merrick proposes Deadwood's first "club"; and an unwelcome Rev. Smith gravitates to the Gem and its new piano.

Jewel's Boot Is Made For Walking
Alma's father, Otis Russell, arrives from New York to "help" with her claim; Swearengen strikes a bargain with Adams to rid him of some legal baggage; Jewel journeys to Cochran's cabin for help with her leg; Utter hazards an opinion on the safety of Nuttal's saloon; Leon and Sawyer resume work at the Bella Union; Bullock is angered by the choice of a new sheriff; and Star winds up paying for a free service.

Sold Under Sin
The U.S. Army--under General Crook a.k.a. "Custer's Avengers"--rolls into Deadwood, prompting a parade...and business solicitations from Farnum and Tolliver. Swearengen delivers a tortured soul from suffering; Bullock reacts decisively to Russell's intentions regarding Alma; Con Stapleton's new commission proves short-lived; Adams shows Clagett where his loyalties lie; and Bullock and Alma have a late-night meeting.

Once in a while a TV show comes along that totally re-invigorates a long dead televisual genre. ‘Deadwood’ has done that for the western.

Based on the real stories that came out of the emerging town in 1876, ‘Deadwood’ has its place in Western folklore but you have never seen it portrayed like this before. HBO and series creator David Milch (co-creator of NYPD Blue) have gone for total realism that will totally amerce you in that South Dakota without law.

Deadwood is an emerging prospecting town filled with people who have dreams of striking it rich and those that will take them for every penny. This is a town without government, council or law, living by its own rules and forgetting about the America that is growing around them. This is a place where no rules apply, where your past is wiped away and you can start again with a clean slate. While you might think this is rather liberating and free, this is still a town with rules and its own kind of justice. Enforcing most of these rules is local saloon and whorehouse owner Al Swearengen, who owns most of the land in Deadwood and has his hand in everything that goes on in the town. Everything goes through him, even if you think it doesn’t, as nothing is secret from Al, especially when there is money to be made. Things start to change however when ex-marshal Seth Bullock comes to town, to start his own new life.

This might sound like the premise of many a western but ‘Deadwood’ is very different. This is an uncompromising look at how life actually was in that lawless town. The violence is real, the language is course, the people are lowest kind of scrum with power and the place is filled with not one person that doesn’t have a past. This is how it was and ‘Deadwood’ isn’t afraid to show this.

Bringing this realistic view to life are some outstanding performances from an excellent ensemble. Timothy Olyphant plays Seth Bullock, a man trying to start his life again after years serving as a marshal. He longs for the simple life, running a hardware supply business with friend Sol Star (played by the excellent John Hawkes) but in this town he is bound to find himself in the mitts of trouble again. This is a career-defining role for Olyphant and gives him a chance to show what he can really do. Brad Dourif is brilliant as Doc Cochran, the local physician who has to deal with all the blood shed and diseases that riddle the town. Molly Parker plays Alma Garret wonderfully. The upper-class woman of society, who stakes a claim in the hills surrounding the town has a few dark secrets of her own that she is trying to escape from. Stealing the show is the performance of Ian McShane as Al Swearengen. You would never believe that his is the same man who played lovable antiques dealer Lovejoy all those years ago. This is a role that the actor absolutely revels in, bringing a real sense of menace to the character and making him one of the most memorable creations to hit TV in recent years. When you also throw in support from Keith Carradine as Wild Bill Hickok, Jeffrey Jones as local journalist A. W. Merrick, Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane, Jim Beaver as Ellsworth and Powers Boothe as rival saloon owner Cy Tolliver and you have a cast that any movie would be proud of.

With a twelve episode arc that grabs you from the off, the first season of ‘Deadwood’ is another fine example of how TV should be made. Uncompromising and realistic, this is how the Wild West actually was, making completely reverting television.

Season Star Rating = * * * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 16x9 Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the town of Deadwood never looked or sounded as good.

OVERALL

For a series that just cried out of bonus material, decision not to include any is almost criminal. Still this shouldn’t put you off purchasing this fantastic piece of television, especially if you love westerns because you haven’t seen anything like this.



Jamie Kelwick