Deadwood

Perfect is a word that should pretty much never be used. Yet, this series Deadwood is indeed perfect (in my opinion of course).

The long-awaited movie sadly doesn't meet the original series' tenacity or energy, As perfect as the series is, it too sadly fell prey to being cancelled before its time. Anyone who's watched it in full will know what I'm talking about, but anyone yet to watch it, I won't spoil it for you.

I watched Deadwood when it was originally airing back in 2004, when I was 15, and often found it hard to understand everything they were saying lol, due to it's Shakespearean eloquence that for many native English speakers requires English subtitles. I revisited the series in 2014 when friends of a friend starting talking about it, and so that late friend of mine (God rest his soul) and I re-watched it all on his projector screen, and we couldn't stop laughing and cussing and using the term "cocksucka!" in every other sentence of our every day conversations, haha!

I'm re-watching the first episode as I type out this review, and my god is it truly awesome.

Deadwood truly is a special show! It is more than just a great western show, it's just a flat out great show in general! Everything about it is top notch. It's so good they even had to come back and make a movie over 15 years after it aired! Deadwood is on just about every "best show ever" list that you can find for a reason...because it is!

Ian McShane as the evil Al has established himself as one of the greatest actors of the moment and of the time. He's up there with Pacino, DeNiro and Keitel. The magnificent writing and directing of Deadwood support him completely in mesmerizing the audience. This is for my money the finest work being done on television today. The show has a sure moral compass and a daring to take the violence to the level of Shakespeare or the Greek Tragedy while maintaining verisimilitude with brilliant dialogue and perfect art and set direction, as well as a flawless supporting cast each of whom engages us immediately and convincingly no matter how intimate or distant the focus might be. I can't get enough of this show. I want to see it all in reruns, to cherish it later on DVD. Each episode is fresh and surprising and at times astonishing. But Ian McShane steals the show, no question of it. His face is profoundly expressive and his lines are so marvelous that some of them surely must be ad lib. The guy's a scoundrel but my heart's breaking for him. The Season Finale was the single greatest television drama I've ever seen. We have here a villain who isn't morally bankrupt. And thank heaven, we have a show runner and a writer who isn't morally bankrupt either. Bravo!! I've run out of superlatives. Please, more. And more. And more.

Hands down the best show ever written! Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire are fantastic, well written shows as well but Deadwood beats them all hands down. The Deadwood movie premieres tomorrow night. I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Just re-watched in 2023 after years. The brilliance of Ian Mcshane and Brad Dourif's performances as Al and the Doc continue to shine incandescently.

This remains in my top three shows of all time and casts heavy shade over the ordinariness of the streaming era dross that we trawl through in the vain hope of finding something of genuine quality.

The secondary characters are so well written and so consistent, and the stories of all are engaging. There is no filler and no worthless, disinteresting meandering. It all moves along seamlessly.

If you don't mind occasional swearing, if you rated Yellowstone, give this a watch to experience real quality.