March 9, 2005
Deadwood: How HBO made westerns cool again
We stumbled across Deadwood in its first season, probably because it aired on Sunday nights after Six Feet Under or the Sopranos. I think I was probably the person who initially wanted to watch it. Being an old movie buff, I have to confess to having enjoyed at least one or two westerns and was interested in seeing what HBO had in mind. They bypassed cheezy, formulaic and old timey and went straight to god damn interesting and compelling, mostly due to the talents of Ian McShane, aka Al Swearengen. The immortal bad guy, this saloon owner is more complex than first impression would lead one to believe and the human dramas that play out between himself and other characters are laden with subtle clues. Once again, HBO shows themselves the masters when it comes to creating a series that transcends plot and tries to explore something more complex about the human soul, like the struggle between morality and the neccesities of survival that epitomized the old west.