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Deadwood
The Second Season
The Third Season
You need not like westerns. All it takes is a love of the English language to be in total rapture over the Shakespearean accomplishments of the outstanding HBO cable series about the Old West, Deadwood. The extent of the series now concludes with HBO Video's Deadwood The Complete Second Season (UPC#02635927-7924, $100) and Deadwood The Complete Third Season (UPC#02635932-1726, $100). Where First Season had an ambitious scope and a dazzling freshness to its exploration of history, the subsequent pair, which are more alike to each other than to the former, settle into a comfortable and always captivating exploration of place and character, steadily replenished by a narrative of romance, political corruption and conflicts of ownership. It is as if First Season struck the claim, while Second Season and Third Season work it for the treasures it holds. The show's educational values are enormous, and were it not for the prudishness of our contemporary society, then the program ought to be shown in full to every high school history class in America. It enlightens the viewer not only to the dynamics of Nineteenth Century American pioneer life, but to the very basic insights of human interaction and hierarchical struggle. Despite the program's density of sexual situations, violent occurrences, and near-constant four-letter barrages, it is probably the least gratuitous concentration of such material ever conceived in its mass for a popular entertainment. Beware, as well, that if you do watch any number of episodes and then try to watch a regular feature film thereafter, the film will seem empty and superficial compared to the intricacies of the human condition that the program consistently explores.Timothy Olyphant is the show's hero, a sheriff and storeowner, whose moral focus makes for a fine contemplation of the spiritual strength genuine heroism requires. The show's true center, however, is the far more ambiguous or downright evil character portrayed by Ian McShane, whose godlike performance holds the viewer spellbound to whatever turn of incident or plot the program's creators choose to impose upon him or his surroundings. Indeed, at the beginning of Second Season, the creators even had to incapacitate his character for several episodes, in order to give the other characters a chance to blossom.
Most everyone is aware of the flowery nature of correspondence during that era, at the very least from Ken Burns' documentary, The Civil War, if not from exposure to other sources of literature or entertainment. As remarkable as the show's meticulous and comprehensive production design is in every shot, it is nothing compared to the incredible creativity, beauty and perfection of every line of dialog spoken in the series, be it profane or in praise of a higher power, and in the manners or protocols of the characters as they speak and react to one another. You realize, watching the program, what the true price of the past century's technological advances has been-not the widespread pollution that has perhaps critically damaged the ecological balance of the entire planet, which at the moment is still fixable, but the terrible loss of grace in our social intercourse, which has become so pared down, simplified, homogenized and bowdlerized by convenience that we have lost touch with the poetry of life and what makes the planet worth salvaging. It is only through the rare accomplishment of a work such as Deadwood that we can remain aware of what we are striving for with each breath.
Each season runs twelve episodes, most of which are about 50 minutes in length. The episodes are spread across five platters, and in each season, a sixth platter is included with special features. Second Season was broadcast in 2005 and Third Season was broadcast in 2006. The picture is presented in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 1.78:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. The picture quality is always exemplary, despite the show's attempt to stay as close to period lighting as it possibly can. The 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound may not have a feature-quality mix, but it is still extensively detailed with a highly satisfying dimensionality. There are alternate French and Spanish tracks in standard stereo and optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. In Second Season, a representative of the historical figure, George Hearst, arrives at the town and begins to consolidate claims, by whatever means he can, and then in Third Season, Hearst himself arrives to complete his takeover. Every character is affected in some way, and alliances are altered in an attempt to resist the changes.
An episode on the first platter of Second Season and an episode on the fifth platter are each accompanied by a pair of commentary tracks, while a single episode on the second, third and fourth platters also sport a commentary. What is interesting about the paired commentaries is that they have a deliberate, dance-like design. On the first platter, Olyphant and McShane share one talk, while actresses Molly Parker and Kim Dickens share another. Olyphant and McShane are highly entertaining, but not all that informative, while Parker and Dickens make a conscientious and gratifying effort to analyze the episode and offer artistic insights about their experiences. "Look at the screen right now. Look at all of the stuff that's going on. All these stores, all these storefronts all these people." "We have about a hundred men and women who are extras on the show, who are there every day, who are really good actors and have created dynamics and characters and relationships for themselves. There are guys who work as extras on the show who have decided that this is their store and they are this guy, and you walk by them on the street and they are acting out these dynamics, and it's amazing." Then, on the fifth platter, Parker is paired with Olyphant and Dickens is paired with McShane, and you know what? The men totally corrupt the women, who give up trying to be serious and just go along with the laissez faire stream of jokes and light anecdotes, although again, both talks are fully entertaining in this regard.
As for the other three commentaries, one features co-stars Powers Boothe and Paula Malcomson and another features series creator and overriding genius, David Milch. In both instances, the talks are passable but unremarkable. Producer Gregg Gienberga's talk, however, is much more rewarding, as he describes many aspects of the show's production logistics and considerations. "It's a big ordeal dealing with people's mustaches and sideburns. Especially actors who do a lot of different shows. They'll come in, when you first meet them, they'll have a mustache. The next time we see them, they don't. We have to make one for them. The makeup and hair department are always on their toes."
Third Season has just four commentary tracks on four separate episodes. Secondary cast members Jim Beaver, Sean Bridgers and W. Earl Brown supply one jovial talk, while supporting player Robin Weigert has to do another entirely by herself and does a serviceable job of it. Producers Gregg Fienberg and Mark Tinker go over the staging of a specific episode and other details about the show's creation, and then Milch steps in for the final episode, to explain how he had intended to go forward with the series if it hadn't been cancelled and other general topics.
Both the supplementary platter for Second Season and the supplementary platter for Third Season contain a unique 21-minute featurette about the historical validity of details within the season at hand. Both also feature a unique still photo section of snapshots taken of the real Deadwood. Second Season also has stills of the stars, a 27-minute piece on Milch, a 21-minute piece on the Asian characters and a 21-minute piece on the wedding staged in the last episode of the season, while Third Season has a 20-minute segment on the characters played by Olyphant and McShane.
August 9 , 2007
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