I’ve had this idea about the show brewing in my mind the last couple weeks. I’m not sure how well though out it is, but I thought I’d throw it out for the group’s derision.
Should we be at all be concerned that what happened to NYPD Blue might happen to Deadwood?
There are some parallels between the shows (besides Milch). I’m concerned about the potential for Seth to become what David Caruso became on Blue…a festering ball of non-stop intensity. The Caruso character quickly became tiresome for me. He was so ‘one-note’. I hope it doesn’t happen with Seth.
Second, isn’t Al at least a little bit of a 19th century Andy Sipowicz? He’s a damaged, gruff, anti-social loner, who down deep really is a good person. If by season three, Al is dutifully raising the son he had with Trixie after her untimely death, I’m tuning out.
Third, one of the show’s strengths is its writing and the unique way of speaking that its charachters have. Blue used to have some of that as well, but after a couple seasons, just a few minutes of that dialogue made me run screaming from the room. It was soooo mannered. i just wanted them to stop talking like that. I hope Deadwood doesn’t end up in the same place.
Something that people seem to be forgetting is that Cy already owns property in Chinatown, he donated it to be used as the pest tent during the smallpox epidemic. At the time, Al had a line in which he speculated that Cy’d expand his clientell to the Chinese.
I also think that Al sees more in Seth than just “can’t be bought”. Al appreciates predictability. Surprizes are bad for buisiness. He doesn’t care so much that Cousin Larry (sorry, I’m horrible at memorizing character names) skims from him on occasion, because he expects it to happen. He knows that Seth will be a force of justice, and will act in a predictable way to most situations.
If a piece of the puzzle that is Al’s day to day business can be counted on to behave in a predictable manner, then it makes it easier for him to plan his actions. That is why Al wants Seth to be sherriff.
Not totally, but it’s not something I’d sit around and fret over while watching the show.
My points:
Glad to hear next march. Gladder to hear 9:00pm. I normally tape DW. This week I screwed up and didn’t get to watch until last night after I taped it on wednesday.
Great season. Great finale.
Any of you know what happens in Deadwood in 1879?
Someone else mentioned this, but I’ve too been to Deadwood. Lead and Deadwood. The graves of some of these folks are there. I distinctly remember Jane’s and Wild Bill’s. That’s just a nice part of the country to see. I read an article recently (maybe from a link in one of these threads) that their tourism has gone up like 300% since the show started.
KSO, here’s what Jim Beaver has to say about that scene. Jim plays Ellsworth, the prospector whose claim was next to Brom’s. Ellsworth had witnessed Brom’s killing:
“Trixie had been talking to Dan about not killing Ellsworth for seeing the Brom murder. When Al called her upstairs, she jerked her thumb toward Ellsworth as
if to say, “Don’t forget what we were talking about, Dan.” Dan said, “Don’t point your thumb at me, Trixie” as if to say, I haven’t forgotten, so don’t push it.”
Jim is in Deadwood today, staying at the Bullock Hotel. They’re having a celebration of some kind up there, and Jim’s going to be in a parade.
There are a couple of Deadwood lists on Yahoo Groups but my guess is that it’s DeadwoodHBO (Here). That group seems the largest and most active, and does mention it’s also for the actors to post.
We’re degenerating into babble and chit-chat, now that the first season is over, but it’s a fun, friendly group, and some serious discussion about the show is still happening.
Oh, and one of the members is doing graphite drawings of the cast and posting them. The original drawings are going to the cast members. Dan/Earl has already claimed his, and has agreed to get the others to the cast members.
As for Trixie, she’s fictional, but Paula Malcomson who plays Trixie also played Wyatt Earp’s wife in Tombstone. Maybe that’s what Max Carnage meant.
From what I understand, a good chunk of it burns down. Note: this I learned after I started watching the show. But it ties in nicely with a statement that Al made in one of the earlier episodes that he’d threaten to “burn the camp down” (I’m paraphrasing from memory, of course).
So cool that Jane paid all of her swear money to Sophia. $2.00 at 1 penny a swear.
The scene of Seth on the balcony with Al, and Alma in her room was an excellent way to show the gap that exists between them. They can be “together” sexually, but they can never really be together.
Geri Jewel, IIRC, had a stretch of popularity some years back as a stand-up comedian. I can’t remember any episodic TV role until this one, but I could easily be wrong on that one.
At least one Deadwood historical website makes reference to the fact that Wyatt Earp arrived in town after Bullock, intent on settling and becoming sheriff. Bullock informed him, and none-too-politely, that the job was already filled, and Earp had best move along.
Earp then found his way to Tombstone.
Would love love LOVE to see that as a plot thread in Season Two.
I think it’s useful to distinguish between “down deep really is a good person” and “has a few shreds of humanity.”
I don’t think Al’s a “good person.” I think’s he’s a bad, nasty man to the core, and the writers have wisely chosen to make his character that much more real and intense by giving him enough human traits that he avoids being a caricture.