Cheap Deadwood - The Complete Second Season (DVD) (Michael Almereyda, Mark Tinker, Alan Taylor) Price

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Customer Reviews of Deadwood - The Complete Second Season

Awesome
I want to start this review with this. I've never liked westerns that much. I've never seen "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" or "Dances With Wolves". <
>I liked "Open Range" but that's about as far as it goes. I started watching "Deadwood" when a friend recommended it. I started watching the first season via rental about two weeks before this season came out on DVD. After about 5 episodes of the first season I was hooked. This show is so good and there are so many good things about it. The dialogue is great, the action riveting, the characters are well drawn out and even the most evil characters you can't help but like. A lot of people associate "Deadwood" with "that western show with lots of cussing." Yes, there is a lot of cussing in this show and it works perfectly. The show is also very real; You'll never see a character wearing Nikes and the woman all have armpit hair. It's realistic, even when you don't want it to be. In the second season, older characters return and new characters come in. We even have an actor from the first season come back and play a different character. First off, I try to spare as many details as possible about episodes in my review because I feel it's best to watch the show without a preconceived notion of what's going to happen, but I'll give you a brief and to the point synopsis before giving my thoughts on each episode. In the first episode we see the return of Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert, who's really a talented actress who I look forward to seeing in movies after the third-and sadly last-season of Deadwood ends). We also get to witness a bloody and entertaining fight between saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane, who would win the Best Actor Oscar if this was a movie easily) and sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olymphant). We also see Joanie Stubbs, the former hooker of The Bella Union temporarily open up her own brothel. Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe, who gives a great supporting performance and is very good at playing unstable characters) owner of The Bella Union is even worse off in this season in first. Whore Trixie becomes more of a lead character as she begins working in Bullock's hardware store alongside Sol Star (John Hawkes). Alma Garrett, still raising the young child Sofia, forms a sexual relationship with Bullock right as his wife & son show up. Also, Swearengen who was established as a thoroughly evil character in the first season turns out to be a pretty good guy this season while maintaining his nastiness. Anyway, this season (I think) is very superior to the first season...Except it'll spend as many as three episodes on one subject (urinary infections, death, etc.). All the actors are getting used to their roles and are almost becoming real people. As for the complaint that the same actor who played Jack McCall is now playing Francis Wolcott, I hardly noticed at first. It's obvious it's him, but it's not bothersome. The guy seems to be a character actor who can float in and out of episodes. Here are the episodes and my thoughs, but my final comment is...If you love westerns or have already watched "Deadwood" and love it. Buy this damned DVD set. <
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>1. A Lie Agreed Upon Pt.1-An explosive opener for the season. The best episode I've seen of Deadwood so far. There's a great sex scene between Seth Bullock & Alma Garret; There's a great fight scene between Seth Bullock & Al Swearengen; There's a great return of Calamity Jane, that keeps true to her characters. The dialogue is so good, this is really a spectacular episode. <
>2. A Lie Agreed Upon Pt.2-Ian McShane is such an amazing actor. Al Swearengen is a terrific character who's got near perfect dialogue. Another great episode. <
>3. New Money-This episode, for the most part, centers around a bladder problem Swearengen is having...These scenes where the doc has to remove stones and such from his bladder are painful to watch. Oh and P.S., why is the actor that played Jack McCall back in the show as a guy named Wolcott? He's not bad, but they could've gotten someone else. <
>4. Requiem for a Gleet-Again, scenes involving Swearengen's bladder infection are painful to watch. Everytime Wu comes into The Gem though, it's pretty funny. Stephen Toblowsky (from "Memento") guest stars. <
>5. Complications (Formerly Difficulties)-5/5-This is my favorite episode of 'Deadwood' out of the ones so far. The dialogue in this episode is very witty and well written. I like the Calamity Jane character more & more with every episode. <
>6. Something Very Expensive-This episode is very intense and you find out that Wolcott is worse than Swearengen. It shows that the show is ready to go in a different direction. <
>7. EB Was Left Out-This episode isn't my favorite, but the scene where Charlie Utter beats up Wolcott was very cool. <
>8. Childish Things-This is one of the shortest episodes (48 minutes). I love the line Swearengen says to that teacher chick "Thank you for brushing against my prick." <
>This episode is really good and introduces a Russian telegraph operator. <
>9. Amalgation & Capital-A tragic event occurs. The score and the sequence of events leading up to this event (as well as the camera work) make this one of the saddest & most effective episodes. <
>10. Advances, None Miraculous-This episode pretty much revolves around the tragedy that occured in the previous episode. It's pretty good, I guess. <
>11. The Whores Can Come-While one can come up with all sorts of innuendo for this episode's title, it's not what you think. This episode is about the funeral of the person who died in the last episode. This one has it's moments, but overall is probably the weakest episode this season. <
>12. Boy The Earth Talks To-This is a great season finale that leaves you cheering for the characters and waiting for the next season. <
>GRADE: A+ <
>P.S., <
>I want to add that I'm happy the writers of the show decided to make the character of Mr. Wu bigger. He was in the first season for a few moments, but left such an impression and made me laugh so hard. I'm pleased to see him back. <
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They kill this but keep the Sopranos??
Incredibly, HBO keeps renewing the Sopraos while it grows ever more plodding and irrelevant, yet they cancel Deadwood, which is probably the best piece of programming they have EVER had. <
>The Sopranos big story line this year? The same as everyone else: somebody is gay. Big whoop, big surprise. Let's face it, it's tired unto death. Both the idea and the show. <
>Deadwood, however, is brilliantly written, acted and executed. The language is coarse as a steel-wool pad, but that's one of the things that makes this so astonishing. Despite it's vulgarity, the dialogue is used to near poetic effect. <
>The character of Al Swearingen is so complex as to be almost incomprehensible: always concerned with his personal bottom line, one moment brutal and carnal, then next tender and compassionate, then suddenly concerned with the welfare of the assorted denizens of this sewer of a camp. Strangly, like all humans, it all seems to make sense once we become aware of the over-arching motivations that become revealed during the course of the season. <
>Seth Bullock is, as always, a walking volcano of contradiction. Struggling to make his way in a vile locale, hoping to make life better, yet beset with a constantly simmering nitroglycerine laced temper that explodes on occasion. I've never seen a actor who can convey barely controlled rage the way Olliphant can. <
>Add the other brilliant actors, all given suberb dialogue, and a plot that constantly throws curves your way (much as real life will) and you have a superb drama. <
>Yet HBO killed it and renewed the slogging Sopranos. <
>What were they thinking? Maybe they had too many cannolis and were asleep at the switch. Or maybe it's all about what it is always about: $$.

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Civilization is coming to Deadwood, but the town resists the encroachments
The second season of HBO's "Deadwood" required some adjustments on the part of viewers because it was more of the same, only different. The key dynamic of the first season was the arrival of Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) in Deadwood, intending to be a merchant opening a hardware franchise with his friend Sol Star (John Hawkes), but in the wake of the murder of Wild Bill Hickok ending up taking over the duties of sheriff from the inept Con Stapleton (Peter Jason). The big question was what the assumption of this responsibility would do to his uneasy relationship with Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the proprietor of the Gem Saloon and unofficial master of Deadwood. However, Bullock's high and mighty attitude is at odds with his behavior with the widow Alma Garrett (Molly Barker), a hypocrisy that Swearengen will try to exploit. <
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>Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the second season is how quickly creator David Milch reverses the two key relationships that help define Bullock. In the premier episode of the season, "A Lie Agreed Upon, Part 1," Swearengen rides Bullock about his affair with Alma and the two ends up in a vicious fight that sends them off the balcony of the Gem to land hard in the streets, just as Bullock's wife, Martha (Anna Gunn), his brother's widow, and her son, William (Josh Eriksson) arrive on the stage. Bullock has a broken nose and Swearengen broken ribs, and while both are temporarily out of action everybody in Deadwood assumes they are going to finish what they started. In "A Lie Agreed Upon, Part 2" there is a great effort by his friends to keep Bullock from going back to the Gem to get his badge and gun, which he removed before the fistfight. But when Bullock calls Swearengen out, his badge and gun are returned to him, along with an apology from Al. Suddenly, Bullock and Swearengen are on the same side, with the interest of the camp at heart. <
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>Meanwhile, the arrival of his wife and stepson have ended Bullock's affair with the widow Garrett, and from the intimacy of their last tryst in her hotel room a curtain of formality drops between them. The only problem is that they are still enamored of each other and she turns out to be pregnant with his child, and being pregnant and unmarried is an unacceptable situation for a Victorian woman. This change of affairs now puts the relationship between Sol and the prostitute Trixie (Paula Malcomson) into the forefront of the show on the romantic front, since the idea that Ellsworth (Jim Beaver) would propose to Alma to give her situation the appropriate cover of legitimacy, is not exactly a love story. But then "Deadwood" was never exactly a romance. <
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>More importantly the politics and economics of the town are now in flux. The arrival of a county commissioner from Yankton and the question of whether Deadwood would remain part of the Dakota Territory or become part of the Montana Territory, has Swearengen trying to play both sides to his advantage. But politicians might be the least of Al's worries, as Francis Wolcott (Garret Dillahunt), agent for the mining magnate George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), arrives in town. The plan is to make people think that the government is going to disallow claims, so that Wolcott can buy them cheap for Hearst, and Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe) and E.B. Farnum (William Sanderson) are enlisted in this cause. However, Wolcott's predilection for cutting the throats of prostitutes who look at him when he does not want to be looked at, makes him an even bigger wild card. <
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>Things are changing quickly in Deadwood, but what stands out in this second season are the points where the action slows down and memorable episodes focus on Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif) trying to remove a kidney stone from Al ("New Money") or the entire camp waiting for a injured child to die ("Advances None Miraculous"). I also find it quite interesting that Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens) becomes the conscience of the town as she breaks from Tolliver and the Bella Union to open up her own brothel, Chez Ami. That this would make Joanie and Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) kindred spirits of a type is not surprising since the two women better represent the spirit of Deadwood than the likes of high class ladies like Alma and Martha (and with Trixie ministering to Al instead of looking out for Sofia, who is now with Alma, the spot is open for grabs) The shifting shades of community become one of the most compelling aspects of "Deadwood" as the pieces on the chessboard get rearranged and the game develops. There is more than constant swearing and great acting at work here. <
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>The audio commentaries are a mixed bag, but there are enough insights to make them worth listening to. The final disc offers the most interesting bonus features, beginning with a featurette on "The Real Deadwood 1877" that allows historians to hold sway. Then there are three looks at the "Making of Season 2 Finale: Boy-the-Earth-Talks-To." The first "Trusting the process with David Milch" looks at how the show's creator works, whether lying on the floor of his office writing, rewriting, and rewriting again dialogue, or giving his actors background on a scene so they might have a chance of understanding some of what they are saying. "Mr. Wu Proves Out" focuses on the staging of some key scenes, but the highlight becomes when actor Keone Young says to Milch that one day Wu should cut off his queue and Milch gets all excited and says they should do it this season (which they do, as We learns another word of English). "The Wedding Celebration" is basically teaching the cast to dance for the big finale. There is also a collection of "Deadwood Daguerreotypes," with both historical photographs of the town and posed color portraits of some of the cast.