Deadwood: Season 2

This is my second Amazon review of Deadwood. The first was offered without the urging of Amazon back in the stone age when we put shiny plastic disks into black boxes which made pictures and sound appear on the glass screen of another big box we would all gather around.This review OTOH is in reply to the gentle urging of Bezos et al who we assume are benignly monitoring our streaming habits and seeing an uptick in Deadwood streaming. You might think they are seeking a pulse in the era of 6" phone screens and ADHD as it relates to binge watching.Let it go. Robot emails get sent to everybody that watches anything on Prime and we ain't special. That's about the size of it.... but...Let's not forget that Deadwood remains the best example of how tele-dramas can be made that do not insult the viewers gray matter, how the overlay of contemporary mores and attitudes can be used to hook us in with familiarity and then keep us hooked because it uses that familiarity to immerse us in a world that is both as compelling a reproduction of a time and place as is likely possible, and at the same time so alien to everything we think we know that it's more times than not uncomfortable to digest.Period series get saddled with employing current social dilemmas into their plots. That kind of proselytizing can be suffered in more mainstream fluff but it's a dealbreaker for me. Then there's the commensurate revisionism that moves to reshape the social structure of the period to reflect what we would prefer it had been or worse, what we want ours to be now. Drivel. Actors, writers and directors are under some obligation to play ball and the final product often reflects the creation by committee approach.Deadwood not so much. Deadwood was in your face about a time and place and the people trying to survive in that world. Profane, illiterate, filthy and unstoppable. Not unstoppable like action heroes, unstoppable like small people eking out a survival strategy daily, sometimes by the minute. The unrepentant writing, remarkable performances and the most authentic sets I have ever seen, big screen or small... well sometimes, too often, somebody invokes the "magic " of motion pictures. Here's one show that fits the bill. Magic.10 years have passed since the last season and the impact of Deadwood still resonates.Watch Peaky Blinders and see a current example of how the Deadwood form has been applied to the period following the Great War in England. That show is not Deadwood, but it is very good. Good enough to be spoken of in the same breath as Deadwood.I have a video collection of thousands of titles which we rarely take advantage of. The endless selection that the net provides is more in sync with our mantra to not dwell on the past when so much is available. That's yet another rule that Deadwood is an exception to.Maybe there is something to the complaint that there's nothing any good on tv anymore. Maybe on your tv. On our tv, we can just stream Deadwood.

Season 1 is amazing.Season 2 is one of the first examples of 'woke preaching' in Hollywood productions.They decide to take on racism, breaking off a chunk of time to do so.Garret Dillahunt returns to play a different character than he does in the first, which is horrible.As if people wouldn't notice. Have never seen it before - or after.I have no clue what they were thinking.The main characters you like from the first, get their time cut to showcase story arcs of new people; who simply aren't as entertaining.And the most vibrant character on the show, Al - loses all his entertainment value, as they decided to beset him with illness, instead of tapping into what he does best.Still better than most, but a true example of 'the brighter you burn - the faster you burn'.You're wishing for Deadwood - while you're watching Deadwood.

The discs come in a folding cardboard and plastic contraption, the type of contraptions HBO has used for many years and is still using on series like Game of Thrones. I don't like folding contraptions, but the discs play fine.If you have a low tolerance for swear words avoid Deadwood.I really liked the look and feel of the first season when the main protagonists moved to Deadwood to make their fortune in the hardware business. But the series didn't make it onto my great series list because the third season has a terrible ending. The bad guy wins and the good guys lose. The bad character gets away with killing an innocent little girl, and many others. The good guy protagonist turns out to be impotent and the camp is left as lawless at the end of the series as it was in the beginning. There is no worthwhile character or story arc, no good conclusion.I devour fiction, especially fantasy and science fiction. If you like sci-fi you might like a couple of space race shows. I spent a month on a space race binge. First I read Space by James A. Michener. Then I watched two movies, The Right Stuff (1983) and Apollo 13 (1995), and then two great series, From Earth to the Moon (1998) and The Astronauts Wives Club (2015). They’re a great combination.If the above shows don’t sound interesting here are a few of the series I really enjoyed watching more than once. I love good miniseries like Band of Brothers (2001), Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000), Into the West (2005), Lonesome Dove (1989), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Taken (2002) and The 10th Kingdom (2000) because they have beginnings, middles and endings, like a good novel.Other shows I’ve really enjoyed include Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), Breaking Bad (2008-2013), Cowboy Bebop (1998), Downton Abbey (2010-2015), Firefly (2002), Game of Thrones (2011-2019), The IT Crowd (2006-2013), Jericho (2006-2008), Lost (2004-2010), Merlin (2008-2012), Rome (2005-2007), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011), Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), Stargate: SG-1 (1997-2007), Stargate: Atlantis (2004-2009), Star Trek The Original Series (1966-1969) and Star Trek Voyager (1995-2001). I didn’t list any contemporary series I’m following that don’t have an end date yet, not conducive to binge watching from beginning to finish, or the hundreds of other fantasy and science fiction shows I’ve watched.If you like reading try some of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi authors: Richard Adams, Palo Bacigulupi, Suzanne Collins, Abe Evergreen, Diana Gabaldon, Hugh Howey, George Martin, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, and Andy Weir.

Absolutely brilliant, every episode in this series is a delight. I can't get enough of characters like Swearengen, EB Farnum, Jewel and Wu, etc. With the characters familiar now it's even more enjoyable than season 1. You're into it right from the start. Season 2 also contains more humour and is less dark than season 1.There are only two problems with it: Firstly, try as I might to slow it down, I can't stop myself from watching at least three episodes in one go, meaning the pleasure only lasted a few days. Secondly, Deadwood does very bad things to my language! Warning: Keep your trap shut after watching! Big chance that all your utterances will start with c or f!For me, Deadwood is absolutely on par with  The Wire : Complete HBO Season 1 [DVD ](another series with formidable language). The Wire : Complete HBO Season 1 [DVD

Dark, foul-mouthed humour. Sadness and sacrifice, vice and virtue. Beautifully acted. anachronistic swearing takes a little getting used to but you can see that authentic Bible-based swearing would sound weirdly mild to the modern ear and the strong sex stuff gets the point over very effectively. Ian McShane is brilliantly evil, Timothy Olyphant all noble but slightly corrupted virtue. The women are wonderful, Alma,(Molly Parker) Trixie and Joanie and Jane all have strengths which the men do not show. The speech patterns are fascinating especially EBFarnum's colourful little rants. The Doc (Brad Dourif)is great. Enjoyed it all. Have got the third season still to watch, great!

Nudity, violence, humour and Ian McShane stealing the show like a boss.Probably the most realistic view of the wild west you'll see and strangely compelling viewing.The ending was a bit of a let-down though. It's like they ran out of money and cobbled something together quick.Good viewing mind.

Good series

Brilliantly written. Rich Shakespearean dialogue (I assume meant to be authentic) with lots of swearing. I this series outside forces begin to impose on the gold feverish anarchy of Deadwood. The forces of power have to adapt to changes which are coming. All the characters are excellently portrayed by a fine cast...Timothy Olyphant, brad Dourrif,Ian Mcshane,Powers Booth, and the heavenly Molly Parker shine. This is no John Wayne Western where the good and the evil are black and white. Its a battle for survival which is ugly at times but there is humour. A fantastic, entertaining and educational story of the evolution of the capitalistic spirit which underpins American culture. I would thoroughly recommend it