Way back in 2011 I wrote a blog post about Deadwood. I think it was one of the best t.v. shows ever. I have always thought that it was like Shakespeare played out in the Old West. Every character is so well defined with near perfect back stories.
I liked the show so much that I flew down from Alaska and met Michele for a road trip. It was in the year that we were living in two states. Me in Alaska and her in Colorado and a perfect way to spend a weekend. We checked out all of the local history and even went to the cemetery where Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock and Wild Bill are buried. This was years before our now famous, epic road trips that we do now but it was fun to see where history took place.
Deadwood was such a sensation that my sled dog kennel partners at the time named a litter of pups after the main characters. It is hard to believe that a lot of those dogs have passed on from old age by now but forever I will remember running Wu, Joanie, Jewel, Alma, Sophia (who we called Sophie), and Trixie.
As many of you know HBO didn’t renew the show after the third season and left its fans hanging. That was until this month when the movie was released. Michele and I sat down to watch it and it brought so much back.
They did such a marvelous job. It was like sitting down with an old friend. When the intro music started to play, I was immediately smiling and could not wait for the story to work itself out. The film takes place in 1889, ten years where it left off. It was so good to see Doc again. Brad Dourif is such an incredible actor. Gerald McRaney plays the perfect villain as Hearst. Timothy Olyphant as Bullock was very well done. Older but looking strikingly like the real person, his character was a great example of Black Hat/White Hat melodrama that is played out in western lore. Dayton Callie playing Charlie Utter and his matter of speech is not to be forgotten. Of course, Ian McShane as Swearengen was over the top. His character and Doc and Wu were always my favorite and they did not disappoint. The writing and the dialogue are incredible. Did you know that the top hat worn by Joanie (Kin Stubbs) is the same gray hat she wore in the original series but it was refashioned with brown fabric to make it look new. This was common practice in the 19th century. The music, the lighting and the sets are fabulous. It was truly a walk back in time.
What was so impressive, and I’ll leave most of the spoilers in tact is that this is truly a story about impeding progress. The entire movie is about leaving things as they were. If you remember in the series that the telegraph coming to Deadwood was pivotal plot point. In this movie it is the telephone. Thinking back to my old blog post it was much the same way. Things were a lot different in 2011 than they are today and just like in Deadwood, time marches on, whether you like it or not.
This is a must watch. I told you that you should have kept that subscription to HBO after Game of Thrones ended. This is well worth the wait.
Break out the peaches, this is an important event.
