DEADWOOD - Boy the Earth Talks To

If there's no color in the earth, there's color in the character...

By Jason Davis     May 28, 2005

It's no mean feat to top the first season of DEADWOOD, but the second has made the first look downright banal by comparison. Over the last twelve episodes, the denizens of the titular Black Hills burg have become the most eccentric ensemble ever to appear on TV. The seemingly cutthroat, but business minded, Al Swearingen now regularly consults with a decapitated head. The town's mayor and hotelier, E. B. Farnum cavorts like a man bereft of his reason in the wake of multiple offerings to buy his business. The adulterous Sheriff Bullock, having forsaken his oath to the law in order to ally with Swearingen for the camp's future, has been forced to bury his 11-year-old son while trying to maintain his loveless marriage with his brother's widow. These situations are just the tip of the iceberg when millionaire prospector George Hearst arrives in town to survey his newly acquired interests.

With the bulk of the plot hanging on where Deadwood's future rests with regard to the expanding United States, the political dealings are dense. Add to this the business of Hearst and his prostitute-killing geologist alongside the personal entanglements of the regulars and the hour cannot help but become a bit complicated. Still, the characters rule in David Milch's world, and the episode manages a number of memorable scenes without ever letting the overriding narrative sit on the back burner. Sheriff Bullock's agonizing tea break with his wife is the pinnacle of their torturous relationship. Scenes like this come close to evoking the audience discomfort that the UK version of THE OFFICE at its most painfully embarrassing. For two people who've sustained such a loss to continue their ridiculous facade is just downright awful. The Bullocks, though, pale in their self-delusion next to Mr. Bullock's pregnant lover, the wealthy widow Garrett who, in the previous episode, accepted a pseudo-shotgun proposal from her unrefined foreman. The episode's setting, rather unusually a week after the previous installment, presents a full account of the blessed event, much to the dismay of those hoping the two secret lovers would overcome their mutual ambitions to maintain their personal miseries.

In other departments, the agents of George Hearst deal with the arrival of their employer. The murderous Francis Wolcott, the despicable Mr. Chin, and the insidious Cy Tolliver all discover their just rewards for their part in Hearst's scheme to strip mine the town. The always entertaining Mr. Wu seeks to regain his place of prominence among the camp's Asian contingent and enlists, and masks, Al's agents to eliminate his opponents. A classic meeting between Al and Wu after the dirty work's been done features a memorable statement by Wu, whose utter ignorance of English is overcome with much gesticulation and profane repetition.

When next DEADWOOD returns to the schedule, it's likely that the political and economic decisions set about in this episode will have altered the world of the series, bringing the outlaw town ever closer to civilization. As order has slowly arrived on the frontier, the inhabitants' reason has ebbed away...should the process continue, the show could get very interesting as things draw on. Congratulations to Milch and company for another great year.