"Announcin' your plans is a good way to hear god laugh." If you're planning to watch Deadwood, no one's going to laugh at you. Deadwood takes in place in the fictional lawless South Dakota gold mining town (of the same name) during the 1870's. The shows follows the camp, and characters in it, as it grows from an annexed territory to an organized wild west town.

While there are plenty of standing and recurring characters on the show (many of which are based on real life people), the main protagonists are Al Swearengen and Seth Bullock. Al is the owner of the Gem saloon, which is the local watering hole, brothel and meeting place for all major town events. Al is like the unofficial mayor, watching the comings and goings of the town from his outdoor balcony and controlling the flow of information. Bullock is a former sheriff and serves as the "moral" authority around the camp. I put moral in quotes because Bullock has his own version of justice and is often filled with silent rage. Honorable mentions include (but are in no way limited to): 1) E.B., the local hotel owner who's a relentless busybody and narcissist; 2) Doc Cochran, the former civil war doctor suffering from PTSD, but is also the glue of the town; 3) Calamity Jane; the train wreck drunk with a pure heart; 4) Trixie, a hot head prostitute that's oddly respected by most in the town. I'm not exaggerating in saying that there are at least another 15-20 strong characters I'm leaving off the list (sorry Richardson & Wu).

The writing on the show is incredible. Each character is very carefully and meticulously crafted. Character decision making logic is well thought out. The show is bold in it's story arc decision making and comes through on most of those bold choices. Deadwood is also layered with small details and authenticity from the era. All character dialogue is in 1870's American dialect. It may take an episode or two before you get used to it, but it's well worth it. The show apparently does a good job maintaining historical accuracy as well. You can tell how much time was put into the script.

With all the positives, the only real negative to Deadwood is that it was canceled after Season 3. A combination of cast disagreements and high budgets led to it's untimely end. I wouldn't say the ending of Season 3 is a unresolved cliff hanger, but it certainly doesn't provide closure on the various character paths. A movie was released 13 years later to close out Deadwood, and to their credit, most actors came back to do it. I'm not going to dig too deep as this is a TV show review, but the movie is superficial at best. The show had too many characters and storylines to neatly tie things up in a 2 hour movie. There is a lot of focus on one part of the last arc of Season 3. It didn't seem very important honestly. Given that the movie takes place 10 years later, it would have been better to focus on something else. They probably wanted to link the movie and series more closely together. A lot of characters had weird unresolved endings as well. We get an ending, but it's what you'd expect so many years later. "You cannot f*** the future, sir. The future f***s you."

Still....the first three season are must see TV. Don't miss out. Get in your wagon and "Welcome to f***ing Deadwood!"

9/10