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Deadwood
Deadwood is a weekly HBO television drama that premiered in March 2004. The series has a Western feel and is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota. At the time, Deadwood was little more than a makeshift camp, but it was a popular destination for those prospecting for gold in the Black Hills.
Deadwood features historically-based characters such as Wild Bill Hickok, Seth Bullock , and Calamity Jane in conjunction with other, fictional characters.
The show was created by Executive Producer David Milch of NYPD Blue.
Characters
- Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) left his Ontario, Canada home at 16 and wound up in Montana. Soon he heard stories of gold in Deadwood. Rather than searching for gold, he wanted to open a hardware franchise with best friend, Sol Star. At the camp, he met Wild Bill Hickok. When Hickok was murdered, Bullock pursued the killer into the desert and took the law into his own hands. After his return, he became sheriff of Deadwood. Bullock, one of the few honest men in the camp, was enlisted to look after a gold claim for Alma Garret, an upper class east coast woman whose husband died when he was prospecting. Eventually, they became romantically involved despite the fact that Bullock is married to his brother's widow and is the stepfather of their son.
- Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) is the proprietor of the Gem Saloon, the most popular place for drinking, gambling, and prostitution in Deadwood. Because he arrived six months ahead of the competition and is willing to resort to violence and murder when necessary, he unofficially runs the town. His position was threatened when Cy Tolliver, an equally ruthless businessman, arrived and opened a more upscale establishment, the Bella Union. Ian McShane won a Golden Globe in 2005 for his performance.
- Alma Garret (Molly Parker) is a beautiful 30-year-old New Yorker who moved to Deadwood with her husband, who was soon murdered by Al Swearengen after a business deal turned sour. She also took care of Sofia Metz, an orphan whose family was murdered. Over the next months, Seth Bullock was enlisted to protect her and her gold claim. He made sure Swearengen and his men stayed away from her. Eventually, the two began an affair.
- Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe) is Swearengen's main rival. He owns the more upscale saloon called The Bella Union, which houses some of the finer prostitutes in Deadwood. Cy has an 18-year relationship with former prostitute and madam Joanie Stubbs, who later left the Bella Union to form her own cathouse.
- Sofia Metz (Bree Wall ) is the sole survivor of an attack on her family on the way home to her native Minnesota. Her parents and two siblings were murdered and she was tramautized and unresponsive. With the help of Calamity Jane and Doc Cochran, she regained her health and became the ward of Alma Garret.
- Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert ) is very good friends with Hickok, Doc Cochran, and Charlie Utter. She is known for her hard drinking and swearing. After Hickok's murder, she sinks into depression and alcoholism.
- Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif) is the only doctor in the camp of Deadwood and is highly respected and revered. He is employed by Swearengen to look after the Gem's prostitutes, but resents the relationship because of Swearengen's character.
- Trixie (Paula Malcolmson ) is Al Swearengen's favorite girl at the Gem. Swearengen often abuses her, but she always returns to him. She is attracted to Sol Star, who she eventually had sex with, but remains devoted to Swearengen.
- Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens ) is Cy Tolliver's favorite girl at the Bella Union. Joanie seems to be more independent then Trixie, however she is still abused. At one point, she was forced to murder a child, then pointed the gun at herself instead; she did not kill herself, but soon after this she left the Bella Union to form her own cathouse.
- Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) has a reputation as one of the fastest gunslingers around. During a card game in 1876, he was brutally murdered by Jack McCall, who was later found innocent then tracked down and brought to Yankton for Federal prosecution by Seth Bullock and Charlie Utter. In his final years, he became friends with Bullock and promised to help Alma Garret, a duty Seth took over after his death.
- Sol Star (John Hawkes) is Seth Bullock's best friend and partner in the hardware business and the only Jew in camp. Had a tryst with Trixie, however she returned to Swearengen.
- Martha Bullock (Anna Gunn ) is Seth Bullock's wife and former sister-in-law. Seth's brother John had been murdered and in those days it was very common for the brother who was single to marry and take care of the widow. Seth soon married her and adopted his nephew, William whom he now calls his son.
- William Bullock (Josh Eriksson ) is Seth Bullock's nephew turned step son. He is very polite and is respectful towards those with authority but on his arrival to Deadwood could not help but look at the prostitutes' dangling breasts, which his mother scolded him on. He shows much respect towards his step-father because he admires him of his accomplishments.
Episodes
Season One (2004)
| Episode
| Title
| Writer
| Director
| Plot notes
|
| 1 | Deadwood (Pilot) | David Milch | Walter Hill | After executing a last act of justice as a Montana marshal, Seth Bullock relocates to a gold-mining camp known as Deadwood, where he and partner Sol Star look to start a hardware business.
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| 2 | Deep Water | Malcolm MacRury | Davis Guggenheim | As suspicions arise that "road agents" may have been the true perpetrators of the massacre, Swearengen takes a special interest in the health of its sole survivor, a young girl ministered to by the unlikely team of Doc Cochran and Calamity Jane.
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| 3 | Reconnoitering the Rim | Jody Worth | Davis Guggenheim | Competition arrives for Swearengen in the form of the Bella Union, a new gambling outfit from Chicago operated by savvy Cy Tolliver, Madame Joanie Stubbs and gaming guru Eddie Sawyer. Hickok puts up precious collateral in a poker game with McCall.
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| 4 | Here Was A Man | Elizabeth Sarnoff | Alan Taylor | Swearengen directs Farnum to buy back the Garret claim; Alma prevails on Calamity Jane and Hickok for help; Hickok commissions Bullock in his stead.
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| 5 | The Trial of Jack McCall | John Belluso | Ed Bianchi | Swearengen transforms the Gem to a courtroom as Deadwood is forced to make its own laws to try a cowardly murderer. With Jane off on a bender, Trixie is enlisted by Swearengen to help Alma with the Metz child and to keep her pliable to his purposes.
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| 6 | Plague | Malcolm MacRury | Davis Guggenheim | Bullock encounters native resistance in his quest to bring a murderer to justice. Swearengen presses a resentful Farnum to keep tabs on Alma and Trixie; the camp fathers pool their resources to dispatch riders after precious vaccine and build a sick tent.
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| 7 | Bullock Returns to the Camp | Jody Worth | Michael Engler | After tracking down a murderer, Bullock returns to Deadwood a changed man – and a marked one – while Utter must pay final respects to a fallen friend.
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| 8 | Suffer the Little Children | Elizabeth Sarnoff | Dan Minahan | Deadwood breathes easier when riders arrive with precious vaccine – and word of a possible treaty with the Sioux. Awaiting Trixie’s return, a pragmatic Swearengen resists counsel from a bloody-minded Farnum.
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| 9 | No Other Sons or Daughters | George Putnam | Ed Bianchi | With annexation looming, Swearengen calls a meeting to set up an informal government. Bullock and Alma compare notes on Ellsworth, and each other.
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| 10 | Mister Wu | Bryan McDonald | Dan Minahan | An opium theft leaves Swearengen trying to find common language with his supplier, as well as navigating tricky waters to deal with the mess.
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| 11 | Jewel's Boot Is Made For Walking | Ricky Jay | Steve Shill | Alma’s father, Otis Russell, arrives from New York to “help” with her claim. Swearengen strikes a bargain with Adams to rid him of some legal baggage.
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| 12 | Sold Under Sin | Ted Mann | Davis Guggenheim | In the Season 1 Finale, The U.S. Army under General Crook, a.k.a. “Custer's avengers,” rolls into Deadwood, prompting a parade – and business solicitations from Farnum and Tolliver.
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Season Two (2005)
| Episode
| Title
| Writer
| Director
| Plot notes
|
| 13 | A Lie Agreed Upon, Part One | David Milch | Ed Bianchi | Anxious about the camp’s future, Swearengen calls out Bullock over the Sheriff’s relationship with Alma; the resulting confrontation turns inadvertently public -- and violent.
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| 14 | A Lie Agreed Upon, Part Two | Jody Worth | Ed Bianchi | As the day’s injured recoup, the night brings a new set of tensions. Alma and an increasingly self-destructive Bullock face an abrupt decision on their future, even as the Sheriff seeks to make good a family pledge to recover his badge and guns.
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| 15 | New Money | Elizabeth Sarnoff | Steve Shill | Francis Wolcott, tricky chief scout for a powerful mining operation, arrives to shake up the status quo – beginning with Tolliver. Dority, Burns and Trixie fret as an ailing Swearengen refuses visitors and medical attention.
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| 16 | Requiem For A Gleet | Ted Mann | Alan Taylor | Cochran contemplates a procedure that could cure Swearengen – or kill him. His employer indisposed, Dority must attend to a former fellow-bushwacker come to request Swearengen’s permission to pull a job, and to Wu, who attempts to convey news of a “tong” rival newly arrived from San Francisco.
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| 17 | Complications | Victoria Morrow | Gregg Feinberg | As a convalescing Swearengen bridles, Cochran schools Burns and Dority how best to assist his recovery. Alma is also feeling unwell, mornings. Unexpected profits at the Chez Ami lead Tolliver to an unexpected discovery about Wolcott.
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| 18 | Something Very Expensive | Steve Shill | Steve Shill | Alma proposes forming a bank, and looks to familiar faces to run it. To test himself, Swearengen grants audience to a long line of supplicants; talks with Farnum and Miss Isringhausen prove most illuminating.
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| 19 | E.B. Was Left Out | Jody Worth | Michael Almereya | Tolliver enlists Lee to clean up Wolcott's mess. Stubbs confides in Utter, who overreacts when Wolcott "steps on his toe." Swearengen meets Alma to inform her of a Pinkerton agent in camp; she and Bullock confer about her bank--and other expanding prospects.
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| 20 | Childish Things | Regina Corrado | Tim Van Patten | Wolcott offers on a rich claim operated by two ornery brothers, and reports to Hearst on their progress overall. Nuttall proudly unveils his new "Bone-Shaker" bicycle--but some doubt he can ride it. Swearengen and Bullock discuss alternatives to annexing the Hills to Dakota.
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| 21 | Amalgamation and Capital | Elizabeth Sarnoff | Ed Bianchi | To be announced.
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| 22 | Advances, None Miraculous | Sara Hess | Dan Minahan | To be announced.
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| 23 | The Whores Can Come | Bryan McDonald | Gregg Feinberg | To be announced.
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| 24 | Boy The Earth Talks To | Ted Mann | Ed Bianchi | The Season 2 Finale
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Season Timeframe
- Season 1: Spring 1876
- Season 2: Summer 1877
External links
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