TV

Deadwood

Happy Hooplehead-days to one and all

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Welcome to The 12 Days of Deadwood, an episode-by-episode revisitation of the first season of Deadwood by critic Matt Zoller Seitz, author of the forthcoming book A Lie Agreed Upon: The Deadwood Chronicles. Join us each day between December 13 and December 24 as we revisit the fictionalized version of real-life 1870s Deadwood, SD, a lawless camp just on the brink of civilization. Because if there’s a better way to get in the holiday spirit than a deep dive into David Milch’s profound, profane Western, one of the greatest HBO series of all time, we certainly can’t think of one!

Spoiler note: These recaps will discuss the events of each episode and the series up to that point, but not events that occur in future episodes

  1. Episode 1 The Movie
    Deadwood Movie Recap: Before Eyes Close for Good and All The end has truly come for Deadwood — the town and the series — as we know it, but the future rolls on.
  1. Episode 12 Sold Under Sin
    Deadwood Season-Finale Recap: Bloody Thoughts For all the gore, madness, and opportunism showcased in this final hour, we’re left with a sense of hope for Deadwood, its characters, and ourselves.
  2. Episode 11 Jewel’s Boot Is Made for Walking
    Deadwood Recap: Growing Pains As Deadwood grows, so does the gap between the powerful and powerless generally, and the schism between the worlds of men and women in particular.
  3. Episode 10 Mr. Wu
    Deadwood Recap: Drawing Straws A vivid supporting player steps into the spotlight in a story line where self-interest and civic-mindedness ironically intertwine.
  4. Episode 9 No Other Sons or Daughters
    Deadwood Recap: The Blessing of Legal Standing With the camp on the brink of legitimacy, Al’s first priority is to make sure profits not only flow but grow.
  5. Episode 8 Suffer the Little Children
    Deadwood Recap: The Dam Has Broken Arguably Deadwood’s first great post-Bill guest character, Kristen Bell’s Flora is a walking, talking emblem of the camp’s dynamic.
  6. Episode 7 Bullock Returns to the Camp
    Deadwood Recap: A World That Can’t Be The women of Deadwood are doing what they feel they have to do to improve their lives — or prevent them from getting worse.
  7. Episode 6 Plague
    Deadwood Recap: High Fever Blues A brutal and exhausting hour brings forth a biblically inflected plague that torments the just and unjust alike.
  8. Episode 5 The Trial of Jack McCall
    Deadwood Recap: But That Would Be Wrong The camp’s creeping case of law and order seems to be settling around Seth.
  9. Episode 4 Here Was a Man
    Deadwood Recap: All Are Necessary This isn’t just a public tragedy, it’s a trauma inflicted on a town whose emerging self-image will be at least partly formed by it.
  10. Episode 3 Reconnoitering the Rim
    Deadwood Recap: Pardon My French Al Swearengen has shown us many sides up until now, but this is the first episode where he’s seemed in over his head.
  11. Episode 2 Deep Water
    Deadwood Recap: Means to an End “Deep Water” establishes that while Deadwood is interested in matters of right and wrong, judgment of those matters is of less concern.
  12. Episode 1 Deadwood
    Deadwood Series-Premiere Recap: A Hell of a Place to Make Your Fortune Has law and order come for what Al Swearengen has built? He certainly seems to think so.

Further Deadwood Reading

  1. vulture lists
    Every Deadwood Episode, Ranked Featuring kidney stones, brawls, and so much swearing.
  2. chat room
    What Timothy Olyphant Learned From Deadwood “Everybody knows how to steal a scene. F—king sleight-of-hand magicians, all of them.”
  3. chat room
    Ian McShane Says Good-bye to Deadwood “This show didn’t do the shit that so many other shows do, the shit that makes actors hate the work.”
  4. revivals
    Sundown on Deadwood David Milch, battling Alzheimer’s, finally finishes his TV Western.