I know this has probably been discussed to death but I’m a late comer, sorry. I just finished up my Netflix/ Deadwood marathon and thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was a bit disappointed to find out the show had in fact be canceled and not actually just ended its storyline, of coarse I found that out about four episodes into season 2. DOH! I wonder why HBO just canceled it? I understood it always got good ratings. Wouldn’t they have a bit more say in a show than say just a regular network? If they planned on canceling it, I wonder why they didn’t give it a few more episodes to give it a proper ending? I also wonder when they knew they were canceling it because I could have done with a lot less of the acting troupe storylines and the Jane/Joanie storylines. Actually I could have done without the whole acting troupe storyline as I didn’t think a single character there was interesting in the least bit. So a few questions. Spoilers Did the whole “Showdown” with the town against Hearst end because he left or was he leaving because he didn’t want to be there for it? Did Bullock lose the election or did the towns folk come through for him in the end? Why was Mrs. Ellsworth leaving at the end? I though she sold her mine to Hearst and didn’t have to leave? Or was she leaving because the big “Showdown” was about to happen? Lastly I understand that there is a complete set of the DVD’s that has a bonus disk where the creators tell what would have happened in the fourth season. Anyone seen it?
The show is based on actual historical events. although some facts are stretched and molded to fit the story better. Don't like the theater troupe? well, they were real people that really showed up in deadwood. their story, was just starting to get set up, but the show was canned. never-the-less them arriving marks a significant change in camp, the camp is becoming even more civilized. a bank, a theater, formal elections... quite a change from the start of the show when Deadwood had no law at all. I think Hearst was leaving because there was another gold/copper/silver find somewhere else, and he had already taken control of the town and had no reason to stay, especially if the locals were gunning for him. Bullock lost the election. He barricaded himself in his office and wouldn't turn over the job. I think the plan was to have Al talk him down. And hey, in the end, seaon 4 would have seen the Deadwood fire, it would have been a nice bit of irony to have the would-be fireman (Harry Manning) stuck as a Sheriff instead of doing what he really wanted to do. As for Alma, i dont recall her leaving. i thought for sure she was staying. She probably doesn't want to go back to NY after all that happened with her first husband and her father. She would probably stay to run the bank. I havent seen the last episode in some time, so i cannot recall the specifics. There is an excellent book of essays about Deadwood, written by David Milch. I haven't seen the bonus disc, so i am not sure what exactly is discussed. I'd love to see it, but i am not sure i want to double-dip (but if any show could sway me, it would be this one). I wish the show had gone on. there seems to have been a lot of really interesting things that happen to the town and to the people. it burns down, it gets flooded, i think it burns down again... at some point Bullock and Theodore Roosevelt become friends in the town...
I just saw the pilot of this show myself (we bought the series set on a sale) and was bored to tears. Is the rest of the show just people sitting around talking doing nothing? I thought I was watching Carnivale. I only got it because of how much it's been talked up here.
the show is not for everyone... i'd honestly say watch until the 5th episode... if you don't like it by then, don't watch anymore. but to be fair, there was more than just people sitting and talking... from the first episode, there was a hanging, a guy shot through the head, a family killed, a road agent killed, a con man killed and a prostitute beaten up...
I know The Sheriff's wife was really his childhood sweetheart and not his brothers widow. I also know the barkeep ended up shot in the back in a street in Denver. No one was caught.