So easily one of the best television shows ever has come to it's "regular episode" end, and while I eagerly await the pair of two-hour movies that are supposed to wrap up the various storylines, I am also desolute... because there has never been a show like DEADWOOD. Brilliantly written and acted, it dared to create characters as cruel and unredeemed as any in television history (yes, even including the SOPRANOS), and then methodically, impossibly managed to redeem them. Well, sorta...
The final episode's conundrum, in which an innocent woman had to die to save the life of another, was truly remarkable. On the one hand, Ian McShane's Al Swearington was committing cold blooded murder, a killing so foul even one of his loyal henchmen tried to prevent it. But the reasons for the killing were also unexpectedly compassionate (Al was trying to save the life of Trixie, the one whore he had allowed himself to love, even after she left him), and his penance in the end was so heart-felt, that despite his denials, we could feel the torment in his soul. Television just doesn't get any better.
However, DEADWOOD fans have reason for cheer, because writer/creator David Milch's next show, about surfers down on the rough and rugged California/Mexican border back in the early 60's, looks to be just as fascinating and complex.
But I'll sure miss Al, Bullock, Tolliver, Jane and the rest...
2 comments:
I thought the "Deadwood" finale was a giant bore. The death of the innocent whore was so drawn out I was screaming "Kill her, already!".
You, my tragically misinformed comrade, are unfortunately and indisputably incorrect in your admittedly trenchant critique...
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