Spoilers on Season 3 of "Deadwood" Below:
I knew what I was getting into for Deadwood’s third (and final) season. Everyone told me to avoid it; to not watch it. That I would be let down and disappointed. That so much is left incomplete. That without a 4th season, the series feels unsatisfyingly unfinished. And though this is very, very true, and as it stands this is my least favorite of the 3 seasons of the series, that doesn’t mean this is a bad season of television.
In fact, Hearst’s appearance in Deadwood as the season’s antagonist, and a proper villain the series has never truly had before gives the show a sense of purpose it’s lacked for a long time. The first season was so meanderingly aimless, and so without direction and drive that it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the 2nd season which handled its serialized elements far more cleanly and efficiently.
With Hearst put in proper conflict with Al, and Al attempting to maintain his hold on the camp and win over everyone to his cause, the series more tightly and nicely handles many of its major plotlines. Al finally seems to have met his match. He won over Bullock; things never truly boiled over with Cy; he handled Wolcott and co. when they appeared last season. But it was never really as doubtful that Al would ultimately be successful; it was only a matter of time. Season three changes that prospect with Hearst. Hearst is so much more in control than Al; he can’t be bullied or bought, and killing him would raise too many questions. He can’t be attacked directly. Al has to keep telling Bullock not to arrest or go after him whenever something goes awry (and when he doesn’t listen and imprisons him it doesn’t solve anything, but only serves to amplify Hearst’s loathing of the town and cause him to hire armed men to come to the town). During the election speeches at the end of episode 2, Al is trapped in Hearst’s room and thoroughly beaten in an attempt to get information on how to swindle Alma out of her claim. He refuses, but Al has never been so powerless before, and now he’s a finger shorter. Meanwhile, Hearst continues to kill his employees as he pleases to squash unionizing. He threatens to rape Alma when she tries to set her owns terms for selling her claim (which eventually he is able to take from her through intimidation). He turns Cy into his lapdog by exposing his false blackmail (Making Cy even weaker and more pathetic than his worthless peon self has ever been). Alma’s weakness for laudanum is exploited by Tolliver and because of it her marriage to Ellesworth is in peril. Dan is left deeply disaffected after killing Hearst’s bodyguard in a bloody, awful street fight. E.B. meanwhile is on the outside looking in because he sold his hotel to Hearst. Hearst conspires with Yankton to rig the election and put in place individuals favorable to him. And towards the end, the Pinkertons finally arrive after all this talk of them (and they’re just as much of problematic assholes as Al’s been making them out to be). If that weren’t enough, the crappy cherry on top is the death of Ellesworth at the hands of the Pinkerton; they couldn’t have chosen a better human being to end the life of, and it’s an infuriating moment that unites the town further against Hearst.
I knew what I was getting into for Deadwood’s third (and final) season. Everyone told me to avoid it; to not watch it. That I would be let down and disappointed. That so much is left incomplete. That without a 4th season, the series feels unsatisfyingly unfinished. And though this is very, very true, and as it stands this is my least favorite of the 3 seasons of the series, that doesn’t mean this is a bad season of television.
In fact, Hearst’s appearance in Deadwood as the season’s antagonist, and a proper villain the series has never truly had before gives the show a sense of purpose it’s lacked for a long time. The first season was so meanderingly aimless, and so without direction and drive that it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the 2nd season which handled its serialized elements far more cleanly and efficiently.
With Hearst put in proper conflict with Al, and Al attempting to maintain his hold on the camp and win over everyone to his cause, the series more tightly and nicely handles many of its major plotlines. Al finally seems to have met his match. He won over Bullock; things never truly boiled over with Cy; he handled Wolcott and co. when they appeared last season. But it was never really as doubtful that Al would ultimately be successful; it was only a matter of time. Season three changes that prospect with Hearst. Hearst is so much more in control than Al; he can’t be bullied or bought, and killing him would raise too many questions. He can’t be attacked directly. Al has to keep telling Bullock not to arrest or go after him whenever something goes awry (and when he doesn’t listen and imprisons him it doesn’t solve anything, but only serves to amplify Hearst’s loathing of the town and cause him to hire armed men to come to the town). During the election speeches at the end of episode 2, Al is trapped in Hearst’s room and thoroughly beaten in an attempt to get information on how to swindle Alma out of her claim. He refuses, but Al has never been so powerless before, and now he’s a finger shorter. Meanwhile, Hearst continues to kill his employees as he pleases to squash unionizing. He threatens to rape Alma when she tries to set her owns terms for selling her claim (which eventually he is able to take from her through intimidation). He turns Cy into his lapdog by exposing his false blackmail (Making Cy even weaker and more pathetic than his worthless peon self has ever been). Alma’s weakness for laudanum is exploited by Tolliver and because of it her marriage to Ellesworth is in peril. Dan is left deeply disaffected after killing Hearst’s bodyguard in a bloody, awful street fight. E.B. meanwhile is on the outside looking in because he sold his hotel to Hearst. Hearst conspires with Yankton to rig the election and put in place individuals favorable to him. And towards the end, the Pinkertons finally arrive after all this talk of them (and they’re just as much of problematic assholes as Al’s been making them out to be). If that weren’t enough, the crappy cherry on top is the death of Ellesworth at the hands of the Pinkerton; they couldn’t have chosen a better human being to end the life of, and it’s an infuriating moment that unites the town further against Hearst.
Al thinks he’s playing checkers when he’s really playing
chess. One upping the territorial government in Yankton seems impressive (and
it really is), and Al initially believes that Hearst can’t be any harder to
overcome. It’s why he goes by himself to see Hearst and never calls for backup.
And after that moment, he spends much of the rest of the season being
flabbergasted that he has been so thoroughly outmatched and outwitted.
Meanwhile, civilization keeps working its way into the camp. Alma uses her wealth to back a bank. A theater troupe decides to setup shop in the town. A school house is built in Joanie’s former brothel. There are more buildings (and they’re far neater, tidier, and “proper” looking) than ever before; there’s also an abundance of new townsfolk. Most obviously, there are the elections that are at the background of the entire season.
Meanwhile, civilization keeps working its way into the camp. Alma uses her wealth to back a bank. A theater troupe decides to setup shop in the town. A school house is built in Joanie’s former brothel. There are more buildings (and they’re far neater, tidier, and “proper” looking) than ever before; there’s also an abundance of new townsfolk. Most obviously, there are the elections that are at the background of the entire season.
While these aspects are great and make Deadwood’s 3rd season a treat, the season has more
problems than not and without another season we may never know just how well
some extraneous feeling elements of this season would have carried over. Much
of the season simply fails to be effective. So many characters feel
disconnected from the plot or are poorly utilized. The theater company doesn’t
fit in at all and doesn’t really feel like it has any right to be in the
series. Meanwhile, longstanding characters, such as E.B., Charlie, Merrick, Doc
Cochrane, Jane, and Joanie, are hardly used at all. There are entire episodes
without some of my favorite characters, and the cast kept expanding and
expanding when there didn’t feel like a huge need for it. Underservicing these
characters and their stories, and not fully telling other ones made for the 3rd
season of Deadwood to stick out like
a sore thumb of the 3 seasons. It’s arguably better than the first season, but
the first season was at least able to tell the story it wanted to tell and
ended rather satisfyingly. The 3rd season simply has too many damn
stories and not enough about the characters we’ve come to know and like; it
feels overcrowded and overstuffed.
The show had its problems. It couldn’t write children characters if its life depended on it. It could become unnecessarily self-involved, intricate and complex. It could become overly dense and meandering. However, when it was firing on all cylinders, far and between, few shows could touch it. Many of my biggest complaints against the series went out the window in the last three episodes of the season, which are such tightly crafted episodes. The finale is a beautiful piece of television with great tension, high stakes, and a sense of a community rallying to defend itself. It’s arguably the best and most compelling episode the series ever did, and while it leaves a fair amount open ended, it’s not nearly as unsatisfying as I had anticipated. The season provided enough great things that it didn’t really bother me so largely (although I was finding myself less interested midway through the season than at any other time in the series’ run). The growing relationship between Joanie and Jane was pleasantly surprising and sweet; Seeing Cy so weak was very pleasing since I find him to be one of the most loathsome series regulars; Brian Cox’s turn as John Langrishe was often too delightful for me to be upset at how little I cared about the theater troupe. As always, it was always entertaining to watch Al scheme, and Bullock barely contain his rage.
This is a season of television that now is too overshadowed by the fact that it shouldn’t have been a last season. But there’s so many great series that never get to properly tell their stories fully. At least we now have a “beautiful corpse” rather than a monstrosity that kept living long past when it should have as so many series often do.
Good bye Deadwood, a revisionist Western (that eventually moved beyond its Western beginnings) with a strange (but wonderful and precise) use of language. You were filled with such rich characters and a lived-in feel. You were optimistic when almost every great drama is cynical and angry about human nature and the world. I’m happy to be disappointed by a series not finishing its story rather than telling its story poorly.
The show had its problems. It couldn’t write children characters if its life depended on it. It could become unnecessarily self-involved, intricate and complex. It could become overly dense and meandering. However, when it was firing on all cylinders, far and between, few shows could touch it. Many of my biggest complaints against the series went out the window in the last three episodes of the season, which are such tightly crafted episodes. The finale is a beautiful piece of television with great tension, high stakes, and a sense of a community rallying to defend itself. It’s arguably the best and most compelling episode the series ever did, and while it leaves a fair amount open ended, it’s not nearly as unsatisfying as I had anticipated. The season provided enough great things that it didn’t really bother me so largely (although I was finding myself less interested midway through the season than at any other time in the series’ run). The growing relationship between Joanie and Jane was pleasantly surprising and sweet; Seeing Cy so weak was very pleasing since I find him to be one of the most loathsome series regulars; Brian Cox’s turn as John Langrishe was often too delightful for me to be upset at how little I cared about the theater troupe. As always, it was always entertaining to watch Al scheme, and Bullock barely contain his rage.
This is a season of television that now is too overshadowed by the fact that it shouldn’t have been a last season. But there’s so many great series that never get to properly tell their stories fully. At least we now have a “beautiful corpse” rather than a monstrosity that kept living long past when it should have as so many series often do.
Good bye Deadwood, a revisionist Western (that eventually moved beyond its Western beginnings) with a strange (but wonderful and precise) use of language. You were filled with such rich characters and a lived-in feel. You were optimistic when almost every great drama is cynical and angry about human nature and the world. I’m happy to be disappointed by a series not finishing its story rather than telling its story poorly.
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