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fandomhigh_ooc2007-01-14 11:45 am
courtincalamity.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2007-01-14 11:45 am
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Spot Light on Fandoms: HBO's Deadwood
Deadwood is about... Order coming out of chaos. It's about progress and change and... It's not just about how "the West was won" but how people come together and form a community and society.
As sappy as that sounds. :)
It premiered in March 2004 on HBO. The series is a Western set in the 1870s in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. (Actually, what is now South Dakota, USA.)
Previously, I've described the show thusly...
You know those crazy and improbably "alternate history" sorts of things where all these famous people are all together in one place and they all know each other? Well, it's like that, except it's cool because all those famous people really WERE all together in one place and they all knew each other.
If you read no further the most important things to know about Deadwood are:
A) It's awesome. (But then, I'm biased.)
B) Everybody talks like they've taken Rhetoric classes. Even Jane, the whores, and to some extent the children. So they all "talk kinda fancy" by our modern standards, so you might have to give the dialogue your full attention every now and again. Depending. Some people like it, some people don't, some people tell me they can't understand a damn thing anybody says except when they curse.
C) People use "Naughty Words" a lot - The word "fuck" was said 43 times in the first hour of the show. This includes certain words that even I don't use lightly and words that describe a person's ethnicity. (Click the link for more info on that subject.)
D) There's also a bit of nudity, and some rather graphic violence. People die, sometimes in gruesome ways, and more often then not, they are fed to pigs as a way to dispose of the body. If that bothers you... Well, you've been warned. :)
E) The show is not purely historical. The plotlines involving these historical characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Some of the characters are fully fictional, although they certainly may have been based on actual persons. Despite featuring a degree of factuality, the end credits of the program contain the following disclaimer:
"With the sole exception of the well known historical events and persons portrayed, the characters and events depicted in this television series are fictional and any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional."
I'll try to keep this as non-spoilery as possible.
Now there are other, equally important and awesome characters like Alma Garret, Cy, Mr. Woo, Jewl, Trixie, and Sol Star. But the show is, quite frankly, mostly about Seth and Al. So If you want to learn more about the people click this.
Seth Bullock: AKA - A little Han Solo. A little Dudley Do-Right...: If the show has a main character, that would have to be Seth Bullock. The show starts off with Seth in Montana on his very last day working as a US Martial there. And the events really set the tone of the whole show rather nicely. Seth leaves Montana for Deadwood to start a hardware store with his partner Sol Star. Almost as soon as he arrives, events start to make it look like he's going to be the new sheriff in town. But he came to Deadwood to avoid that kind of life, so he opts for "Fire Marshal" instead. Eventually, he does relent and become the sheriff.
Seth is a very honorable person, but he's not exactly subtle do to a barely contained temper. He's also smoking hot.
Albert Swearengen - AKA - Fuck that Fucking Fucker: If you ever watched Lovejoy, this guy might look rather familiar. (Lovejoy is kinda the MacGyver of Antiques and Art.) Anyway. Al is a shrewd business man and later a shrewd politician, though he never holds a public office himself. He's not a Fuckhead with a heart of gold. He's just a fuckhead. The show starts about the time Al has finished building his second "entertainment center" in Deadwood, called "The Gem". It's a bar/casino/brothel, mostly for "those that don't wash". The historical Al made tens of thousands of dollars a night in an era where a horse cost about ten bucks. The Gem is also the unofficial town hall of Deadwood. Most of the important business of the camp is done in meetings there. This is because Al, as one of the earliest inhabitants of the camp that wasn't a miner and the one who rents/sold most of the businesses in town their land, he's the defacto guy in charge. He's rich and powerful and brutal, and not used to being fucked with. Now, he's a well written character, and he's a human being, so he's got depth. And as we learn more about him, we see that he does care, in his own way, about those he considers "his people". Through the events of the 3 seasons, his priorities change, and he seems to grow out of being a fuckhead.
But no. He's still a fuckhead.
And I love that.
"Calamity" Jane Canary - AKA - She's a man baby: Historically, there's some question as to if she was ever anywhere within 100 feet of General Custer when she served as an Army Scout, in Deadwood canon she served under his command directly. Jane is somehow at the same time, very self assured and yet very... awkward. She doesn't really drink as hard as all that until pretty much the moment she discovers Wild Bill is dead. Which is still my favorite episode of the whole series. As far as sexual orientation goes. Jane is just... Hungry. For affection. Though the idea of affection scares the hell out of her because people keep dying and leaving.
I'm really not sure what else to say about her. I'll be happy to answer any questions about Jane or Deadwood y'all might have, but there's a really great Wikipedia entry here with all kinds of information.
Deadwood at Netflix: Season One, two, three
Deadwood at Blockbuster Online: Season one, two.
Daedwood at Amazon (Right now available for a REALLY good price!): Season one, two, bundle, soundtrack.
As sappy as that sounds. :)
It premiered in March 2004 on HBO. The series is a Western set in the 1870s in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. (Actually, what is now South Dakota, USA.)
Previously, I've described the show thusly...
You know those crazy and improbably "alternate history" sorts of things where all these famous people are all together in one place and they all know each other? Well, it's like that, except it's cool because all those famous people really WERE all together in one place and they all knew each other.
If you read no further the most important things to know about Deadwood are:
A) It's awesome. (But then, I'm biased.)
B) Everybody talks like they've taken Rhetoric classes. Even Jane, the whores, and to some extent the children. So they all "talk kinda fancy" by our modern standards, so you might have to give the dialogue your full attention every now and again. Depending. Some people like it, some people don't, some people tell me they can't understand a damn thing anybody says except when they curse.
C) People use "Naughty Words" a lot - The word "fuck" was said 43 times in the first hour of the show. This includes certain words that even I don't use lightly and words that describe a person's ethnicity. (Click the link for more info on that subject.)
D) There's also a bit of nudity, and some rather graphic violence. People die, sometimes in gruesome ways, and more often then not, they are fed to pigs as a way to dispose of the body. If that bothers you... Well, you've been warned. :)
E) The show is not purely historical. The plotlines involving these historical characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Some of the characters are fully fictional, although they certainly may have been based on actual persons. Despite featuring a degree of factuality, the end credits of the program contain the following disclaimer:
"With the sole exception of the well known historical events and persons portrayed, the characters and events depicted in this television series are fictional and any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional."
I'll try to keep this as non-spoilery as possible.
Now there are other, equally important and awesome characters like Alma Garret, Cy, Mr. Woo, Jewl, Trixie, and Sol Star. But the show is, quite frankly, mostly about Seth and Al. So If you want to learn more about the people click this.
Seth Bullock: AKA - A little Han Solo. A little Dudley Do-Right...: If the show has a main character, that would have to be Seth Bullock. The show starts off with Seth in Montana on his very last day working as a US Martial there. And the events really set the tone of the whole show rather nicely. Seth leaves Montana for Deadwood to start a hardware store with his partner Sol Star. Almost as soon as he arrives, events start to make it look like he's going to be the new sheriff in town. But he came to Deadwood to avoid that kind of life, so he opts for "Fire Marshal" instead. Eventually, he does relent and become the sheriff.
Seth is a very honorable person, but he's not exactly subtle do to a barely contained temper. He's also smoking hot.
Albert Swearengen - AKA - Fuck that Fucking Fucker: If you ever watched Lovejoy, this guy might look rather familiar. (Lovejoy is kinda the MacGyver of Antiques and Art.) Anyway. Al is a shrewd business man and later a shrewd politician, though he never holds a public office himself. He's not a Fuckhead with a heart of gold. He's just a fuckhead. The show starts about the time Al has finished building his second "entertainment center" in Deadwood, called "The Gem". It's a bar/casino/brothel, mostly for "those that don't wash". The historical Al made tens of thousands of dollars a night in an era where a horse cost about ten bucks. The Gem is also the unofficial town hall of Deadwood. Most of the important business of the camp is done in meetings there. This is because Al, as one of the earliest inhabitants of the camp that wasn't a miner and the one who rents/sold most of the businesses in town their land, he's the defacto guy in charge. He's rich and powerful and brutal, and not used to being fucked with. Now, he's a well written character, and he's a human being, so he's got depth. And as we learn more about him, we see that he does care, in his own way, about those he considers "his people". Through the events of the 3 seasons, his priorities change, and he seems to grow out of being a fuckhead.
But no. He's still a fuckhead.
And I love that.
"Calamity" Jane Canary - AKA - She's a man baby: Historically, there's some question as to if she was ever anywhere within 100 feet of General Custer when she served as an Army Scout, in Deadwood canon she served under his command directly. Jane is somehow at the same time, very self assured and yet very... awkward. She doesn't really drink as hard as all that until pretty much the moment she discovers Wild Bill is dead. Which is still my favorite episode of the whole series. As far as sexual orientation goes. Jane is just... Hungry. For affection. Though the idea of affection scares the hell out of her because people keep dying and leaving.
I'm really not sure what else to say about her. I'll be happy to answer any questions about Jane or Deadwood y'all might have, but there's a really great Wikipedia entry here with all kinds of information.
Deadwood at Netflix: Season One, two, three
Deadwood at Blockbuster Online: Season one, two.
Daedwood at Amazon (Right now available for a REALLY good price!): Season one, two, bundle, soundtrack.