'Deadwood' taps into Old West's raw capitalism
It lacks the barroom brawls and justice-dispensing shootouts of a simpler era in entertainment. Nor does it strive, as modern films like "Unforgiven" have done, to reinterpret frontier legend by violently dismantling it.
"Deadwood" does not follow any tradition past, present or politically correct in its debut at 10 p.m. this Sunday.
Instead, creator and executive producer David Milch presents a raw, virile depiction of brute capitalism circa 1876. "Deadwood" may be the closest Hollywood has gotten to capturing the essence of Western myth — the relentless lust for money.
It seems an obvious tack in retrospect. American settlement from the early 19th century onward was primarily about profit and acquisition, from the Louisiana Purchase to the 49ers to the construction of a cross-continental railroad and accompanying land grab.
Yet a divide has existed between fact and popular fiction. Most TV and movie Westerns concentrated on taming lawlessness, elevating that effort to heroic dimensions. Settlers and rustlers and "Indians" collided in a cinematic blur sorted out by sheriffs or cavalry.
Left largely unexamined were the economic forces that brought these groups together. A viewer could infer Yankee enterprise wore the white hat and that was about it.
Milch, whose credits include "NYPD Blue" and "Hill Street Blues," knows law and order. He also understands unfettered appetite and crude power, and these elements at the center of "Deadwood" make it a good thematic companion to "The Sopranos."
However, there is a downside.
In focusing on the gritty mechanics of a Hobbesian environment, Milch supplies little inner life to his characters. The emphasis on 19th-century realism has sacrificed the use of 20th-century psychology and the core of "Deadwood" feels hollow.
Some viewers nevertheless will find the colorful, coarse wrapping enough — provided they can get through a leisurely build-up.
The mining community of Deadwood is recently sprung from the gold in South Dakota's hills. While Wall Street manipulators back East have found polished ways to steal, nothing about Deadwood is genteel — including the expletive-riddled language that takes some getting used to even if it is historically accurate.
At the center of Deadwood's activities is saloon and brothel keeper Al Swearengen (Ian McShane). Swearengen has his finger in every pie via a network of spies and allies that include hotelkeeper E.B. Farnum (William Sanderson).
Swearengen is consumed by money. He dupes society New Yorker Brom Garret (Tim Omundson) into buying a worthless mine. He deals brutally — off screen — with Trixie (Paula Malcomson), a prostitute who causes trouble by shooting a customer who hit her.
And when legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) enters town and later organizes a posse to investigate a potential massacre by Sioux, Swearengen tries to keep customers in the saloon by offering them free drinks and a discount on sex.
Wild Bill has his own allies, including Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) and the town doctor (Brad Dourif). When Hickok recovers a lone survivor from the massacre, a young girl, he unwittingly becomes Swearengen's enemy; Sioux did not commit the slaughter.
Completing the triumvirate of main characters is Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant). Introduced at the top of Sunday's episode, he's a former marshal who comes to Deadwood to establish a hardware store.
Bullock soon becomes an ally of Hickok's while maintaining a rather enigmatic profile. If I read the tip of Milch's hand, Bullock's reticence may be linked to close companion Sol Star (John Hawkes) who acts as a business partner while seeming to be more.
Episodes 1 and 2 of "Deadwood" have enough material to fill several reviews. They struggle to establish a large cast of characters wrought in exquisite detail and to set down multiple story lines connected, like a spider web, to Swearengen's empire. For much of these initial two hours, audiences will have to content themselves with outstanding performances that emerge from a rather thin broth of plot.
Carradine, with his magisterial bass and many past appearances in Westerns, is a perfect Wild Bill grown weary of his own reputation. As Swearengen, McShane has sufficient cold menace and fury to rivet us.
Olyphant, however, is a bit too poker-faced for his part — a problem if he indeed turns out to be the good guy of this saga. A formidable heroine may emerge from the opiate-befuddled character of Mrs. Garret, played with great subtlety by Molly Parker.
Despite its heavy load, "Deadwood" finally takes off in Episodes 3 and 4. But don't expect mayhem. Most of the action is verbal and the savagery implied, though a couple of iconic shootings do occur.
As a big fan of Westerns, I wanted to warm up to "Deadwood" and couldn't despite the great craftsmanship, acting and direction. The series, which runs for 12 episodes, has a very limited emotional range.
That's good if you're playing poker and bad if you're trying to involve viewers. As Wild Bill might say, "Deadwood" plays its cards too close to the vest.
An indictment of 'D.A.'
Most crime procedurals grudgingly recognize the need to pipe in a little background soap on their characters: a shattered romance here, an alcoholic spouse there.
But "The D.A.," which debuts at 10 tonight on ABC, is so awash in suds that the alleged premise has drowned.
Steven Weber portrays the district attorney of the title. He comes across as the whiniest, most ineffectual prosecutor since Hamilton Burger faced Perry Mason. He's also a lousy boss. Although this is mentioned by a character in tonight's pilot, you can't believe the writers intended him to be this bad. He berates his investigators (led by actor Bruno Campos), but you never actually see him do anything.
Hey, if we wanted to see a dysfunctional office and morale-destroying leader, most of us would either look up from our desks or watch "The Office."
"The D.A." has all the signs of a lousy series: pointless personal angst drummed up to create interest, characters whose dialogue outlines their biographies and a villain we don't even know exists until late in the show.
ABC executives have said "The D.A." is part of a new experiment in short-run series. Well, that's certainly more creative than anything in the show.
Kay McFadden: kmcfadden@seattletimes.com