Deadwood: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''A Hell of a place to make your fortune.''|'''HBO''''s summation of the show's setting.}}

{{quote|''"Welcome to [[Precision F Strike|fucking]] Deadwood! It can be... [[Wretched Hive|combative]]."''|'''Al Swearengen''''s take on it.}}

{{quote|''"Welcome to [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] Deadwood! It can be... [[Wretched Hive|combative]]."''|'''Al Swearengen''''s take on it.}}

''[[Deadwood]]'' is a historical fiction series which was produced by [[HBO]]. The series takes place during the 1870s gold rush of the South Dakota Black Hills, focusing on the boom town of Deadwood.

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* [[Chinese Laborer]]: Chinese residents of Deadwood are frequently called "Celestials" and live in "Celestial Alley", or "Chink's Alley" [[Deliberate Values Dissonance|for the less educated]]. Wolcott writes to Hearst that they'll start to bring in cheap Chinese labour when it's not so likely to incense the population.

* [[City Mouse]]: The Garrets

* [[Cluster F Bomb]]: Director David Milch originally attempted to use period accurate swearing. Swearing used to be more about religion, and old curse terms simply don't carry the right impact. [[Reality Is Unrealistic|In test screenings the audiences found it laughable]] -- the characters sounded like Yosemite Sam. So Milch made the decision to use modern swear words to reflect the crudity of a frontier mining camp. In the words of Geoffrey Nunberg: "If you have your characters use historically accurate swearwords, they're apt to sound no more offensive than your grandmother in a mild snit." That said, ''Deadwood'' contains a lot of swearing. It's got an average of 1.56 uses of "fuck" per minute of footage.

* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: Director David Milch originally attempted to use period accurate swearing. Swearing used to be more about religion, and old curse terms simply don't carry the right impact. [[Reality Is Unrealistic|In test screenings the audiences found it laughable]] -- the characters sounded like Yosemite Sam. So Milch made the decision to use modern swear words to reflect the crudity of a frontier mining camp. In the words of Geoffrey Nunberg: "If you have your characters use historically accurate swearwords, they're apt to sound no more offensive than your grandmother in a mild snit." That said, ''Deadwood'' contains a lot of swearing. It's got an average of 1.56 uses of "fuck" per minute of footage.

** [[Truth in Television]]: [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fuck The word "fuck" has been in use for a long time--including during the 19th century.] It was illegal to publish the word, but that didn't stop people from using it.

* [[Country Matters]]: When the show wants a change of pace from the Cluster F Bombs.

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* [[Doomed By Canon]]: Well, read a history book. But nearly everyone knows the story of Wild Bill Hickok and the "Dead Man's Hand".

* [[Downer Ending]]: The last episode of the series ends with Hearst riding off, having successfully bought the town.

* [[Disabled Character Disabled Actor]]: Geri Jewell, who played Jewel, actually has cerebral palsy.

* [[Disabled Character, Disabled Actor]]: Geri Jewell, who played Jewel, actually has cerebral palsy.

* [[Disposable Sex Worker]]: Most of the girls at Joanie's new whorehouse. Averted with Trixie, but only at the expense of ''another'' sex worker. The unfortunate Chinese girls brought in by Lee take this trope to its depressingly logical conclusion.

* [[Disposing of a Body]]: Mr. Wu [[Fed to Pigs|keeps a pen of hungry pigs on standby]]. In direct contrast to Wu's discretion, his counterpart Lee simply uses [[Burn Baby Burn|hastily constructed and very public pyres]]. Since he's burning Chinese immigrants, few people seem to care.

* [[Disposing of a Body]]: Mr. Wu [[Fed to Pigs|keeps a pen of hungry pigs on standby]]. In direct contrast to Wu's discretion, his counterpart Lee simply uses [[Burn, Baby, Burn|hastily constructed and very public pyres]]. Since he's burning Chinese immigrants, few people seem to care.

* [[The Dragon]]: Captain Turner acts as George Hearst's primary bodyguard and chief enforcer. He seems to have a history of killing Hearst's enemies in public streetfights. Though Swearengen can handle himself quite well with a blade, he has his own Dragon, Dan Dority. In one episode, the Dragons have themselves a fight.

* [[Dramatic Irony]]: "I'm not leaving camp without my money." -- You're right about that, Brom.

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* [[Fastest Gun in The West]]: Wild Bill.

* [[Fed to Pigs]]: See the first [[Disposing of a Body]] example.

* [[First Name Basis]]: even after she's helped her kick the opium habit and been a nanny to her adopted child, it isn't till Trixie {{spoiler|agrees to give her an abortion}} that this is said;

* [[First-Name Basis]]: even after she's helped her kick the opium habit and been a nanny to her adopted child, it isn't till Trixie {{spoiler|agrees to give her an abortion}} that this is said;

{{quote| '''Alma Garret:''' My name's Alma, by the way.<br />

'''Trixie:''' I know your name! }}

* [[Five Man Band]]: Al and his inner circle.

* [[Five-Man Band]]: Al and his inner circle.

** [[The Hero]]: Al Swearengen

** [[The Lancer]]: Dan Dority

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* [[The Gunslinger]]: Wild Bill, Seth Bullock, Morgan and Wyatt Earp.

* [[Heel Faith Turn]]: Played straight with Andy Cramed: healed from a deadly illness, and in turn helps heal the sick with Reverend Smith. He leaves Deadwood to become a minister himself. Subverted by his prison-shanking of Tolliver. Tolliver himself makes a show of becoming born again in a thin-veiled scheme to attract Joanie's pity.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Sol Star and Seth Bullock are partners and have been for some time, in spite of being an [[Odd Couple]]. Bullock will throw down with anyone who insults Star's Jewish faith, and the [[Non Action Guy]] Star will charge into the fray armed only with a "purse gun" to defend his friend. Their relationship was [[Truth in Television]], as the real Bullock and Star entered a number of business ventures throughout their lives.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Sol Star and Seth Bullock are partners and have been for some time, in spite of being an [[Odd Couple]]. Bullock will throw down with anyone who insults Star's Jewish faith, and the [[Non-Action Guy]] Star will charge into the fray armed only with a "purse gun" to defend his friend. Their relationship was [[Truth in Television]], as the real Bullock and Star entered a number of business ventures throughout their lives.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Swearengen often accuses Star of being a [[Greedy Jew]]. when it's clear that Swearengen himself is actually the unscrupulous, money-grubbing businessman. He also frequently refers to Native Americans as "heathens," when it's clear from his disgust for the preacher's sermons that he's not exactly a devout Christian.

* [[Historical Beauty Update]]: Inverted with Charlie Utter. The real Charlie Utter had flowing blond locks and dressed in fine clothes and carried a pair of pistols with pearl handles. He even bathed daily which was extremely unusual at the time.

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* [[Inspirationally Disadvantaged]]: Jewel.

* [[Irony]]: Brom Garret suspects he was cheated because he can't find gold in the concession he just bought and threatens Al Swerengen with an investigation. Swerengen suggest him to look in the mountains instead of in the river {{spoiler|and orders Brom to be thrown off a cliff in an apparent [[Make It Look Like an Accident|accident]]. The place he lands on? An unknown gold vein.}}

* [[~~Its~~ Always Spring]]: Presumably too much trouble (and no real point) to depict Deadwood neck-deep in snow like it would be in the winter.

* [[It's Always Spring]]: Presumably too much trouble (and no real point) to depict Deadwood neck-deep in snow like it would be in the winter.

* [[Knife Nut]]: Swearengen is a skilled knife-fighter who cuts a number of throats throughout the series. He's a self-confessed terrible shot and at one point curses himself for sticking with knives rather than learning to shoot properly. Dan Dority's preferred weapon is also a knife, though he has no aversion to firearms.

** Justified in that Al and Dan are both "pioneer types," having spent a lot of time working the wild places. A gun is only useful if you have bullets for it. Also, murder with a knife is more subtle.

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* [[Nothing Up My Sleeve]]: Al, fighting Bullock.

* [[N Word Privileges]]: The "Nigger General" is a recurring character.

* [[N-Word Privileges]]: The "Nigger General" is a recurring character.

* [[Odd Couple]]: Nebbishy Jewish businessman Sol Star and the two-fisted ex-lawman Seth Bullock.

* [[Out Damned Spot]]: EB rants away to himself about having to scrub the blood of a murdered guest out of the floor over and over again. Probably more than usually justified, given it's a bare wooden floor.

* [[Out, Damned Spot!]]: EB rants away to himself about having to scrub the blood of a murdered guest out of the floor over and over again. Probably more than usually justified, given it's a bare wooden floor.

* [[Parrot Exposition]]: Lampshaded - in Season One, Al snaps at EB to stop doing it, while in Season Three, George Hearst tells Odell Marchbanks not to repeat back to him in other words what he has just said.

* [[Pet the Dog]]: Swearengen is a complete bastard, but is increasingly given opportunities to gruffly pet the dog as the series progresses. He employs a handicapped cleaning woman, Jewel, constantly belittling and berating her, but Trixie insists that he keeps her around as a "twisted fuckin' way of protecting her." He also shows grudging sympathy towards Rev. Smith, reveals he once had an epileptic brother, and mercy-kills the pastor when he is suffering from a terminal brain tumor. He also delivers a few tough-love pep-talks to residents of the camp during the later seasons.

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* [[Slashed Throat]]: Wolcott and Swearengen's crew deliver a number of these.

* [[Smug Snake]]: Tolliver. He thinks he's a [[Magnificent Bastard]], but when he has surrounded himself with nothing but lickspittles and incompetent junkies, and seemingly goes out of his way to earn the enmity of his employees, you know he's doing something wrong. Likewise E.B Farnum thinks he's a mover and shaker in the camp, and has a higher opinion of his cunning than is warranted. You can practically see the trail of slime behind E.B as he skulks around town, engaging one poorly thought-out scheme after another.

* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: Deadwood uses this a lot, mixing philosophic descriptions and complex compound sentences with the [[Cluster F Bomb]].

* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: Deadwood uses this a lot, mixing philosophic descriptions and complex compound sentences with the [[Cluster F-Bomb]].

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Mrs Garret. The laudanum helps, at first.

* [[Surprisingly Good English]]: Mr. Lee, the new Chinese arrival from San Francisco and rival to Wu, speaks fluent English. Al is visibly shocked when Lee reveals this.

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* [[Western Union Man]]: Blazanov.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Two feature-length finales were planned, but aren't going to happen.

* [[~~Whos~~ On First|Wu's On First]]:

* [[Who's On First?|Wu's On First]]:

{{quote| '''Al:''' But who stole the dope?<br />

'''Wu:''' WU?!?<br />