Product Description
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Deadwood: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
For better and worse, times are changing in the outlaw camp known
as Deadwood. Facing a government of outsiders and the possible
loss of cl rights, denizens struggle to cash in on their
dreams before it's too late. The ascension of Deadwood from camp
to town is imminent and new arrivals are ushering in an era
filled with tough decisions and brutal power struggles. HBO
presents Season 2 of the Emmy(R)-winning drama series that
follows the ruthless inhabitants of an American frontier town.
Picking up where Season One left off, now-Sheriff Seth Bullock
(Timothy Olyphant) and Machiavellian saloon owner Al Swearengen
(Ian McShane) continue to share a restlessness of spirit,
heightened by the influx of new residents and imported officials
threatening to turn the lucrative anarchy of the Deadwood camp
into a real law-and-order town. Molly Parker, Brad Dourif and
John Hawkes co-star.
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Deadwood: The Complete Second Season continues the Shakespearean
brilliance of the landmark first season (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006FO5LO/${0} ), created by NYPD Blue head
writer David Milch. Milch either wrote or supervised the writing
of each of the 12 episodes in this stunning follow-up, which
contains more than a few surprises for anyone who thought they
knew the myriad characters in the late 19th century town of
Deadwood--a mucky, ungoverned, exceptionally violent development
in South Dakota. As with the first season, Deadwood continues to
be about many things--survival, loyalty, alliances, duty--but all
of them are happening against a titanic battle between several
parties to consolidate power and real wealth in the territory.
Despite his cutthroat ethics, astonishing profanity, and bursts
of cruelty, it's hard not to side in this bid for a piece of
America's future with saloon owner Al Swearengen (a magnificent
performance by Ian McShane), a visionary monster who is
nevertheless more recognizably human than his rivals.
Entering an uneasy partnership with Al is Seth Bullock (Timothy
Olyphant). Seth begins the second season by teaching Al a few
lessons in chivalry, and their brief but bloody feud commences
physical ailments for Al that become increasingly shocking to
behold. Yet Al's difficulties have the practical effect of
sidelining him for a couple of episodes while the story sets up
more complex power struggles. Al takes on Deadwood's other
saloon-brothel owner, the unstable Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe),
as well as an off-screen millionaire who is intent on owning all
the gold-mining interests by buying out weary prospectors'
cls. Meanwhile, Seth's wife and son (actually, his late
brother's widow and child) arrive, an unsettling development for
Seth's lover, the widow Alma Garret (Molly Parker), who soon
reveals herself to be a more complicated person than in the first
season. The prostitute Trixie (Paula Malcomson) begins thinking
about her future and asserts independence from Al by having sex
with Seth's friend, Sol Star (John Hawkes). Best of all, Calamity
Jane (Robin Weigert) is back and more endearingly uncivilized
than ever. Special features include actor commentaries on select
episodes, the best of which finds Olyphant and McShane cracking
each other up while watching the season premiere. --Tom Keogh