Deadwood: Season 3

Too bad they stopped at three seasons. This is a great series. Sure the dialogue is vulgar but it seems appropriate. I was disappointed by the ending of the last episode because it was very anticlimactic and depressing. There were some oddly inexplicable elements. Why write Wyatt and Morgan Earp in and do nothing with them? Why didn't Wu arm and bring his 150 Chinese into the mix earlier? Why have the doctor come down with TB when the series was ending soon anyway? Why write in the distracting subplots like those associated with the acting troop when it was meaningless to the main story line? Why didn't somebody just shoot Hurst with a rifle from a distance while he was standing on the roof of the hotel's porch?

Great story line and some wonderful characters that surprise you by not being stereotypical and predictable. I just have no idea who the people are who decide to stop producing a series like this Deadwood. At the end of three seasons you will be left wanting to learn more about all of the characters you have begun to love and hate, but then the pull the plug. They stop producing this story to allow the he production of an inferior story that must provide some sort of greater monetary reward? Such is life when art forms follow commercial greed. Such is life in America where business is much, much more more important that the enjoyment of a good story. Today is full of very good and sometimes great television. I am just thankful that I can watch it on streaming services like Amazon to avoid the time-wasting commercials of network television.

Al Swearingen! the second-most-complicated character in TV history (besides Tatiana Maslany in "Orphan Black"...what?..at last count she plays...like...8 different continuing, nuanced, totally-different, true-to-life characters??!!!...NUTS!!) I started watching Deadwood b/c I finished "Justified" and needed an Olyphant fix. But as Timothy Olyphant has stated before, his Deadwood lead character Seth Bullock is way cool but doesn't have nearly the number of interesting sides that Raylan Givens has in Justified. And they never let him do "funny" with Seth - crying shame! What kept me riveted through Deadwood seasons 1, 2 and 3 was Al Swearingen, who just when you thought you had his character's contours mapped and compartmentalized, spreads his wings in just a little different - albeit very important and necessary for the plot development of the show - direction. And normally with just the slightest facial movements. You never know exactly what's going to happen properly with Al Swearingen in any given show, and whatever he finally does always makes sense. When it occurs in the context of a riveting story with many other very good performances, THAT is great writing. And Ian McShane's acting just nails it.Then, of course, there are other reasons that set Deadwood apart from any other show in the history of TV: 1) it's the most swearing show ever - period. And it all seems natural given the environment. But just riding along while the writers plumb the depths of TV profanity is worth the ride. But then there are lots of other things, like...what show has EVER had a severed head play a significant supporting role (the Indian chief's head that Swearingen claims his is about to send off but never does, keeping it instead for his adverse, self-mocking, consternation muse)? Too fun! And then the dialogue...amazing...Deadwood is the closest thing to an attainable Shakespearean western.If you can take the language heat and bloody body count but have not yet watched Deadwood, you really need to treat yourself to this amazingly blunt yet nuanced show!

Not as good as 1 & 2. The last season was a surprise and disappointment for cast and fans. It just really was not as good a storyline on the last season, the actors all were on top of the game as always and a lot of them move on to even bigger and some what better work/shows.Personally I think season one was a five star ( I know it had a lot to do with the great Walter Hill who directed the first show and also a great actor My friend Keith C. )Season two almost as good as one still worth five stars.I truly feel had there been a Fourth season, it would have been a topnotch five star.I'm just hoping for some kind of movie or special show, but I'm no holding my breath.So was it worth watching yes season one & two, and maybe season 3. PS be ready for lots of gutter language (adult language ?=stupid & dumb!!!)

The 3rd season of DW is my least favorite. Not that it was bad, but purely on the fact that the 3rd season is the final season of this great show! It all comes down to this! Bullock, Swearengen, Alma Russell Ellsworth, and Hearst all charge into one final hoo-rah! This season effectively sets up the next season for even bigger events, but alas, that never happened. Instead, we are left with a bunch of what-ifs and how-comes. We are left wanting more.Do I dare say that this ending ruins the whole series? It makes you want to scream! So unfair! There was so much more to Deadwood and the people who lived their historically. The story could have spun into Bullock's time as an every day Joe, hanging out with Theodore Roosevelt, or the huge fire that destroyed a good portion of Deadwood and it's rebuilding. With so many promises of a reunion series or even movies to give us a proper finale, many of us stood by for years. Now in 2015, that seems really unlikely.This whole series is worth the watch. Just know that it ends well, but leaves you wanting to see the townspeople get their revenge. It leaves you wondering what the people did outside of Deadwood after their departures. It leaves you wanting..... we can only hope the HBO execs see these reviews and give it another go or give us a proper send off with a tie-in movie.

The Bad news is that season three is rthe end of this wonderful American series.The good news is that the same cast are engaged for a new film due for release in 2019.Why they ended this excellent, always fresh, interesting and above all entertaining series is beyond my comprehension.True all good things must come to an end but ONLY three series Deadwood could have streyched out to at least another 2.This series has 12 episodes meaning 9 hours of wonderful television.Brilliant acting by a superb cast. Great to see Ian McShane and Brian Cox holding the British Stars in a Major American series up.Timothy Olyphant is again wonderful the Ying to McShane's Yang.This is the American West as it was. Rough, tough and dirty as the language used.The cast suppport and acting is of the America's best which is wonderful. They simply have the budget, the excellent teams of writers and the cash to provide a satisfying twelve episodes per series compared to the lower budget writers of two of our British Counterparts.Deadwood has been more than a Western it is drama that is set in a bygone age and as so will never age.Wonderful entertainment and if you get your sets at under £3 like I did you will be royally entertained.

In keeping with many of the reviewers, I am an enormous fan of this series. As such, Series 3 is ultimately disappointing, lacking the fluid pacing of 1 & 2, though retaining its intriguing dialogue. One is left wishing for a different direction, more of this and definetely less of that...The outstanding character remains Al Swearengen. The writers have gifted him the material that amuses and illuminates, that speaks the ultimate truth of the darkness of human motivation. Of course, Ian McShane delivers with consumate surety - Al is a legend. Less can be said of Seth Bullock. One keeps hoping that Seth will explode onto the consciousness of Deadwood, setting his stamp on the town. However, he fails, blown in conflicting directions as each new breeze dictates. He has the potential but, it seems, not the contolling mindset to dominate.The series was diluted by too much attention given to minor or unimportant characters. The tussle over the blacksmith shop is a case in point, diverting but frustrating as one wants to return to the important plot lines. Brian Cox, a talented actor, and inhabiting an interesting character in Jack Langrische, is also an unnecessary sideline. The eccentric Calamity Jane, whom we all surely have a soft spot for, is positioned within a relationship with Joanie. I did not believe in the dynamic of this couple, which was a shame.The series moves in a jerky manner. Our attention is always engaged but with less compulsion than previously. You will certainly enjoy the series and it remains a gem. Make your own judgement. I hope that, as unlikely as it now seems, Deadwood will return for a shortened fourth series. Al Swearengen cannot be denied.

Excellent third season which ends leaving one wondering whether there will be a fourth season! Too many unanswered questions about most of the characters. Will they survive the transition from the violence of the virtually lawless wild west? Historically we know the answer but we're interested in the characters: Marshall Bulloch, devilish saloon owners Al Swearengen (Ian McShane)and the equally satanic rival played by Powers Booth; Doc, Janie and Trixie (both good but also "bad" girls), mine owner Alma (who seems to be taking the phrase 'widow' to extremes) and the machiavellian Hearst who takes the meaning of control freak to another level! There are also nice people who's fate is mostly to be trodden on by others. There's the old-style language - almost Shakespearean - you may need the subtitles to understand the nuances of the C19th American English. Mr Wu gets by which just a few swear words and graphic diagrams! Which leads one to the conclusion that in later years, his pigs would have to get their sustenance from other sources than "victims of crime"!

Excellent series. Was loaned series 1 and 2 and couldn't wait to see series 3. It was very well packaged, excellent quality and well worth it. Would like to see series 4 being made but I did hear that 4 may be a movie. Having withdrawal symptoms now. The good thing about having these is being able to watch it over again.

Why Ian McShane did not get an award for this is beyond me.I found this a riveting series and have watched all three seasons more than once.McShane is superb as the evil Al Swerengen, but plays him with a fantastic element of black comedy. The dialogue is a wonder and really helps to make the atmosphere of the old west.Plenty of foul language, but that didn't bother me and was probably historically accurate too..A tale of the old west with warts and all, quite brilliant.