TVSquad

A book on the history of the American west might be nice beach reading for the remainder of the summer. Newsflash: George Hearst was not killed by a sexually ambiguous theater owner in Deadwood. I hope this does not draw from the suspense of the 2 movies...

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Deadwood was just a huge let down. The whole season was not very good at all.
HBO, I miss Sex in the City.

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Jeez, no kidding. Just the worst. I've been reading Deadwood history along with the show's episodes, so I was aware that Hearst doesn't get his, but still. Couldn't there have been some resolution to the tension between S. and H? Or is that the cliffhanger?

A 4th season, perhaps. But what seems clearer to me is the possibility that the regular writers were out...

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Sure, it was a bit disappointing, but we all know that neither Hearst, Al, Bullock or Seth would die. In some ways it was a fitting end...Hearst has taken over Deadwood, Al feared Hearst throughout the season and he never overcame his fear. The scene where he tightly gripped the knife ready to pounce on Hearst was tense.

I loved how Johnny cared for the whore. It added another dimension to the character.

I liked Langrishe when he initially appeared, but by this episode I could care less. His presence did show though that Deadwood wasn't ready to be a normal town.

All in all, another brilliant season. Granted, it was a bit anti-climactic and you could say that it lacked blood like season 6 of The Sopranos, but it was really more about the characters and the interactions between them. Too bad there won't be another proper season.

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I too was let down by the Finale.
I did not know about the end of Deadwood coming with two 2-hour movies, and no 4th season. That made the let down of this season even more painful.

If this is an accurate depiction of life in the "Old West" I guess I've learned that life then was as it is now. A lot of dirty talk, underlings are always getting stepped on by the "Powers That Be" and politics is not as much about "the people's will" as we would hope.

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I think the real Deadwood burned to the ground (the entire town) I think that would have been a great finale. Chinks and Pinkerton's gunning it out as the town burns around them, with Al on his perch and Hearst on his roof watching like Machievelli and Nero.

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Joanie's preferences aren't new.

I thought Langrishe should have been left out. Ultimately, he aadded nothing substantital to the story. And if they had to have him, he should have been a more minor character. The subplots about the theater weren't very interesting.

I expected the season to end with much more intensity. I figured it would end with the fire, as jim mentioned. But maybe they'll cover that in the movies. Still, I thought the season was good, and I wish it would continue.

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Any reccomendations for books about Old West history, specifically Deadwood?

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Yes I was a little let down by the finale. Throughout the past few episodes a lot of reasons were given to hate hearst by many of the characters. It was a guessing game trying to figure out how Hearst would die. Could have been E.B., Aunt Lou, Aunt Lou's son, Bullock, Ellsworth (r.i.p.), Mrs. Ellsworth, Al, Wu, or any other characters. I really thought his time was coming.
I love Deadwood, and can't wait for more. I wouldn't have been disappointed if I immediately could watch the next four hours after, kinda like how I watched the first 4 seasons of the Sopranos on DVD in a couch marathon. What happened to Wyatt Earp and Morgan? I wasn't expecting just a small cameo from them.
I love Langrishe, I think Brian Cox is a great actor, but his character and storyline didn't matter much in the long run. And poor Ellsworth, I'll miss him.
Deadwood has so much story to tell, and so little time to tell it. Every episode is chock full of tidbits, but they just don't have enough airtime to get it all across. The seasons do get better and better, as does the acting. This is easily my favorite series going right now, at least until Battlestar comes back in October.

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I too was expecting some good old west type gun fire in the last episode. I've come to love the dialogue, as much as I could follow it(curse words not included), but this season dialogue was not enough. There were too many side bars and not enough nitty gritty from the main characters to satisfy my love of the old westerns. I was waiting for the Earp brothers to come back into camp and join forces with Bullock against Hearst. Wu and his men vs. the Pinkertons. etc.

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To those who were expecting a shoot-'em-up finale: have you been paying any attention to this season at all? The whole point of Al's machinations of the last 12 weeks was to PREVENT an apocalyptic showdown with the kind of muscle that a rich, famous & politically influential person would have at his disposal. He understood that the only way to "win" would be to stand together psychologically (but nevertheless to have some muscle of their own ready should this plan fall apart, if only to take some of "them" down with the rest of the town). As for historical accuracy, did you really think Goerge Hearst would die? Perhaps you've heard of Patty Hearst, his great-granddaughter? His son, William Randolph Hearst, one of the most powerful & influencial men of the 1st half of the 20th century? Deadwood (the show) has never been about doing the obvious, "viewer-friendly" thing. It will be sorely missed.

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Thought this was far and away the best season of the episode, but a terrible finale. The last 20 minutes were pointless.
And the theater company angle is absolutely not needed.
There has never been a giant gun fight on the series, so I don't see that happening in the two upcoming two hour "movies."
One question - what the hell is up with Powers Boothe? I was lost.
Please explain.

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I thought the way this season ended was totally consistent with the show...as a poster noted above, the town could never "win" against Hearst, just survive...

and throught Al's machinations, and despite Bullock's and Trixie's screwups, the town survived in the most hard core way imaginable, the slaughter of an innocent in the "most gentle way able" as Al put it....

the looks on all their faces as the realized the price they were paying was great tv in my mind...

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It wouldn't have been so big a let down, had we not been teased the last few episodes into believing the big showdown was comeing. And speaking of weak sub plots, How insignificant was the appearance of the Earps,I was sure they would have had a role in the final show.An interesting authentic western read-though not to do with Deadwood. I found to be the biography of Pat Garrett, the slayer of Billy the Kid.

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I loved the finale.

All of Al's machinations came to a head, Sol and Trixie's relationship culminated in them finally being able to understand each other, Johnny made his big stand and then came to an agreement with Al about what had to be done, Bullock lost his office as sheriff, Charlie more or less held the camp together, and Cy just out-and-out lost it.

And, even though they did finally get him out of town, Hearst got what he wanted all along, because Alma sold the claim. Seems to me that the whole point was that Hearst did as much damage as he possibly could have and he didn't even have to fire a shot. The camp is his. Al merely was playing defense, and getting the Chinese soldiers or Hawkeye's group to make an attack would just be inviting destruction.

I agree that the story with the drama troupe, which seemed like it should have been loaded with meaning, kind of went nowhere. Maybe it was supposed to be really allegorical and I just missed it.

For me, everything was summed up with Bullock's final speech to Hearst -- he admonishes him to get out or to be dragged out, but in the end his words were meaningless -- Hearst had done his damage and Bullock knew it.

I'm assuming now that the movies are going to center on how the camp is going to deal with Hearst running the show. My guess now is that Cy or Al will set the town ablaze.

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BORING. What a letdown. The whole season was slow, but I kept coming back because it seemed like they were building to a big payoff. Well, it never came. What a waste. At least a new season of The Wire is coming to ease the sting.

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I thought the last show was a big let down too i also expected more from the earp boys they acted like a couple of wimps that said i do love the show and will watch it if and when it returns

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I thought for sure the Earps would stand with Al etal, but they just rode off somewhere.

The ending couldn't have ended otherwise, but if you think about it still implausible since everybody was on hair trigger, it would have only taken one hothead's shot to set the battle off.

For all not satisfied with the ending remember the dance by Doc. Cochrane with Jewel at her invitation.That was really special.

And when the geologist for Hearst hanged himself, that was a fitting ending since that cs,sob,mf murderer was a goner no matter what.

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Yes, the finale was disappointing, but now it's time for THE WIRE. :D

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Want to learn more about Deadwood? The real Deadwood?

Visit the Adams Museum web site. Can't go wrong with this as a starting place. www.adamsmuseumandhouse.org

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