10 Reasons You MUST Finally Watch Deadwood
4. The Glorious Fight Scenes
"Welcome to f*cking Deadwood! It can be combative." Al Swearengen's off the cuff declaration to appalled new arrivals, following a particularly memorable fight with Bullock, perfectly describes the violent nature of Deadwood.
There are many different kinds of fights in Deadwood. They range from drunken bar brawls to gunfights to planned assassinations and violent explosions of brooding anger, but one thing links them all: the fight scenes in Deadwood are gloriously brutal.
Whilst there's regular violence, murder and debauchery, the really big fights are fewer and far between, packing a literal punch after a period of tension is allowed to build to breaking point.
The most memorable altercation is perhaps the one between the right-hand men of Swearengen and Hurst, a planned bare-knuckle brawl that becomes more and more desperate as it continues, both men's lives affected irreversibly in the process.
These fights aren't gratuitous, they're just refreshingly realistic and when the stakes are high you'll be left breathless.