11 Great Things You Only Notice Rewatching Deadwood
5. Approach To Race
In a historical era so well known for its blatant racism and a genre so well known for glossing over it, Deadwood stands out as an exemplar in showing minority characters in a way that's honest about their perceived inferiority in society, and respectful in how they are persevered.
For example, Aunt Lou acts as the happy-go-lucky "Mammy" caricature as would be expected by an employer like Hearst but changes her demeanor and tone whenever Hearst isn't around. Similarly, Wu receives little to no respect from Swearengen at the start of the show and they only speak to one another because it's in both of their interests to do so.
It's rare that a show is so unflinching about their depictions of racism and still manages to present well-rounded characters that are more than mere victims of a racist time.