Ranking Every HBO Drama Series From Worst To Best
3. Deadwood
It takes a little while to get onto Deadwood’s wavelength. David Milch’s dialogue is at its most thickly poetic, and you’re thrown in at the deep end. Montana sheriff Seth Bullock leaves his post to seek his fortune in the eponymous lawless mining camp, and within one episode finds himself embroiled with a sprawling cast of schemers, dreamers, killers, and citizens.
It’s the (somewhat true) story of a rough and dangerous camp turning into a genuine town. As we progress, civilisation finds Deadwood; it’s annexed by the Dakota territory and grows, with all the opportunity and change that brings.
Its trump card is town elder and complex creation Al Swearengen. Played by Ian McShane (in a shout for all time best TV performance), Al is in turn a ruthless pimp, brutish cutthroat, and soulful town patriarch. He locks horns with Bullock (a stoic and charismatic Timothy Olyphant), but he’s deeply layered, desperate to bring civility to his town even as he demonstrates little of his own.
The stories are packed with surprises and incredible setpiece moments, and the sheer joy of watching the town of Deadwood expand is worth the price of admission alone. It was cancelled before its time, and came back over a decade later to sum things up in a feature film - somehow, after all this time, it was still brilliant.