Deadwood: The Complete Third Season

Reviewed by:
Gene Newman

Get your DVD player ready for blood, 'cause here comes the most intelligent, intense, violent, and profane show on TV. This is the final 12-episode full season of a show that we'll miss 100 times more than The Sopranos. (The good news: Deadwood's coming back for a four-hour two-episode finale to close things out.) Each season has been building toward Deadwood becoming a legit town, and season three is centered on powerful outside influences swooping in and trying to take away everything Al Swearengen, Seth Bullock, and the rest of the gritty pioneers have spent years building. Plus, captain of industry George Hearst brings evil to new depths, which leads to a fight in the streets with such an "eye-popping" outcome we'll never be able to erase it from our memory. HBO doesn't disappoint by including a bonanza of extras, including commentaries, historical featurettes, and more. All in all, it's a heathen's motherfucking dream, even if you have a tough time following the dialogue. (Though, we'd probably like Shakespeare if he used the word "cocksucker" as much as show creator David Milch does.)