Dead. Wood. Blogging.
Well now. Viewers won’t have Steve to kick around any more, though some characters apparently will.
At first blush the dying dialogue, filched from Lear, between Jack Langrishe and Chesterton might seem too pat - ooh, actors quoting Shakespeare to each other in a death scene! - but I think a nice irony saves it. After all, in that scene and the second that provide the text, Gloucester does not fall from the precipice, for Edgar hasnot led his blind father to the precipice at all. Jack surely chooses to recall this scene for just that reason, to console Chesterton with the idea that it is no void he steps into.
On another front, color me slow: I only just realized how each episode begins in the morning and ends at night. Criminy, and me addicted to Hill Street Blues back in the day.
Fun Fact: Tonight’s scenarist, Kem Nunn, is the author of a bunch of novels, none of which I’ve read.
Comment by Matt Welch —
July 31, 2006 @ 2:57 am
Hmmm…. Hill Street Blues, and St. Elsewhere, were the only other shows with which I’ve been this *fanatical* about….
I hope Steve’s dead, but I fear the worst.
Comment by Mr. Obscura —
July 31, 2006 @ 8:22 am
Not all episodes begin in the morning and end at night. The opening 2 episodes of Season 2 were a two-parter. Perhaps its a technicality, but . . .
Interestingly, I made a comment to The Camera about the morning/night thing last night, too. I think it prompted a comment because the last couple of episodes have so clearly started as the camp wakes up.
I was convinced those two guys are NOT the Earp brothers. I didn’t remember ever hearing that the Earps were in Deadwood. Two seconds with Google got me here. I stand corrected.
Comment by Dave Intermittent —
July 31, 2006 @ 11:07 am
Kem Nunn writes hard-boiled surfing novels, which, as odd as that sounds, are actually very good. Try his novel the Dogs of Winter.
Comment by Jim Henley —
July 31, 2006 @ 11:30 am
Oh wait! Penny drops: Milch’s next series is being described as ”surf noir” right? So, I think we can see where this is going . . .
Comment by Camera Obscura —
July 31, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
I found it interesting that the rest of the troupe, who could hardly bear to be with Chesterton in sickness, had no problem taking care of him in death. Good bit o’ observing human nature, that.
Alas, but the writers will give Hearst no redeeming qualities whatsoever, will they? Unusual for this show.
The Little General’s utterance about Aunt Lou has roots in G&S’s HMS Pinafore, where the Captain describes Buttercup: ”A plump and pleasing person.”
Comment by Heffalump —
August 1, 2006 @ 2:59 pm
Alas, but the writers will give Hearst no redeeming qualities whatsoever, will they? Unusual for this show.
Is it? Jack McCall, the sociopathic Wolcott, Mr. Lee, and even the Earps - none of them had much in the way of redeeming qualities (unless you count Wolcott’s suicide).
Comment by Mr. Obscura —
August 1, 2006 @ 6:08 pm
Heffalump, From a comment by me on UO, circa 4 April 2005: ”But I think the theme is that there is actually some honor among thieves, at least those who share experiences. It is us (the camp) who built this burg from nothing, versus them (Yankton) who want to take it away from us, with a wild card (Hearst and W) thrown in. As I’ve said before, the keys to the show are the characters. Almost everyone is flawed in one or more ways, but all have some good in them. No one (except Mr. W) is all bad” and later in the same thread: ”Jim, I’m concerned about Mr.W showing some shred of humanity; I’ve worked up such a profound dislike for him, I can’t wait until someone does a Magistrate Claggett on him.”
So I’ll give you Wolcott, with provisos. But McCall was more of a carciature than a character. And the Earps just arrived; it usually takes a few episodes for all facets of the character to emerge. One of the great joys of Deadwood is that the characters are shades of gray, not black and white. Heck, some are striped, not gray. You know, like real human beings. That is rare in television or film.
Comment by Gary Farber —
August 2, 2006 @ 1:02 pm
Remember, Jim: Let’s be careful out there.
Comment by Jim Henley —
August 2, 2006 @ 1:14 pm
Right on. And Gary, you are of course the ultimate stress test of the new comment plugin. I believe that if YOU can successfully post, ANYONE can.
Comment by Gary Farber —
August 3, 2006 @ 11:35 am
Further test: I was, myself, utterly addicted to Hill St. Blues. Absolutely Must See TV. I drove my didn’t-like-to-watch-tv girlfriend crazy trying to insist that she try it, and then watch it with me, which I mostly succeeded at, despite her resistance to tv per se.
Fond memories: Hill and Renko (originally never intended to survive the first episode, just like Julianna Margulies later in ER); ferocious Belker, always biting dirtbags; pizza man; the awesomeness of Veronica Hamel (if a bit overly-heavy on the make-up); the strange attractions of Sgt. Esterhaus; and so on and so forth; what a collection of characters.
(And a lot of excellent actors who went on to good things, though also several into successful tv directing, from Charles Haid to Betty Thomas.)
And how young folks like Joe Spano and Ken Olin and Mimi Kuzyk, and, well, all of them, were! Jeffrey Tambor! George Wyner! Dennis Franz as two different cops!
But, of course, just as much or more, the writing, and the style.
Good times. My first love affair with a tv show. You never forget your first.