DEADWOOD: DEADWOOD {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere of this gritty western about life in the outlaw camp of Deadwood in the 1870s.
In this episode, in the Montana Territory, U.S. Marshal Seth Bullock tells prisoner Clell Watson that he plans to open a hardware store in Deadwood, where there is supposedly "no law at all." When Byron Sampson, the man from whom Watson stole a horse, arrives in search of vigilante justice, Bullock reluctantly assists in Watson's hanging, giving him a merciful death. Elsewhere, the famous lawman "Wild" Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Charlie Utter are waylaid by mud on their way into Deadwood; Al Swearengen, ruthless proprietor of the Gem Saloon, violently punishes one of his working girls, Trixie, for shooting a john. Jane spots a Norwegian family, the Metzes, on the road into town; once in Deadwood, Hickok observes as Bullock and his business partner Sol Star appease an angry passerby with a gift.
Hickok, Jane and Utter seek rooms at the Grand Central Hotel, and E.B. Farnum quickly reports Hickok's arrival to Swearengen. As Star and Bullock set up their wares, Swearengen and wealthy prospector Brom Garret discuss Hickok's arrival and scheme to buy a gold claim owned by Tim Driscoll, who soon arrives at the Gem in a state of inebriation. Trixie buys another gun as Hickok sits down for a poker game, and Farnum, Swearengen and Driscoll trick Garret into buying the claim, though Driscoll goes far above their agreed-upon amount of $14,000. Saloon owner Tom Nuttall expresses interest in Hickok's regular appearance at his establishment, and Utter haggles for a price. The man shot by Trixie is unceremoniously disposed of at Mr. Wu's pig farm, and Swearengen demands to know why Driscoll, who is deeply indebted, went "off-script" and demanded $20,000 from Garret.
Star and Bullock enlist Reverend Smith to guard their wares and then learn from Ned Mason that the Metz family was massacred on the road to the city of Spearfish, presumably by Sioux. Believing that one child may still be alive, Bullock immediately heads to the site, though Swearengen, learning of the incident, urges his patrons to stay put in the saloon and seek their revenge later. Jane, however, storms off to the site of the slaughter, and she soon finds Bullock and Hickok with little Sofia Metz, who survived her family's massacre. Local prospector Ellsworth attempts to comfort a badly bruised Trixie as Swearengen's henchman Dority executes Driscoll, and Doc Cochran carefully tends to Sofia. Bullock and Hickok soon deduce that Mason killed the Metzes in the midst of robbing them and then staged the scene to look like a Sioux attack. They swiftly execute him for his crimes, observed by Smith, Alma Garret and several others. Later, despite Swearengen's cruel treatment, Trixie abandons her new weapon and joins her boss in bed.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: March 21, 2004 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:01:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:82877
- GENRE: Drama, western
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, western; Drama, historical; Drama, action/adventure
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2004-2006
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Milch … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Gregg Fienberg … Co-Executive Producer
- Scott Stephens … Producer
- Davis Guggenheim … Producer
- Steve Turner … Co-Producer
- Hilton H. Smith … Associate Producer
- Kathryn Lekan … Associate Producer
- Bernadatte McNamara … Associate Producer
- Jody Worth … Consulting Producer
- Walter Hill … Consulting Producer, Director
- Michael Brook … Music by
- Timothy Olyphant … Cast, Seth Bullock
- Ian McShane … Cast, Al Swearengen
- Molly Parker … Cast, Alma Garret
- Jim Beaver … Cast, Whitney Ellsworth
- Brad Dourif … Cast, Doc Cochran
- John Hawkes … Cast, Sol Star
- Paula Malcomson … Cast, Trixie
- Leon Rippy … Cast, Tom Nuttall
- William Sanderson … Cast, E.B. Farnum
- Robin Weigert … Cast, Calamity Jane
- W. Earl Brown … Cast, Dan Dority
- Dayton Callie … Cast, Charlie Utter
- Keith Carradine … Cast, Wild Bill Hickok
- Jeffrey Jones … Cast, A.W. Merrick
- Timothy Omundson … Cast, Brom Garret
- Garret Dillahunt … Cast, Jack McCall
- Raymond McKinnon … Cast, Reverend H.W. Smith
- Sean Bridgers … Cast, Johnny Burns
- Geri Jewell … Cast, Jewel
- Keone Young … Cast, Mr. Wu
- Jamie McShane … Cast, Ned Mason
- Dan Hildebrand … Cast, Tim Driscoll
- Michael Hagerty … Cast, Loud Wagoneer
- Christopher Darga … Cast, Byron Sampson
- James Parks … Cast, Clell Watson
- Dean Rader-Duval … Cast, Jimmy Irons
- Everette Wallin … Cast, Joey
- Peter Jason … Cast, Con Stapleton
- David Carpenter … Cast, Vigilante
- Gill Gayle … Cast, Huckster
- Dylan Haggerty … Cast, Abusive John
- G.T. Holme … Cast, Miner in the Gem Saloon
- Vanessa Robertson … Cast, Whore #4
- Ursula Brooks … Cast, Whore #6
- Tom Simmons … Cast, Poker Player at No. 10
- Misti Cassar … Cast
- Allison Gammon … Cast
- Michelle Haner … Cast
- Robyn Hyden … Cast
- Honey Lauren … Cast
- Victor McCay … Cast
- Raynor Scheine … Cast