Deadwood. The Shakespeare of the future.

This is one of my all-time favorite shows. Period. The characters are vivid and memorable. Even the ones that died four episodes into the series resonate to this day. But I have to admit, sometimes this show is harder to understand than Shakespeare. Plots about government takeovers and gold mining are made all the more difficult to understand by the fact that these people talk like they're from 16th century England. Check that, they TRY to talk like that. I think the people in the Wild West tried to act like they were civilized by talking like they think high society would talk. Unfortunately all they succeed in doing is taking what could be said in five words and and expanding it into a full paragraph.

But I love it anyway.

Another great thing about this series is that the episodes aren't like episodes at all. The season is the episode in these people's lives, and it's just broken up into 13-14 parts, each one taking place right after the other leaves off. I'm watching the 9th episode of the second season right now, and I think only three or four days have passed in that time. Sometimes nothing really big happens in an episode, but it remains interesting because the characters (and there are A LOT of them) are so well-drawn that you are really invested in the small things, like staking a claim or whether the biggest asshole in the camp can pass a stone without dying. Seriously.

Deadwood. The Shakespeare of the future.

I recommend it to everyone, but make sure you start from the beginning and watch every episode; otherwise you'll be totally lost. Oh, and they swear. A lot.