Well this week I was able to borrow the first season of HBO's Deadwood, and have become immediately hooked on it. Sure there is blood, nudity and copious amounts of swearing, but that is just the extra. The town set up is gritty, and rife with interesting characters, this sure isn't Miss Kitty's Saloon.

The plot could have been used to create a middling made for TV oater, with a reluctant hero going up against a town run by a powerful and corrupt man. But this is more like a soap opera, in that each episode builds upon the last, and it can take 2 or 3 episodes just to get through one day in the town. And as such, you get to see how such a situation plays out, when you are not stuck with the filmatic requirement of a resolution after just 2 hours or so. Al, the main villain, is fascinating to watch how he keeps his little frontier syndicate running- and it keeps him on his toes. (Crime may pay, but it seems like Al spends most of his time cleaning up after the messes made by his collection of thugs and whores. No rest for the wicked, apparently...)

Meanwhile seeing how the reluctant hero gets pulled into the conflict reminds me of Yojimbo/For a few Dollars More, except that he seems to be always at the wrong place at the right time. So far he has not even understood a quarter of what Al is up to, but just his presence already has Al planning on how to get rid of him.

Like I said, I am rather hooked on it, and am looking forward to seeing where this goes.