Deadwood is slipping. From a story in USA Today: “On Sunday’s show, there were at least 63 mentions of the f-word in the hour.” Only 63?
The article goes on to discuss the pros and mostly cons of the high profanity quotient. Among others, Dennis Weaver isn’t pleased.
“When you use it and use it, it loses its emphasis and loses its dramatic effect.” Weaver says. “That doesn’t mean to say that the people in the West didn’t use pretty raw language.”
NewMexiKen has already expressed his own discomfort with too much profanity (in my case, the film Ladykillers). Deadwood is still pretty rough and sometimes the profane language just doesn’t resonate. (After you hear and use the f-word a few times you develop a feel for it.)
That said, Sunday’s episode (Number 7) was superb. The acting and writing is outstanding — across the board. The scene near the end where Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) and Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) are talking to their departed friend Wild Bill at his grave site was both amusing and moving. When you can get two opposing emotions going at the same time in a TV drama, you are definitely doing something right.