The Atlantic

<em>Deadwood: The Movie</em> Is David Milch’s Finest Work

The feature-length coda to HBO’s acclaimed frontier show ties off the last season’s plot threads while telling a story that stands on its own.
Source: HBO

When in 2006 after three seasons, well short of what its creator, David Milch, had initially planned, the reasons for its untimely demise were never fully explained. Why did a network renowned for its critically acclaimed output pull the plug on a show that some argue is the ? Over the years, that mystery has become part of the show’s lore. It made a sort of sense that a story about the grand American experiment, where democracy and commerce sprang up on stolen frontier land amid violence and chaos, ended with the main character, Al Swearengen, mopping a pool of blood on

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic6 min read
Florida’s Experiment With Measles
The state of Florida is trying out a new approach to measles control: No one will be forced to not get sick. Joseph Ladapo, the state’s top health official, announced this week that the six cases of the disease reported among students at an elementar
The Atlantic6 min read
There’s Only One Way to Fix Air Pollution Now
It feels like a sin against the sanctitude of being alive to put a dollar value on one year of a human life. A year spent living instead of dead is obviously priceless, beyond the measure of something so unprofound as money. But it gets a price tag i
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Most Consequential Recent First Lady
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The most consequential first lady of modern times was Melania Trump. I know, I know. We are supposed to believe it was Hillary Clinton, with her unbaked cookies

Related Books & Audiobooks