Should I Admit I Had to Look Up 'Pecuniary'?

I love that part of the reason you like Deadwood so much is that you can see yourself living in that hellhole and loving it. That you have this Calvinesque fantasy of being a frumpy deliveryman in the Wild West is something that truly gives me great joy. I hope that we can both find a sliver of humor in this because otherwise I am – always and forever – an ass. Unfortunately, I have to reject the idea, which is interesting because I’m suggesting that your opinion is wrong, but hear me out. I say you’re wrong partially because no matter how much anyone wanted to live inside the show Baywatch that never made the show any better. Also, because the second season will make Deadwood less desirable but you won't like it any less. More importantly though, were I living in Deadwood (specifically the TV show, because somehow it seems more plausible that we would live inside a fictional television show set in the past than in the actual past) I would want to be the Sol Starr type but I know that I unfortunately fall more in line with the irritating newsmonger, A. W. Merrick (and nothing good can come from seeing myself in a character played by a sex offender).

Why’s Deadwood so good? (And it is so good that it boldly drops actors from the cast in the second season with barely an explanation and brings other actors back as different characters and you don’t care because it is that good.) The acting and the writing get all the attention because they are undeniably top-notch. I think Elisabeth Shue’s husband might be a big part of it as well. Davis Guggenheim’s name was everywhere I looked this summer. From an early episode of Alias that was so visually arresting I rewound it to see who was directing it, to all the plaudits for the Al Gore doc An Inconvenient Truth (which I’ve not seen), to Deadwood. You link the quality of Deadwood (loosely) to nailing Joanie Stubbs. I suspect it’s got more to do with nailing Elisabeth Shue.