Less Western
Time to confess: I never liked Westerns as a kid. I was much more drawn to horror and science fiction. I think it's partly that Westerns were too dusty, and I was an allergy sufferer. But really, the main thing was that morality in Westerns always seemed too black-and-white. Good and evil were too starkly delineated, and good nearly always triumphed, whether it was over psycho gunslingers or Indians (and the racism of a lot of classic Westerns has been well-documented). Something like Batman was clearly a fantasy, and could be enjoyed on that level, but TV shows like Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Lone Ranger were supposed to take place in the real world, and never drew me in. Well, there's a new sheriff in town. The new TV Westerns are a different breed.
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Boyz n tha 'Wood
The reinvigoration of the TV Western begins with David Milch's wonderfully complex, filthy Deadwood. What initially looked like a traditional battle between the stalwart Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and the wicked Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) turned out to be something much more fascinatingly knotty, as Bullock's moral rigidity turns out to be a shortcoming, and the gloriously profane, self-servingly pragmatic Swearengen turns out to be an ally against the more ruthlessly greedy and depraved concerns that pass through the town. Deadwood teems with dark wit and chaotic life, as a bounty of rich supporting characters, each with a life that seems to extend beyond the frame, fill in every possible position on the moral spectrum, while Milch critiques the savage soullessness of modern capitalism. But then, after three of what should have been five seasons, HBO cancelled it.
Deadwood-on-Wheels?
Fans were naturally bereft, and when a new series was announced, on a cable network with a pretty good track record (AMC), we got excited. Sadly, Hell on Wheels is no Deadwood. Focusing on the expansion of the railroad, rather than gold prospecting, it doesn't have Deadwood's rich sense of place, its memorable dialogue, or its vivid characterizations. It is pretty brutal, what with its main character strangling an innocent man to death in the first season finale, and it has its own complexities, involving the Civil War, religion, and most promisingly, race. This show addresses the aftereffects of slavery, and the white man's prolonged entrenchment against Native Americans, in ways that Deadwood never broached. These elements, along with the presence of the great Tom Noonan, kept me interested enough to stick with the show, despite its unevenness.
Cowboy's Last Stand
Of course, Deadwood fans did have another option. I remember my ambivalence at first seeing the ads for Olyphant's next series, Justified. FX was obviously toying with our broken hearts, trying to make us think that our beloved Bullard was back, in some contemporary incarnation. No, Justified is not Deadwood, any more than Hell on Wheels is. And Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Olyphant) is not Bullock. He's got a better sense of humor, for one thing. And where Hell on Wheels is a mixed bag, Justified is completely successful at transposing and updating the American cowboy to our times. Raylan's tough, and smart, and he does things his own way. Better still, he's complex. We understand the way he struggles to find a path through his petty grievances, his personal loyalties, and the law he's supposed to uphold. In all honesty, I may never get over those two seasons of Deadwood I never got to see, but Justified eases my hurt, and proves that the TV Western still has life.
