I'm still in raptures over how good Deadwood is.
We watched the commentary (Robin Weigert and Brad Dourif) on the episode that contained the brilliant monologue from Farnum:
"You have been tested, Al Swearengen. And your deepest purposes proved, there’s gold on the woman’s claim. You might as well have shouted it from the rooftops: 'That’s why I’m jumpin’ through hoops to get it back. Thorough as I fleeced the fool she married, I will fleece his widow, too. Using loyal associates like Eustace Bailey Farnum as my go-betweens and dupes. To explain, why I want her bought out I’ll make a pretext of my fear of the Pinkertons. I’ll throw Farnum a token thief. Why should I reward E.B. with some small fractional participation in the claim? Or let him even lay by a little security and source of continuing income, for his declining years? What’s he ever done for me? Except let me terrify him every goddamned day of his life ‘til the idea of bowel regularity is a faint fuckin’ hope. Not to mention orderin’ a man killed in one of E.B.’s rooms. So every fuckin’ free moment of his life E.B. has to spend scrubbing the bloodstains off the goddamned floor! To keep from... having to lower his rates.' Goddamn that motherfucker!"
I was heartened that they thought it was as brilliant as I did. One of the things they said was that each character in Deadwood seems to be from a different genre: Alma is a Henry James character, Jane's a Twain character, Farnum's a Dickens character.