Don't listen to this commentary to get much insight; Timothy Olyphant even makes a joke that he's going to try to give even less inside information than the last time. Olyphant and Ian McShane mainly just fun messing with each other and laughing at what's on the screen. They sound like they just have a great time working together and being on the show. They do give a little bit of background on the infamous line: "Welcome to f***ing Deadwood! Can be combative!"

The ladies are much more "ooh" and "aah" and "mmm" while watching the episode, kind of annoying actor-talk. They're foreshadowing that Season 2 will be more focused on the women of the town, so they're trying to imagine what it was like to be a woman in that time period. As a man, BORED NOW.

David Milch is the type of filmmaker that you could listen to all day. His voice may be a little low and monotonous at times but his insights are anything but boring. On this particular track Milch, as always, willingly delves deep into his creative process and discusses the motivations he had to take characters, story arcs, and dialogue in one direction or the other. I will admit that he does start off slow. Fortunately he quickly picks up his pace once he finds his rhythm. My only wish is that he could have talked on every episode. Highly recommended for any Deadwood fans.


9/10

Talks about some of the extras being given speaking parts because of how they looked.

Tim Blake Nelson was originally cast for the part of Sol Starr. Milch said he had to go speak to a Jewish group in New York to say that Sol Starr was not an anti-Semitic character.

He hates auditions because he hates to hurt feelings, so he likes casting people who have never acted before. That's also why he used Garrett Dillahunt again after using him in the last season.

Talks a little more about the language on the show -- that the cursing on the show reflects the lawlessness of the town. A lot of this is repeated from his commentary in the first season.

Talks about killing off Wild Bill and how it created a backlash about killing off the hero of the show.


If you like listening to Milch, you'll know it in the first three minutes. If he doesn't interest you at first, it'll be the same the whole way through.

Explained the meaning of the horse in the main theme. Some explanation about the minor characters who have been given more lines and how some of the shows are shot, such as the actors growing their own facial hair or always having some kind of candles or other fire around for nighttime scenes. Talks about how a director can never have a set plan since David Milch can always have new ideas or writing on the spot.

The sound mixer of the episode sound was up too high. Combine that with the monotone of the director's voice, and it's hard to pay attention.

An odd mix. Dayton Callie comes off as a moron and kind of a creep to Kim Dickens. Kim Dickens is a little boring. William Sanderson keeps making comments that are pretty funny if you like his sense of humor but they're kind of lost on Dickens and Callie. Not a whole lot revealed about the show.

A better commentary on this episode. Both Powers Boothe and Garrett Dillahunt have a wry sense of humor; Booth is defending the actions of his character and Dillahunt has a lot of self-deprecating humor about his character. Also, Dillahunt gives out a pretty big spoiler about the end of the season, so be sure to watch all the episodes first before listening to this commentary.

They introduce themselves as Trixie the Whore and Sol Starr the Hardware Jew. The biggest thing I learned is that Paula Malcomson is actually Irish. Other than that, there was nothing earth-shattering, mostly complimenting the writing, directing, and acting.

Timothy Olyphant and Anna Gunn take to the notion that if you are not going to be insightful on your commentary, you might as well be funny. They inform their listeners fairly quickly that they will not be providing any illumination into the creation of the show. Instead the two laugh their way through this particularly somber episode. Olyphant is nothing like his serious character, Seth Bullock, and even shares that whenever he is acting out a particularly dramatic moment he is usually thinking about what's for dinner. Needless to say, nothing is really gained by listening to this track, but it is fun nonetheless.


7/10

Ian McShane and Paula Malcomson give a less than entertaining commentary for this episode. There are very few pauses in between their comments, however what they say is usually insubstantial.


6/10