Deadwood fans, devastated at the cancellation of the HBO series after just three seasons, patiently waited for a follow up film to tie up loose ends. It took over a decade of writing, and a Herculean effort coordinating the schedules of actors who had since gone on to even greater career heights, but finally Deadwood: The Movie premiered in 2019.
Fans were excited to see what the passage of time had done to the camp town; Seth Bullock becoming a little more tempered, and Al Swearengen becoming a little more avuncular, but the film didn't provide the closure they were hoping for. The gang was back together, but the film seemed to leave the camp town as mired in questions as the series finale did all those years before.
10 HOW DID CY DIE?
When last viewers had seen Cy Tolliver in Season 3's tumultuous finale, he'd stabbed Leon in lieu of being able to assassinate George Hearst with a purse pistol from his balcony. It was diabolical and gratuitous and every bit a Cy act of fanatical psychopathy, leaving viewers shocked and intrigued as to his mental state in Deadwood: The Movie.
Cy couldn't be in the film because Powers Boothe had passed away in 2017, so fans were robbed of his smoldering presence. They learned he'd bequeathed the Bella Union to Joanie Stubbs, but didn't get to discover whether or not he'd died in as singular a fashion as he'd lived.
9 WHAT HAPPENED TO STEVE?
Steve was a town drunk and a belligerent racist, but it seemed by the end of Season 3 there might have been hope for him to change his ways. This was swiftly truncated by him getting kicked in the head by a horse and rendered even more useless than normal.
He was cared for, with a great degree of unwarranted compassion, by a man whose race had previously been an affront to Steve's sensibilities. While it's assumed Steve couldn't have lived long in his given state, a throw-away line as to his fate would have gone a long way for the curious Deadwood viewer accustomed to dissecting the show's dialogue.
8 WHERE THERE ANY REPERCUSSIONS FOR BULLOCK?
Twice now has the erstwhile lawman Seth Bullock grabbed George Hearst by the ear and dragged him to jail. A man like Hearst can neither be killed nor imprisoned with any certainty, so the only thing assuaging the citizens of Deadwood for his crimes is his humiliation.
History tells viewers that Hearst was not the duplicitous villain seen in the series, and that he went on after his time in Deadwood to become a well respected senator and a newspaper man. But within the fictional account, surely Bullock would have had to go before a tribunal even as a marshal.
7 WHAT BECAME OF THE THEATER TROUPE?
Fans weren't particularly swayed by the preening jocularity of Jack Langrishe and his theater troupe when they blew into Deadwood in Season 3, but their presence allowed for different sides of the ensemble cast to emerge.
In the film Jack and his thespians are nowhere to be found, presumably having moved on from Deadwood. However, once annexation came, it seemed like a theater house might have become a permanent fixture as the camp became a proper town and the railroad passed through.
6 WHAT HAPPENED TO SILAS ADAMS?
Dan Dority would always be Al Swearengen's right hand, but Dan lacked both the mental acuity and business acumen to engage Al in a way that would make him appear an equal. Al could converse with Adams, who became one of his most adept lieutenants, like a peer with a head for successful machinations.
Adams is surprisingly absent from the film, with no mention of him made by either Al nor Dan. It would have been appropriate for Dan to at least remark on his delight that Adams wasn't around to insinuate into his relationship with Al.
5 WHAT HAPPENED TO CHARLIE'S LAND?
Being a senator didn't stop Hearst from getting his hands dirty once again, and on his return to Deadwood after years away he tried to force Charlie Utter's hand in the name of progress. Charlie's life was worth nothing to the industrial titan that envisioned telephone poles running through his land.
After Charlie's death, Alma successfully purchases the land at an auction to ensure Hearst can never get it. Her last line in the film pertains to her and Sophia coming up with how to operate Charlie's property.
4 DID AL DIE?
To no viewers' surprise, Al had not taken the advice of Doc Cochran in the intervening years and continued to drink whiskey to excess. He developed cirrhosis of the liver and was presumably on his last legs when the film opens.
The film ends with Al on his deathbed, barely able to register the passages from the bible being read to him. When he hears, "Our father, who art in heaven", he replies, "let him f*****g stay there" and seems to drift off, but the film ends teasing viewers that he may have simply fallen asleep.
3 DID SAMUEL DIE?
Samuel Fields, aka "N*****r General" witnesses Charlie Utter's murder in the opening ten minutes of the film and, due to being severally intimidated by Hearst's power and influence, doesn't come forward until the last half of the film.
He gets severally beaten by Hearst's men for what he knows, but is rescued by Bullock just in time. He agrees to testify against Hearst, but feels he may die before he sees his day in court. It's unclear whether he does or not by the film's end.
2 DID HEARST EVER ANSWER FOR HIS CRIMES?
The George Hearst of historical record wasn't the mustache-twirling villain of Deadwood, so viewers cannot look to history to see if he ever answered for his many crimes against the citizens of Deadwood the town.
Regardless, viewers couldn't help but wonder, had there been a fourth season for the series, whether or not he would have. The film left them in much the same quandary, as he had committed another murder and seemingly gotten away with it.
1 DID SOL BECOME A POLITICIAN?
Shortly before his questionable death scene, Al Swearengen concurred to Sol Star that he should be a politician because of his level-headedness, dependability, and adherence to reason. Sol responded that he'd consider it, but would that be a probable career move for him?
The Sol Star of history did indeed become a senator for the state of South Dakota one year after Deadwood: The Movie takes place, so it seems that Trixie would have had to get used to putting her best foot forward among an entirely different sect of people.
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