Waiting for the Barbarians: HBO's Deadwood as a Post-9/11 Ritual of Disquiet

Abstract

We argue that the HBO series Deadwood reflects post-9/11 angst regarding the domestic and international scenes by simultaneously exploiting and subverting the narrative comfort and cathartic closure characteristic of the traditional American Western. In doing so, we contend, Deadwood functions as a ritual of disquiet that poses three key challenges to the conventions of the American monomythic formula that informs the traditional Western genre. First, there is no Edenic community to redeem. Second, the morality, practicality, and psychological satisfaction associated with retributive justice are called into question. And third, there is the felt loss of a clear moral compass, and with this loss doubts are raised regarding conventional mythic notions of the hero, and indeed of heroism itself.