TV: Deadwood Season 2 premiere (spoilers)

"Welcome to fuckin' Deadwood!"

So says Al Swearengen, maniacally wild-eyed, covered in mud and gore, bloody froth dribbling between his lips, to the wife and adopted child of Seth Bullock, the man whose throat he was preparing to slit just seconds before noticing their arrival. And so says Deadwood creator David Milch to the viewers tuning in to last night's Season 2 debut. Fine welcome, indeed.

It's Spring of 1877, about half a year since we last checked in on Deadwood. Bullock has settled in as sheriff, with Charlie Utter as his deputy. Alma Garret's claim is producing vast amounts of gold. She and Bullock are in the throes of a fiery, and ill-concealed, affair. Alma's ward Sofia has a new tutor, Miss Isringhausen (Sarah Paulson, who played Merlyn on American Gothic). Swearengen has just learned the hill country in which Deadwood is located has been divided into counties and appointed commissioners without his knowledge or input. Joanie Stubbs has purchased her new brothel, funded with money stolen from Cy Tolliver by Eddie Sawyer (who has fled town -- which means no more Ricky Jay, sadly). Joanie's whores arrive on the same stagecoach as Bullock's family; they are led by Maddie, played with beautiful iciness by Alice Krige (perhaps best known as the Borg Queen). And Calamity Jane is on her way back to camp, drunk as ever (her only line this episode, calling after a stagecoach that has awakened her from her stupor: "Cocksuckers!").

This episode has absolutely everything that makes this show so fantastic. The huge cast increases once again, with perfectly conceived and executed characters. The broad political storyline is advanced -- Swearengen wants to control Deadwood's destiny, while outside forces conspire to take it out of his hands -- while the interpersonal relationships inside town become more complex as well. Swearengen needs Bullock on his side, and is willing to publicly provoke him with insults to jar Bullock out of his love-induced daze. But when the resulting fight escalates into a savage battle in the middle of the street, Swearengen proves willing to sacrifice his potential ally for the sake of bloodlust. Meanwhile, Bullock's family's arrival throws Alma into turmoil. She brings a welcome basket to them as an excuse to observe for herself the extent of Bullock's injuries, but her clumsy efforts make her affections for Bullock all too obvious. Later, when Bullock shows his family to their new house, but refuses to enter it with them, he makes it clear that he will live up to his responsibility to provide for them -- his brother's widow and son -- but feels no love for them. And the profanity, oh, that poetic profanity is as thick as ever. (The increasingly vitriolic Tolliver says to Maddie, "Suck some pricks if you like, and keep whatever they give you. My way of saying welcome." Maddie replies, "Any blind ones out there?")

It's dizzying to watch, to see how many objects are kept in the air by master juggler Milch, and how none are ever in danger of being dropped. The characters are so finely tuned, the story so meticulously plotted, there's never any doubt that the show knows exactly where it's going, and that it will be a tremendous journey to get there. It's only eight days till the season premiere of The Shield, my favorite drama on TV. It's going to have to have one hell of a season to retain that spot, now that I've discovered Deadwood.