This might come as something of a shock since the idea of Al being anything but a murdering brute that plays the role of puppet master in Deadwood is something that a lot of people couldn’t possibly see happening. But when talking about the best character in this manner it’s easy to do since Ian McShane takes nearly every character he plays and does this good of a job with them since he’s one of the most charismatic actors around that can play up just about any role imaginable. I mean come on, the guy played Odin in American Gods, and looking at him it’s easy to think that he’s not exactly the type to play a Norse deity that can call thunder and lightning down from the sky when he’s in the mood. But while Al is kind of a ruthless and miserable cuss, he’s still one of the better characters in the show since McShane is able to portray him so well and he’s the type of character that you can believe in no matter that he’s also a dangerous individual.
Al is essentially the victim that became the predator, but not in any way that people might want to think about. Instead, he became the steely-eyed individual that would do anything to survive but would take special care of those that were just as loyal to him as he was to them. There are a lot of things to be said about a character like Al since it’s possible that throughout history there have been plenty of people like him, but in the show, he was one of those folks that people did their best not to mess with if they didn’t want to be on the wrong end of a life lesson that they might not care to receive. Lessons in those times were usually hard and long-lasting since the truly stubborn individuals usually needed more than one lesson before they were convinced that their way wasn’t the right way.
Being the kind of guy that wouldn’t shy away from giving a much-needed lesson, Al became the kind of force that Deadwood needed but also chafed under every now and then since the guy was brutal when he had to be. Some might say that no one ever needs a leader like Al, but the fact is that Al did get results a lot of times even if he was a mean-spirited individual that took a lot of time to get used to. But where some might see a dictator, others might see a firm hand that was cruel when necessary but was otherwise more concerned with running his town than picking on every individual that irked him in some way. His practical thinking was one reason why he was able to handle Deadwood for so long, and why he was able to die content knowing that Hearst wouldn’t be taking over. He was most definitely a mean-spirited and miserable human being at times, but Al was still someone that a wise person wouldn’t cross since there was no telling what he might do to that sorry individual later on.
Characters like this are hard for some folks to root for since they don’t have a lot of redeeming qualities and even if they do have a few, a lot of people feel that if they live in a manner that’s bound to get them killed or if they’re the type of character kind of gets what they have coming to them, then so be it. Al was about as close to being a villain as any character could come without being listed as irredeemably evil. Plus, the fact that he ran his town as he did was enough to make many people think that he probably should have kicked the bucket sooner since there were bound to be quite a few individuals that would be gunning for him at some point. Quite a few characters like Al are a bit irritating to some people since they might admit that such individuals have their good qualities, but at the end of the day, they’re still bound to be about as trustworthy as an irritated rattlesnake.
Out of all the characters on this show, Al was still the best since he didn’t make any apologies about who he was and he didn’t break character that often if at all since he knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. Ian McShane brought to life one of the greatest characters that have been seen in a while and the great part is that looking at him and listening to him outside of the show, a lot of people might have figured he wasn’t the guy for the role. That’s one very great thing about this actor, and the character even, they’re a surprise you didn’t see coming.
Follow Us
