The very first vision of the female form in "Deadwood" is one of ultimate despair: the woman sits alone in the corner of a room, hysterically weeping, her face swollen and bruised with beating. Meanwhile, the other prominent female character of the camp is obviously hopped up on dope, barely tolerating her dude husband as he clamors after gold. Such is our dismal introduction to the women of "Deadwood": as punching bags or as bored drug addicts. Series creator David Milch intended to reconstruct his Deadwood with meticulous accuracy--violence, profanity, and, of course, the pervasive female subjugation that characterized the age. The author searches for rationalization at watching a television program in which women are beaten, sworn at, debased, and humiliated, and finds the complexity of plot, character, and language the main attraction of "Deadwood."