And have you seen these Deadwood promos, which use Biblical texts (I hadn't)?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall know the kingdom of heaven
The body is not one member, but many
I like ensemble shows, where the body is not one member but many. In a lot of TV SF - and none the worse for this - the characterisation is a bit like in a mediaeval mystery play, or Pilgrim's Progress: 'I am lust and ignorance', 'I am wisdom that shall go with thee' etc. In Deadwood it is a little more convoluted than that.
I was thinking as well how season 2 of Deadwood is a bit like that Tarantino/Rodriguez film From Dusk to Dawn. In that film a series of villains are introduced, and in each case you think 'God, he's a nasty piece of work, I don't like him' and then an even nastier character is introduced, and you end up rooting for the brutal cop, because at least he isn't a psychopath, and then you root for the psychopath, because at least he isn't a demon etc.
When I started watching deadwood I could see that a lot of my friends admired Al Swearengen, and I was determined not to. But then I did get to like him a lot of course. And by any standard Al is better than Cy, and Cy, who has his nastier side under some kind of control by brute willpower, is 'better' than the Deadwood Ripper, and ... well, he's the worst, but you get my drift. To quote George Clooney's final line from Dusk to Dawn: 'I may be a bastard, but at least I'm not a fucking bastard'.