Character
Seth Bullock
Seth Bullock in Deadwood (2004), played by Timothy Olyphant.
Seth Bullock arrives in the lawless gold camp of Deadwood meaning to leave lawkeeping behind him and run a hardware business instead. He can't help himself — his temper is a live wire, his sense of order absolute, and the town's chaos keeps dragging him back toward the badge he swore he was done wearing.
Olyphant plays restraint as a physical struggle, all clenched jaw and simmering fury barely held in check, which makes Bullock's rare eruptions genuinely frightening. He's a Western archetype — the reluctant lawman — but the show and the performance keep complicating his righteousness, letting his pride and rage undercut the nobility he'd like to claim.
Seth Bullock is one of the two protagonists of HBO's Deadwood as well as Deadwood: The Movie, along with Al Swearengen.
Played by
Appears in
Deadwood2004