Season two of HBO's "Deadwood" wrapped tonight with two weddings and a hanging.

In perhaps the most painful wedding ceremony ever on television, a lavender gloved Ellsworth made Widow Garret an honest woman and married her.

At the same time, Swearingen inks the deal to put Deadwood in Dakota Territory, another marriage of convenience, at least for Al.

Meanwhile, a bloated George Hearst, portrayed by "Simon and Simon's" Gerald McRaney, is actually not a complete jerk and tells Francis Wolcott he can't have a woman murdering geologist associated with him.

Wolcott, played by Garret Dillahunt, who played Jack McCall last season, again swings at the end of a rope, this time at his own hand.  One wonders who Dillahunt will return as for season three.

Meanwhile, Wu takes out Li and cuts off his queue, and declares himself "American."

Calamity Jane wears a dress and gets hit on.  Preacher Cramed guts former partner Cy Tolliver, who had just tried to shake down fatboy Hearst.

And Seth Bullock gets a load on as his lover, Widow Garret, marries Ellsworth.

Even dorky newspaperman A.W. Merrick gets some action during the wedding street dance.

Al Swearingen continues his role as God of Deadwood, overlooking it all from his balcony on The Gem and talking to his only son, the dead Indian's head in the box.

After missteps with the Dakota/Montana story line, the episode returned to what makes the series work best--character and their motivations.  However, the episode seemed patched together, jerky, with a lack of flow that most episodes have.  The wedding and the party seemed contrived a bit, something you might have seen on "Dynasty."

Still, "Deadwood" is Swearingen's and Ian McShane's world and everyone else just lives in it.  Swearingen is at his brutal, humane, humorous, and calculating best in the finale.  "Deadwood" takes its energy from Big Al.

Take out Swearingen and you have a good but not great TV drama.  With Swearingen/McShane, even when creator David Milch is off his mark (which he set impossibly high last year), you still have a great drama, something unequalled on either HBO or network TV.

At least Milch can make deadlines.  We won't have to wait years for the next season like we do with "The Sopranos." (Which, while not as emotionally wrenching in individual episodes, is more consistent episode to episode and season to season).

As Deadwood gets farther removed from a state of nature, can Milch continue to keep our interest in Season 3?  I hope so.  Will he make Seth Bullock into something more than a moralistic robot?  Will he make Calamity Jane into something more than comedic relief?  Will Joanie Stubbs and Trixie make final breaks from the men/pimps in their lives?

There is plenty of character and history left to explore.  Let's hope Milch finds the Season 1 magic to inject into Season 3.