Dead in the Water: David Milch on a surfing safari.

25 June 2007, by Nancy Franklin, The New Yorker

” …In interviews and in his work, Milch expounds upon his great subject: the oneness of things, the connectedness and indivisibility of all life. This trope ran like a vein of ore through “Deadwood,” without calling much attention to itself. This time around, the theme has become viral, killing everything in its path. On Craig Ferguson’s late-night talk show a couple of weeks ago, when Milch was asked what “John from Cincinnati” was about, he said, “If God were trying to reach out to us, and if he felt a certain urgency about it . . . that’s what it’s about.” Going deeper, he went on, “The wave . . . is the only visible embodiment of what physicists tell us all matter is composed of, which is particles held together by some kind of magnetic or molecular force. And that’s what makes the waves move.” After Ferguson did a little hostly vamping in response, Milch added, “And if God were trying to reach out to us, and teach us something about the deepest nature of matter, he might use some drugged-out surfers.”

It may be that God is trying to reach out and touch the Yosts, who could use a little redemption, through the presence of John (Austin Nichols), a clean-cut oddball who turns up at the beach one day when Mitch is out riding the waves (he still surfs, though always alone and evidently without joy) and whose first words-addressed to Luke Perry, who plays a surfing agent named Linc-are “The end is near.” (John’s last name is Monad-the word Leibniz used to encompass the concept of eternal, irreducible simplicity.)… ” [more]