Imagine him as Richard III, machinating in the Wild West; or Hamlet, soliloquizing to an Indian chief's rotting head; or a frontier Vito Corleone, making American history through murder, thievery and canny alliances with dregs and the upright alike. Surveying his domain -- the bloody, muddy town of Deadwood -- from his gambling-house balcony, Al Swearengen's a half-benevolent Lucifer directing and savoring the human comedy below. (One almost expects smilin' Al to quote Dorothy Parker: "What fresh hell is this?") Pragmatic, brutal, foul-mouthed to a lyrical fault, this wildly attractive Machiavellian reveals odd chinks in his armor -- especially since his Grand Guignol bout with kidney stones last season.