After many years of writing characters who seem like they should be saying "fuck" all the time, were they not bound by the limits of advertising-supported television, Shawn Ryan is at last moving to the premium cable anarchy of HBO. The man behind The Shield, Terriers, and Last Resort is heading up another tale of roughhewn people trapped in desperate circumstances with Badlands, a drama that centers not on two kids on a killing spree, but the equally grim lives in the blue-collar mining town of Tar River, Wyoming, and all the economic struggles that come when your industry is danger and your river is made of tar. "Another hard day at the mine," its grizzled protagonist will grumble before slugging back another glass of hot, goopy tar. "Fuuuuuuuuck."
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