Milch has pointed out repeatedly in interviews that the intent of the show was to study the way that civilization comes together from chaos by organizing itself around symbols (in "Deadwood" the main symbol is gold). Initially, he intended to study this within Roman civilization (the central symbol was to be the religious cross), but HBO's "Rome" series was already in development and Milch was asked by the network if he could stage the story in another place. Although the series touches on a variety of issues including race, prostitution, misogyny, violence, politics, and immigration, most of the major story lines are grounded in the issue of bringing order from chaos.