Boardwalk Empire - S1 E04 - "Anastasia"

I waited so long to watch this week’s episode of Boardwalk Empire because I have been busy and this show is something I really look forward to; I wanted to tackle it with a fresh mind. That having been said, let us go through this week’s happenings.

We begin this week with Jimmy in Chicago hanging out with Al Capone and sleeping with a prostitute from Wisconsin. Jimmy helps out Capone with his dealings in trying to take over Greek Town for Johnny Torrio now that Colosimo is dead. The current gangster in charge is Sheridan and though he pretends to be ok with the new leadership, he is just biding his time, as evidenced by his goons attacking the Wisconsin girl, Pearl.

Back East, Nucky is preparing for his surprise party and using the party as a means to bribe some government officials and let them know what they owe him. He makes Senator Edge know for certain that he needs money for roads so that Atlantic City and the surrounding County can benefit from better traffic.

Eli arrests a KKK leader (Grand Cyclops) for the possible lynching of Chalky’s man in the previous episode. Chalky tortures him and is assured that the KKK had nothing to do with it, and we get confirmation near the end of the episode that it was indeed Doyle and his Italian money lenders who did it. They also plan to rob Nucky so that Doyle can pay them back for the money he owes.

Along with last week’s episode, I feel like this show has finally hit its stride. It no longer has even slight moments of awkwardness and all of the happenings seem to be occurring at a moderate but eventful pace. We get a better characterization of Jimmy when we compare him with Al Capone. Capone is classic gangster muscle, he does not think much, he is somewhat of a prankster, and he knows how to push people. He correctly read that Sheridan would back off because he knows the muscle he has and the muscle Sheridan has. On the other hand, he incorrectly reads defiance as compliance from Sheridan and he underestimates his opponent, something that Jimmy does not do. Jimmy plays it cool and polite, the way that Nucky might play it. Clearly Jimmy has learned a lot from Nucky, and he seems to want to emulate him, especially considering that his impulsiveness caused him to be kicked out of Atlantic City. He does not want to be Al Capone, even if Capone gets results.

Nucky is portrayed as ever the pragmatist. He is not really offended by the officer’s racism when he tells him to leave his sight but by his stupidity, and Eli understands this. I have to say I am glad that Eli stands up to Nucky and that he is not a stupid relative that Nucky put in the sheriff position as a form of nepotism. There was not really a point in earlier episodes that would suggest that Eli is stupid, but from the scene in this episode when they are discussing Chalky and Nucky’s relationship, it is clear that Eli understands Chalky’s importance, even if he does not understand how fragile the relationship might be.

From out of nowhere, Gillian has become a fascinating character in pretty much this episode alone. Credit must be given to actress Gretchen Mol for a captivating performance as she manipulates Lucky Luciano throughout. First she responds to his bravado by putting him down a peg, and showing him that she is not impressed or intimidated by the gangster type. Then she takes control of the relationship by making the first move. She is listed as a guest character in the credits, but I do hope they do not kill her or have her only stay for the first season, if only because her strength is unique as a female character on this show (it is the 1920s after all).

Finally, Margaret becomes much more interesting this episode as they throw away the notion that she is the perfect. For a while now my hesitation with Margaret has been that that she is too good, too nice, too smart, too everything. She seemed like something of a wish fulfillment that the other female characters did not. This episode ends with her stealing from her employer, an act that could get her fired despite Nucky’s help. This is important in so far as it is an utterly selfish act driven by her disappointment in the Anastasia story being fraudulent and from her jealous of Lucy. We get a very clear indication that this is the match that is going to happen this season, and if it does not I will be sorely disappointed. Nucky clearly respects Margaret’s intellect, and she is attractive, although a different type of attractive than Lucy. It is also interesting that in the background we see the Commodore stand up and take notice of Nucky dancing with Margaret, which I can only take to assume that now the Commodore is fascinated in a girl that has fascinated Nucky. I very much want to see a scene with the Commodore asking Margaret about the League of Nations since I am sure that she will have an answer for him.

The only other thing that really struck me about the episode (besides Nucky watching the glass cloudy up which I could not for certain figure out what it meant) was Nucky practicing for his surprise party. That was hilarious; especially when he did at the party for real. I thoroughly enjoyed that scene. Very well played Steve Buscemi.

Boardwalk Empire - S1 E03 - "Broadway Limited"

Dark days ahead on Boardwalk Empire. Rothstein’s sister-in-law's nephew survives for a time and names Jimmy as one of his attackers to Van Alden which he overheard from Capone. He dies and someone from the Feds gives the info to Rothstein asks Luciano find out who the second attacker was and to take care of Jimmy. Because of this, Nucky has Jimmy leave Atlantic City. We also finally get to see Van Alden at home with his wife.

Nucky gets Margaret a job at a French clothing store, and she is very unprepared. She meets and is embarrassed by Nucky’s mistress, Lucy, who seems to be jealous of the attention Margaret is getting. Lucy also seems to be trying to get a more permanent relationship with Nucky by talking about having a child.

We are finally officially introduced to Chalky White this episode, the Michael Kenneth Williams character, as he becomes the replacement for Nucky’s local alcohol business. One of his men is hanged outside of his place, and though not stated or implied, in my mind Doyle is the primary suspect as he is having money issues with lenders.

This was a very strong episode. We see the cracks forming in the relationships between the characters. Eli is a little jealous of the attention Jimmy gets from Nucky and he is unhappy being treated like an idiot. Jimmy and his wife are uncomfortable around each other because each of them has different expectations and because they are unused to spending time together. They only knew each other for a short time before he went away, but there is hope in that relationship as she starts using the vacuum once he leaves (implying she is not unthankful even if he is not the man she wants in her life). Nucky seems to be growing bored with Lucy or at least with her desire for intimacy. When the entertainer was singing about liking the dumb girls, Nucky did not look entertained in the least. More likely than not, he does not like the dumb girls, and Margaret, although possibly a charity case like Lucy said, is intelligent and attractive which Nucky has definitely noticed and Lucy is starting to suspect as well. Finally, Nucky and Chalky may have problems as well since Nucky depends on the black vote for elections and racial issues are bound to come up when he hires a black man to work his illegal liquor business both from white competitors and white prohibitionists.

Most of these things are issues Nucky has to deal with as they are cracks forming in the relationships he has with people. Prohibition has complicated things a lot for him. For one thing, election rigging is relatively simple compared with the FBI attention that Prohibition brings with it. For another, Jimmy may have been right in that first episode when he questioned Nucky’s willingness to be a gangster. Corrupt officials are relatively benign compared to the gangster. Certainly Nucky is hardy and willing to kill to get what needs done, but big money like alcohol creates for a much more intense form of competition with people like Rothstein than whoever his political opponent would be. And there is no way to charm away a Rothstein like Nucky might the populace.

On the law enforcement side, the brief look into Van Alden’s family life paints him as the workaholic, the perfect tool to crush Nucky and the rest as he loves his job more than his wife (presumably) and will do anything to get his man. At the moment he is the necessary figure that attacks Nucky form the legal side, but hopefully his smelling of Margaret’s ribbon will paint him as an interesting rival for Margaret’s affections against Nucky (since that seems to be the way the show is heading at the moment, although it could easily be a fake out). At the very least, it provides a complication into his otherwise moral, asexual personification.

I think the best part of this episode was how funny it was. Van Alden’s partner mentioning that Rothstein’s relation is Jewish after Van Alden quotes the Bible, and correcting the insult the mother translates (“little…faggot penis”) were surprisingly dark in this episode.

We are left with the last scene in this episode of different people reacting in different ways to the rain, Nucky most importantly looking at the wet steps he has left on his hotel floor perhaps pondering how everything leads to him and leaves a visible mark, or perhaps how he needs to hurry and erase those marks as soon as possible. Then again, though water is easily cleaned up, the bodies every episode are not.

Boardwalk Empire - S1 E02 - "Ivory Tower"

The episode starts with a glimpse of the funeral for “Big Jim” Colosimo which leads to two generic but necessary and enlightening scenes later in the episode. In the first we see Arnold Rothstein threaten a man by showing his casual attitude towards human life. In the second we see Al Capone beat a man probably to death because he did not like the tones of his questions. Both of them are legends in history and these two scenes show us how the differences that define these men.

In terms of generic scenes, we also get Nucky meeting personally with the cop that is going to be on his case for a good part of the show, Agent Nelson Van Alden. Agent Alden has decided to focus on Nucky instead of Rothstein and starts by questioning Margaret Schroeder about her relationship with the gangster.

The main plot of the episode deals with Jimmy and how his relationships with the people in his life have changed. First, Nucky is not pleased with his theft and murder from the previous episode, despite the money Jimmy gave him. He asks more from Jimmy and establishes himself as the boss. The, Jimmy tries to woo his wife Angela and his mother with expensive gifts, but they seem to be empty gestures and he does not exactly seem sure as to how he is supposed to act, whether that be because he just came back from the war or because he is now a de facto gangster.

The subplot of the episode deals with a businessman named Baxter trying to sleep with a girl he met in Baltimore and finding one of the men from the hold up last week alive. This will complicate things for Jimmy, and probably Nucky by extension.

I liked this episode a lot more than last week’s episode. It still largely seems to be setting up relationships and building up the mythos of the characters, especially with the scenes of Nucky’s wealth. This is certainly important considering how good Rothstein was looking in the last episode and because of the way Jimmy was talking to Nucky, as if he was going to school him on how to be a gangster. Nucky certainly did not seem weak, but he seemed a little unsure of himself. There was none of that uncertainty in this episode. He is not cold per se, not the way Rothstein is, but he has good instincts and a good way with people. When he meets with the Commodore and they discuss the women’s vote, the Commodore makes a point about how most women have no notion of politics by using his uneducated maid as an example. Historically, the women’s suffrage in the U.S. did not change any trends in voting as women largely voted the way their husbands were voting. As for those women without husbands, one can see Nucky working his magic in his scene with Margaret, playfully asking her to vote Republican.

Why this episode is better than last week’s is due to the smoothness of the dialogue. Last week’s was mythos building but expository. This week was mythos building, but it felt more natural. Less happened in this week’s episode, it felt and was shorter, but in a good way. The characters felt more relaxed, and the setting was more relaxed. The touches of the 20s (except for the KKK moment in the beginning) feel more subtle. Money is established with prices with certain items, but because money is shown so often and between people of such different means, it does not seem like another tool to showcase the time, but just a way that people interact with one another.

The other thing that I enjoyed about this episode, and unfortunately it was only briefly, was Jimmy. Right before he meets with his mother, he sees her on the stage. I cannot tell if it was the acting, the actor, or the lighting, but there was something hungry, something haunted in the way Jimmy looked at his mother. That could mean many things, from him wishing for a time when he was younger, to detesting seeing his mother half naked before him, to a manifestation of the person he is going to become or has already started becoming as a gangster, but it felt like a really powerful moment in the darkness for Jimmy. There were little hints in the previous episode that were similar, but they were too brief to really be noticeable. Here, the camera flitted back and forth between him and his mother a few times so I was able to see it. Last week I talked about character building and how interesting I found Nucky. Now I am starting to see that it will not just be Nucky that I will be watching with anticipation every week.

Boardwalk Empire - S1 E01 – “Boardwalk Empire”

I think most reviews of the show are probably going to start with the time and place, so why not: Atlantic City, 1920. If you need a brief introduction to the plot, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is the gangster in charge of Atlantic City politically and his brother Eli (Shea Whigham) runs the police. Prohibition has just started and these men are getting into the illegal liquor business in a big way. Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) is recently back from overseas in the Great War, used to go to Princeton, and wants to be a bigger part of the business, but Nucky has relegated him to chauffeur for the moment. Two big things happen in this episode plot-wise. First, Nucky meets Margaret Schroeder (Kelly Macdonald) a pregnant woman with an abusive husband and two kids. Her husband is a drunk, beats her and kills her baby, so Nucky has him killed. In the other part of the episode, we are introduced to some big real-life players during this time with Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, and Big Jim Colosimo. Jimmy Darmody and Capone rob Nucky’s shipment for Rothstein, at the same as the Feds try to crack down on one of Nucky’s liquor operations. They found out about the operation through Jimmy.

My first impression is that the pilot was weak, but most pilots are weak. There is a lot of exposition, stock characters that ask the right questions so we know both what is going on and what is going to happen. My thought throughout most of the episode was “no surprises here”. That is not necessarily a bad thing as it is beautifully crafted, from the music to the visuals, listening to a stand-up comedian of the era, the Model-Ts, etc. The acting is superb as well, especially considering the weakness of the script in places. I have never been a big fan of Steve Buscemi, not because I do not appreciate his skill, but because his acting ticks do not appeal much to me. He frequently talks too much in movies without seeming like he has a lot to say. Yet, I found him very charming in the role of Nucky. For once he did not talk much, and when he did it was always with a point. Truthfully, he probably spoke the most out of anyone this episode, as he is the main character, but his words always seemed well crafted, as a politician’s should be. He is not the gangster of Tony Soprano’s age. He is more an Al Swearengen type, and hopefully we will get to see a political side to the show as well.

Really, all of my hopes for this show lie with Steve and what he is able to do with Nucky. There are many different ways that they could take this show. After all, shows about the Prohibition Era are not that common. There is a lot of room for depth here, but they can only focus on so many things. The gangster part is obviously going to be important, but I am honestly less interested in that. The Feds were probably the least interesting aspect of the episode. But again, this is just the pilot. We’ll get a much better feel for the show within the next two to three episodes. Hopefully by then the characters will have more substance and the story will be more nuanced. For right now, even with its weaknesses, I am enjoying the introduction to the Roaring Twenties.