The season premiere of the final season of Boardwalk Empire is framed by two acts of attempted reinvention, two stories about the same person in two different time periods. We have young Nucky and present-day Nucky, the former getting into the business and the latter attempting to change the business, and through flashbacks, we see just how our main character’s roots developed and why he’s at where he’s at right now.
We’re now back at the beginning of the season.
The extent of the massacre at Red Ridge View is finally seen: we end the episode with Charlotte, the DEA agents, Jamie, and a few of Galvan’s men dead, and both Hank and Cesar are wounded in one way or another; in fact, the main target of the attack, Eleanor Nacht, ends up being the one who puts the final bullets into Galvan’s man as the episode closes.
Episode 8: “Like a Virgin”
Rumors would be better off buried in some hole somewhere, but unfortunately, they spread and sully reputations quicker than you can say “Shut up, you dicks”. This is what happens here: first off, we have the lingering effects of the Lilly Kane case and the way much of Neptune views the Mars family, which, of course, plays a bit of a role in Alicia’s initial view of Keith (until Keith scares Jeremy out of the apartment).
“I need the rules.”
“Creatures of the Night” narrows the focus of the show, and everything’s better off for it: the entertainment value, the action, the directing, the acting, and even the character development. It’s a tightly plotted, sixty minute thrill ride that, for once, doesn’t attempt to try to tackle the situation from a larger scale. The show’s certainly attempting to convey a sense of widespread destruction and chaos, but sometimes, confining the characters to one space ramps up the tension more so than anything else does.
EPISODE 2– “On the Outside Looking In”
State.
As the title suggests, this episode deals with those on the outside looking in, whether it be someone like Tami, who’s attempting to enact change at East Dillon but is running into unending obstacles, Julie, who’s navigating her first days at college, or Becky, who’s lost and without a stable family. We also see this idea play out in the fact that after the Lions’s win against Croft, people come down hard on the team just because it wasn’t supposed to win.
JESSICA CHASTAIN JESSICA CHASTAIN JESSICA CHASTAIN
A+
Episode 6: “Return of the Kane”
It’s fitting that following an episode in which Veronica throws herself into the case and turns out to be right about her suspicions (Troy), we get an episode in which she does the same and ends up being wrong (Wanda). It kind of hurts to see her happy while on a date or talking about college while making posters with someone she thought was her friend, then have it all get turned on its head at the end of the episode. Her cold “I didn’t vote for you” is another instance of her hardened heart, one weary to open itself up again and one that, if opened, quickly closes at the first sign of trouble.
“I don’t trust you anymore.”
The series began with two cops on opposite sides of the El Paso-Juarez border coming together to work on a case, and it’s now taken multiple turns, ending up in a place in which the actions of one come into serious conflict with the morality of another. Now, Sonya’s retreating from those around her, pushing away both Hank and Marco after she finds out just how caught up they are in the cycle of violence of the world they live in (the Jim Dobbs realization followed up by the David Tate realization is awful for her). And, with every passing day, each character–not just Sonya–is experiencing a similar decision: there are two sides here with muddled states of morality, but how do you make it so that you yourself don’t end up a victim?
ARC 5: “This is what happens when you have to make 20 episodes a season”
EPISODES COVERED: “Epiphanies”, “Black Market”, “Scar”, “Sacrifice”
I will begin this review in medias res. Does it help? Does it improve your reading experience? Does it give you Breaking Bad flashbacks? Speaking of flashbacks, let us now flashback to the time when I began this review, spend a few unnecessary minutes there, do it again at various intervals throughout the review, and then assume that it’ll make everything more complex and intriguing moving forward. I’ll see you back here in 42 minutes after you’ve wasted your time.
With change comes expectation, whether that change is for the better or for the worse. When you say goodbye and enter a new phase of your life, there’s always an idea in your head of how it should or how you hope it will turn out: will the transition be smooth or rocky? Will you go out in a blaze of glory or in a whimper? Are you ready?
All times central.
7:05-Sheldon is not worth one penny, but you get a point for calling out the idiocy that was the How I Met Your Mother finale.
7:09-And the monologue is over. How many HBO jokes was that? 99? Coincidentally, that’s also the number of nominations HBO garnered.
7:11-I’m so, so sorry, Andre Braugher. Also, this Ty Burrell speech reminds me of Steve Carell’s Golden Globe speech about his wife. By the way, Steve Carell never won an Emmy.
7:17-Well deserved, Louis CK. If I could choose, you’d win every award.
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