Season 1 Episode 5 Boardwalk Empire

[Loren Swaggr]

TheSopranos was the master and forefather of this kind of approach, taking time out from the season story arc to dedicate entire episodes to elaborate dream sequences, or, as in the legendary Pine Barrens episode, whisking two characters away from their normal surroundings to present us with a the equivalent of a Waiting For Godot-esque, two-man existential play. Mad Men and Breaking Bad, two of the most acclaimed dramas of recent years, have also done similar things to fantastic effect

The key scene in this episode came at around the halfway point, where Nucky is sandbagged into a meeting with his antagonist and rival, Arnold Rothstein, by Johnny Torrio. The beleaguered and usually unflappable Rothstein is feeling the heat after being indicted for fixing the World Series, and offers to end the war between New York and Atlantic City that has been raging since the pilot, if Nucky agrees to use his political influence to help him hide out in Chicago.

After A Return To Normalcy, the transition is pretty much complete, and the speed and gusto with which the show moves towards the next season only seems to confirm that the events of this season have effectively been an extended prologue for the real meat of the series.

Episodes are the parts of a television show that air separately. A run of episodes is referred to as a season. Boardwalk Empire consists of 56 hour long episodes, separated into four seasons of 12 episodes each, and a fifth season of 8 episodes.

In Atlantic City, as Nucky plans his "surprise" birthday party, he worries about the political impact of the murder of Chalky White's driver. Eli delivers the leader of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan to White, who tortures him until he is satisfied that the Klan was not involved in the killing. At Nucky's party, Senator Edge tells Nucky he will not receive expected roadbuilding funds needed to complete Atlantic City's development, which will go instead to Frank Hague...

Nucky Thompson and Lucy Danziger share a poscoital embrace at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. He is dozing as she asks him what makes him feel good and worries about his faithfulness. She describes herself as a little tiger cub and rakes her nails down his chest, drawing blood. The pain brings Nucky to annoyed wakefulness. He tells her to calm down, puts on a robe and goes to the bathroom. She smokes a cigarette, alone...

Nucky stops by Johnny Torrio's brothel looking for more information on Harding. As Nucky talks to Torrio and a local judge, Jimmy comes downstairs and runs into his old patron. Nucky behaves coldly towards Jimmy, criticizing him for never writing his family. It is revealed in the episode that Internal Revenue agent Van Alden, still working out of Atlantic City's post office to investigate Jimmy, has been intercepting the steady stream of money and letters Jimmy sends to his wife...

Margaret and Nan go to Madame Jeunet's to buy a dress for Nan. Madame Jeunet asks Margaret to persuade Nucky to reduce the exorbitant rent he charges. At first, Margaret broaches the issue directly, but this only angers Nucky. Taking a different tack, she then tells Nucky she is worried about not looking good for him if Madame Jeunet leaves. This works, and when Madame Jeunet gratefully offers Margaret a dress for her daughter, Margaret instead uses her newly found influence to get a more expensive dress for herself...

In New York, Jimmy decides to expand his business visiting an old adversary Arnold Rothstein for a proposition. Unfortunately for Darmondy, Rothstein decides to pass but Charlie Luciano and Meyer Lansky wait in the wings to pitch their own business proposal for Jimmy over some poker...

Al Capone flaunts his notoriety when Charlie Luciano visits Chicago to propose a criminal coalition. Luciano recognises Nelson Van Alden and exposes his identity but Van Alden convinces Capone to spare his life. Luciano's visit frustrates Capone and he brutally murders a subordinate shortly after Luciano leaves, then calls Nucky to warn him that Luciano is a threat.

In New York, Luciano and Lansky gather crime bosses from New York and all around the country and form the Commission, a singular body will mediate relations between all crime organizations in the country. Luciano also tasks Bugsy with killing Narcisse, and he is publicly assassinated in front of his church. In Chicago, Capone is served a court summons when the authorities manage to obtain his ledgers. While he publicly boasts that the charges of tax evasion won't stick, Capone says goodbye to his son before heading to court, where D'Angelo is waiting for him.

In 1897, Deputy Nucky is shocked to find out that Mabel has miscarried. Eli summons Nucky home, where he sees that his father has hit his mother again. Nucky and his father fight and Nucky warns that there will be consequences if harm were to come to his mother again. After returning to Atlantic city, Nucky notices Gillian participating in a parade. The Commodore fires Nucky but offers to reinstate him as Sheriff, if he delivers Gillian to him. Nucky reluctantly approaches Gillian, telling her that the Commodore is willing to take her in, and promising that he will take care of her.

In 1931, Nucky comes across Joe Harper again. Harper reveals that his real name is Tommy Darmody, Jimmy's son and Gillian's grandson. Tommy shoots Nucky three times before being restrained by the police. As Nucky lays on the ground dying, he sees a vision of a younger version of himself swimming in the ocean and catching a coin.

What a long, strange trip it's been. The chief complaint about this odd season of Boardwalk Empire has been its wandering. The journey has been uncertain both for the series and the characters within. There have been some absolutely fantastic small moments throughout, but on the whole, the series has had trouble defining itself this year. Making the choice it did to end the second season -- putting Nucky in the position of going Full Gangster -- has been difficult on viewers who appreciated the parts of the show that were more than a shoot-em-up. But "Two Impostors" handled the balance exceptionally well, culling down other stories to focus back on Nucky. Whether or not it's too late remains to be seen. Hit the jump for why, with all due respect Mr. Custer, this ain't no time for a last stand.

What angered me so intensely last week was that Boardwalk finally split in to two separate personalities. If you enjoyed last week, I'm guessing you weren't a huge fan of this week. The comments seemed pretty split -- those who believed the show had lost its way, and those who thought I was completely crazy for going on about it as I did. Friends debated it the same way, and I realized that Season Three's extreme unevenness finally drew a line in the sand. There are the languid, character-driven side-bar plots, and then there's the action. The two haven't mixed well. Until, perhaps, now.

Season Three has had trouble finding itself ever since Jimmy's demise, and the villanization of Nucky (besides his usual gangster role) has made me think that Owen's death was about more than just showing the violence of the world or sending a message. It's about how everything Nucky touches turns to shit, yes, but also that there can't be anyone who takes Nucky's place as an audience favorite. Nucky is the protagonist, we're supposed to root for him, but this season has made that all but impossible. By eliminating Owen, who often stole his scenes with Nucky (and indeed stole Nucky's place with Margaret), Nucky was able to have a redemptive episode that almost made him likable again. Almost.

"Two Impostors" was a great episode though, and suspenseful throughout. Nucky was left with the only people in the world he still has to rely upon -- Eddie, his faithful servant who he has taken for granted forever, and Chalky, who he alienated last week and in the past as well. Not exactly a rousing group. But Chalky still has plenty to offer Nucky, for the right price, and more Chalky is never a bad thing.

Nucky's moment in the back of Chalky's truck was the first time I've seen the man really feel in a long time. He felt fully the weight of the bodies he's put into harm's way, and the extent of his fall and possibly soon demise (it won't play out like that, which is good or bad depending on your personal feelings towards him). It brought Nucky back into the sympathetic fold before Eli, White Knight, rode in with Capone and the Chicago guns, ready to war with Masseria. It was necessary for Nucky to fall further before the war escalated in his favor, but I still don't believe he fell far enough.

Still, "Two Impostors" has set up one hell of a season finale where both sides (the cold and the emotional) will be wrapped up together in what looks like a whirlwind finish to this strange set of episodes. While Nucky's war has its most important battles on the horizon, Richard Harrow, the show's only remaining hope for happiness this year, sets out to do some damage of his own. What and to whom is debatable (I know what I would like to happen, anyway. Sidebar: I'm essentially hoping he shoots Gillian in the face. Yes, I who wrote of excessive violence last week. But that at least would have a point to the story. With Gyp, we already know he's a psycho, how much more spelling out do we friggin' need? If Harrow killed Gillian, which I doubt will happen, it would have so much emotional fallout and meaning it would be warranted).

This week's episode was mostly a set up to the finale, but it still had plenty to recommend it. Eli saving the day was fantastic, as was Capone's sudden appearance. The Chicago story has been very remote from the rest of the action, but now it has finally come together in a way that makes sense. Lucky Luciano, out on his own getting arrested, felt less certain. His story is important, historically, regarding the Masseria War, but probably not until (possibly) later seasons. As such, for now it feels like little more than a shoehorned plot point, even though it was interesting on its own.

3a8082e126