Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Finale "To the Lost" Review

"This is the only way it could've ended, isn't it?"

Is it? It's certainly what producer/writer Terence Winter thought, and perhaps it's true. As the ever-simmering second season of "Boardwalk Empire" comes to a scorching close, predictions are dashed,

alliances rearranged, a thousand questions posed, and a million hearts broken.

I'd might as well begin with the elephant lying dead in the middle of the room: Nucky's shocking murder of former protégé (and beloved second principal character!) Jimmy Darmody. This act was particularly chilling considering Nucky raised Jimmy essentially as a son, but at the same time this may be the most impassioned thing we've

ever seen Nucky do. Even onlooking pro killers Owen Sleater and fucking Manny Horvitz looked freaked out when Nucky fired two startlingly point-blank shots into Jimmy's face, an obvious personal sacrifice for him. This is a major turning point for Nucky's character, who has always kept his cool and his hands clean. But after uncomfortable brushes with death and the debilitating prospect of prison, Nucky clearly holds no intention of relinquishing his power and is "not seeking forgiveness" for it. He is now an irrevocably and unmistakably whole gangster (a throwback to the series premiere when Jimmy told Nucky "you can't be half a gangster anymore").

Shattered by war and a lifetime of mob violence, Jimmy has been a walking corpse since we've known him. Of course last week we got a crash course in the reasons behind his passionless marriage to Angela and the perversely passionate relationship with his mother, which explains his sudden and unpopular decision to drop out of Princeton and enlist in the Army during WWI. We knew from the beginning that Nucky resented Jimmy for this, forsaking his education and any hopes he had of creating something more for himself, but it's hard to say now if Nucky's wish for Jimmy to get out of their violent world was because he truly cared for him or because he saw an ambitious flame in the kid that could one day threaten him. More than ever over the last few episodes we've come face-to-face with Nucky's unflinching self-centeredness.

After an excruciatingly long chain of failed power struggles, we finally see Jimmy pretty well put together throughout this episode. Little do we know he's either consciously or unconsciously putting his affairs in order, collected and self-assured as he moves unarmed toward his own death. Jimmy lays the cards on the table for Nucky when he invites him to talk at his home. I don't think Jimmy is a mess here at all--bleeding from a stab wound inflicted by the father he finally succeeded in killing and pouring a sad toast "to the lost," sure--but he's quite lucid in his utter honesty. This is the prodigal son's unmistakable attempt to return home, and even if he somehow knows his request will ultimately be rejected, it's quite beautiful. After all, he's not fucking with Nucky by telling him it was Eli's idea to kill him, because it was. Eli's fucked anyway--Jimmy did try to stop him from betraying Nucky--so it feels only natural for Jimmy to give him up. Even though the reigns were placed in Jimmy's hands, he never really held them, though he doesn't deny all the mistakes he made. Even if he knows he will have to die for them, it's a testament to Jimmy's character that he's still got to "clear the air" (as Nucky so aptly puts it later on).

When Nucky calls his home that night, Jimmy doesn't even let right-hand man Richard Harrow join him to supposedly get his revenge on Manny Horvitz, asserting that it's something he's got to do alone. In the BFF's last heart-to-heart before Jimmy leaves, he beseeches Richard to "find a way to come home" (from the war). I'm eager to see what will become of Richard's heartbreakingly beautiful character, now that he's lost the only person holding him together, and the closest thing he knew to home. What will keep him from just topping himself like he planned to do earlier this season? Will he step in as father to Tommy? Perhaps steer him away from a tortured life like those that he and Jimmy have lived? Oh God, will he get busy with Gillian? Nooooo, Richard! That clearly doesn't work out for anyone.

And ohhh, Margaret. Silly, stupid Margaret. Otherwise a very smart woman, her spiritual conflict has come to a ridiculous head as she agrees to marry Nucky and then immediately betrays him afterward. Yes, Nucky's marriage proposal was unromantic, but refreshingly honest, and that's something she can be grateful for after allowing herself to be kept in the dark with him all this time. By confiding in her his fears of death and jail (perhaps not in that order), Nucky once again shows her his vulnerabilities, something he doesn't do in the company of anyone else. But while we believe he does love her and their family, he only "needed" to marry her so she wouldn't have to testify against him, and it's clear that saving his own ass is again his first priority. Which worked, by the way.

The morning after he murders Jimmy he makes a very flimsy case for Jimmy's "re-enlistment" to Margaret, which she doesn't believe for a nanosecond. It is curious then that as Nucky goes to celebrate with his associates on the as-yet undeveloped "road to riches," Margaret immediately signs the land deed (placed in her name for legal safekeeping) over to the church, instead of Nucky, as per his request. A woman scorned, I suppose, but does she seriously have a death wish? I was hoping she might get a little more inventive with it though. For a moment I entertained the idea that she would even hand it over to some federal agency, to ensure they had somewhere besides the post office from which to work! That would have been a riot. But the fucking church? Christ, Margaret, you are boring! She had better watch her pretty little pampered ass in season three. Chances are that at worst, she'll end up like Jimmy, and at best, like Lucy.

But of all these betrayals, has Nucky actually betrayed us, the audience, most of all? He's always held that "gangster with a heart of gold" thing quite well, but I'm starting to feel alienated in my sympathy for him. Twice now those nearest and dearest have come to him hat in hand, and he's spit in their face (err, shot it). Perhaps his sudden unpredictability is what makes for a riveting character. I'm just so fucking pissed at Nucky right now, but I suppose, like everyone, our relationship with him is complicated. As the constant sun around which all the tumult has always revolved, we see even an old dog like him can learn new tricks ("just try to make yourself calm...breathe, Nuck"). After a whirlwind season which left an alarming body count, "Boardwalk Empire" writers continue to show us that nothing is for certain, nothing is untouchable, no one is safe. See you in season three!

Questions: What WILL "Boardwalk Empire" be without one of its most beloved characters? What effect will Jimmy's death have on the giant machine that is Atlantic City?

No longer toeing the line between virtue and corruption, what is to become of Van Alden, a murder suspect who is now officially on the lam (with nanny and baby)? Also, are he and Ingrid officially an item? Do you think she still gets paid?

What effect will Arnold Rothstein's new interest in the heroin trade have on all of this bizness?

Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Episode 7 "Peg of Old" Review

There’s a big hullabaloo surrounding heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey, who has taken Nucky up on his offer to train in Atlantic City before his big upcoming fight. When Dempsey takes a break from the press attention, Nucky greets him and requests he do a promotions stint at Babette’s that week. Always eager to rub elbows with some big wigs and loose ladies, the boxer agrees. A reporter approaches them for one last question, though it’s directed toward Nucky, not Dempsey. He futilely inquires into Nucky’s suspicious dealings with Attorney General Daugherty, which Nucky easily rebuffs.

Van Alden arrives home to his Cradle of Sin to find a bedraggled Lucy sitting in the kitchen. She tells him the baby has been crying all day and presses him for closure of their financial arrangement. He admits his wife is MIA after finding the news that his lovechild was intended for her less than satisfactory, and Lucy is livid when he tells her that not only does he not have a home for the baby, but neither does he have the $3000 he promised her for going through with it all in that fashion. The fine print of the “financial arrangement” between Lucy and Van Alden had been unclear until last week’s episode, where it was revealed that Van Alden was keeping Lucy pregnant and imprisoned so that he could give the baby to his barren wife. But after the powerful birth experience whereby Lucy delivered her baby completely alone, I half-expected something to turn for her where she would become insanely attached to her daughter and refuse to give her up. Of course, demanding another woman’s baby against her will wouldn’t be in line with Rose’s good nature, and it would certainly make things too easy for Van Alden, a character whose evolution we honestly care more about than Lucy’s.

At the Commodore’s lavish castle, Jimmy is conducting a meeting with the major players who plan to overthrow the current bootlegging kings: Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, Al Capone (I’ve actually kinda missed him!), Mickey Doyle (he’s an idiot, but he makes the booze), Richard Harrow, and Eli Thompson, who’s always eager to ride the coattails of the next most powerful guy (maybe if he changed out of his cop outfit and put on a suit once in a while he’d be taken more seriously?). Jimmy is outlining how easy it will be to control it all with everyone in his pocket, the way Nucky has done. When asked about Nucky's fate, Jimmy says he’ll go to jail. Eli, who hates his brother even more since the last time he came to him for help he left with a shotgun pointed at his head, interrupts Al and Lucky’s bickering with the strong suggestion that they just kill him. A hush falls over the room, and Jimmy looks sick at the notion. He beseeches Eli to discuss it with him later, but he insists they talk about it with everyone and just get the decision made. Overwhelmed with the men’s fast reasons for why it’s such a good idea, Jimmy looks like he’s going to throw up. Despite the fact that he’s really the one at the head of the proverbial table, he succumbs to the group’s pressure to have his former father-like mentor whacked.

Van Alden arrives at work to find his office has been overtaken by the Assistant US Attorney Esther Randolph, who is the new “serious” prosecutor assigned to Nucky’s federal case. Serious indeed. A far cry from the amateur Charles Thorogood, Randolph has set up a no-nonsense shop (at Van Alden's desk) out of which she will operate to bring the corrupt Nucky down for election-rigging and prostitute-slinging. Nucky was not pleased to hear that Daugherty was replacing the cover prosecutor to begin with, and he is just plain pissed when his lawyer informs him of Esther Randolph’s impressive credentials and undesirable intentions. Without a solid grasp on the severe situation, he realizes his carefully-woven life may begin to unravel.

Margaret takes a trip to Brooklyn to finally visit the alienated family at which she’s hinted ambiguously

throughout this season. She arrives at their modest apartment, well-dressed but dubious, to be awkwardly received by her three cheerful younger sisters and more rigid older brother, Eamon, with whom there is clearly tension.Over family dinner, Margaret (“our 'Peg of old'”) pleasantly reacquaints herself with her estranged siblings. When Eamon coarsely presses her for detailsof how she lives her obviously privileged lifestyle with no husband but a dead one, her sisters step in and defend her right to whatever it is that she’s got. Instead of shrinking in the sun, she offers financial help to her poor, hardworking family, but Eamon makes it clear that he’s not interested in her charity.

Eddie interrupts Nucky’s meeting with his lawyer to announce Lucy’s presence, as well as that of her new baby. Nucky immediately asserts that they haven’t seen each other since their breakup the previous spring, which is a welcome comic relief to Lucy’s incessant sourpuss. But she assures him she is only there for money, under the pretense that she needs it for the baby. When asked about the whereabouts of the father, she informs him that it is the very prohibition agent who has been after him for a year. Nucky summons Van Alden with the intention of making a deal: his money problems go away in exchange for inside information on his new prosecutor. I must say I’m happy to get a glimpse of the old Nucky after witnessing this sad, weakened and angry Nuck over the last six episodes. He really shines when holding a shady upper hand over someone. When he casually mentions he gave Lucy money, Van Alden becomes upset.

Jimmy is anxiously going over the grievous details of Nucky’s impending assassination with his mother, Gillian. When he asks what she thinks about the decision, she implies she is supportive of his quick rise to power by any means necessary, despite his own misgivings about snuffing out the man who was more of a father to him than the Commodore ever was. She advises him that it doesn’t matter now anyway, since it would be a grave mistake to appear indecisive (weak) in front of his ambitious new gang. “And that’s why he dies?” he wonders.

After dinner Margaret and Eamon get a chance to speak alone. During this intimate conversation we learn what is likely the source of her brother’s coldness: the fact that Margaret became pregnant as an unwed teenager and chose escaping to America over being sent to an abusive convent. Not only did she forsake her life and family, but she funded the trip by stealing from her parents money that was meant instead for Eamon’s voyage. When she tries to pay him back, he expresses no interest in helping her to unburden her own conscience. Presumably to avoid awkward questions, he snatches the cash off the table only as their youngest sister walks in the door.

Van Alden returns home in haste, looking for Lucy whom he suspects has fled. He is momentarily hopeful that she is the woman he hears in the bedroom singing the baby to sleep, but he instead finds a neighbor who reports that Lucy just went out for formula. Van Alden gets that she will not be returning. If he didn’t get it though, the title page of the play Lucy wanted to act in pinned to a dirty diaper left rotating on the phonograph pretty much seals the deal.

Left holding the baby bag, later that day Van Alden cradles his daughter as he makes a first attempt at naming her. Aww, we suspect he might kind of like the little bug. Later he shows up at work requesting a word with Ms. Randolph, to whom he immediately divulges the existence of his illegitimate daughter. He explains that he tells her this because he wants to prove that he is, if nothing else, an honest man. He then makes a curious move by bestowing upon her the gift of his very extensive and incriminating file on Nucky. At a time when Van Alden clearly needs all the support Nucky is offering, we wonder if this gesture is simply a means of getting into her good graces so that he may be an effective double agent, or does he really intend to assert his goodness by sticking it to all-that-represents-bad Nucky once and for all?

Margaret’s sisters are thrilled by her wealth and this mysterious man who provides for her, but Margaret is shaken when the youngest, Eilish, lays out an eerily accurate picture of the man’s depth of power and also tragic past. Her sisters insist that her passion for reading colors her imagination so. Recognizing an opportunity for connection, the next morning Margaret returns to her family’s neighborhood where she meets little Eilish in the street and gives her a book. Just as she’s musing over what fun it would be for the girl to come visit her in Atlantic City, Eamon approaches. He returns her dirty money and makes it clear that any other gifts or offers would be unwelcome. She wants to have Eilish come stay with her, to make her life better, but Eamon offers up a little slut-shaming, unconvinced that “making her life better” in the way Margaret has done for herself would be anything he or their sisters would be interested in. She blames him for abandoning her through cowardice at a pivotal time when she needed her brother most, but whatever guilt he feels over that is trumped by what he sees as her selfish actions. He sends her away. She cries in the car.

Owen Sleater, meanwhile, is not in the driver’s seat of Nucky’s car where he should be but instead at a seedy bar where he recognizes an old acquaintance from back home. With no back story for this particular encounter, methinks he has intentionally sought out this man, but the truth of it is unclear. It’s hard even to say just what’s going on in the conversation Owen initiates--there’s a lot of Irish name-dropping compounded with the two heavy accents--but it’s apparent when Owen follows him into the bathroom and brandishes a strangling wire that they’re no longer old buddies. Some old IRA business, no doubt. The actual act of strangling the guy is sloppy and lasts a full minute and a half, which is enough camera time to make even me break a sweat. That poor unlucky Irishman. Quick note: sloppy whacking or not, Owen’s adeptness with a soup spoon as accessory to murder is novel!

That night at the promotional function at Babette’s, as Jack Dempsey delivers a droll speech and Nucky makes eyes with a pretty girl across the room, Jimmy smoothly swoops into the picture. He approaches Nucky with a single cryptic message: “It doesn’t make a difference if you’re right or wrong. You just have to make a decision.” As he departs, a nameless man emerges and shoots Nucky (gasp!), but he only hits the hand that Nucky instinctively puts up to shield his more vital parts. We see Jimmy exit and flinch as someone assures the crowd that Nucky’s alive. Jimmy already didn’t want to go through with this, but now he’s probably wishing he'd made sure the hit man had actually been a good one. Nucky is definitely not stupid enough to think that that obscure kiss of death he delivered just before the shot was coincidence.

A depleted Margaret arrives at Nucky’s beach house to find no one but Owen present. He is not exactly collected (evidence from the day’s brutal murder is left on his hand), but he’s calm and professional with his boss’ icy paramour until they reach the second floor stairs. Irishman to Irishwoman, he suddenly confides in her the discomfort he feels on unfamiliar ground. Both dejected after parallel trips down Memory Lane, they make a chilly agreement to sleep together under the condition that neither will speak of it again. Ever. For what could have been a rather hot sexual tension between mistress and the help, their connection is sad and feels contrived, just two strangers in a strange land, faced with the dour circumstances under which they came to America, perhaps even trapped in those familiar patterns which have brought them both wealth and misery.


Notes: For once Gillian requests that her son look away while she changes? Their relationship has gotten increasingly creepy lately, but at the same time Jimmy is visibly distancing himself from her powerful, yet subtle, influence.

Gillian and Lucky Luciano are totally still doin’ it.

Owen and Margaret had better be really smart about their dangerous liaison. As his hand heals Nucky’s probably going to have some down time with which to compile a really good hit list, and it’s likely neither of them would like to find themselves on it.
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