Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
Boardwalk Empire - Seasons 1-3 - Terence Winter
The OG – literally. I found this series interesting in seeing characters, like Capone, that we are very familiar with coming up through the ranks. But this is set before even they become big things.
This is another time. The gangsters held official jobs and operated in plain sight. They are in the news and walk around in daylight.
Given how different this is from what we understand as the norm they took a huge risk on this material.
Building a World
The biggest risk is in setting up the ordinary world. Winter attempts to setup all the major characters and the world in the first episode.
This in itself would have been a huge task. We are seeing a new world, trying to learn how it works. But we are also meeting so many characters.
The biggest issue is too much happens in the first episode. There is too much plot. So we are introduced to a new world and new slew of characters and thrown into a complex plot in one episode.
Powerful Unity
One of the best things about this show for me are the two leads. Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson, Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs & Fargo), is the head of the Altantic city crime syndicate.
I love Steve, I think he is brilliant and mesmerising to watch. I try to picture anyone else in this role and I find it really hard. I doubt anyone else could have captivated audiences in the way he did.
Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash
Margaret Thompson, Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men & Trainspotting), is understated to begin with. To be honest I didn’t pay much attention to her. With a huge ensemble cast it was hard to judge if she was going to be key.
But she steals the show towards the end of the first season. She shows she is as brilliant as Nucky and it is harder for her as a woman in this time and place. Together they become a force to be reckoned with.
Stepping into the Light & Slipping into Darkness
This is how I would describe Nucky and Margaret’s relationship – at least the best scenes of it. The greatest moments in this series are where Nucky opens up to Margaret.
When he does this he steps out of the darkness and towards the light. We begin to feel more for him and understand the reasons behind his actions.
Margaret represents us in these interactions. She is empathetic and in her empathy she slips from the light towards the darkness that surrounds Nucky. Slowly they move towards each other until that are in step, as one, on either side of the law and good and evil.
Margaret's Power
Margaret understands the limited overt power she has in this male dominated world. But she also realises the covert power that she has
She uses this to her and Nucky’s advantage more than once. The first time is in season one when Nucky is arrested. She gains entrance into Nucky’s office while the police are searching it by feigning the need to go to the bathroom.
She gets out with his money and book of transactions. The reveal of this to Nucky is magnificent – this is when he realises that she is a force to be reckoned with.
The second play is in season three when she rolls the head of the hospital in front of the Bishop in order to get a women’s health course run. This wasn’t as good as the first for two reasons: one, the build up required made us able to guess what was going to happen; two, it was more in character.
When Margaret first did something like this we didn’t expect it so it was exciting. We have learnt a lot more about her now and this sort of action isn’t as surprising
The Violence is Too Graphic
This show is impressive in that it has been able to make me feel physically ill from the violence. I have never had this experience before and always been able to watch anything – apart from reality emergency room shows.
In the third episode there is a scene where a man is tortured. You see everything.
In episode six Van Alden, Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals & Revolutionary Road), reveals he practices self-flagellation. One or two strikes would have been enough.
Someone involved in the production could really learn from the ‘less is more’ motto.
The Bizarreness of Van Alden
Van Alden is one of the most bizarre characters I have ever encountered. Don’t get me wrong – weird is good. We all like watch weird characters – they are entertaining. It can be exciting to get inside the mind of someone who doesn’t operate by the same rules we do.
The way that this is normally done is through explanation of the weirdness or justification for it. These touchstones allow us to empathise. Van Alden has none of these. There are many events that were disturbing for me but I will just touch on two.
His self-flagellation discuss above is one. The second is more bizarre. So has a child with a prostitute and in an attempt to hind it from his wife he hires a nanny, essentially full time to raise the child.
His wife finds out and other events cause them to flee Atlantic City. He brings the Nanny with him, essentially he has bought himself a new wife. The scenes early in season three exploring this are so completely messed up.
Robert Runyon [Public domain]
The Elusive Gillian Darmody
Gillian Darmody, Gretchen Mol (Manchester by the Sea & 3:10 to Yuma), is a complex character. She is completely damaged well before we meet her in the show.
One of the most disturbing scenes is her complete acceptance in the paedophilia that she was involved with as a young girl. She justifies the actions of everyone involved and normalises her rape.
She regains some of our respect in the second season when she confronts the commodore about it. Up until this point it appears that she had forgiven him just for the power and money in brought her.
In season three she loses us again. She remembers having sex with Jimmy (her son) and starts picking up men who look like him. In the end she ends up murdering one of them and staging it to look like an overdose so that they can have a funeral.
She is completely messed up. This is a big problem as she is an important character and we need to empathise with her, and we just don’t. There is no justification for her actions, despite her past.
Richard Lets Loose
Richard Harrow, Jack Huston (American Hustle & Kill Your Darlings), is a reserved army veteran who Jimmy Darmody takes under his wing. Richard is loyal to his friend even after his death.
He makes a point of reminding Jimmy’s son, Tommy, of his father and mother as well, after her death. This becomes a point of contention between Gillian and him as Gillian attempts to erase them both and take her place as Tommy’s mother.
Image by Screamenteagle from Pixabay
It is magnificent to watch him go on a rampage to avenge Jimmy’s death at the start of season three. One by one he kills the people he believes were involved. The scene of him taking out all the men in the brothel is a sequence to behold. It’s carnage that we can get behind. We understand him and can see why he is doing what he is doing and more importantly – it’s justified.
Was it any good?
I think Boardwalk Empire falls into the trap that lays waiting for any docu-drama or biopic. It has to stay true to the characters. If the characters aren’t likable or interesting why should we care. We have to be invested in their struggle.
True, Nucky is brilliant and I care about him. But what happens to the rest of the cast? I couldn’t care less. I found it was pretty boring because of this. Jumping from one crazed lunatic to another just isn’t really my cup of tea – unless they are the villain.
