Boardwalk
Empire
Season One
Episode Five
‘Nights in Ballygran’ – 7.5
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| Nucky is clearly the catch of the day for Margaret Schroeder. |
Once again,
Boardwalk Empire gives us yet another character-based episode with little plot
development, as well as the nullifying of Jimmy’s current progress by the death
of Pearl. Characterisation is great and all, but I’m getting a little tired of
it. I would like to see something more than the constant reaffirming of
personality traits in characters we know by now. I get it.
The most important
plot point is the completely random hook-up between Nucky and Margaret at the
conclusion of the episode. I can’t for the life of me find where it came from,
but I can see that it was hinted at since the pilot. Margaret is the first main
character we see tonight, as she is awoken early in the morning by a delivery
of barrels of liquor just behind her home. St. Patrick’s Day is coming, we
learn soon enough, and Atlantic City is preparing for one of the most
liquor-filled days of the year.
That
morning, Margaret comes to see Nucky with a loaf of bread as a birthday gift,
but she is offended when he simply shrugs her off. After she throws the bread
out in disgust, she later visits the man again with that woman from the
Temperance League, this time to order that something be done about the liquor near
Margaret’s, and Nucky pretends to care about the situation. While Mrs.
Temperance league is satisfied, Margaret notices something’s off when Nucky
lies about receiving her bread.
That night,
with St. Patrick’s day the day after tomorrow, Margaret is once again disturbed
by the continued delivery of alcohol behind her home, this time leaving her bed
to confront the criminals. She realises she has met the man overseeing the
operation before, recognising him as Mr. Neary who came to her house and
offered her the job at La Belle Femme in ‘Broadway Limited’. The next morning
she once again returns to Nucky’s office, only to find Neary himself there as
well, before she is knowingly brushed off by Nucky. Pissed off, Margaret rips
up the negligee she stole – why? I don’t really know. Maybe she stole it for
Nucky? – then turns Mr. Neary into Agent Van Alden.
Meanwhile
Nucky prepares for the St. Patrick’s Day Eve Celtic Festival, a process that
involves organising green beer (that which is stored at the garage behind
Margaret’s house), stopping a leprechaun strike and dealing with a growingly
dissentful brother. It all turns out fine, however, until Margaret’s confession
to Van Alden results in him crashing the party and arresting Mr. Neary right
then and there, as the Temperance League pickets outside waiting for the diners
to leave. From the steps, Nucky is able to see Margaret standing amongst the
protesting women, and later that night comes to visit her in her home. After a
brief moment of awkward conversation, the two begin making out as he pushes her
against the wall and pulls her dress over her hips. Ok then, because that was
the most romantic couple of days for them. I swear her husband only died like
two, three weeks ago...
Over in
Chicago, Jimmy lovingly nurses a disheartened and disfigured Pearl, who spends
almost all her time doped out on opium. The scenes between the two of these
characters were very sweet, though the manner in which Pearl was introduced
almost necessitated her death, which occurs later in ‘Nights in Ballygran’.
After asking for a brilliantly delivered story from Jimmy, Pearl takes his gun
and commits suicide while he’s out of the room. The suspense sequence, where
Jimmy is in the bathroom doing some humdrum activity, while we wait anxiously
knowing that Pearl was about to go out with bang was exactly what is was
supposed to be – tense, but still providing us with a shock when it actually
happens. Both Emily Meade, who was Pearl, and Michael Pitt are utterly
faultless in their respective portrayals of differing types of grief, but it
was Jimmy’s final story to the prostitute that was the finest of many fine
scenes. While the words were largely uninteresting, Pitt’s delivery was
mesmerising, the emotions both understated and glaringly moving. I’d like to
say the show needs more of these kinds of moments, but there are probably just
enough right now. Anymore and I’d start getting a bit tired, but this one was a
blessing.
Little else
really happens in the episode; Gillian proves she’s a bit of a socially-inept
nutcase when she basically asks Angela to move out and give her Tommy, but it
was a slightly amusing conversation. Mr. Rothstein is coming to grief over his
fixing of the World Series a couple of months prior, something I know will
probably become more important as the show goes on. I’m not American, but I aware
of the scandal. It’s intriguing stuff, I might consider it one day.
So that is
‘Nights in Ballygran’, another episode devoted entirely to the development of
already complex and realist characters, and while the acting is fantastic as
usual and the script is an inspiring work of art (honourable mention to
Margaret’s line to Van Alden: ‘I’ve been lectured to a great deal today by men
who speak boldly and do nothing’), but it falters in its retreading of tired
plot points and a increasingly more taxing and dreary tone.
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