Falling Behind

I've gotten a bit slack lately. Whether it be my frequent trips away from home or the fact I've suddenly developed a life - totally overrated, by the way - I've completely and unavoidably fallen behind.

I'm near obsessive compulsive, by the most head-on way to deal with that condition is to totally fuck up my intricate and important systems for doing anything. In the case of this blog, that means I have to do something I swore I'd never do: skip a few episodes. I haven't quite decided what will be dealt with and what won't be, I do know that anything I watch this week will not be reviewed in depth for this site, with a few exceptions.

The episodes I will not be detailing are (I'll update this list as it grows):

'Two Hats' - Homeland, Season Two, Episode Nine
Simply put, I did actually enjoy this episode quite a lot. It was intense and emotional. The rekindling of Mike and Jess' affair was a long awaited development that was deftly handled and suitably resonant, yet understated. Meanwhile, the eventual apprehending of Roya Hammad was well-worth the wait, even if it did rob us of a major terrorist event.
Score: 8.5

Episodes I will be reviewing despite watching in my anti-work period include the Boardwalk Empire finale, simply because it is the big finish for the season, and anything I watch that is Fringe-related, because this thirteen-episode season is essentially the show's much longer finish.

'The Milkmaid's Lot' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Nine

'Where's My Funny Hat? The Milkmaid's Lot' - 9.0

Groin-grabbingly transcendent

What is particularly fun about this terrific children's tale of a sadistic and sociopathic gangster's longing hunt for a particularly audacious head dress is Nucky's fall from grace, to be clichéd. The Nucky Thompson we know: in control, sly, focused and witty, the master of a double life; is broken following a concussion suffered in the explosion of Babette's as well as the loss of his current love, Billy Kent.

Billy Kent represented Nucky's complete lack of awareness and cohesion, as throughout the episode his worst moments are signified by a dream-like flashback to the peroxide-haired flapper standing amidst sinking ashes, as her surviving lover's mind only hears the whining of acute tinnitus. It's powerful stuff, but also a bit of a cliché in itself, although it is used to full and worthwhile effect. Sometimes it is just unavoidable to use a cliché, but when it works it works, so who cares?

To be honest, Nucky's verbal and mental slips came thick and fast and I absolutely adored it. I'm certainly not saying I enjoyed his apparent dementia, but I found the massive contrast between this post-trauma version of the character with the normal, strong Nucky was so intense that it couldn't have failed. We have never seen the man this down-and-out, and it was marvellous. Has Steve Buscemi won any awards for this role yet, because sometimes I feel like they should just give him the big Emmy statue that stands behind the hosts. Probably split it with Claire Danes... 

Let's try and compile a list of Nucky's brain farts: (in no particular order)

• ·         Tried to get his doctor to call Eddie over, except he was actually looking for Eli
• ·         Thought he said 'Eli'
• ·         Wants to know why there isn't a pony for Emily's birthday party, after telling Owen and Margaret not to buy one last week.
• ·         Mistakes Chalky White (WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?) for a servant
• ·         Goes absolutely over the top after Gyp calls up to mock the loss of Billy
• ·         Has to be held back by Eli, whom he fails to recognise.
• ·         Doesn't understand why there's a party in his suite when he walks in on Emily's birthday.
• ·         Calls Margaret 'Mabel' - My personal favourite
• ·         Asks if Emily's ridden her pony
• ·         Gives her like half the birthday cake after he tears it apart. 
• ·         Gets confused by Margaret and starts talking about the explosion.
• ·         Collapses.
• ·         He asks Margaret if she found her missing earring, as in Billy's from last episode.
• ·         Returns it to her once he finds it in the bathroom, to her confusion. 

This last event leads to Margaret - who I think is feeling a tad guilty after seemingly agreeing to run away with Owen - coming clean about his current condition by informing him about the earrings' real owner's demise. With this now burnt into his mind, Nucky finally recalls the death of Billy in a brilliantly beautiful flashback, and he is able to regain a large part of his composure before strutting out to call his fellow gangsters to arms against the Gyp Rosetti and Joe Masseria threat.

I was equally impressed by the complete brush off his business partners gave him, essentially damning our hero to dying alone. Surely now would be the time to remember 'Sunday Best', in which Rosetti made an oath to Masseria to kill every single one of the other big league masters. We'll come to that later, and that will bring Torrio, Rothstein and the other guys back into the war. Rosetti just has to fuck up by attacking one of them.

What did you think of Gyp Rosetti's hat? I liked its outlandish and completely-off-his-rocker aesthetic. I'm sure captain's hats or whatever the fuck that was will be an amazing fashion trend that will sweep the universe over the next few years. His plan to get the Tabor Heights people on his side was a bit weird, it seemed to be like an expensive way of achieving something he could have done with fear. Didn't he immolate the last sheriff and beat this one? You'd think the residents of this sleepy coastal town would have cottoned onto the sheer intimidating force that is Gyp Rosetti.

And Margaret and Owen? Who cares? I'd rather see Margaret with Nucky, Owen is an entirely uninteresting character now that we've gotten to know him, and he's annoyingly soft-spoken for a known killer. Similarly, I've come to dislike Richard Harrow's story because it seems largely irrelevant and boring. We go from Nucky having to organise a war while suffering from a concussion to a guy with a burnt facing getting some lip action. Also, nice standards girl. I get that you are noble because you are willing to look past his imperfections and see the beautiful man within, but we all have limits. I like my prospective partners to have at least 90% of their face NOT made of plastic or metal or something artificial. Also, preferably I like most of the face to still be present. It may be asking a lot, but I'm happy to have high standards.

Before I bow out for the night, let's discuss two scenes. First, my 'that-poor-actor' scene of the night goes to the poor child actor playing young Tommy, who walks in on his favourite whore engaging in less-than-vanilla sex with her current customer. It was a rotating shot that went from the two going at it doggy-style to the boy coming in through the door, the man's arse still gyrating in the adjacent mirror. Unless there was an annoying level of CGI, they just put the kid in the middle of a very unfriendly scene. I don't know how I feel about that.

Second, my favourite moment, and that would have to go to another so-far-unmentioned brain fart, as Nucky asks Margaret to stay with him will he conducts his business with Eli and Owen. The poor woman has to sit there while he loudly exclaims wonderful images such as 'I'll wear that fucking dago's guts as a neck tie', giving Margaret a nice cold dip in the waters of Nucky's gangster life. It was probably a deciding moment for the woman, who shortly after tells Owen they are hightailing it out of Atlantic City as soon as possible.

TADAH!!! Funny hat dance! No, not really, but I could never put anything past Gyp Rosetti, and that's why he's such a fun character to see on screen. Gods be good he'll pipe up for the final few episodes before taking a wondrous and memorable bow out. Anyone with me? 

'Belle Femme' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Nine

'Belle Femme' - 8.0

Pictures are getting harder and harder to find as the series goes on

These recaps are beginning to eat away at my soul. I occasionally enjoy venting my feelings about these episodes, but in reality I feel like I need some sort of work to keep me going, something to stop myself watching like ten episodes of things a day.

'Belle Femme' doesn't really have any faults. We have definitely continued on from the constant exposition and entire lack of action, with the episode featuring a major character's incarceration and another D'Alessio brother attack.

Margaret's character has grown considerably over the last few instalments, and she’s really beginning to come into her own as a woman in a position of power. Tonight her power is finally called upon as Madame Jeunet of La Belle Femme desires for her to convince Nucky to cut her some slack. It's by no means high risk, but it is good to see her really learning - and enjoying - having influence and say in society. After at first being entirely ignored by Nucky, she manages to convince him when she pretends that she personally wants the store to remain where and what it is. At her next visit, she even unsubtly asks for remuneration for herself once Madame Jeunet offers her something for her daughter instead. In her own words 'My daughter didn't help you'. This new Margaret could be fun.

As usual there is a lot of political conversations I understand very little of. For whatever reason, Nucky doesn't want to keep the current Mayor of Atlantic City in his position, offering Bader the position. I don't know who that is, really, all I know is that I recall hearing the name before. Perhaps he's evil, and can raise the dead? Dragons? The Bringer of fire and darkness? I don't care, to be honest. Unless he's one of those things. I'm sorry, but I really am a genre guy, I like a little degree of the impossible thrown into my shows, pure drama generally bores me. That said, I do enjoy Boardwalk Empire, and for a drama it is pretty fantastic, even if I don't understand everything that's said.

Jimmy doesn't have too much fun tonight, arriving back in Atlantic City with his own conditions for re-employment under Nucky's regime, that being that he wants Richard Harrow on the job with him. Nucky doesn't appear to give a rat's arse about his conditions, he only wants his protégé back in the fold, initiating him with a simple chore; rid the world of the D'Alessio brothers, who have been identified as the culprits behind the casino heist last episode. Jimmy starts his job by using his mother to trap Lucky Luciano with his pants down. Gillian is able to take his gun and leave him entirely unarmed and unaware, as Jimmy walks in with a splash of boiling hot coffee and a pointed gun.

It wasn't meant to be, however. I don't have any big issues with Lucky, he's actually kind of cool, but the show wouldn't be overly damaged by the loss of the secondary character. Lucky gets away, regardless, as while Jimmy heads out of his mother's apartment, Agent Van Alden bursts in, taking Jimmy in for the massacre from the first episode.

Agent Sepso had actually intercepted the telegrams Jimmy had tried to send to Nucky and his wife, but had failed to inform his partner as early as he could, hiding the messages and claiming that a higher officer was nervous about the investigation into Hans Schroeder's murder, and that he feared that the case may jeopardise both their jobs. Van Alden doesn't take that shit, throwing one of his trademark tantrums by throwing a bagel or something at the floor, and tearing into his colleague. It works out fine though, and with Jimmy in custody and a witness from the massacre on hand, the agents look set to make a serious conviction. It doesn't work out that way, with Sepso taking the witness out on a long trip to a safer location, obviously on Nucky's money roll. Intriguing.

That's not the only shooting however, as in the final sequence of 'Belle Femme', Nucky, Margaret and Eddie are exiting a dinner with Bader. This might be a good point to explain how much I love the 1920s entertainment, it's so vaudeville and over-the-top, and the comedy routines are often laugh-out-loud funny, especially the one we see tonight. Sorry, sidetracked, but as the three characters stroll down the thriving and colourful boardwalk they are distracted by a man interested in Nucky. Next second, a man in the crowd pulls out a gun and points it right at Mr. Thompson. Luckily Eddie reacts quickly, pushing it out of the way, with the shooter getting some poor innocent lady instead, who falls into Margaret's arms and spills blood all over her free dress from Madame Jeunet. Eddie manages to put a bullet in the shooter's leg as he gets away, so that will no doubt be a plot point later on, but as of right now the killer or attempted-such has escaped. We don't even get confirmation that it was the D'Alessio's responsible, considering shows like this like to pull such manipulative moves. We shall see.

If anything, it was like the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the true beginning of what is bound to be all out warfare between two rival factions in Atlantic City. I certainly can't wait for the real fighting to get going, as this show is pretty fucking awesome without constant action, so imagine what it will be like when people start hitting the ground. There are still the odd characters who haven't grown from their expository phases, like Angela, who I'd be interested in seeing in the thick of things, but I guess this show can't focus on everyone. It is unfortunate though, since there are a hell of a lot of fantastic actors and actresses here, many of whom are simply standing on the sidelines waiting for the right moment to do something.

'Hold Me in Paradise' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Eight

'Hold Me in Paradise' - 8.0

The stakes are high! (ha...)

'Hole Me in Paradise' actually managed to get by without being entirely devoted to its characters. The status of the plot has finally lurched forward a little, with one major player out of action for a while, one back into the game and another side character appears to have taken a step up.

Eli is the most obvious place to start tonight, and as the episode starts he is in control, since his brother Nucky is in Chicago for some political convention. The treasurer's younger brother is forced to take the reins of a very complicated business, and it is blatant that the people of Atlantic City respect him far less than his brother. Not a great deal happens to the guy until about half way through, when he goes to get the earnings from the casino. Only the episode before in 'Home', we'd seen the D'Alessio brothers organising a heist at the joint with Charlie Luciano and Meyer Lansky, so when Eli finds the place under siege it wasn't shocking. What was, however, was when the robbery is over a couple of seconds later, with Eli carrying a bullet wound to the abdomen and the crooks hightailing it out of there with one hundred and fifty grand. It doesn't look great for Eli, who up until this point has had little relevance to the plot, aside from being a Thompson. It's pretty clear that his death would make the character an important former presence, and would have lasting implications for the storyline. Nonetheless, I have nothing against the guy, he seems like an alright bloke born into the wrong family. Eli turns out fine, in the end, just bed-ridden, possibly for the next few episodes. The shooting does have one important message anyway; there's a war out there, and there's been one since Chalky White's driver was lynched at the end of the third episode.

For Nucky in Chicago, everything's coming up roses. This is before he learns of his brother's near-death experience of course, but Nucky is enjoying having politicians clamber over him, trying to get a bit of his powerful influence to rub off on them. After discovering that Senator Edge is going to hand Nucky's road appropriations money to Mayor Hague, he is determined to ensure that Edge does not receive the Vice-Presidential bump that he very much desires. He even organises with another generic political player to have a new guy - future President Warren Harding no less - nominated as the Republican candidate for the coming election. I'll be entirely honest in saying that I don't really understand American politics, and I don't really want to. It has little relevance to my life, and seems pointlessly complicated and open-ended for my tastes. What happened to old fashioned, fight-to-the-death for power, eh? Anyway, Nucky ends up having to leave Chicago early because of his brother's shooting, but not before giving Senator Edge a piece of his mind and - probably more importantly - reconnecting with his estranged protégé; Jimmy Darmody. Nucky goes so far as to invite Jimmy to return to Atlantic City under a business deal, believing that Jimmy would be instrumental in protecting his power over the city.

Margaret has a pretty boring time, though the show hints that she will begin playing a more integral role to the show. I mean, she's always had a sense of spunk and intelligence not seen in many of the other women on the show. In a truly enjoyable scene, Margaret is interrupted during a meal by Madame Jeunet, who wants her help to deal with Lucy Danziger, who is attempting to buy expensive clothes despite the end of her relationship with Nucky. Margaret is composed and confident, easily talking down the bratty Lucy, but she loses her cool when her intelligence is called into question, slapping the slut all in the face. Ha! Oh, how I laughed. I would be happy if these two got more angry, jealous scenes together, Margaret's witty and quick while Lucy is just insane.

Margaret's night is ruined when Nucky calls her up to inform her about Eli's big day, but rather than looking for support and comfort, Nucky wants her to go to his suite at the Ritz. It was by far the most subtle admission of criminal activity ever - notice sarcasm - with Nucky going so far as to tell the woman to take a ledger out of his desk and hide it in the cupboard. Of course she struggles with the temptation to read it - who wouldn't? - but we've always been taught by the show that Margaret is made of stronger stuff than the average curious cat. Alas, she gives in during the final few moments of the episode, opening the ledger and reading about all the wondrous deals her boyfriend's been making.

'Hold Me to Paradise' threatens to kick the story into high gear, establishing that there is a war brewing beneath the surface in Atlantic City, while simultaneously creating obstacles out of Eli and Margaret. Plot wise, Jimmy could go either way, helping his father figure like he promised or choosing to try and take him down with the Luciano. I'm definitely excited to see the plot coming in thick and fast, and it is a joy to see something shocking happen to a character we already know well, but I still wish that it had all happened much quicker than this, and that we hadn't wasted so much time meeting those who have little to do in the long run.

'The Pony' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Eight

'The Pony' - 8.5

How awesome is this?!

To say we just entered season three's climax would be an understatement. The murder of Jimmy Darmody aside, the explosion and thus destruction of series-long hang-out Babettes is one of this show's more audacious and dramatic manoeuvres, only furthered by the fact it clearly - well, hopefully - takes out a seemingly important recurring character. 'The Pony' looks to be the last hoorah for new girl-on-the-block Meg Chambers Steedle, who's role as flapper-girl Billy Kent comes to a fiery end. 

I definitely didn't have an issue with Kent, and considering she was an obstacle for Nucky and Margaret's relationship, I probably liked her. Relatively. In fact, her character is one of only a few that deserves to have great amounts of exposition devoted to them, an exclusive list that includes largely unexplored characters like Owen Sleater, Gaston Means and Gyp Rosetti, all of whom appear tonight. Anyway, Kent actually gets a nice focus in the lead up to her death, with 'The Pony' doing what shock-death episodes do best; making them seem important so we don't expect them to die, as well as building up as much sympathy as possible.

It does that perfectly. Really, by episode's explosive end I had come to respect Billy as strong, outspoken and occasionally hilarious, with her stand-out scenes being her terrific audition for her first motion picture and her handling of Nucky's violent introduction to her possible co-star. Together the scenes didn't just prove the character as successful, but also made Steedle out to be damn good in the role. She is almost the perfect flapper girl, as seen during her audition where she acts out a silent movie-scenario with comedic grace and 1920's slapstick. Very nice.

There was something very majestic about her eventual loss, as hers is the last face we get a good look at before the building explodes out across the boardwalk, with Nucky's perception of sight and sound being focussed onto only her; the voices of Rothstein, Baxter and Luciano being reduced to static murmurs, before flames erupt from within Babettes and everything happens. It was filmed and composed largely without originality, as from the second we see the group walking together and the dialogue is in that pre-catastrophic state of pointlessness I could tell hell was about to break loose. Nonetheless, when it does actually happen it was spectacular and highly devastating.

It will come as no surprise that the bombing was a result of - probably - Gyp Rosetti, as he's alerted to the meeting by none other than Gillian Darmody, who is bitter after receiving a visit from her son's killer. I think I've said it before so far this season, but I don't think Gillian's going to make it out alive, as she's already done the sort of acts that earned Jimmy a bullet in the brain. I'd be sad to see Gretchen Mol out, but at the same time her character has served a brilliant tenure on the show and is pretty much dead weight without Jimmy. 

I appreciated the fleshing out of Van Alden's Norwegian wife, who establishes herself as something of a criminal thinker as she prepares to go into the liquor business for her and her husband's livelihood. At first the character was almost a racist joke, but I've decided I don't mind her. She's a bit of fun. 

Van Alden, or Mueller or whatever, also has some fun tonight when he goes absolutely INSANE at his place of occupation. After running through a few mocking jokes while doing a practice sales pitch, an unlucky colleague of Nelson's gets one of these fancy irons pressed against his face and left moaning and groaning on the floor as the former Prohibition agent goes schizo throwing papers about and breaking office equipment. It was both cringe worthy and hilarious, and not many other actors on this show can manage that, though I have to wonder if the writers are going to explore the consequences of his assault or not. 

There was actual plot tonight as well, as Nucky manages to avoid being arrested again by getting the secretary for something-or-other to arrest George Remus instead. I guess we won't get to see anymore of the third-person-speaking whacko. No big loss there.

So, yeah. That was a pretty fantastic ride for everyone involved, and I will definitely be sad to see Billy Kent lost from this show, though I am happy to see that she got to go out with an extra special bang that should have repercussions for the remainder of the season, if not the entire show. Though I shed not a tear, I still feel the pain. 

'Sunday Best' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Seven

'Sunday Best' - 6.5

We are just so... Nineteen twenties-y. 

Happy Easter everyone, apparently. That's right, back in the nineteen twenties they did the entire Easter Sunday ritual, just like us, with a pleasant family lunch or dinner and an egg hunt, even if it is for money. At points 'Sunday Best' actually felt like filler, namely the scenes featuring Nucky and Margaret spending the evening at Eli and June's house or Richard Harrow at the veterans' lunch,  as other than a few character and relationship points nothing was really raised or modified. Especially not when compared with the Gyp Rosetti storyline or whatever went down at Gillian's house. 

I think Gillian's rendezvous with her Jimmy-lookalike is a good place to start, as it managed to be a strange mix of the episode's best and worst parts. First of all, it was horrendously creepy. Gillian is a complete nutcase, definitely suffering from the grief of her son's loss, while also having to actually admit to herself that he is dead. To do that, for some bizarre psychological reason she decides she has to dose her lover with heroin then drown him in the bath. Seriously, after only two episodes with us the surrogate son/incestuous affair is killed. Nonetheless, his presence was felt, even if he was there just to make Gillian Darmody out to be bonkers. She even tells the poor lad that Jimmy was actually her husband instead of her son. 

Luckily for us, once she's done the deed and made it look like an overdose she sits down on Richard Harrow's bed and finally realises the truth for herself; Jimmy's dead, and he's not coming back. This storyline was both disconcerting and fascinating, though my biggest issue stemmed from the drowning of the lad; it was just so dramatic! Yeah, conflict and murder and death are always good twists and stuff, but I just didn't really believe it, did Gillian have to be so extreme about it? I don't think there are that many nutcases so close to each other anywhere in the world. Maybe Boardwalk Empire is reaching its expiration date if they have to resort to such manipulative and outlandish tactics to keep us invested.

While she has her day of sex and homicide, her assistant Richard Harrow takes Tommy to his Easter lunch, which takes place at that father and daughter pair we met in the last episode. Have to say though; did anyone give a shit? Yeah, Harrow is a fantastic character who inspires pity and respect, managing to be both a tragic victim and an amoral killer. But love? Once again, I'm wondering if the show is reaching a point where it's run out of ideas, because that is such an obvious direction to take the character that it is absolutely uninteresting. I do believe it more than I believe Gillian's murder of Roger, but at least THAT was endlessly fascinating. Harrow and Julia is just boring.

Similarly, Margaret and Nucky spend Easter Sunday engaging in family play with Eli and his family. There were the odd points in this story that were a bit alright, namely Margaret admits to June that she is not happy with the state of her marriage, and that Nucky has a mistress in New York. Of course June tells her husband once it's all over, though I don't know if this will have any significance at all. There was also a kind of reconciliation between the brothers, but this was after Eli practically asked Nucky to shoot him because he's 'tired of waiting'. This must have been an admirable act in Nucky's eyes, as he offers his brother the position of partner in Doyle's warehouse.

There was also implications of remaining affection between Nucky and his wife, as she comes to discover that he is a proficient juggler and entertainer. When he offers to teach her how to juggle though, she simply tells him that it's 'too late', with the double entendre being about as explicit as Gretchen Mol's tits earlier in the episode. To be honest, I'm conflicted about putting these two back together, as they were a terrific couple and are one of the few evenly matched pairs on the show, but I also don't want the show to go back on their developments simply because another option is better.

I follow Steve Buscemi on Twitter, and I knew from there just how funny the man is (seriously folks, @TheRealBuscemi, follow that shit) but his brief comic display during his family talent show was quite hilarious. He may have some of the best comic timing that I've seen in a long time, as well as a plain, old funny voice. Great stuff. Also, he can clearly really juggle, which is also impressive.

Finally, Gyp Rosetti also does some stuff. Good stuff, in Italian. Just as hilariously as Nucky's egg routine, Gyp actually beats up a priest in a church after calling God 'fucking sick' and then goes about stealing all the collection money. Later he approaches Joe Masseria with the money and is able to appropriate a bit of support in his quest to 'kill them all', as in Rothstein and Nucky. Terrific! And now a mob guy with actual power is in on the action as well, so hopefully we will see an old-fashioned mob war erupt along the Eastern seaboard. Honestly though, does Masseria believe he can defeat two of the most powerful criminals in America? 

If 'Sunday Best' taught me anything, it's that Easter Sunday is not a day for action, except for the reflective, dramatic murder of Roger by Gillian, though that just bordered on scarring. After last episode's absence it was good to see Gyp Rosetti back on the scene and making a few power plays to reassert his dominance and take his revenge. With only five episodes left we have to start seeing the action ramp up as we head towards the finale. What will happen? Who'll fall in the crossfire? My guesses; Gillian's just gotten too insane, I think the writers are moving to cut her out, and put her more in the middle of the action. Run or the other. If Margaret isn't with Nucky then they are going to have to go to bizarre measures to keep her involved, so it might just be easier to kill her off. I'm getting kind of bored of Richard Harrow, as he hasn't really changed that much since joining the show two years ago, but I wouldn't put his odds low. I think he'll do fine. Eli and Mickey Doyle would both be expendable, probably the former less so than the latter, though I doubt Eli's gonna get bumped off first. Billy Kent, even though she didn't appear tonight, is in definite danger, especially now that more and more people are becoming aware of her fling with Nucky, and she also gets between him and Margaret. I for one wouldn't care if she got tapped on the shoulder.

We will see though, it might end up like the first season which kind of shrugged as it finished, and no one important might die. I hope not though, there's been a few snooze fests this year and I want to see all this exposition lead to something worthwhile. 

'Home' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Seven

‘Home’ – 5.5

Everyone loves melodrama. 

Ok, well it’s not looking like some sort of overarching plotline is going to manifest itself in this show, rather Boardwalk Empire is beginning to turn into something of an extravagant soap opera, with more sex and violence. I’m not saying it’s bad, the show is a cut above the rest in terms of script, acting and art direction on a bad day, but the plot is meandering along while the story continues to pander the needs of its characters more than us.

‘Home’ concludes the drama surrounding the attack on Pearl, by introducing a disturbing new allegiance for Jimmy. Pearl was Jimmy’s whore/girlfriend from earlier in the season, who ended up getting her face sliced in two after he and Al Capone fudged a deal with some tavern owner in another mobster’s territory, killing herself in ‘Nights in Ballygran’. This episode begins with the guy responsible – Liam – being tracked to a diner where he eats lunch most days. You can already tell how this is gonna turn out, but for some reason it takes nearly the full fifty minutes to get to that point.

Along the way to the death of Pearl-slasher, we have to endure a long winded introduction to Richard Harrow, an unfortunate veteran who has suffered severe facial scarring during the war, and must use a face mask in order to hide the half of his face that... well, isn’t there anymore. Jimmy and Richard meet at a military hospital after Jimmy began suffering pain from the war injury in his leg. The two get to talking, with Richard revealed to be a soft-spoken and brutally honest former sharp shooter with a serious issue connecting with people; though that is understandable. While a character with facial scarring is a difficult one to pitch to audiences, here he is presented with sympathy and realism, even down to the disfiguring injuries.

With Jimmy now aware of Liam’s favourite restaurant, he meets him there one day. Jimmy intimidates the mobster the best way he knows how; a war story. The story is one of suffering and torment, with some unlucky German soldier getting shot and left to die in a tangled mess of barbed wire, being tortured by his agonising death yet refusing to let himself be killed. One thing Michael Pitt has going for him is his acting ability, with his deliveries always pitch perfect in their abrasive, passive-aggressive way. Liam is obviously disconcerted, promising to leave Chicago and never return. This appears to satiate Jeremy, and he goes to leave. The second he’s through the door there is the sound of glass breaking and a jug shatters on a waiter’s tray. The camera reveals the corpse of Liam, a bloody bullet hole just under his eye, reminiscent of a tale Richard told Jimmy in the hospital. The next shot was entirely unnecessary, and completely over-the-top; we zoom through the hole in the diner’s window, over the street and into the opposite building, showing us that it was Harrow, without a doubt. Really? You let everything else go unsaid and you have to obvious about what was already obvious? And that had to have been computer animated, that would’ve been expensive! Ug.

Nucky’s father Ethan Thompson is a goddamn prick. I don’t know why protagonists need such definitive parental issues. Look at Jimmy and his absolutely crazy mother! No, Ethan is abusive, cruel and selfish, so are we supposed to be sympathetic when he takes a nasty fall early in the episode? Probably not, it was his own fault anyway. That’s what you get for having so many cats. The fall puts the old guy in the hospital, leading Nucky and Eli to decide that their family home needs to go. Nucky gives the home to some politician on his payroll; Fleming. However, after a dreary encounter with his father once the house has been fixed up, he gets a can of petrol and sets the entire place ablaze, gifting Fleming a wad of cash and telling him to find a better place. I don’t know what the significance of all this will be, but it might have something to do with Teddy watching from the car as this all goes on.

Other stuff happened too you know; Lucky Luciano and a friend tried to turn Chalky White away from Nucky, attempting to coerce him with $10,000 into selling directly to them, cutting a middle man out of the equation. Chalky’s no dumdum though, and he throws the money in Mr. Meyer Lansky’s face. The two of them then head over to the D’Alessio brothers and Mickey Doyle, offering them a part of their liquor business, as long as they provide the right amount of money. As subtly as a snake swallowing a baby, Lucky Luciano suggests robbing Nucky’s casino and splitting half and half between Rothstein and them.

Angela is now a lesbian, apparently, getting down and dirty with the photographer’s wife. This is an interesting twist, though whether or not it will have any real significance down the track is anyone’s guess. There is a lot in this show I just can’t be bothered going into, because there is a lot of inconsequential information that is fed to us. Oh, if you’re wondering about Margaret, don’t. Nothing happens to her, but she’s around.

So it’s beginning to look like Boardwalk Empire isn’t going anywhere, and boy is that annoying. There’s nothing really going for it in these last few episodes and to be perfectly honest, this characterisation shit’s gotten tedious. I hope this show can pick up something and run with it, get a single thread thing going and get me re-invested in the story, because terrific actors and sets and general prettiness is great for a while, but in the end I need to an epic tale to keep me hooked, and it looks like Boardwalk Empire COULD give me one if they took the time for it.

'Ging Gang Goolie' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Six

'Ging Gang Goolie' - 6.5

'I want incest you so bad'

Did anyone else get 'Ging Gang Goolie' stuck in their head after the scene at the Boy Scout function? It's an awful, awful song but it's just permanently engrained in my mind, and is sadly about the only thing that remains from the as-such entitled instalment of Boardwalk Empire.

Now, admittedly, it is always difficult to justify a negative review of Boardwalk Empire. It looks damn good, the acting is superb, blah blah blah intelligent, blah blah. The show, like Game of Thrones or Buffy the Vampire Slayer can almost be considered objectively good - of course I could say your mileage may vary, but I hold fast to the belief that for any of these three shows, if you don't like them then you're kidding yourself and/or don't watch enough television to appreciate actual quality. Too much of ‘the Vampire Diaries’, perhaps, that you've forgotten what makes a TV series different or interesting.

Maybe the focus on Margaret and Nucky's relationship was a mistake, as well as the absence of the most interesting character right now, Gyp Rosetti, who is obviously recovering from the attempt on his life last episode. Nucky gets put in jail and fined $5, all because his former ally Attorney General Harry Daugherty needed a temporary scapegoat, and wanted to teach our protagonist a lesson. I know we've met Daugherty, but I am not overly familiar with him. I couldn't remember his name when he first showed up tonight, and in the end he has little effect on the proceedings other than inspiring his enemy to take Remus (the guy who says his own name a lot) down, and possibly Daugherty himself. I don't know.

At least Gillian got a sex scene in, although it was with a man who looks an awful lot like her son. I often feel a bit sorry for Gretchen Mol, as even though she plays the role with strength and ability, she still portrays a thoroughly unlikeable and strange woman, who has an incestuous fixation on her own (deceased) son. There is a depressing factor here in that he's dead and such, but it's still creepy and I wish she'd stop it. 

Did anyone understand what was going on with this gypsy/vagrant lurking near Margaret's house? I hear that he starts a fire early on, but 'gypsy', as Teddy calls it, is terribly close to 'Gyp', and he does say that the gypsy lived somewhere else and has only just come to town. It's eerie and suspenseful, but doesn't lead anywhere but to Margaret and Owen Sleater hooking up in the greenhouse. 

You know who I like? Gaston Means. His actor, Stephen Root, plays him as confident and with a degree of cheesy flamboyancy, and it is all appreciated. Means is hilarious no matter what he's saying or doing, and even though he should be subordinate he still owns his superiors with seemingly helpful quips that are equally belittling. He's fantastic, and just as good to watch as Gyp Rosetti, if for different reasons. His presence tonight was entertaining, as always, and the prospect of him joining up with Nucky to take down his own boss is an exciting prospect. Means for President!

'Ging Gang Goolie' was nowhere near as memorable as the song it's named after, and in reality was just as evasive as the show always gets. I can see that Boardwalk Empire is a complex show, but maybe twelve episodes is too many. They end up introducing all these unnecessary and uneventful side plots that it later feels it needs to resolve. I reckon there are easily two episodes worth of scenes that could be removed to make the show breezier and simpler. Yes, of course intelligent is good, but I can't always follow this show and it's starting to really piss me off. I'm just waiting for someone to pull out a gun and shoot everybody, then I'll be happy. 

'Family Limitation' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Six

‘Family Limitation’ – 7.0

Director to Paz De La Huerta: 'No dear, pretend you're in a porn movie. No, not that porn movie.'

It’s just not gonna stop is it?

We have to meet every character, then we have to delve as deep as we can into the personalities and histories of these characters, then we have to re-evaluate who the characters are, and THEN we might get some proper plot.

I’m not calling Boardwalk Empire low on substance, characterisation is substance, and yes it is technically plot, but I want the actual story to get going. I don’t want to know why the people here are what they are, I want to know what they are doing. You don’t need to tell me why beforehand. To be frank, I’m getting kinda bored.

Margaret and Nucky are lovers now.  Oddly, it was for this episode that Kelly MacDonald received an Emmy nomination. I mean, she is good, but she’s no better tonight than she is at any other point in Boardwalk Empire. I admit she has one fantastic scene, but that was mostly due to the quality of the script. To be specific, following the blossoming of Margaret’s sexual relationship with Nucky, Lucy Danziger returns to her work La Belle Femme. Noticing her romantic rival fixing clothes racks, she plays a passive-aggressive card, forcing the normally coy and submissive woman to try on an excessively revealing pair of undergarments. I actually find Lucy hilariously slutty and stupid, she’s so naked so often that it’s stopped being special, or attractive. In fact, I think the character is a tad insane, because during this scene with Margaret, she goes on about how much control she has over Nucky, even opening her legs up to reveal television’s rarest commodity. Margaret, showcasing her undying wit and general intelligence, tells her a nice parable that ends with a simple message, and I quote ‘Maybe your cunny isn’t quite the draw you think it is’. Ha! I’ve decided I love this woman! Anyway, to end the conversation on an even more dramatic and cathartic note, Margaret storms out of the store telling Madame Jeunet she’s quitting.

Nucky is more about business tonight, having to negotiate with Lucky Luciano following a robbery on the boardwalk. I didn’t know that they knew Luciano was in Atlantic City, but they obviously did, and there isn’t any evidence proving otherwise. What I appreciated about the meeting was that Nucky actually stood up for Gillian Darmody, after Luciano said some crude comment about their time together. Nucky is starting to look like a strangely honourable individual, especially where woman and black people are concerned. He gives Luciano a little whack on the back of the head, sending the Italian boy into a rage and giving Eli an excuse to beat on him, holding Lucky up so Nucky can say his piece.

Nucky also has to deal with Mayor Hague of Jersey City, who is also in line to receive the road appropriations money. I’m still not overly sure what’s going on here; I think that Nucky wants a road built between Philly, New York and Atlantic City, while Hague wants them built to Jersey City instead. I actually had to look at a map to work out what that all meant, and I’m still don’t really know. Before you start ragging on my lack of geographic knowledge, note that I’m actually an Aussie, so asking me to point to an American city is only slightly better than asking me to point to an Albanian one. So, ignoring that, Nucky’s plan is to buy Hague off, rather than have him go for the money from the bill as well. Sure, I understand that.

The best plot of the night was certainly Jimmy’s, as he actually got a bit of action in – and not sex action either. No, after Al Capone almost single-handedly started a war between Sheridan and Torrio, Torrio had a meeting arranged so that the two parties can discuss their differences. That’s not their plan, in the end though, and it all depends on one, random thing; the coat girl. Apparently fancy places have them on TV, and as they come into Sheridan’s place they hand their stuff over to the coat girl, this pretty blonde thing Sheridan takes a shine to. After the meeting, which ends up being entirely irrelevant, everyone comes to retrieve their paraphernalia, only to see it’s a new coat girl. The second Jimmy and Al have their coats, they pull out concealed guns and take out Sheridan and his entire crew, seizing Greektown.

Rather than focussing on Jimmy, this episode had a larger focus on Al, with Jimmy visiting Al in his home early on. It is a pretty awkward dinner, with his mother only able to speak Italian, and his wife only able to speak English. Their son, however, doesn’t speak at all, since it turns out young Sonny is deaf. Stephan Graham, who plays Al with a sense of compassion as well as brutality, is especially good. Graham’s best moments are when Al is silent, watching as Jimmy receives credit and adulation from Torrio, leaving him out in the cold. At a party celebrating the successful conquering of Greektown, Al speaks out, jokingly mocking Jimmy, who then returns in kind by pointing out Al’s uneven war record. In their last scene of the night, Al reveals that his major limitation is his lack of ability to properly communicate with others when he visits Jimmy up in his roof. At the end of the scene, the viewer is left unsure whether Al was trying to be friendly with his accomplice, or threatening him. I’m not sure Jimmy knew either.

The most confusing character is now officially Van Alden, who requisitions the immigration file on Margaret Schroeder, supposedly to further investigate her deceased husband. However he only ends up removing her photograph, setting it beside the bed, placing a towel down on the mattress, then... self-flagellating? Riiiiiiight.... This is getting weirder, though does it actually hold any significance?

As of the end of this episode, we are halfway through season one, and despite being complex from a character point of view, we have little idea where the plot is heading and it is beginning to grind me the wrong way. Hopefully the final half of the season will be more eventful, and less focused on characters I already know and who I mostly don’t want to know.

'You'd Be Surprised' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Five

'You'd Be Surprised' - 6.0

I sincerely wish he was singing 'Nathan' by Azealia Banks right now. Chalky and Purnsley would loooove that. 

Other than the an explosive massacre towards its conclusion, 'You'd Be Surprised' was largely an uneventful and dragging affair, featuring Nucky dealing with his romantic relationships, Margaret setting up her health clinic and Gillian facing money problems at the whore house. As usual though, the less action packed moments are still held together by the typical acting standard and the impeccable aesthetics of Boardwalk Empire.

Gyp Rosetti is getting stranger and stranger with every passing episode, though I'm not quite sure that he needed to be THIS bizarre, appearing in the first scene violently masturbating while a woman strangles him with a belt. Erotic asphyxiation is kind of different I guess, but it feels like the show's tacked it on to make Rosetti more perverse and unlikeable, even though he's just pretty awesome. Ok, I was admittedly a bit phased by this sudden foible, but on the whole it has little effect on the character itself, rather it points a finger at the integrity of the writers. Was this just to shock us? Probably. 

Rothstein and Nucky are at odds over the massacre that saw out 'Blue Bell Boy', as once again it has left Rothstein devoid of the liquor that he was promised. It's a bit unfortunate for Nucky, who has lost a whole convoy of men, trucks and alcohol, but now his biggest contributor is threatening to pull the plug. Michael Stuhlbarg and Steve Buscemi actually looked to be having a hilariously fun time digging into each other's characters, with the two kingpins pretty much regressing to childish name calling and yelling, while Owen Sleater and Lucky Luciano wait awkwardly in the adjacent room. We don't hear much of what goes on, but we know it doesn't sound good, even if it almost amusingly over-the-top.

Back at home, things aren't much better for Nucky when Margaret comes across him and his new girl, Billie, while they are out dress shopping at Madame Jeunet's. Margaret had been handing out flyers for her women's health clinic which has been somewhat floundering now that it's started, and she had come to Jeunet to ask her to give out the flyers from the store, only for the French woman to try and shoo her out in the most polite - but least subtle - way possible. It's all in vain though, because Nucky comes strolling out holding a prospective garment for Billie, who then follows him into Margaret's view wearing only her - quite unrevealing - underwear. I'd expected Nucky's current wife to say some brilliant quip that she's so known for making, but in the end she just offered her husband's new girl one of her flyers and implies she'll be too busy committing adultery to attend. A bit of a wasted opportunity if you ask me.

Over in Van Alden land, he's receiving cryptic communications from that prohi who let him off last week. In a scene as unintentionally farcical as Rothstein and Nucky's shouting match, the agent arrives in his home, causing both of the Muellers to worry that the jig is up. Nelson forces Sigrid to leave the room as he prepares to face the music, only for the agent to merely chastise him for selling a faulty iron a few weeks prior, explaining exactly how the two had met before. A second later, Sigrid rams him over the head a few times, much to Van Alden's shock and to our amusement. Nelson and Sigrid then decide the only way out is to finish the job, with the poor guy being suffocated by Nelson's handkerchief while Sigrid dutifully holds his legs down. Next thing we know, Van Alden's gone back to the florist who offered him a gangster job, for help disposing of the body. Was it me, or was this whole thing oddly comical? I mean, it's Van Alden, who was always too disturbingly bizarre to be taken without a grain of salt, but he and his wife barely batted an eyelid while suffocating that man. Weird? Just a little.

I honestly didn't care about Gillian's financial problems at her new brothel, so at first I was curious as to why exactly we had to go into them so much. Turns out that Mrs. Darmody seems to legitimately believe that her son has simply run off somewhere, and she writes him at one point to beg him to return to her. It is a really quite depressing moment, and a testament to the often under-used Gretchen Mol, who's only appeared in three of the five episodes so far. 

Let's be honest here; did anyone understand what the hell was going on with that tribunal thing? I got that 'Melon' was the secretary for the bureau of Internal Revenue, but what were they talking about? Somehow Harry Daugherty got mentioned, a name I'm sure I've heard before but can't quite place, and his name set off alarm bells for Gaston Means, aka the crazy guy who hid from the people he was collecting money from. Means reports to some guy I've definitely seen before, but I don't really think who he is matters. Rather, the fact that Means gives him some useful advice; making a high-profile arrest is the only way out of facing the committee under suspicion of corruption; will surely be important later. Who will get arrested?

In the night's most who-gives-a-fuck storyline, Margaret warns Nucky that Billie Kent doesn't need 'rescuing', and is therefore not the type of girl he'll stay with. He deflects this, but it becomes apparent throughout the episode that he's trying to help her anyway, as her stage show is failing pretty badly. Nucky believes it is because of a badly cast male lead in the show, titled 'The Naughty Virgin' in a humorously awful attempt at subtlety - and knowingly so. Anyway, he tries to convince Eddie Cantor to take the role, finally giving Stephen DeRosa a chance to stretch out the marvelous adaption of the famous performer, and do something other than sing and joke. Cantor can't take the job due to contractual obligations to another show, but Nucky sends in Chalky White and Mr. Dunn Purnsley to his home to catch a show, providing the most wonderfully awkward spectacle I've ever seen, as Cantor attempts to satisfy the two men with one of his trademark songs only to have them stare blankly at him in complete silence. Once again, it was just that slightest bit funny, which is maybe the theme tonight. In the end, Cantor gives up and tells the two that he'll do Billie's show. He doesn't take it with glee however, and when he prepares to take the stage with her he turns to her and asks her if she's aware of Lucy Danziger, which of course she isn't. In a line as cruel as the one I wish Margaret made earlier, he warns her that 'the next one won't know a thing about you either'.

The best scene of the night belonged to Gyp Rosetti, who is rudely interrupted while enjoying another oxygen-depraved (ha! see what I did there?) tryst when that annoying kid who works for Meyer Lansky bursts in and takes out a whole bunch of his men, before breaking into the bedroom and taking a few shots at Gyp himself. Gyp's a nice guy though, so he uses his trick to block the shots, killing her while he struggles to undo the belt from the bed before grabbing his gun and returning fire. He's too late though, and the shooter escapes while he walks through the carnage entirely - and I mean entirely - naked, with all of himself on display. Very brave, Bobbie Cannavale, full nudity isn't particularly common on television, especially while completely coated in blood and surrounded by dead bodies.

The scene after shows that Nucky and Rothstein had handled their tiff, and that he'd organised the shooting in an attempt to take out Gyp Rosetti - duh. Anyway, at least we know these two aren't at odds so much anymore, I don't mind Rothstein.

So, other than that penultimate montage of fetishist sex and a four-fatality-filled-shoot-out, the whole episode was a little dull. The strange additions of awkward humour either flew over my head or completely threw me off, so I'd have to ask that they not pull that creepy weird shit again, because I was slowly considering backing away from the television. Luckily the episode ended before it got that far, but maybe not next time. Boardwalk Empire isn't the place for hilarity, it's supposed to be more like an epic prohibition-drama. There isn't that much room for comedy, especially farcical or just awkward situations. They're just... a bit much. Other than the violent or the bizarre, the majority of 'You'd Be Surprised' was just uninteresting. I'm not sure why we had so much build-up to Van Alden having to kill the prohi, he could have just showed up at his house. Likewise, why did Nucky have to try and reason with Cantor first? Couldn't he have just sent Chalky and Purnsley over in the first place? Also, why was Gillian's short, pointedly sentimental storyline split up the way it was, it could have been only one scene. 

I guess in the end, 'You'd be Surprised' did what the title said it would, and I was at the very least bewildered by the shooting at Tabor Heights, but there was so much dead weight just hanging around - in character and scene senses - that I just want this season to pick things up and get into it, which it surely will now that Rosetti should be on the warpath. 

'Nights in Ballygran' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Five

‘Nights in Ballygran’ – 7.5

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.