'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.

'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.

'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.

'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.

'Anastasia' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Four

'Anastasia' – 7.0 

Nice colour scheme. Apart from the torture this picture would make a good Christmas card. 

While the first two episodes of nothing but character exposition were fantastic, I admit I'm starting to get tired of watching a large number of people simply living in stasis. Yes, the quality of the episode is pretty damn good, with terrific acting as normal, as well as a script that matches its cast's talent. However, I wish that the show could let something happen that changes the way things are in this universe, because we are a third of the way in now and I have no clue where we're going.

The title for this episode comes from a story that seems to be sweeping the news of the world, even though out of the main characters only Margaret refers to it. Apparently an amnesiac girl found shivering in a river has begun claiming she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia, despite the fact Anastasia was killed along with the rest of her family three years prior to the date of Boardwalk Empire. Margaret finds the thought of a normal woman being hailed a princess inspiring at first, allowing her to develop an almost deluded fixation on Nucky Thompson. When the story is proved false close to the end of the episode, the change in her is immediate, as she realises one doesn't simply become a princess, one must earn power and prestige, or take it from someone who has it.

Jimmy Darmody is the only character who has been developed over the course of the season, with his world being turned upside down by his and Al Capone's involvement in the massacre outside of Atlantic City. Now that Nucky has forced him out of his home and away from his family, Jimmy's found his way to Chicago and to Al. Sharing a bed with a prostitute named Pearl, the first time we see Jimmy tonight is a surprisingly intense scene, where Al Capone creeps his way into Jimmy's room with a gun, holding it just over his friend's head, before shifting it to the left and firing into the pillow. It was a jump moment, but ultimately a false one. If anything it is an example of the sort of person that Al Capone is; a rash, relentless, almost idiot thug, but for some reason he is an endearing contribution to the story, and a terrific choice of actor for the iconic gangster. Al actually gets quite a lot to do tonight, and in a rather unintelligent move brutally forces a Greek tavern-owner into buying his liquor from Torrio, rather than the Irish Mr. Sheridan, the supplier in Greek town.

This move results in this Irish gangster arriving to confront Capone at the Four Deuces, where Al and Jimmy work as bouncers. Sheridan doesn't appear to threatening initially, as it doesn't take him long to cave to Capone's brash manner, apparently agreeing to a fifty-fifty split of the earnings from Greek town between Torrio and him. It's obvious that something else is happening that Capone isn't picking up on, and that it might just have something to do with Pearl, who walks in during the meeting to say goodbye to Jimmy. It wasn't particularly subtle, but I don't think subtlety was what the writers were going for. If we weren't somewhat aware of what was going to happen later, it wouldn't have been as suspenseful as it was.

Sheridan's men return to the Four Deuces later in the episode, and upon discovering Al and Jimmy are somewhere else, they settle on enacting their revenge on Pearl. It was a very disturbing scene, as Pearl is lured closer to a man who wants to harm her. When he draws his knife, he doesn't do anything straight away, giving us that brief moment of opportunity to think she'd get away, but alas she doesn't even know what's happening until he runs the blade right down her face in a bloody line, then leaving her clutching her face on the ground. The entire gang then ditches the club with guns firing, a clear act of vengeance and of Sheridan's true intentions. I don't know about any of you, but facial injuries are more unsettling than most other injuries, though it wasn't too violent to detract from the show. The film makers even went so far as to actually flesh Pearl out during the episode, although I can't say whether she'll make more appearances or not. Jimmy's delivery of flowers may indicate that he will continue to see her, but it may also be a sense of closure to her story. We shall see.

While Jimmy's over in Chicago, his wife, son and mother are all over in Atlantic City. At a time when Angela is out and Gillian is left to babysit, Lucky Luciano arrives from New York, presumably on the mission Rothstein gave him last episode. As one would upon seeing Gillian, Luciano assumes immediately that she is Jimmy's wife rather than his mother, and you can see his interest peak straight away. Over the course of the next few nights he follows her from Jimmy's home to her extravagant strip shows - can I just say how stunning those sequences are? - before Gillian gives up on ignoring his presence and explicitly offers him a place in her bed. For a second there I thought she was gonna get a bullet through somewhere unpleasant, but in the end it went the other way, in tone and character.

It's Nucky's birthday party, an event that has been casually referred to since the first episode, and it is a grandiose as one would expect. Nucky clearly wishes to use the party as a political event, and spends a lot of the night communicating with Mayor Hague and Senator Edge, both of whom could be instrumental in constructing a paved road to Atlantic City. I didn't really care about this, because roads don't really interest me unfortunately. So don't expect me to be an expert on this plot line. I was impressed by Nucky's 'I do expect everything' line, though I really can't be stuffed describing why. Did you know I didn't get to sleep until four in the morning? And not through lack of trying. Is four and a half hours of inability to fall asleep normal?

I have to congratulate the bravery of the man who portrayed the Grand Cyclops (was that what KKK leaders were actually called?) for delivering such an intensely racist speech. It actually made me physically uncomfortable, which is a sign of a powerful performance. Anyway, the Cyclops gets arrested by Sheriff Eli for the lynching of Chalky's driver the episode before, and in one perfect scene is interrogated by Chalky himself. It needs to be heard to appreciated, but it was a captivating and beautiful tale by a clearly angry Chalky, played with unwavering flamboyancy and intimidating confidence by Michael K Williams.

Margaret gets a bit of focus as well, and despite not being heralded a princess, the show thrusts her out as the only strong feminine character on the show. In a well-written dialogue she shoots witty comebacks at a shamelessly sexist Senator Edge, almost officially cementing herself as the voice for women in the cast. Yet at the end of the episode, she falls to the level of stealing a negligee from Madame Jeunet, something almost foretold by the Anastasia plot line.

So yeah, it was pretty interesting at points, but making one character a shoplifter and slicing another's face in half won't change that much either. If anything, this episode establishes newbie Sheridan as an antagonist for a little while, and that's not such a bad thing.

'Broadway Limited' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Three

'Broadway Limited' - 8.5 

Steve Buscemi's had some work done

What is striking about 'Broadway Limited' is the violence and the sex. Ok, well there is only one instance of either, and the sex isn't actual intercourse or anything, it's just nudity, but there are still quite extreme cases of both. I have no issues at all with either, though I did loudly exclaim when the gruesome act occurs, but we will get to that later.

In the first scene of the episode, the surviving victim from the Pilot's massacre is brought in, his insides just visible through the large hole in his fat belly. I should definitely not eat dinner while watching TV. Anyway, it's been three days he's been out in the environment, and he is infected and dying, but he isn't completely gone yet. Before too long, the wonderfully deranged Prohibition Agent Nelson Van Alden struts into the hospital and orders the man placed into his custody, but when getting a warrant apparently fails he winds up forging one and kidnapping the witness. With the man surely bleeding all over the back seat - Van Alden is attempting to take him to New York or something, closer to Rothstein - they end up stopping at a dentist to try and get something out of him before he dies.

The dentist scene quickly went from farcical to disgusting. At first the man, who has been awakened with a dose of cocaine to the mouth, only gives a few angry Yiddish words that seriously offend the dentist's current patient and his mother. According to the poor classy lady his sentence roughly comes to 'you should fuck your grandmother with your little faggot penis'. It was pretty funny, but then everything turns to horror when a quietly furious Van Alden jams his hand deep into the man's gunshot wound, giving us a full view of his arm sticking out of his belly. His screams are not understated, but they are perfectly understandable - I ended up making a very weird sound myself. Sure enough the tactic is fairly effective, and Van Alden gets one name before the poor lad carks it; Jimmy.

I don't know how necessary such violence is, but it definitely left its mark, and I sure won't forget it anytime soon. Such acts are unrealistic, but I am not complaining, simply because it was a truly surprising moment. It is also hard to deny Michael Shannon's abilities as the twisted prohi, and he actually affords a degree of sympathy, if not from any of the characters around him.

For Jimmy, the news that he's been fingered is both unwanted and surprising. Nucky is intelligent enough to force him to flee Atlantic City, but he lacks any regard for Angela and Tommy, though he actually sounds forlorn as he describes the younger, more idealistic Jimmy that never returned from the war. Like Shannon, Steve Buscemi is able to evoke sympathy for a character who would be largely hated in real life, who allows people to fall at his side as long as he gets to keep standing. The very next scene, as Jimmy packs his bags for Chicago, it's Michael Pitt and Aleksa Palladino's time to act, with both performing as well as each other while their quasi-relationship crumbles under Jimmy's rashness, both in the shooting and in his assumption that Angela had an affair with the guy at the photo store. I was honestly bewildered by how well Palladino did, but that was mostly due to her clear lack of use over the last few episodes and I hope we still get to see her often, despite Jimmy's leaving.

Things get rough for Chalky White, who is employed by Nucky as the new distiller after Mickey Doyle got caught by the FBI in the pilot. Chalky's business seems to be going fine at first, but when he driver is lynched and the words 'Liquor Kills' scratched into his car door, it looks like his story is about to take off. Chalky is more intelligent than his grammar makes him seem, and he demands a higher cut of the takings from Nucky, who in turn is allowed to do as he wishes to hide that crime from the media; in this case he makes it look like a revenge killing for a supposedly false adultery. Later as Nucky makes his way to the lift at the Ritz-Carlton, he glances back and looks at the muddy footprints he's traipsed over a very expensive looking rug. Exactly what this represents is seemingly up for interpretation - I think it shows that he does consider the consequences of his actions and the trail he leaves behind him, he just chooses to ignore it when he can. Don't know though, never been particularly good at that stuff. I find symbolism a bit trite most of the time, but it wasn't too stupid in this case, not like butterflies representing condemnation or some shit. You know what I mean.

Anyway, there were a couple of other scenes I'm sure will become important later; for one, Rothstein sends Luciano to track down and possibly kill Jimmy in retaliation for the massacre, and for another Doyle gets himself in some hot water with his business associates, who he can no longer pay due to the loss of his business to Chalky. The latter scene could have been a little precursor to the lynching of Chalky's driver, especially if he's making liquor at the same place Doyle was. There was even a good conversation between Margaret Schroeder and Nucky's mistress Lucy Danziger. Margaret was given a job at a clothing store on the boardwalk, one that is frequented by the slutty princess, who saunters in expecting to be pampered by the Irish lass who doesn't really know what she's doing. It was funny and kind of sad, for both of them. Lucy seems like a character who's only role is to crash and burn, while Margaret is clearly going to suffer heartbreak after heartbreak until her heart... breaks.

All in all it was very similar to the previous episode, with possibly the tiniest bit more plot development added for good measure. Unfortunately none of the characters get the proper fleshing out that they received in 'the Ivory Tower', and the plot was more continued than changed, but I'm not too worried, it was still a top episode and the show isn't showing signs of slowing down yet. On a weirder note, I appreciate the nudity and the violence, as almost any other channel shies too far away from these grotesque displays of human realism, and I just adore them. I love to shocked, and I'll admit I'm loving this show right now.

'The Ivory Tower' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Two

'The Ivory Tower' - 10.0

I've been a naughty boy

While the first episode had trouble maintaining all its weight, 'The Ivory Tower' shows that Boardwalk Empire can handle a meaty cast, focusing on the characters we have already met without bombarding us with new faces or plot lines. Almost everyone we know is expanded upon in an terrific episode that is a clear improvement over the little issues that arise in the pilot.

'The Ivory Tower' enforces some terrific aspects of this show; first, it has incredibly strong characters with a cast that can accommodate the harder roles; second, it isn't afraid to crack a joke or stick its tongue in its cheek; third, despite its sense of humour it is largely a serious and very intelligent drama.

Even though it was mostly an expository episode that aimed to develop the characters, there ended up being way too many events to simply recap them. Unfortunately that means I have to pick and choose the more important or impressive scenes, and exclude some of the more ponderous or irrelevant ones.

Following the murder of crime boss Big Jim Colosimo at the conclusion of 'Boardwalk Empire', one would have assumed that there would have been big repercussions. However, only one character seems concerned by the event, that being New York king pin Rothstein. Rothstein summons the apparent assassin of Big Jim, and gives the murderer a terrific speech about an unfortunate man who swallowed one too many billiard balls. In that one analogy, Michael Stuhlbarg manages to show the gangster as both charming and threatening, while still appearing entirely sincere. Oddly enough, I think Rothstein quickly became a favourite character of mine, along with his ambitious and slightly naive assistant Lucky Luciano.

Meanwhile, Jimmy enjoys the spoils from his heist last episode, buying his family numerous expensive gifts, including a 'vacuum sweeper' which got a sweet reaction from young Tommy, who'd no doubt never experienced such a machine. We also meet Jimmy's mother, a woman who looks no older than him and who works as an exotic dancer. Nonetheless, she was an immediately striking character, and not just appearance-wise. While I can't recall her name, her personality was outgoing and her manner of speaking was unreserved and over-affectionate, but by no means unintelligent or assuming. She had a sense of knowledge and wisdom, something fostered in her actress Gretchen Mol, obviously a remarkable woman and/or actress if she can leave such an impression after one scene.

Anyway, Jimmy's period of wealth and prosperity is over in almost an instant when Nucky removes him from his employ and demands $3,000 from his take, something he has already spent. In the end, Jimmy is forced to steal his gift to his mother back; a lookalike necklace to the one she sold years ago to pay for their house. The final twist is crueller though, since once he hands the wad of cash over to Nucky, the treasurer puts it straight onto a roulette table, losing it all in an instant right in front of Jimmy. In both of his scenes with Nucky, both Michael Pitt and Steve Buscemi are perfect. Neither of them ever breaks for a second, and you can easily believe that these men are their character; with Nucky irate over the massacre, he chooses to verbally and politically dominate his former protégé, demeaning him in a casino full of people. Jimmy, on the other hand, is smart enough to know how to react to Nucky's cruelty, but still close enough to him to be really hurt. It is a fascinating relationship to see, and it is shaping to be the centre point of the entire show.

In a fairly short scene, Al Capone makes a pretty damn good mark on the viewer as well. When a reporter comes into the bar to inquire about Capone's boss and his involvement in the murder of Colosimo, he loses it. It all happens very quickly, so I actually looked away for a second when Al smashes the bottle over the reporter's skull, but was able to look back as he started kicking and stomping on the poor guy as he lay bleeding on the ground. From the cut to and the cut from this scene, I swear only about a minute and a half passes, but it is enjoyable, and Capone is surprisingly funny for a famous gangster.

We also get to meet the Commodore a bit better, and he is quickly established as a cold, authoritative man who will step over pretty much anyone to get what he wants - something we guessed from the first episode. His treatment of his servant was both smart and disturbingly rough; when Nucky mentions the woman's vote he calls her in and asks her questions about politics she'd never be able to answer. Of course his aim is to demonstrate the apparent uselessness of women in politics, but it was a clever and well acted conversation between Nucky, the Commodore and the unfortunate Louanne.

Van Alden, the Prohibition agent, also got a bit more screen time, and I'm pretty damn sure he's a complete nut case. He is a determined and narrow-minded man, but he also has needs and desires I don't think he understands; after interviewing Margaret over her husband's death, he takes the ribbon that was in her hair and fiddles with it when he is alone, smelling it and presumably using it as some sort of masturbatory aid. Keep in mind this is immediately after he had written the most hilariously horrendous letter ever sent to one's spouse. Not only is Michael Shannon in possession of the perfect monotonous voice for the character, he brings the weirdest and most awkward person on the show both a mildly preposterous personality and a degree of sympathy and understanding.

I had issues with Margaret, I don't think her accent is real. I know that Kelly MacDonald comes from Scotland, which isn't the furthest you could get from the Emerald Isles, but it isn't the same. Accents are difficult, of course, so hopefully this is something that will improve the longer she plays the role.

In a side-plot featuring characters I don't really expect to see again, some minor success named George Baxter takes the girl he's just picked up for a fun day on the town in Atlantic City. He appears in a couple of scenes, never really developing as a character or providing any valuable plot details, but his story does come to a nice climax. After spending the entire episode trying to get the nineteen year old girl to give him some sugar, he ends up getting too frustrated and decides to take her back where she came from. Sick of his pushing, the girl, Claudia, finally gives in and gives the fat man a wristy in the car, right near where the massacre occurred only the episode prior. What happened next was hinted at when the newspapers revealed that there were only four bodies discovered at the crime scene, when five had been killed. Midway through the awkward handjob, Claudia spies a bloodied man stumbling disorientated towards them, soon attempting to scramble up the hood of the car. It is insane and hilarious, with the pair screaming like school girls at the poor guy as the show's signature cheerful jazzy tune plays and the credits begin. I loved the randomness of it all, and I was actually laughing, which was not the only time that happened during 'The Ivory Tower', having found Van Alden's letter surprisingly amusing. Aside from the funny, there is a lot to love here, in aesthetics, plot and characterisation. The story loves to slow itself down, for example the Commodore rings his bell for a good thirty seconds before Louanne comes to get mocked, and Al Capone and the reporter spend a minute of screen time sharing two drinks together before Al beats the guy down. The pacing is perfect, however, and if this review doesn't make it clear how much I liked the episode, I'll make it clearer - I think that Tim Van Patten - tonight's director - may have done a more fine job than even Martin Scorsese himself did on the pilot.

'Boardwalk Empire' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode One

'Boardwalk Empire' – 8.5

To call the first episode of prohibition drama Boardwalk Empire grand is to call a snail slow. it is reported that the production of this one pilot cost around eighteen million dollars, making it one the most expensive episode of television ever produced. It doesn't take long to see where the money has gone; the costumes are immaculate and - I believe - realistic, some big names have signed on to act and of course, Martin Scorsese himself is directing.

While I won't say that an expensive production automatically makes a television show worth watching, the money has clearly gone to the right places to make Boardwalk Empire - also the name of the episode itself, I might add - a true marvel that needs to be both witnessed and heard to truly experience. A particular sight to see is the Atlantic City boardwalk, which was largely reproduced to the exact 1920s measurements, with the rest painstakingly rendered in CGI so that you cannot physically tell where the wood ends and where the pixels begin.

It's odd then that the title sequence is not particularly striking or original. Really, it's just Steve Buscemi in character as protagonist Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson standing on the beach in front of the boardwalk as waves crash and recede, carrying empty wine and liquor bottles with them, all to the tune of some electric guitar rubbish. I didn't know they had electric guitars then.

The episode itself is loaded with colourful characters aside from Nucky himself. There is Jimmy Darmody, a veteran who fought in the Great War as well as his wife and son. Margaret Schroeder, a mother of two with one on the way, lives at the mercy of an abusive, gambler husband. There are crime bosses from other cities; Arnold Rothstein, Big Jim Colosimo, Johnny Torio; as well as their assistants and henchmen, including Lucky Luciano, Rothstein's right-hand man; and Al Capone, who is from Torrio's crew. Nucky has a woman in his life, Lucy Danziger, and a brother, Eli, the sheriff of Atlantic City. Nucky himself is the treasurer, and as corrupt as they come. Of course there are a lot of smaller bit players whose names I can't be bothered remembering right now, but the point is there are a lot of characters here, and they all have their roles to play.

Every minute brings new characters or plot points, with the first big one being the beginning of the Volstead Act which basically brings Prohibition into effect. The scenes preceding are an ode to alcohol and to 1920s culture, with the music, costumes and sets exactly how one would have thought the era famous for its organised crime to look. A particularly fascinating little addition was the coffin designed to look like a liquor bottle, which was both intricate and meaningful. The amount of detail and work that has gone into every second here is so clear; script, cast and art direction are without flaw. I just love the aesthetic of this show.

Out of the many storylines that erupt over the course of the episode, the most moving belongs to Margaret Schroeder, who initially goes to Nucky for help finding her dead-beat husband a job for the tourist season. Nucky is a bit of a softy for charity cases, especially when they are in the form of a soft-spoken Irish-accented pregnant lady, so he gives her a nice wad of cash to tide her over. Next thing we know her husband is in Nucky's illegal casino, betting away what his wife had just received and earning himself a good beat-down. In his own retaliation he assaults Margaret, and in a horrible scene of realization we come to know that he has cost her the life of her (and his) unborn child. Kelly MacDonald is unconvincing in her first scene, kindly asking Mr. Thompson for his aid, but when it comes to the tougher stuff - the things we hope we never have to experience - MacDonald shines.

Towards the end of the episode, and accompanied by the dramatic wailing of an Italian aria, Hans Schroeder is murdered by the Sheriff and his colleague at Nucky's behest, while an unknown assailant violently ends Big Jim Colosimo. Where these two obviously pivotal moments will go is beyond me, but this isn't looking like one of those simplistic dramas that one can simply tune in and out of.

I love the characters and their complexity, along with the theatric music, composition and cinematography. Sadly, the plot is rendered far too complicated by the massive group of realistic and well-drawn characters, even if they themselves are fantastic. I can only hope that the coming series is much less convoluted.