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In just seven weeks, Boardwalk Empire will officially
be off the air. Never again will we see this amount of classy
suits in one place. |
"The only thing they have more of than testosterone is sadness." - Stu, The Life and Times of Tim, S02E10
IT'S BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!
Around this time last year, when Breaking Bad came to a close, I told Matt, "well congratulations Boardwalk Empire, you're now the best show on TV." Of course, being the plebeian that he is, Matt doesn't watch the show, so he went with Mad Men (though he predicted great things for Fargo, which I'll admit he was 100% correct about). Anyway, it should be pretty apparent I had pretty high expectations for the fifth and final season of Empire. Though the season started very slowly, as most other seasons have, it looks to be a great set-up, even with a few worries.
Since I'm on such a positive note here, I'll start out with the goods before going on to the worries. The most apparent aspect of Empire is always the directing, cinematography, and art. Tim Van Patten, a veteran HBO director kicked things off with some pretty stunning scenes. In the premiere, all of the Nucky Thompson plot took place in Havana, Cuba. It was gorgeous. The bright sunshine contrasted against Steve Buscemi's grim demeanor made for some great television. Even though he is wealthy, with a woman he seems to love, and in a tropical location, Nucky still isn't happy. He misses the bustle of Atlantic City and ever since season one, we've been seeing him transition more and more into a colder, harsher person. No longer does he have any interest in affairs or young hotties. Instead, he is with Sally, played by Patricia Arquett, who is around his age and whom he actually respects. No longer is Nucky trying to play politician. Instead, he has realized that he is a gangster first and politician somewhere way down the line. Now however, Nucky, sensing the end of prohibition, is looking to go legit, trying to be a real business man. Unfortunately for him, it seems that this is not realistic. As I said before, Nucky is a gangster at heart. Without a return to Atlantic City in the first episode, all we saw was sunny Cuba meeting the dark and stormy Enoch Thompson of 1931.
Meanwhile, also contrasted against the beauty that was Havana, is where we pick up on Chalky White. Seven years ago, at the end of the fourth season, Chalky needed to escape the mafia world to be with Daughter Maitland, his love interest. Also, he was running from an impending drug war with season four's villain, Dr. Valentin Narcisse. Where we pick up with Chalky in 31 is a disgusting prison camp with all black prisoners and all white guards. They are abusive, almost giving off a pre-emancipation vibe. More than that, the landscape that the prisoners must work in is not just unpleasant. It is a wasteland of dead leaves, trees, and most of all, souls. The prisoners all seem depressed and hopeless... until they rebel. From what little of Chalky we saw in this episode, he was kicking ass. He and his fellow prisoners killed their guards and escaped, making for both compelling violence and the opportunity to make Chalky become integrated back into the story. Hopefully, we will see him go after Narcisse who has yet to have comeuppance.
Also in this episode, we saw Margaret Schroeder (or Thompson), who, since breaking up with Nucky at the end of season three, has been rather directionless. In this episode however, she had more relevance than she had for a while. Margaret is still working in the bank she joined in season four, but with the Great Depression looming, people are getting scared in that world, even making her boss shoot himself. This makes for some interesting plot that will both progress Margaret as well as offer some history in terms of how the business world dealt with the Depression. Gangsters can't quite tell that tale.
Next up, we saw a short bit of Lucky Luciano rising through the ranks. In his first scene of the season, he finally whacked Joe "The Boss" Masseria. This marked a big point for history and for the fictionalized character of Luciano. In both scenarios, this was the beginning of Luciano's meteoric rise to the top of the New York Mafia. In terms of the actual show, it was also great to see Luciano become less held down. For the past four seasons, whether it was Arnold Rothstein or Joe Masseria, Lucky was always somebody's man instead of being The Man himself.
Finally, we saw detailed flashbacks of Nucky's childhood, showing that he has always been smart and in business for the long haul instead of making a quick buck. We also saw some of his family drama, showing why he has developed into the rather cold individual he is today. Though many other critics complained about this, I gotta disagree. Personally, I thought we got some great development for Nucky's character, making the show's central character all the more intriguing as we head into the final season. My only worry is that these flashbacks take too much screen time away from the multitude of other plot lines that require development. As long as they are kept short and interesting, I am personally all for the flashbacks.
Well, I suppose it's time to worry. The scary thing about Boardwalk Empire's final season is that it is only eight episodes and has jumped seven years. That's a fuck of a lot of ground to cover in only eight short hours. We need development on Al Capone, Van Alden, and Eli over in Chicago. We need development on Nucky, Gillian, Chalky, and Narcisse over in Atlantic City. We need development on Lucky, Margaret, and Meyer in New York. All of those plots combined with the flashbacks that will be taking place across the season is a little overwhelming. Terrence Winter, creator of the show is part of who we have to thank and to blame for this season. Though I love him as a writer and creator, my faith is being called into question. He said that he believed the story he wanted to tell was only eight hours long, but with a new Martin Scorsese project on the horizon for Winter, is it possible he is rushing a bit to focus on his bigger movie deal? It's the kind of problem we just have to wait and see on.
Also, one of my biggest problems with the season is the time jump. Though I understand that the show started with the start of Prohibition and will likely end with the end of it, one of the key players has been lost in the shuffle. Arnold Rothstein, kingpin of New York, was killed in 1928. The current season takes place in 1931. Unfortunately for us as viewers, Rothstein is just dead now. We never got a death scene or an explanation. He is just dead. Personally, Rothstein was my very favorite character, making this pretty tragic. Perhaps they could do a flashback or two to tell Rothstein's story, but even so, it is still a pisser that the fascinating and enigmatic character played expertly by Michael Stuhlbarg is gone.
The truth of the matter is that we must wait and see how things scope out for the next seven weeks. Thus far, we haven't even seen what is going on in Chicago. Personally, I have a lot of faith in Winter, Buscemi, and Patten to finish out this season beautifully, marking Boardwalk Empire as one of the greatest shows of all time. Will my faith be for good reason or will the ending leave a sour taste in our mouths? As with True Blood and Wilfred, I'll recap the finale after it airs.
For now, treasure the immense amount of class emanating from the shows' incredible wardrobe and admire Steve Buscemi's hotness. Labels: Boardwalk Empire, HBO, Martin Scorsese, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Winter, Tim Van Patten