Boardwalk Empire: A Farewell to Kings

"Mr. Thompson is a part of everything. He is in the sky and sea. He is in the dreams of children at night. He is all that there is, forever." - Eddie Kessler, Boardwalk Empire, S04E02

So, starting off with the episodes leading up to the end, let's zoom in on Episode 6, "The Devil You Know". This was when things really started to pick up in the season, and where we got to see the ends for Chalky White and Nelson "George Mueller" Van Alden. Let's start on Chalky. Heading into Harlem for revenge on Doctor Valentin Narcisse, I thought for sure that both characters would end up dead by the end of the hour. However, the more unlikely of the two survived: Narcisse. Upon arrival in Harlem, Chalky runs into Daughter Maitland who, along with Chalky's young daughter (not Maitland), has been forced into maid-hood for Narcisse. After a long discussion with Valentin, Chalky cuts a deal in which Narcisse will get Daughter back into singing relevancy, while Chalky won't kill the good doctor. The episode ends with Chalky being shot to death without the audience ever knowing if Narcisse held up his end of the deal. I had mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, we got to see the one thing more important than revenge in Chalky's life: love. On the other, I was left confused about Narcisse's end of the bargain. After Chalky's already been shot, why would Valentin hold up his end of the deal? Shouldn't Chalky have seen through this? Why the fuck would Narcisse, who we already know is a total douche, hold up his bargain to a dead man? Especially factoring in that the dead man is Chalky White - his ostensible mortal enemy. I suppose we could chalk (pun intended) it up to the fact that any small chance that Daughter would become a star is better than just shooting someone, but still - of all the time in the world to trust Narcisse, this seemed like the wrong one. It wasn't the huge shock death that Michael Kenneth Williams's previous character of Omar Little suffered, but even so, Chalky's death scene was very satisfying. In classic Boardwalk Empire style, the scene was beautifully shot, had some great ending lines, and made the viewer immediately hungry for the events of the next week.

Moving on from Mr. White, we arrive at Nelson Van Alden... or George Mueller... or whatever. In perhaps the most explosively shocking scene of the series, Van Alden and Eli try to rob Al Capone, only to fuck it all up and pay the price. Whilst being questioned as to why they tried to rob one of the scariest mobsters in history, Van Alden gets fed up, and in a semi-religious, semi-insane, but fully shocking manner, grabs Capone and begins to strangle him, shouting his true identity all the while. Of course, since Empire couldn't very well rewrite history and say Capone was killed by a crazy ex-FBI agent, this last minute assault ends very poorly for Nelson. The other FBI agent in employment of Capone ends up shooting Van Alden through the skull, putting a grotesque spin on this particular death. Unlike Chalky, where I had a couple questions, I had no objections to the death of Van Alden. He died the way he lived: explosively shouting his crazy dialogue while killing someone he has no business killing. Plus, it was the right time for his death, and it needed to happen. Something had to let Eli escape from Chicago, and Van Alden couldn't live through the series. Much like Mickey Doyle, who, from the moment he was introduced, seemed like he would die, Van Alden's death felt quite necessary. 

Speaking of Mickey, let's talk about everyone's favorite creepy uncle, shall we? Eli said it best when Doyle picked him up from prison, asking "How are you still alive?" That was my sentiment going into this episode. Of all the lieutenants that Nucky's had over the years, how the fuck was it Mickey who was still standing by his side? I loved it. So, when the amiable criminal was finally shot down, I was a bit heartbroken. Of course, from the moment that Mickey stepped out to talk during Nucky's meeting with Meyer/Lucky, I knew what was coming, but observing it ahead of time didn't help out how sad it was. RIP Mickey Doyle. Your laugh will truly be missed. 

Then, there was the character who didn't actually die, but who deserves to be written about: Al Capone. In the final season, after watching Capone be has brutal as humanly possible, we ended with the human side to the monster. After realizing that he was going to jail and there was no way out of it, Capone went home to tell his son. Honestly, I kinda forgot that Capone had a deaf son, but seeing him again brought all of it back. In perhaps the sweetest scene of the entire series, Capone hugs his son goodbye after the young lad offers to help Al fight the powers that be. Alas, his son has no jurisdiction over the government, so he was powerless to help his Dad. But, all kidding aside, I truly loved this scene. Honestly, there's an argument to be made for it being the best scene of the series... or at least the most emotional. Then, once goodbyes were said, Capone went off to the courthouse, dressed in his flashiest suit, and did what he does best: steal the camera eye. Our sendoff for Capone saw him at his very best. Gone was the ruthless villain of the previous episodes. Here, we saw a personable, loving man. Amazing how Al Capone, arguably the most infamous gangster of all time, also had the most human side to him.

Last but not least, there was the infamous Valentin Narcisse. Though his story was primarily about Chalky, he also set up a conflict with Lucky/Meyer. In the end, it was they who shot him down. What I loved about this death was the pure irony of it. Where in season four, Nucky and Narcisse were arch enemies, seven years later, they're in the exact same situation. Both of them are old lights of the gangster world. Both of them are being hunted by the young-ins who are establishing themselves as the ruling class of gangster-hood. Thus, when Narcisse meets his end, it is in the exact same way that Nucky very nearly met his. As Mr. Thompson said in season two, "the pups have grown fangs." Those pups are now dogs - and there will be hell to pay because of it. 

And, speaking of Mr. Nucky Thompson... let's discuss the big man himself.

Throughout Boardwalk Empire, a popular complaint with the show was the the central character, Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson, was the least compelling character. While I always disagreed, I would concur that many times he'd be the third or fourth most compelling. In the final season however, Nucky became by far the most interesting man of the show. We began to see flashbacks, starting in S05E01 of Nucky's childhood, starting from when he was a young boy, just starting out working for the Commodore. As the show moved on, Nucky soon grew up, working for the Commodore's Sheriff as a deputy. This young Nucky was played by Marc Pickering... or was it Steve Buscemi as a young man? I honestly couldn't tell the difference. Seriously, one of the very best parts of the final season was watching Pickering impersonate Buscemi. It was so goddamn impressive, I realized that by the final episodes, I completely forgot that someone was even playing Buscemi! I thought they just did a bang-up make-up job on Buscemi and had him act as himself! 

Anyways, with the double Nucky plot-line of past and present, he became a much more well-rounded, interesting character. In the past, we followed a young Thompson rising to being the Commodore's Sheriff by handing over a very young Gillian Darmody. In the present, after handing everything over to Meyer/Lucky, we see Thompson attempting to save those that he wronged for so long. Chief among them was the aforementioned Gillian Darmody. What I loved about these plots was that in both, Nucky failed. In the past, he gave up his conscious and goodness for a shot at wealth and power. In the future, he was simply too late. By the time he arrived at the asylum where Gillian was being kept, she had already been operated on, reminding me of Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Nucky stayed the broken individual that he was all those years ago. No matter what he did, he could never make up for that first sin. No matter what he did, Nucky had chosen power of goodness.
But, despite his failure with Gillian to achieve goodness, Nucky still made some efforts in other avenues as well. First, he dealt with his old lover: Margaret Schroeder. Despite their rather ugly break-up, Nucky still seemed to be in love with his old flame. No matter how much time and fighting had gone on in the interim of their speaking, Nucky couldn't discard the feelings he'd always felt. Thus, he sets up Margaret with a shit-ton of money made from shorting the stock market and has one last waltz (see what I did there?) with her before going off to his ultimate fate. I loved this. Margaret had grown rather stale since breaking up with Nucky, so her return to his story was welcome. And, with this final adieu, it brought out the human side of Nucky, showing that although he could be a demon, he still had a heart. And, before we discuss this Demon with a Heart's downfall, let's look at one more person: Eli Thompson.

The final scene between Nucky and Eli was amazing. Nucky shows up in a broken down apartment Eli is staying in with a bag of cash and a razor. Nucky, ever the responsible brother, is dressed in a full three piece suit, while Eli wears underwear. When watching this scene, I couldn't help but be reminded of The Wire, when Avon and Stringer get in a big fist fight toward the end of season three. Avon wears a tank-top while Stringer wears a suit. In The Wire, this represented their different ways of managing the street. Avon in a traditional style, wearing street clothes, and Stringer in a business style, wearing a suit. In Boardwalk Empire though, I thought it represented wealth and power over weakness and goodness. Eli, despite some bad deeds, always put his family first. Though not necessarily a good person, he did right by what society deems to be the most important. Thus, he looked weaker than his brother, but at the same time, had one thing to lord over him. Nucky though, chose power. He wears a suit to display that because of his darkness, he's achieved success, whether it be for the better or for the worse.    

Then, it's Nucky's time. Walking along the boardwalk at night, Nucky talks to the young helper, Joe, who looks eerily like Tommy Darmody. Nucky tries to send "Joe" off with some money, but the kid just tears it up, saying "that's your solution to everything, isn't it?" Shrugging his shoulders, Nucky tells the kid it's his loss and ambles away. But, as we learn in another two minutes or so, Joe is not finished with Nucky. He approaches him again, this time with a gun. Of course, he says that his name is not Joe, but Tommy Darmody, grandson of Gillian and son of Jimmy. He tells Nucky that, "my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"... Or something along those lines. Then, he shoots the King of Atlantic City three times, killing him. The last shot we see before cutting to black is of a very young Nucky swimming in the ocean, finally grabbing a coin, before Enoch Thompson's world ends. I gotta say, I loved this end. Tommy being the one to finally kill Nucky was the ultimate comeuppance. Nucky finally got what had been coming to him ever since he handed Gillian Darmody over to be raped by the Commodore. In the final scenes, we had no cut to black as in Sopranos. We had no amazing montage as in The Wire. We had no "life goes on sequence" as in Deadwood. No, this HBO series ended concretely. Boardwalk Empire was the story of Enoch Thompson. And, when he finally fell, the show ended.

Oh - and by the way Mad Men, congrats on being the best show currently on television! 

P.S. Sorry there was no Survivor post this past Sunday. I was in Chicago and wasn't able to get to a computer with internet! Those recaps will resume this coming Sunday!