Boardwalk Empire – Nucky makes some new enemies

For an exceptionally amiable man, Nucky Thompson sure knows how to piss people off. I don’t think we’ve seen any better evidence of that than in tonight’s season finale of Boardwalk Empire. Nucky has proven through twelve episodes to be a master manipulator and politician, working just about every angle to get what he wants. With the events ending the season, however, it looks like he may have to deal with some fallout from his most recent dealings. Sure, he was able to eliminate the very real threat that the New York and Chicago gangsters posed, but he’s going to have some challenges from much closer to home to deal with come season two.

I wasn’t too surprised that the commodore would throw his weight behind Jimmy. Even with their strained past, Jimmy is still his son and it’s clear that his relationship with Nucky has deteriorated. I was a little surprised, however, to see Eli in on the deal to unseat Nucky from his seat of power. Even as the commodore and Jimmy entered into the conspiracy because of the blood bond, Eli betrayed his own. I suppose that has all been building through the season, with Eli constantly taking a back seat to his older brother. It definitely has set up an interesting second season.

Much of the relationship turmoil that was so prevalent last week seems to have been resolved in the finale. Namely, Nucky and Margaret reconnected after Margaret learned of his tragic past and the death of his son and wife. She was finally able to meet the real Nucky Thompson and it’s clear that she has feelings for that man. Things also seemed improved for Angela and Jimmy, as the two pledged to try to return to the relationship that they had before the war. I’m certainly a little more skeptical there, but we’ll see what happens.

I know some of the commenters called it last week, and we saw tonight that Lucy indeed is carrying Nelson’s baby. I’m resisting the urge to roll my eyes at that seemingly contrived plot twist. I’m going to withhold final judgement until I see how the story begins to play out next season. It was certainly a powerful sign from god for Nelson to tell him that Atlantic City is where he is supposed to be. I’m glad the super creepy character will be staying around, but any time I think of he and Lucy being together or having a child I can’t help but think of it being hilariously awkward in an Odd Couple sort of way. It just seems out of place for this show.

Overall, I thought it was a successful, if a tad anticlimactic, season finale for the first season. It gave us a little hint as to what we have to look forward to in the new season as well as wrapping up some of the stories. With the gang war appearing over, I’m very curious to see what role Luciano, Rothstein, and Capone will play in the second season. Are they going to take a back seat to the events in Atlantic City? After spending a season with the characters I hope they don’t just disappear.

As for the first season of Boardwalk Empire, I thought it was good. This is definitely one of the more well done shows on television today. I’m not sure that the series really lived up to the hype and the standard that was set in the Martin Scorsese directed premiere, but I’m not sure how it could have without the Hollywood heavyweight at the helm of every episode.

What did you think of the finale?

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Dec 05, 2010 @ 22:25 EST5EDT