Michael "Omar" Kenneth "Little" Williams, Steve Buscemi, and ehhhhh Michael Pitt in Martin Scorsese's BOARDWALK EMPIRE

The whole "lets care about al capone" angle felt v unearned

Well, they've always had those scenes with his son. But the whole Al Capone story has seemed very unconnected to everything for me.

These last few episodes managed to make me think of Nucky Thompson as a unique tv-character, the half a gangster who was always too dirty for the fine world he craved, and too pretentious for the gangster world he should probably have stayed in. And his original sin kept on haunting him. I liked that. But another prestige drama ended with the main character taking a bullet in the very final moments, how boring.

lmao sigrid going ham

man this ended badly. completely lost all energy and verve. didn't feel tragic at all, just perfunctorily knocking people off.

man oh man how many years did they make this show for

either too many or not enough. it's a weird thing where it was often pretty good as it was but could have been so so much better

5 seasons. i just got hbo now sow i'm catching up on a lot of stuff.

either too many or not enough. it's a weird thing where it was often pretty good as it was but could have been so so much better

― balls, 26. oktober 2015 03:10 (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Spot on. After season four, I thought the story was really getting going. And then they had a time-jump and spent a final half-season of tying it unsatisfactorily together. The whole show amounts to less than it should.

Just went through the whole series in the last month, too, actually. It's a solid B+ show - never really reaches the heights of the greats, but consistently watchable with wonderful production and acting. I was fine with the last season for the most part, but I have a soft spot for time jumps, plus Nucky's Lost flashbacks with the Darmodys to wrap the entire thing up was good. I liked the faster pace of the final season, actually. Watching all five seasons in a month probably also helped. As much as I like Bobby Cannavale as an actor, Season 3 was my least favorite, with the rest being about the same quality.

Frederick, definitely agree about the whole show amounting to less than it should. Nucky such a great central character tailored perfectly to Buscemi as an actor, Shannon's performance as Van Alden endlessly compelling and amusing. Just about everyone in the main cast was consistently solid, though some got shorted by the varying quality of their storylines (Eli, Margaret, Chalky).

I'm guessing they had a rule that if they used a person's real name they had to stick to history (Capone, Luciano, Lansky, Rothstein) but if they didn't it was open game (Nucky, Jimmy, Doyle) with some weird exceptions (uh, Means, maybe). I did admire their dedication to the historical fiction when they tried.

I'm at third season and really enjoying it, way more than I thought. I saw Michael Shannon attacking the guy with the steam iron, rampaging around last night and it has kept me smiling all day.

michael stuhlbarg and anatol yusef were both great. i got a little sick of stephen graham and vincent piazza honestly.

i think it would have been more compelling to see how these guys survived as prohibition was lifted; nucky especially, some kind of davidsimonish point about how capital perpetuates itself through radical changes of regime, how men like nucky make themselves like capital to survive. but instead we got this hurried luke skywalker stuff.

xp ha, that is an amazing scene!

def a high point

xp goole which is of course what happened in real life!

I am disappointed that we didn't get to see the real exit for Stuhlbarg/Rothstein, he was another very fun character. I'm sure we would've gotten it if the show the show had gone on longer, since they were paving the way for this in season 4.

Since I didn't watch the show on the air, what was the cause behind the short final season and time jump? Budget issues, I'm assuming..

BTW, I watched Daredevil earlier this year so all the stuff with Owen had an extra layer of amusement

the appearance of joe kennedy seemed to promise that kind of storyline. oh well.

I spent the entire series pining for Jimmy Darmody

Yes, and despite his madness--at first presented like "You Can't Go Home Again---especially after you've been Over There," the things he experienced, incl. the killing he did in The Great War, but then flashbacks eventually reveal why he left college and went, etc---*despite* all that, whenever he and his wife and baby were at home, especially in their little cottage by the sea, so eerie and restful, I could see how they could tell themselves it was all gonna be alright...the eerie afterlife of Richard Harrow too, even more spooky with the glimpse of hope, of escape...
The historical Nucky did make it through the Depression---went to prison for a while, after a honeymoon---not too long a stretch, and I think he lived on into the 50s. Still mean to read the nonfiction Boardwalk Empire (author apparently not that thrilled with the series).

Lots of really good acting all the way through, despite some gratuitous blood-slogs (and career-slogs, like suit wars).

skipping Rothstein's demise def felt like a missed opportunity

the book is pretty trashy iirc

Since I didn't watch the show on the air, what was the cause behind the short final season and time jump? Budget issues, I'm assuming..

largely budget issues - shoe was never the phenomenon hbo needed/wanted it to be and was expensive to make (cf deadwood). winter and scorsese seemed ready to move on to their rock show.

season four felt like a total drag to me -- the big thematic movements of the earlier seasons had basically ben fulfilled and they really didn't know how to advance interesting new plotlines (season three was already sorta manufactured by an artificial conflict in that regard and trying to pull the same trick over and over would get old _fast_), so i was fine they tied it off when they did.

Finished it yesterday. Totally love this show, brilliant, very underrated (or just under-viewed?). So glad I went for this because now I'm reluctant to start tv shows. I'm fairly confident it will rest safely next to OZ in my heart, but I'm more likely to re-watch this.

Loved so many of the characters. The last few episodes of season 4 is the best ender I've seen of any drama series, with Richard, Chalky and his daughter, Gillian being deceived and the incredibly tense fight between Eli and Knox. All very upsetting and compelling. I felt genuinely sad about some of it. Might cry if I watch it again.
I was also I initially impatient with the flashbacks of season 5 but I think they built it up to the finish very nicely.

Michael Shannon as Van Alden is my favourite character in any tv show ever. One of my favourite screen performances of anything ever. Cherish Shannon while we have him.

Richard Harrow is obviously great too. Watching half his face trembling is heartbreaking.

Buscemi obviously too. Almost forgot to mention him because... this sounds silly but somehow I forget Nucky is Buscemi despite not being a radical departure from anything you'd expect of him. Gillian, Chalky, Narcisse all great too.

I think maybe they didn't show the demise of Rothstein because they didn't want you to see him lose his cool any more than when he shouts in an argument. Sometimes the stiffness of his smile with those calm eyes was hilarious and creepy.

It's a real shame there wasn't more time for Margaret in the last two seasons but I guess they couldn't find much more story for her. I just assumed she'd always be the secondary character.

Stephen Root as Means was brilliant. Surprised there's no celebration here of his "grim visaged thugees" line.

Just a shame we never got to see that loudmouth on Luciano's side get killed.

the dream version of this show i have in my head (that could have never been made cause it wouldve meant putting an expensive show that wasn't a phenomenon on for well over a decade, like possibly l&o or er type lifespan) is you keep it relatively nonfiction (a la deadwood, so very relatively), have buscemi (or maybe someone else, though i liked buscemi but a lot of ppl couldn't get past the casting) as enoch johnson, have the initial figures in charge from which the next generation got their chops (torrio, rothstein), have three arcs - first arc ends w/ capone's downfall and luciano setting up the commission (like the show, only the focus is going this way so that by this point enoch is just a supporting character)(the show wouldn't be named boardwalk empire obv), the second arc is the height of the mob, maybe it ends w/ giancana's downfall idk, the third arc is the downfall of the mob basically ending w/ gotti.

I know very little about the true crime stuff but I think I generally preferred what seemed to be the purely fictional stuff.

Just finished watching all 5 seasons. I was never bored. Beautifully produced and acted. Evocative. Great series.

And I take back all the bad things i've said in the past re: Michael Shannon being an emotionless, one-note actor. He was one of the best things in this.

Although it got better after he died.

3>4>2>5>1

i still havent finished the series. once knucky started hanging out in cuba i got bored & gave up

Keep going, it's great.

idk if it's great but I stand by my "ends as well as could be expected" upthread

They just never figured out what they were trying to say, did they?

otm, they went for a redemptive/doomed character arc for Nucky in the last season to make up for it (when in doubt might as well go Greek tragedy)

still have yet to catch up with this (only through episode 1 of season 4) but this...

thinking of omar's lynching story and the cunny story this week: in both cases, two of three lines in i am bored, i can see the punchline but i feel like i've got to sit through another minute of "aria" writing to get to it, i don't believe the other character's reaction, and i'm thinking about the writer not the show. it's shitty writing that ruins suspension of disbelief. i don't have a problem with speeches in drama per se. maybe these two just sucked.
― caek, Friday, October 29, 2010 4:01 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

yes! completely otm

these speeches try s0 hard and fail

also abe rothstein's pool ball story

― it's always random in wackydelphia (history mayne), Friday, October 29, 2010 10:10 AM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...is otm. and the major issue with the poolball story is that Rothstein is the one telling it! If that same story was told by someone else *about* Rothstein without the dialogue being changed, it would work. as it is, it deflates the threat and comes off as actually completely try-hard empty posturing. i feel like it's almost something they should teach in writing 101, it's such a major error.

season 4 is by far the strongest season of BE, for what it's worth

I'm gonna check it out soon! there's just too many damn shows...

I liked season 3 best, though 4 is good too. The jump in quality between 2 and 3 was pretty great.

Hated Season 3 myself. I actually like Bobby Canavale as an actor but his character and storyline made the whole thing a real drag. Agreed on Season 4's higher quality, though 1/2 were probably the best IMO, really liked Jimmy.

Another thumbs up for season 4. I actually found this show more memorable than most of these things. Now I'm really reluctant to start anything because I don't even have much time for films anymore.

i still havent finished this damn series. cuba is SO boring to me, I nope out every time I start up again. i like S1 & 2 the best, Jimmy was my favorite

After seeing Get Out, I've been thinking about what a treasure Stephen Root is, especially in this show. I could watch a whole spinoff series about Gaston Means. Had no idea he was Bill in King Of The Hill.

Stephen Root is a treasure in every appearance

I’ve been rewatching this and forgot that, with the exception of a couple over the top characters, how it really seems like it’s spinning its wheels by mid season three and then there are TWO more seasons? Sheesh

I definitely liked the two last seasons best.

I think the two impulses that ultimately hamstring the show are the impulse to give every character and arc, and the inability to be flexible in the arcs of actual historical figures.

Except the ridiculousness of giving Michael Shannon’s character endless arcs, because he’s just so great they kept tagging on more. I think he got typecast for too long after this part, but he just plays emotionally stunted and volatile so well!

i never watched past season two but goddamn this show could do sexy v well

despite the thread title I liked the Pitt-having seasons best

was never convinced by Buscemi tbh

not in this role, kind of agreed

i still havent finished bc the final season was so boring

Pitt seasons def best for me, he was so good

yeah I love the busc obviously but I never ever liked him for this

the closing arc of s2 was the most engaging this show ever got imo, the whole thing was just...painfully not as good as it should have been / as good as the production values and pedigree and tremendous supporting cast all suggested it should be