Smallscreen News

Boardwalk Empire finale a mixed bag, Van Alden's retirement halted by Lucy

By April MacIntyre Dec 6, 2010, 16:54 GMT

No, Nucky has revealed more of his cryptic inner self, and she is happy to be back in his powerful orbit. She appeals to him on a cerebral and physical level, but the heat is missing, though I doubt Nucky gets hot and bothered about anything; a pragmatic to the core.

The finale of "Boardwalk Empire" was long, drawn out and my least favorite of the entire season, which save for this bothersome chapter was outstanding on so many above (acting, directing) and below the line (crafts, wardrobe, hair, costumes, sets) levels.

First off, my favorite characters are the Yin and Yang of the show, Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) and Agent Van Alden (Michael Shannon), two disparate souls both tortured and living with the wrong women. 

Darmody's Angela needs to go; her mopey, lesbian Bohemian character is unwatchable to me now, as I wish she would just disappear in the middle of the night to go meet up with her Henry and June lovers in Paris.

Darmody is electric and he needs a much more interesting female in his life.  And Van Alden's wife! Wouldn't it be great if she met him at the door in one of Madame Jeunet's hotsy-totsy naughty lingerie get-ups? His head would explode in righteous indignation.  In fact, Agent Van Alden has the largest head around, it's like Sputnik. 

Seriously, this is a 1920's soap opera with whackings and pubic hair. 

Even Darmody's mother (Gretchen Mol) has been snared by domesticity in the odd family dynamic, as the Commodore (Dabney Coleman) has cleaned up nicely form his arsenic poisoning thanks to a disgruntled maid.  Watching that scene, I imagine that happened in grand homes with servants more frequently than anyone knew.  Well, Jimmy is a daddy's boy now, sort of, and his clever mother and an angry Eli Thompson are circling their wagons together now, each with their own laundry list of complaints of Nucky, whose "I am G-d" act is wearing everyone out, it seems.

The dialogue has got to be improved; there is too much banal talky-talk going nowhere, indulgent speechifying blather.  I need to see more heat between our Margaret (Kelly MacDonald), who goes running back to Nucky (Steve Buscemi) after she gets the rag in her Brack. The rag symbolizes a year of destitution, and Margaret did not travel all this way from Ireland, marry a beat-down brute and survive that only to be poor.  

No, Nucky has revealed more of his cryptic inner self, and she is happy to be back in his powerful orbit.  She appeals to him on a cerebral and physical level, but the heat is missing, though I doubt Nucky gets hot and bothered about anything; a pragmatic to the core.

The opening scene with Van Alden talking to the new recruits was so powerful, and it fascinates me to see him bury the truth of how his old partner was killed by his hand.  He is like so many fervent religious nuts who rail against all kinds of perceived sin, yet are drawn to it like a moth to the flame. 

Sleeping with slatternly lush Lucy (Paz de la Huerta) showed his sexual beast side that has been restrained for so long, and now, wanting to get away from the temptation, escaping to a feed business in Schenectady, Van Alden temps fate and says "an act of God" will put the brakes on him leaving the FBI.  

Well, when Lucy comes knocking to tell say "you made me pregnant," we can count on Van Alden sticking around his obsession Margaret, the woman he had hoped would be visiting him in that last scene. Enjoyed how he vainly primps himself, only to be deeply disappointed his one night stand Lucy comes calling.  This is after he chastises his put-upon wife for being vain herself for liking being married to an FBI agent. So it goes, lie down with dogs infested with fleas, get unexpected babies or a call from Gloria Allred.

Another quality I adore about Shannon's Van Alden is the lack of poker face his character has. You know where you stand with him. Lust, anger, and mostly disdain and judgement, now that I relive his moments from season one in my mind.

The other finale scenes revolve around the election, weighing on a nervous Nucky as he marshals the Republican troops.  Loved the scene with Chalky White (Michael K. Williams) when he presses Nucky for extra cheddar.  Chalky hates all these White people he must navigate, but he is most comfortable with this lanky blue-eyed devil, one who at least treats people of color with some respect given the segregated times.

Least favorite scene was with Darmody and Angela and their boring "we both did things" heart-to-heart. She needs to do something other than pine for her lady friend. The abrupt hair whacking was symbolic, cutting off her prized locks that Darmody previously shared in their boring "we did things" moment that got him through the long nights in the World War I fox holes, thinking of how it felt against his skin.  She might as well have painted female genitalia on her forehead with arrows and script saying "me likey." Jimmy was so bummed.  Can't Al fix him up?

Then there is Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg), could there be a more vile gangster? An intellectual elitist who employs mentally challenged Italians to do his dirty work and is grooming the eager beaver Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef) as his Yiddische Kop capo.  He has to pay Nucky a million clams to get out of the indictment. Back then that was like a billion dollars, can you imagine?  The Lansky character, like Al Capone (Stephen Graham), will be interesting for next season I hope, they are both entertaining and adept actors.

Also good to see our wounded war veteran and ace hitman Richard Harrow getting work, as he is dispatched to off the D'Alessio brothers. I like this character and hope he sticks around.  With a small role, Jack Huston has delivered one of the most compelling characters of the whole series.  That's how you know you have an exceptional actor. 

Now that we have waded through the Mabel and baby story for Nucky, and the most lifeless marriage in all of America, the Van Aldens, the deal with the devil that Margaret has struck, the coming back to papa for Gillian, her pedophile lover and Father of her only child; Darmody's sad sex life, Capone's wising up and abandoning of his childish pranks; Eli's bitter seeds taking root; Chalky's metered disdain for Whitey and last but not least Lucy, that pesky tar ball picked up on the beaches of Atlantic City, well, which way storytellers? Where are you taking us next?

One thing is for sure, Eddie Cantor really was better than Al Jolson.