Wordy Old Men on Boardwalk Empire: Season Four, Episode Twelve "Farewell Daddy Blues"

This season comes to a conclusion with, well, not a bang, per se. Narcisse and Chalky meet. One should fall. Neither do, yet both do. Nucky leaves Eli to deal with Knoxiver on his own, and boy, does he. Having ensured that Tommy grows up a Sagorsky, Harrow gets off the train at the Elysian Fields.

Franz Nadorp's Goethe's Ankunft im Elysium

Old Man Duggan: I really don't know where to start on this one. It's odd having so few bodies dropping and so little ultimate resolution from a season finale of Boardwalk Empire. We open on a storm in the distance, and then a field at night. The storm has its obvious symbolic resonance, but the importance of the spot in the field over which the camera hovers is not clear until about fifteen minutes later when Jimmy Darmody's actual body is finally unearthed. With one exhumation, Gillian's life is effectively over. I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank fucking Christ.

Wordy Ginters: A Boardwalk Empire season with the Boardwalkiest kind of finale imaginable. I too was at full stature during the opening scenes. Thunder rumbles. Restless wheat (nice foreshadowing). Bell Buoys tolling. Unfortunately, the can of whoop ass that was clearly hinted at was only punctured, not completely opened.

OMD: Yeah, after last season's EXPLOSIVE finale, this one wasn't even remotely as big, though they did manage to keep Narcisse in the fold.

Now, of course, this does mean that there could well be an investigation into Jimmy's death now, but I doubt Nucky cuts the deal with Harrow unless he was sure that Jimmy's murder couldn't be pinned on him. Let's hope this officially puts Jimmy's death and its fallout in the rearview.

WG: Good riddance, Michael Pitt. For fuck's sake, let's make it permanent this time. I'll be surprised if the ghost of Darmody is able to get a mention in edgewise next season.

OMD: No shit. Michael Pitt was actually one of the hurdles I needed to jump over to fully embrace the show. He definitely lacked the gravitas of his fellow actors, Paz de la Huerta excluded, in the cast. I'm ready to move on.

Most of the conflict this season came from the corners of Chalky White and Dr. Valentin Narcisse, so it makes sense to go there next, I guess. Chalky sneaks back into town under the blanket of night, sets Nucky on the task of taking care of Narcisse, and meets with Narcisse at the Onyx Club--Havre de Grace posse in tow--where Maybelle ends up catching a bullet meant for Narcisse. On the Narcisse side of the things, at the meet he produces Maybelle in exchange for information on Daughter Maitland's whereabouts only to have Maybelle display the worst timing ever and step in the path of the bullet from Harrow's rifle, ensuring that each one loses a daughter on account of their feud. Hoover flips Narcisse, turning him into an informant on all matters Marcus Garvey; Chalky is left sitting on Oscar Boneau's porch, Maybelle dead, family--for all intents and purposes--lost, much worse off than when the season started. It would appear as though each man is worse off than when the season started. I guess there's a lesson somewhere in there about hubris and fidelity, especially since both men were often in the wrong this season--even within the skewed morality of this show. Both men got too wrapped up in their pride and vanity, and both came out at the end of this season stripped of much of their metaphorical virility. I suppose we'll find out Chalky is actually content to just have his bankroll in one pocket and his pistol in the other next season. We'll likely find out just how Narcisse likes answering to a master, too.

WG: Unconventional to have both Chalky and Narcisse survive, both wounded, both reduced, both nearly broken. It's almost as if the writers set out to present the perfect hell for each character: Narcisse in service to the man, dropping dimes on a personal hero; and Chalky bereft of his daughter, his business, and stuck on the porch back in Havre de Grace with Scrapper and the country cousins.

OMD: Definitely. I really have no idea what trajectory these two characters will be on next season. They've definitely both been effectively stripped of their independence.

I'd posit that the two strongest scenes of the episode revolved around Eli, understandably so given the character's internal conflict these past few episodes. In the first, Eli comes out to the Albatross to pick up Nucky for the meeting that will never happen, and the tension between the brothers hits a fever pitch with Nucky holding all the cards, or at least holding the gun to Eli's head. When Nucky seethed, "It's what you deserve," I thought for sure Eli was a goner. Bravo, Winter, Korder, and Van Patten. The resolution of that scene was fucking spectacular. "Nothing will fill that hole you got inside. Don't you know that yet?" For a second straight week, Eli shows that he understands Nucky better than Nucky does himself. In the second, Eli gets to--as Nucky put it--drown in his mess. I love that the saw-playing--much like the machete for the coconuts earlier in the season--something so innocent, was sullied so effectively with an act of violence. That, mon frere, was a knock-down, drag-out fight if ever there were one, the second epic one this season. Eli's rage worked in his favor this time, that's for sure. Once again, Shea Whigham is outstanding, as he has been all season. In a banner year of award-worthy performances on Boardwalk Empire, it really seems like Whigham's performance stands above them all.

WG: He was/is outstanding. As was Jeffy Wright. And Mike K. And Huston. Van Alden, of course. The dude who played Knoxiver [Brian Geraghty] imbued him with a glee club ruthlessness that was perfect. The show is fucking quality. I'd love to see what Milch would do with those guys and this story. The scene at the Albatross was great. Eli staring Nucky in the eyes, willing/daring/begging him to pull the trigger was intense. I wish the episode could have wrung more of that taut fucking drama out of other scenes. Definitely a good battle between an unhinged Knoxiver and a emotionally-amped Eli. The saw bit was great. As were the other accoutrements of family life that got summoned into deadly action. Vases. Decorations. Windows. A neck tie. Shades of Season Two, Gimcrack & Bunkum. You'll recall in that episode, Nucky made Eli kiss his shoes and beg for forgiveness. Shortly thereafter, Eli ended up beating a dude to death in his garage with a wrench. No one can push your buttons like family.

OMD: Holy hell, that vase. The shudder of Knoxiver's feet as Eli slammed the vase into his head one last time was huge. While we are on the subject of Eli, how about that shot of him waiting under the El for Capone's car only to have Van Alden driving? The bewilderment. The borderline incredulity. The hesitancy that gives way to resignation. I bet they'll have some catching up to do. That definitely adds a nice wrinkle to goings-on in Chicago, now that Torrio has handed the reins over to Al.

WG: Maybe a silver-lining to the tepid hand-job this finale proved to be is the promise of sexy action next season. Van Alden and Eli catching up on things is definitely one of them. Hoover interacting with Narcisse is another.

OMD: More so than in season's past, this finale definitely leaves a lot of strings left untied, ready to be taken into next season. The lack of resolution this season certainly could bode well for next season, as the stakes should be higher next year what with all this pent-up anger carrying over for so many characters.

Are those for us? We're going to need them.

The saddest part of the episode, obviously, was Harrow's demise. Clearly part of him felt like he was saying goodbye to Julia and Tommy at the train station, though that wasn't necessarily what he wanted. If only Harrow was still the ice-cold killing machine that he was before he finally recovered his humanity this season. Sure, within the constructs of this show there wasn't anywhere for his character to go at this point--with Tommy securely in a stable home and too many corpses in his past from which to possibly escape--but clearly we were all rooting for the image that he saw as he walked up the path to the house--his family, his life all put back into place. At least at the time of his death, he had pieced a life back together for himself. It's too bad soldiers such as himself don't get to simply walk away from the war.

WG: A cruel twist to make the new family man and morally re-born former assassin Harrow accidentally plug an innocent woman and fail his last job. Absolutely beautiful death scene though, from the moment he was riding the train, to the imagined homecoming, to the dirt nap by the sea. Harrow was easily one of my favorite characters. Let's tip a glass to the half-mask.

OMD: That was the bitch of it all, wasn't it? The chasm opened up in my heart is the size of the Grand Canyon. I'll miss you, old friend. You got the death scene chock-full of poesy that your tortured soul deserved. Oddly enough, it was hard for me to separate the scene with all its poignancy from the Steven Wright short film One Soldier, in which Wright's character heads to the afterlife in a train after being put to death.

It certainly appears as though Nucky isn't getting to head to Tampa after all, what with Sally Wheet drinking by herself while (I believe) we're to understand that Eli's family is heading out to the Albatross for the time being. Funnily enough, it certainly appears as though Nucky is, in fact, taking Eli's family from him, though at least mostly out of obligation.

I feel like I only scratched the surface. Any thoughts?

WG: Three thoughts. One, Truth is what those in power wish it to be. Two, why is Mickey still upright? Three, how great would Margaret and Rothstein be on House Hunters?

OMD: Three corresponding thoughts. Word. So Nucky can rap him with Eddie's cane again. Outstanding.


One Soldier by mrCham

Wordy Old Men on Boardwalk Empire: Season Four, Episode Three "Acres of Diamonds"

In this week's installment, Nucky heads to Florida, Harrow's chickens come home to roost, and Narcisse makes a new friend.

Wordy Ginters: Boardwalk Empire travels well. Some of the most memorable episodes have taken place away from Atlantic City. Stellar forays to New York, Ireland, and Chicago come to mind. Nucky’s shenanigans down in Tampa were no different. The opening scene, with Nucky alone, isolated, and adrift, looking out the middle window of his hotel room to the ocean, had to be influenced by art. Piss Christ?

Old Man Duggan: Either Piss Christ or they're having fun with John Donne's "No Man Is An Island." If Nucky is able to succeed at anything in Tampa, I hope it is in getting them to build a baseball stadium downtown. I'm sure it's just me, but I imagine every Floridian to be exactly like the drunk passed out at Sally's when Nucky goes back in the second time around.

WG: Tampa. Money, cunny, sunny. Director Allen Coulter was working the hot and steamy Tennessee Williams vibe hard this episode. The unofficial Tampa city slogan summed up the sleazy hick backwoods milieu nicely. Too bad August Tucker ended the episode with a machete quite literally in his coconut. He would have been a fun goon to loathe. With his swatting and spitting and fuck all. My favorite detail may have been Nucky’s disdain for the frou-frou drink.

OMD: Yes, August "Don't Call Me 'Gus'" Tucker could have joined Mickey Doyle amongst the ranks of irksome tools in middle management. But for the blade swung half-way through his gourd, of course. Coulter must have spent the months leading up to this episode watching A Streetcar Named Desire on a loop. I guess it makes sense as Tampa is essentially New Orleans without the history, culture, character, and taste. After all, you've got to gussy shit up for Boardwalk. As for Nucky's disdain towards namby-pamby cocktails, it'd be hard to argue with him. Just pour the goddamn whiskey in a tumbler, barkeep, and don't pussyfoot about.

WG: I’d pay big bucks to enroll in the Narcisse lectures: “No man who continues to add to the material intellectual and moral well-being of the place in which he lives, is left long without proper reward.” I’m not so sure I’d be welcomed into the Universal Negro Improvement Association. I don’t know which power move I appreciated more: director Allen Coulter silhouetting Rothstein next to the U.S. flag in his meeting with Narcisse, or Narcisse not so discreetly wiping his hand after shaking hands with Rothstein at the culmination of that meeting? Beautiful. Dude is apparently unflappable. I’m guessing some white devil will get his goat at some point. Maybe.

OMD: I'm sure you'd learn a lot from Dr. Valentin Narcisse. The hand-wipe was great. I quite literally laughed aloud when Narcisse hit the cushion upon which he say while telling Rothstein, "Nonetheless, you succeeded despite yourself," after Rothstein apologizes for having possibly offended him. By the way, amongst Narcisse's students: Leander Sydnor (actor Corey Parker Robinson) from The Wire.

WG: How does the little sermon by Narcisse square with the Tea Party bullshit coming out of the record player at the lecture hall in Temple? “I sympathize with the poor, but let us remember, there is not a poor person in America, in these United States, who was not made poor by his own shortcomings.” Based on Narcisse’s plan to sling heroin to “inferiors,” I’d say the philosophy behind both sentiments is pretty similar. For what it’s worth, Paul Whiteman was the Vanilla Ice of his day, and that coed who gave young Eli Jr a hard-on in the library does look a lot like Colleen Moore. The older you get, the more remarkable you find it that you could have ever been embarrassed by getting a hard-on.

OMD: That sermon playing on the Victrola was from Russell Conwell, the founder of Temple University. It was an excerpt from his motivational speech "Acres of Diamonds," which he was said to have delivered more than 5,000 times between 1890 and his death in 1925. He also used the proceeds from his speech to found Temple. The tenets of the Conwell speech, especially the underlying self-satisfied superiority and the disdain for those who haven't succeeded, definitely seem to worm their way through not only Narcisse's philosophy but also in Nucky's dealings in Florida and the Temple indoctrination seminars.

Now while Eli's progeny may be into Colleen Moore's doppelganger, I do feel obligated to note that Paul Whiteman is the spitting fucking image of Roy from Wings.

WG: Your Strangers on a Train theory is pretty damn solid.

OMD: I'm just glad Carl Billings didn't get the better of Harrow.

WG: Loved the scene with Harrow in the barn. Takes off his mask to bask in the light. Birds sweetly chirping. Assumed it was a precursor for some kind of renewal or change of fate. I didn’t think he’d barely escape getting shot. Too bad he buried that sweet little hand gun in that dolls grave. Sis to the rescue. Those Harrows, think they’re the only people on earth.

OMD: Given Emmy's handiwork with the shotgun, I think it's safe to say that being a member of the Harrow clan means that you sprang forth from the womb with a piece in hand and the know-how required to take care of yourself. I'm really glad Carl's brains were sprayed across the side of the barn. What. A. Dick.

WG: Is Daughter Maitland literally Narcisse’s daughter? Speaking of unflappable, I never thought I’d see Chalky looking completely gobsmacked, but he was damn near drooling over Maitland. Poor bastard doesn’t have a prayer does he? Narcisse is working him every which way. Chalky: “White people seem to like her.” Narcisse: “Yes, that would be very important (pregnant fucking pause) to you.”

OMD: Initially, I thought that "Daughter" was her stage name but a cursory stroll around the interwebs indicates that she is, indeed, the daughter of Valentin Narcisse, making his referring to her as Daughter Maitland just another interesting wrinkle in his character. It would seem that she'll lead to his potential undoing, per her father's request. One wonders if the pregnancy of that pause actually got Daughter Maitland pregnant. Is Chalky fucked before he even got to make fuck?

WG: Back in Tampa, I was shocked to hear Nucky quote former University of Nebraska football coach Bill Callahan, by using the terms “two-bit fucking hillbilly” and “world’s tallest midget”. Callahan levied these very same descriptors at Oklahomans back in the day. I miss Bill more and more each game. Please take this opportunity to spin a tale about another Bill Callahan, I’m still trying to figure out why Bo Pelini, the August Tucker of the Big 10, still has a job.

OMD: While the awesome Bill Callahan was on the front of the boat tonight on the Dream River Showboat album release party, a bandmate or two were blocking my co-worker, the captain's view. My co-worker poked his head out and said, "It's not a big deal right now because there's no one out there [on the lake in the path of the boat], but could you guys tell me if I'm about to hit somebody? I don't want to kill anybody. [pregnant pause] Again." The Bill Callahan set tonight was fantastic [and was the reason this is getting posted a couple hours later than usual.

WG: Run, Ron Livingston! Run!

OMD: No shit.

WG: Great scene with Nucky and Patricia Arquette in the bar discussing whether or not the wealthy know where to shop, when plenty isn’t enough, and how one defines being alive. That scene encapsulates the ennui draped all over the first few episodes of this season, and sets the table for the wise guys from up the coast to come down and roll the local rubes in Florida. The only thing missing was Arquette and Nucky carving up a cake shaped like Florida. Jesus, the episode ends with a moth circling a flame (light bulb). Nucky can’t help himself.

OMD: I have to say I like the headspace Nucky is living in to open this season a whole helluva lot more than where he was to open last season. I like Nucky a lot more when he's getting down to business. He's definitely not happy, and he sees what his thirst for power has cost him, but it's time to shit or get off the pot, and he knows it. It sure looks like he's going to shit.


[taken by Logan Fry on the cruise earlier this evening]

Wordy Old Men on Boardwalk Empire: Season Four, Episode Two "Resignation"

This week, chickens come home to roost at The Onyx Club, Nucky prepares to become a Rays fan, Eddie Kessler steps up to the plate, and we find out that Nucky has two new potential threats.

Old Man Duggan: Well, the handful of things that were left unclear last week were made a little more clear this week. While I liked last week's episode well enough, it did seem like something was missing. With the stage having been set, Howard Korder and Dennis Lehane got to play around in this rich world this week. Now last week we didn't quite get around to talking about this last week, but Lehane has been brought on as a Consulting Producer [for those who may not know this, Consulting Producers typically have a little more input than a regular [writer-]Producer does, but obviously doesn't have the authority that the Executive Producers and showrunner would have] this year, which for me is a big deal. Given the subject matter and setting in his last book, Live By Night, and where Nucky is heading, I'm goddamn giddy. Even if the rumored Lehane/Pelecanos series gets picked up by HBO, this could be a great season. Pelecanos has also been brought on this season, but just as a writer.

Wordy Ginters: Stellar writing stable. I believe Pelecanos worked on both The Wire and Treme, Regardless, as a crime fiction fan, I share your giddiness. Lehane is a contemporary giant of the genre. This is where HBO has the edge on other TV serial dramas. Top shelf on everything from the writing to the cinematography to the acting.

OMD: Yes, Pelecanos was a scribe on The Wire and Treme. I do wonder if he was a bigger name if he, too, would be a Consulting Producer.

Onto this week's business: This week's big winner was Eddie. "Mr. Thompson is part of everything. He is in the sky and sea. He's in the dreams of children at night. He is all that there is. Forever." The look of revelation on Nucky's face when he delivers that screed is fucking priceless. I loved him coming to Nucky imploring that he entrust him with more responsibility. Respect. Seriously, this was a great episode for Anthony Laciura to work his chops a bit.

WG: I thought Eddie was riffing on Maggie Gyllenhaal from Secretary in that first scene. Poaching the eggs a little too long. Spilling the coffee. Dissing Nucky’s delicate undergarments. The petulance indicated he wanted something, but I didn’t know exactly what. It will be fun to see him establish a beachhead in Florida. Eddie blotting the coffee stain reminded me of the “stain blotting” from my favorite video by The Oh Sees, “Lupine Dominus.”

OMD: I guess we know what Harrow was up to. Gun for hire in a Strangers on a Train scenario. How long until an old man hazards death crawling underneath an out-of-control carousel?

WG:  Sooner that we think. A dog-eared copy of The Chessmen from Mars playing the role of lighter.

OMD: And while we're on the subject of Harrow, my money is on him not being done killing quite yet, seeing as though Carl Billings's old partner ended up with his brains dripping down the walls of his office. What sort of shit was this guy into? Gun underneath his jacket. Gun in the desk. Multiple men wanting to make sure you're taking a dirt nap. I can't help but wonder where this is taking Harrow's story. Seeing as though his business was in Milwaukee, I'm guessing he has to turn people into sausage. Sidenote: I'll be damned if the husband and father of two daughters dead in his office the second time around didn't look like he had to have been Jim Beaver's brother.

Ellsworth's kin are in Milwaukee?

WG: Brother of Ellsworth. I was getting a John Malkovich vibe. I read a pre-season interview with Terence Winter, and he specifically mentioned that Harrow’s early episode activities were intentionally vague. I want to know why sis walks with a limp, and what happened to her beloved Gerald. Could they be more stoic? No. None more stoic. Does Harrow’s obvious affection for Sampson lend weight to the great scene from Season Two episode “Gimcrack and Bunkum,” when Harrow was basically saved from suicide by a Sampson look alike mutt who stole his face plate? Let me answer that for you: Hell yes.

OMD: Good catch on the call-back.

I liked how they played with Agent Knox's angles this episode. Given his willingness to see Agent Sawicki offed and his lack of concern afterwards, I doubt we've seen the last reveal as to what Knox is actually up to. Regardless, enter J. Edgar into the mix. I'm going to be a bit upset if we don't see him in a dress by season's end. Unfortunately, however this plays out, it seems that we might end up seeing Eli in the clink when next season opens in 1925. Are we to believe that Gaston Means doesn't actually know what Knox is up to, or is he playing a different angle?

WG: Means is fantastic. Who knows how that crooked puppeteer will queer things? As long as he gives play-by-play in that syrupy everywhere-but-nowhere Janus-faced dialect, I’m on board. I also look forward to seeing J. Edgar and Knox hoofing it to some Gershwin. Knox is an interesting character. I’m a sucker for the faux-rube put on. Reminds me of Lou Ford from The Killer Inside Me.

OMD: Silent Cal shit-canned Daugherty. An Amherst classmate of Coolidge's Harlan F. Stone is his replacement, and as Treasury Agent Elliot found out in a closed-door meeting, now there's a Bureau of Investigation. Stone takes a seat on the Supreme Court in 1925, so I guess we'll see if he pops up.

WG: Has to be a challenge for Winter to deal with source material ripped from the history books. He hews closer to the spirit of things more than details. I’m not a huge historical fiction fan, but when you dig into legendary gangsters like Capone, the Prohibition Era, and figures like Rothstein and J. Edgar Hoover, I’m on board.

OMD: Dr. Valentin Narcisse. This wacky Trinidadian seems interesting. Libyans. Nordic tribe. Perhaps purity obsessed. I, for one, am very glad that Alma Pastor was taken care of. What an unconvincing tale of fictitious rape. Nucky was not buying it for a second. Narcisse apparently wasn't either, although I guess it wouldn't have mattered if he did or didn't. I suppose it was best that she was left where she was, if for no other reason than for Nucky and Chalky to know that episode was behind him. I'm sure Bader is none too pleased.

Winston

WG: Dr. Valentin Narcisse is straight out of a Tea Party fever dream. You can imagine him surrounding voting precincts in the suburbs with militant-looking jazz musicians and tap dancers. Isn’t he played by the same dude who set up Bill Murray’s logistics in Broken Flowers? As soon as they dumped Alma, he dropped a sweet Ethiopian Afro-Beat jazz mix-tape into the stereo for the ride back to NYC. I like him because he plays against stereotypes a little bit. The Capone family comes off a little too Mario Brothers for my liking. O’Banion has a facet or two. Early results indicate Narcisse lacks the unpredictably predictable volcano rage of past heels like my man Gyp, but in some indistinct way, he comes off far more powerful and creepy.

OMD: Jeffrey Wright was, in fact, Winston in Broken Flowers. On assumes that Jarmusch was unable to get Ernie Hudson to reprise the role.

Between Narcisse, Knox, and to presumably a lesser degree Hoover, this season should have some interesting forces pushing against Nucky. I wish I didn't have to wait a week to see what happens.

WG: I also bait with waited breath.