In fitting Boardwalk fashion, the opening episode of the show’s last season (titled “Golden Days for Boys and Girls”) doesn’t attempt to follow up on or even address all the very bad things that happened in the season-four finale, from Eli Thompson missing in action after beating sociopathic Federal Agent Knox/Tolliver to death to Gillian Darmody getting thrown in the clink for admitting to killing Roger McAllister to Roy Phillips (her lover was really working for a detective agency) and losing custody of grandson Tommy after Jimmy Darmody’s body was found. All those years of fighting battles and losing things more precious than his life have humbled him and made him solemn. (Having him take residence in an abandoned hotel, like a spooky apparition who doesn’t realize he’s dead, was a nice touch.) He was still the powerful, confident fixer (watching him get his nephew out of that whole accidentally-killing-his-college-rival thing was a riveting joy to behold), but no longer did he have that mischievous, menacing gleam in his eye. Steve Buscemi did his best work on the show last season as Thompson, who walked around his own city like a ghost himself, a living, breathing embodiment of the Atlantic City that once was. What was great about season four was how Boardwalk relished in showing how much the party was over for Nucky and many of its characters. So, it was quite the welcome surprise to find the show finally coming into its own in season four, abandoning its urge to prove itself and coming up with a implosive, ultimately sorrowful season of episodes. This made the drama give off a desperate vibe that even its loyal fans had no choice but to recognize. No matter how much of a stoic, charismatic, ultimately tormented anti-hero Enoch “Nucky” Thompson would become, he would always have the ghosts of superior badasses Tony Soprano (Is he dead? Is he alive? Who cares?), Al Swearengen, and Jimmy McNulty looming over him, reminding him (and the audience) he will always walk a few feet behind them.īecause of this, Boardwalk often seemed to be overcompensating during its first three seasons, proving its mettle by being more sophisticated, more cinematic, more violent, more tawdry, and more - pardon the pun - harrowing than those other shows. Unfortunately, as much as creator (and former Sopranos writer) Terence Winter wanted to land a spot on the HBO-showrunner Mount Rushmore alongside the three Davids - Chase, Milch, and Simon – by helming a show that was equally worthy, a pristine, prestige drama both Mark Wahlberg and Martin Scorsese would be proud to be associated with, Boardwalk would always be in the shadow of those shows. Just like those forever-worshipped programs, Boardwalk shared a love for novelistic storytelling and complex, morally ambiguous characters.
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The show itself is a glitzy, gritty time capsule, a vision of early-20th-century, American excess and corruption crystallized in amber – or, considering the show’s love for all things alcoholic, amber ale – filled with characters plagued by ghosts and demons they’re unable to shake off.īut the show is also haunted by the landmark HBO shows - specifically, The Sopranos, Deadwood, and The Wire - that came before it.
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Boardwalk Empire is a show that’s always been haunted by the past.