Boardwalk Empire: Season Five (1 Viewer)

[Joe S]

I was somewhat alarmed by the first character being dispatched so abruptly. I expected the second one to be around a bit longer, but there are only two episodes left!

 

[Tim Gerdes]

I'm gonna guess that Van Alden, Eli, Chalky and Narcisse will all die. You'd think Nucky would die but I think they'll go against the grain and Nucky will live but he'll be forced out by Luciano, Lansky and Maransano so it won't exactly be a happy ending for him. Margaret will live and Mickey will live since he's a weasel. Gillian will get some kind of happiness since she's horrible but she's had some heinous shit happen to her (speaking of which, I assume that we'll see Nucky sell his soul by procuring a 13 year old Gillian for the Commodore in an upcoming flashback).

I think Nucky will live, and I think we haven't seen the last of either Joe Kennedy or Nucky's attempt to become legitimate. This final season, especially with the flashbacks, is taking its cues from The Godfather Part II.

Whether Nucky and Margaret reconcile, I'm not sure, but her involvement in the Mayflower Grain Company stock scheme and Kennedy's, if not attraction, then appreciation of her plays into the outcome, I'd bet.

Mickey is based on a real person, more like Capone, Lanky, Maransano and the rest I'm sure his fate will be determined by history.

And I agree that Gillian will play some role in whether or not Nucky is redeemed, and vice versa I suppose.

 

[Reed Grele]

I don't know how the feds really got hold of Capone's records, but that scene as the (undercover) fed and Eli are just out the door and Capone's associate calls the fed back and hands them over for "safe keeping" is one the most ironic moments in the whole series. I had the biggest grin on my face during that exchange.

Too bad about Van Alden and especially Chalky. You just know that Narcisse is gonna have to get his.

 

[Reed Grele]

This final season, especially with the flashbacks, is taking its cues from The Godfather Part II.

I have nothing against the homage. But if they show Nucky dying as an old man, dropping an orange, and falling out of a chair I'm going to shout foul!

 

[TravisR]

I don't know how the feds really got hold of Capone's records, but that scene as the (undercover) fed and Eli are just out the door and Capone's associate calls the fed back and hands them over for "safe keeping" is one the most ironic moments in the whole series. I had the biggest grin on my face during that exchange.

I'm going to wait until the series is over to see how the government actually got a hold of Capone's books but yeah, that was pretty great.

 

[ScottH]

So I guess at this point it's pretty clear that (I'll spoilerize just in case it's not as obvious as I think)...

Spoiler

Harper is Jimmy's son? I half thought he was gonna take Nucky out right there so I was wondering what the last episode would cover. But I'm actually thinking that Nucky doesn't make it now and Harper will be his demise.

 

[Joe S]

Did anyone see the Farewell Boardwalk Empire HBO doc? It has some interviews with cast members and crew. I was surprised by the normal appearance of some of the actors having only seen them in makeup for the series. You probably wouldn't recognize them if they walked past you on the street.

 

[Reed Grele]

Did anyone see the Farewell Boardwalk Empire HBO doc? It has some interviews with cast members and crew. I was surprised by the normal appearance of some of the actors having only seen them in makeup for the series. You probably wouldn't recognize them if they walked past you on the street.

And I always marvel at the ability of actors with English accents that are able to nail our American accents so well. If I hadn't watched the interviews, I would have sworn that they were all American.

 

[TravisR]

Excellent episode but

Spoiler

Tommy looks a helluva lot older than the 12 or 13 years old that the character would be. Jimmy left Angela pregnant to fight in WWI so it would have been 1917 and Tommy probably ended up being born in 1918 and it's 1931. Considering that the final fate of the main character depended on that character, that's a huge error for them to have made or a big piece of info for them to have ignored (it's even more frustrating when the entire season went to great lengths to incorporate younger versions of everyone from major to very minor characters and bits of backstory into all of the flashbacks which made their world even more believable). It seems like they were more interested in having a surprise than the logic of that surprise.

 

[Reed Grele]

I thought that the series finale, although a worthy end to the saga, didn't really have any big surprises or twists (for me anyway).

Spoiler

Even though the character of Nucky was based on a real life person (who lived to a ripe old age) he got what he deserved in the end. The irony of being killed by Jimmy's son Tommy made it all the more poetic a demise. But did we ever learn how Tommy actually found out that Nucky had killed his father? And why, if he knew all along what Nucky did, did he decide to work for him for such a long period before killing him?

 

[TravisR]

I thought that the series finale, although a worthy end to the saga, didn't really have any big surprises or twists (for me anyway).

Spoiler

Even though the character of Nucky was based on a real life person (who lived to a ripe old age) he got what he deserved in the end. The irony of being killed by Jimmy's son Tommy made it all the more poetic a demise. But did we ever learn how Tommy actually found out that Nucky had killed his father? And why, if he knew all along what Nucky did, did he decide to work for him for such a long period before killing him?

Since he talked about

Spoiler

"Mee-maw" before shooting Nucky, I assumed that Tommy had been visiting Gillian when she was in the asylum and she told him that Nucky had killed Jimmy. As for why he didn't kill Nucky immediately, I took it as he was 'investigating' Nucky rather than taking Gillian's story at face value. He wasn't just out to kill him, he wanted to know about Nucky and he saw good and bad things but he eventually made the decision to kill him.

 

[Reed Grele]

I'll have to watch it again.

 

[Joe S]

I didn't really like the ending to the show, but it does make one think about Nucky's career advancement shown in the flashbacks. He had to deliver Gillian to the Commodore in order to become sheriff. Poetic justice dished out by her grandson.

 

[Reed Grele]

I was quite fond of the music/video that played over the main titles. Why was this not included for the final episode?

 

[TravisR]

^ I don't usually like reading interviews with the creative people (I'd generally rather have my own thoughts on a piece of 'art' rather than have the showrunner tell me what they meant by X, Y or Z) but here's a pretty good interview with Terence Winter that answers some questions that people might have had.

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/boardwalk-empire-creator-terence-winter-on-nuckys-fate-and-the-series-finale

 

[ScottH]

I guess I nailed that ending to a tee.

Okay series finale, but seemed like a lot of filler for a series finale.

Surprised to hear someone actually liked the opening credits/theme song to this show. It always bugged me, particularly the end when it showed Nucky walking away with the biggest dork walk of any human being I've ever seen, to the point where I lost respect for the Nucky character due to his walk...

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Came as a surprise, as I made the mistake of reading the bio someone linked earlier.. So at least that didn't spoil the ending for me..

I don't mind that they played with the space/time continuum so Tommy would be the appropriate age.. It was a good ender.

 

[Reed Grele]

Surprised to hear someone actually liked the opening credits/theme song to this show. It always bugged me, particularly the end when it showed Nucky walking away with the biggest dork walk of any human being I've ever seen, to the point where I lost respect for the Nucky character due to his walk...

The main theme music kinda grew on me. What size shoes does Nucky wear? My eyes were always drawn to the enormous length of the soles as he plods (dorkily) through the sand.

 

[TravisR]

The main theme music kinda grew on me.

Me too. I remember hearing it in the pilot and thinking "What the fuck is that?" since it's blatantly anachronistic but I came to enjoy it fairly quickly. It helps that it's a cool little song on its own.

 

[ScottH]

I didn't mind the music. I just couldn't get past that walk...