Boardwalk Empire: Season Four (1 Viewer)

[Hanson]

Ron Livingston is turning into the spitting image of Richard M Nixon.

 

[Dheiner]

I'm the first to comment, and not until Tuesday??? OK.

Aaaaaanyway, I think this season is fast becoming my favorite. It may have seemed to start slowly, but since Purnsley turned, they've been screamin' along.

I'm hoping that I interpreted Masseria's glances at "The Doctor" correctly, and he's more than ready to split Narcisses' share with Nucky and Chalky.

I am also very curious where Livinstones' character is headed, how they plan to end the FBI agent problem, and how Richard and Chalky solve their problems. I suspect Richards' sniper rifle may be pointed at the good doctors' head soon.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am finally on board with this season.

Took awhile. Wasn't a fan of the characters, particularly Narcisse, but something
tells me he will suffer the same fate that all the opposing villains of the series have
endured thus far.

Yeah, good season. Not as good as last, but I am finally comfortable with it.

 

[TravisR]

I loved when Nucky said to Narcisse, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you since we first met... who the fuck do you think you are?" I'm glad to see Nucky helping Chalky because I thought the writers were trying to paint Nucky into a corner where he wouldn't help him due to business concerns and while Nucky is a business man, I do think he considers Chalky a friend and he know that he owes him a debt from last year.

They had me wondering if Chalky was going to get killed. And that scene with Chalky's daughter and Narcisse was like a horror movie.

And once again, the stuff with Van Alden and the Capones was great.

I suspect Richards' sniper rifle may be pointed at the good doctors' head soon.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Reed Grele]

Quite a seasons finale!

After 4 seasons, there are so many characters and sub plots that I'll have to watch it again, or read a synopsis. Too much to take in. And my short term memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

What an incredible season finale. My favorite Boardwalk Empire finale to date.

Don't read any further if you have not seen it...

First of all, I need to talk about the final shot. And forgive me, I am doing this all from memory...

I believe the last scene is of Nuckie's brother meeting up with Nelson.

The scene goes black. One would expect that is the end.

The next shot is of Richard on a train. Arriving at home, walking towards his wife and family.
It looks so peaceful as he walks forward -- and then -- a reveal of his perfect face. Final shot of
him lying on the beach dying/dead.

Just an unbelievably powerful scene.

As for Nucky killing his brother? I bet he would have if the son had not intervened.

Great finale, particularly with the sniper mishap. Very powerful moment.

Loved the fact that Gillian got what she deserved. That was a hated character.
Speaking of another hated character, hoping Narcisse will not be returning next season.

 

[TravisR]

The next shot is of Richard on a train. Arriving at home, walking towards his wife and family.
It looks so peaceful as he walks forward -- and then -- a reveal of his perfect face. Final shot of
him lying on the beach dying/dead.

Yeah, I hated to see Harrow go but I loved that scene. When they showed him on the train, I was thinking he had actually made it and would have a happy ending. When he got to his sister's farm and everyone was on the porch, I thought "Aww shit, I bet he's dead" and then when they showed his unscarred face, I knew he was done for. I also liked the beach sounds over the end credits in lieu of music.

And yes, Eli was picked up by Van Alden at the end. Now that Eli is in Chicago, I'm hoping that Van Alden and the Capone brothers play an even larger role next season.

My only gripe is that more or less none of the New York characters were in the episode (except a shot of Margaret and Rothstein in the end montage). Given the relatively small importance of those characters this year and that the action was involving Nucky and Chalky, etc., it makes sense for the NYC characters to not be around but I wanted to see them more.

EDIT: Just a guess but I imagine that Narcisse and Gillian will still be on the show next year. Gillian going on trial seems like a story that they will go for and Narcisse being a rat for Hoover definitely seems like it will play a part since he's working with Joe Masseria and that gets all the NY and NJ gangster characters dangerously close to the FBI.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Travis,

That was just a beautifully played scene. Brilliant, in fact. Just goes to show
the talent behind Boardwalk Empire. It's a first-rate show.

 

[Reed Grele]

You know that a show is well written, directed, and cast when you find yourself rooting for, and empathizing with the "bad guys".

I'd venture to say that the season 4 finale of Boardwalk Empire is right up there with some of the greatest moments of the Godfather films.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Reed,

Agreed. Just can't say this enough....what a SENSATIONAL finale.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Agreed. Brilliant finale.

At first when Harrow was shown walking on the railway tracks, I thought he might be looking to commit suicide by walking into a train, given that he appeared so distraught at accidently killing a civilian, but when he arrived at the picture-perfect farm, I figured he was already dead (or dying).

Anyone else think that it was Capone who put the hit on Torrio in the first place? It seemed to me that Torrio may have put the initial hit on Capone, since he conveniently left the cathouse just before the others opened fire, and say what you want about van Alden, he's got a brain in him. But Capone gets what he wants, he takes over from Torrio now.

Where exactly is Nucky going now? Obviously not Cuba since Sally was shown drinking alone. And I wonder to what extent Will is now "in charge" (or was that only in relation to Eli's family)?

 

[Kevin EK]

The show certainly implied that Torrio was behind the attempted hit on Capone, and that Capone was behind the hit on Torrio. But I believe the actual history is that they were both attacked by a mutual competitor in the area. It will be interesting to see how the Chicago story starts to play out on the show now - Capone is now the boss - and it looks like two of the key men in his organization at this time are Eli and Van Alden. I'm trying to remember if Van Alden had any scenes with Eli in the first two seasons. I remember some of Eli's underlings were questioned by Van Alden but I can't remember if Eli himself was called down to the post office.

I figured Harrow for dead from the moment he said goodbye to the family at the train station. Particularly after he promised to meet them at the farm in a couple of days. Kiss of death on shows like this. I was sad to see things end like this for him, but it felt appropriate, given all the things he's done over the years.

I believe Nucky was telling Willie he was in charge of Eli's family, since Eli is gone for the foreseeable future. He meant that Will needed to step up to be the man of the house and take some responsibility. It does not mean that Nucky is giving Willie any authority over anything else. Nucky has no intention of giving anyone that kind of power, particularly not a young kid with no real experience in such matters. Nucky himself is not leaving Atlantic City, which was the point of that shot of Sally by herself down in Florida. Nucky is instead trapped within his own empire, without even his brother to turn to. His is an organization mostly of strangers now. The only relation near him anymore is Willie. And that's not saying much.

The Narcisse/Hoover story should play out in an interesting way. I have a feeling we'll meet a new FBI underling who will make Narcisse's life miserable next season. And I have a feeling that Narcisse may try to play his FBI connections the other way to go after Chalky White when the latter inevitably returns to Atlantic City.

My instincts say that they will jump ahead again by another year or so, to show how things have developed for a while since this finale. I believe we'll see Gillian once or twice in prison, assuming someone like Ron Livingston's character visits her from time to time. I believe Chalky will return, possibly to the Onyx - the show needs those musical interludes. I believe that Margaret may find herself in another compromising situation, this time with Arnold Rothstein. And something tells me that Nucky will be more isolated than ever. It will be interesting to see how they begin to wrap up the series. I understand that the writers are now discussing exactly that idea - how much more they can do with these characters. I had figured that the series primary story would end either with the Crash of 1929 or the end of Prohibition in 1933 - possibly with both events in the same series finale. I also figured that Nucky would long survive both events, albeit in a fairly pathetic isolation. But we'll have to see what the writers have in mind. Until next September...

 

[TravisR]

Next season will be the end of the show.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/09/boardwalk-empire-to-end-this-year-with-final-season/

That sucks but I gotta imagine that they're going to go out strong.

 

[TravisR]

The final season starts on September 7 with an extra small (even for cheapskate cable channels) order of 8 episodes.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Only 8 episodes in the final season??!!

 

[Reed Grele]

Only 8 episodes in the final season??!!

I know! Looks like HBO is short changing us on the # of final season episodes of this and True Blood. Maybe because they didn't win as many Emmys as Game of Thrones.

Hope the quality (If not the quantity) will at least be equal to past seasons.