What TV show did you last watch a season of on DVD/Blu-ray?

Just finished watching Season 1 of Boardwalk Empire on DVD last night.



**spoilers below**

I’d actually watched this first season of the show on TV quite a while ago, but then the lousy station which aired it here didn’t bother showing any of the other seasons. Although I have more unwatched DVDs/Blu-rays (that I’m yet to get through) than I can count, when I saw the complete series box set of this show on sale for a good price, I thought now was the time to get it, as I’d had my interest piqued when watching Season 1 on TV and was always wishing to see the rest.

Despite having watched the first season once before, my memory of it had faded/I'd forgotten most of it (not because the first season was ‘forgettable’, but rather because my memory is shoddy and it was quite a long time ago). So watching it again on DVD was almost like watching it fresh/for the first time. However, there were occasions where I was thinking to myself that I vaguely recalled something happening and then it would happen, so not all my memories of the season were completely gone.

Anyway, regarding the show’s characters...

I liked Steve Buscemi as Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson. I hadn’t seen him in that many things prior to this, and what I had seen him in wasn’t really that ‘deep’, so it was nice that I got to see his performance here, as he was playing the same character for a good length of time and therefore was allowed to show some character development/’depth’. Although Nucky did/said some pretty questionable things, on the whole I found he remained likeable (most of the time, anyway). It became clear that who he was around affected the way he acted. He could put on a good speech for whoever he was addressing, but then show his true feelings when not around them (also, Buscemi was great at acting annoyed. He could also make the swearing amusing, rather than feel tiresome).

I liked how he developed a relationship with Kelly Macdonald’s Margaret Schroeder and had her abusive husband, who beat her and cost her their unborn child, offed – the guy did indeed deserve it (I don’t care what Nucky’s brother, Eli, said regarding that. Eli and his jealousy over how Nucky treated Jimmy Darmody got irritating after a while. While I could kind of understand his character's frustration here, he made it hard to like him. I recognised Shea Whigham, though, from several other things I'd seen him in. Mostly Agent Carter). I was relieved that Margaret's husband only lasted the one episode, actually, as I hated seeing how she was treated by him. The young girl who plays her daughter was really good in the one scene where we saw the husband lose it and hit Margaret (after listening to the commentary for the episode, I learned that was a genuine reaction from the girl and they had to assure her it was just 'pretend'. Well, at least it made for a realistic scene).

I’d seen Kelly Mcdonald in a number of things before I originally watched this season of the show on TV, but I mostly remembered her from the movie The Girl in the Café (2005) and from her guest star appearance in Season 4 of the TV series Alias. I liked what I’d seen of her and really enjoyed her performance in this show too. What I appreciated about her character was that she may have seemed the ‘quiet’/somewhat ‘timid’ type to begin with, but pretty quickly she showed she was no pushover and could stand up for herself against others – whether it be Nucky, men in general, or Lucy (Nucky’s ‘mistress’).



Speaking of Lucy, I imagine most people weren’t fond of her (and I can understand why), but I actually found her quite amusing with how she’d be so blunt when talking to Nucky, not caring who else was in the room (especially his loyal assistant/valet, Eddie - whose interaction with not only Lucy, but Nucky as well, was usually pretty funny).



The way she’d yell at Eddie because he kept interrupting her and Nucky mid-coitus amused me. She was presented as being quite ‘dim’, but I did feel a touch sorry for her after she was tossed away by Nucky (again, I could kind of understand why he lost interest in her. She was just to 'wild' for him, and wasn't one for stimulating conversation). I did applaud Margaret telling her off, though (and that slap). Lucy could certainly be a nasty piece of work, but I think she was just acting very human, fearing what she was losing (and it turned out she was right with her suspicions). I was also amused that she wound up with Van Alden by the end of Season 1. Given his short fuse, and her habit of frustrating others, one can only imagine how those two will continue to get on (when they’re not getting it on). And of course he got her pregnant.

I do quite enjoy Michael Shannon as an actor. Take Shelter remains my favourite movie/performance of his (a movie which also featured Shea Whigham), but his performance here is excellent too. Van Alden is such a fascinating character, and I just love how he continues to be frustrated by pretty much most people – like his partner, Agent Sebso (who, in the beginning, seemed so hopeless – and Van Alden’s frustration with him allowed for some amusing moments – that I wondered how he ever became an Agent in the first place...but then it was revealed he was actually with Nucky and all became clear. He wasn’t as inept as first thought...though he *did* get himself found out by Van Alden and paid the price for it – which was quite a memorable scene). The thing with Van Alden is, it seems like we never quite know how he’s going to react in any given situation. Oftentimes it feels like he’s barely containing this rage inside him and it results in these sudden outbursts (sometimes violently) on occasion. Shannon is awesome in the role, and quite intense. I don’t think the show would be half as good without him.

I’d seen Michael Pitt in a couple of things before seeing him in this show (and since watching this first season on TV, I saw him in his three episode guest star role as Mason Verger in the TV series Hannibal – which was very different to his performance here). His character of Jimmy Darmody seems okay/decent at times, while other times he’s not very likeable. His kid annoyed me, but I didn’t mind his wife, Angela (and kind of felt for her, considering she really wanted to be with another woman...who ended up leaving her behind after they’d made plans to run away together). I think he was his most likeable with poor Pearl (who unfortunately had her face cut up by a bad guy, and then offed herself since she knew her chances of her having the success she’d had as a prostitute prior to that were probably over). I was surprised to see Jimmy’s mother, Gillian, was so young, but once we learned her messed up backstory, it explained things (she was raped by the Commodore – in his 60’s! – before she even turned 13. Holy age difference, Batman!).

Young Al Capone could be mildly entertaining at times, but more often than not I found him rather annoying with his childish jokes/pranks. I’m glad that he seemed to get some sense knocked into him towards the end of the season and appeared to have ‘grown up’ (at least somewhat). Albert ‘Chalky’ White didn’t seem to get that much screentime throughout the season. He only had one scene in the first episode and would be entirely absent from other episodes, but he did at least get a couple of memorable scenes - one involving a speech and torture (although that part second part was offscreen), and the other involving strangling someone who richly deserved it. The actor, Michael Kenneth Williams, certainly has a strong presence, so despite having a relatively ‘small’ amount of screentime compared to others, he still managed to make an impact with what he was given. A lot of the other gangsters weren’t quite as memorable and all sort of blended together for me (though Mickey Doyle somewhat stood out, as he reminded me of Lenny from The Simpsons. Maybe it was the voice. He also did this little weird sort of snicker. He was very ‘weasely’, but at least I could pick him out from the rest).

Jack Huston was another actor I’d seen in a few things, though he didn’t really impress me in any of them. However, he gave a really good performance here as Richard Harrow, who’d had half his face disfigured in the war and covered it with a mask. He put on a very gruff voice and had an ‘odd’ speaking pattern, but it all contributed to a very memorable character who I felt sympathy for (it even made me dislike Margaret when she was passing judgement on him because of his appearance. Her kids bugged me too when they started screaming and whatnot because they saw him without his mask. I get that kids are easily frightened, but it didn’t make it any less annoying/anger-inducing. I was glad that, by the end of the episode, she was trying to get them to accept Richard through telling them the story of The Wizard of Oz, and claiming he was the real Tin Man).

I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of characters, but these^ are all the ones that stood out to me. I will mention, though, Tracy Middendorf (who apparently decided to add ‘Lyn’ to the middle of her name since the last time I saw her). I still remember the first thing I saw her in, which was the TV series Angel (she was Angel’s first ‘damsel’ he tried to save...that didn’t end up going so well).

The show certainly looks great (and expensive). I appreciate when CGI is used for more ‘mundane’ things like stretching out scenery in the background rather than big explosions and whatnot. Scenes on the boardwalk are always nice to watch (given the show’s title, it figures that it would play an important part). There were bursts of violence on occasion (which is to be expected in a gangster show), but on the whole I was expecting a lot worse (maybe that’s yet to come?). All the ‘deep’/’heavy’ stuff, along with the violence, was thankfully balanced out by some good humour. It didn’t really feel out of place, it fit just right.

This first season was quite enjoyable and I’m immediately going onto Season 2 now, since I haven’t watched it before. I’m just so glad I eventually got around to getting it on DVD.