Just finished Season 2 of
Boardwalk Empire on DVD.
**spoilers below**
I’m not sure if it’s because I’d watched the first season twice (once back when it originally aired on TV here years ago, then for the second time when I just watched the season on DVD a week or two ago), but I feelt that I preferred Season 1 to this second season (which seems to be the case with quite a few shows I’ve watched. For a recent example, I preferred Season 1 of
Victoria to Season 2, and I’m hoping Season 3 of
this show doesn’t end up being as disappointing as Season 3 of
that show was for me when I watched it for the first time on DVD). Part of what I think contributed to me enjoying this season less than the first season was the fact that even the characters who I
liked in Season 1 weren’t as likeable here in Season 2. Margaret, for example, who I’d very much enjoyed in the first season, showed she wasn't quite as ‘good’ as she might’ve first appeared. She certainly made some questionable choices this season, and at times I found she acted kind of petulantly.
However, one thing I
didn’t have a problem was when she gave her bratty son a slap after he tricked her into thinking he had caught polio from his sister (who was
genuinely afflicted with the disease) just so he could get the same attention his sister was getting. When he started laughing, as his mother checked his legs, I was fully behind her giving him a smack. I figured that, as is usually the case in shows which have a parent character do something like this, she was going to immediately apologise and punish
herself for the act. I was actually relieved she didn’t, as she made a fair point to Nucky when she asked him if she should have to take her attention away from her
actually sick child just to make her perfectly healthy son not feel jealous. I’m glad there was no sobbing/apologising on her end for what she did, as I felt she was justified. He needed to
learn that faking something so serious was just not on. Suffice to say, the kid characters on this show annoy me. I did feel sorry for Margaret's daughter, though.
Also annoying were some of the other gangsters. For all his acting like he was going to be more mature at the end of last season, Al Capone still acted pretty immaturely. And it’s a shame that the friendship that he and Jimmy had started to build in Season 1 was quickly thrown by the wayside this season. Without the two of them interacting much, I wasn’t really invested in anything Capone was doing. Rothstein, Luciano and a bunch of others whose names I can’t even recall didn’t really interest me either. Nucky’s brother, Eli, also continued to annoy me. I’m waiting for him to get his. While he and Nucky did resort to fisticuffs at one point (I was glad to see Margaret break up the fight at the point of a gun), it didn’t really lead to anything much.
Funnily enough, the weasely Mickey Doyle actually proved himself to be somewhat savvy in staying alive via lying/manipulation (though, really, pretty much most of the characters who populate this show lie and manipulate...it's just some are better/more successful at it than others). He seemed to navigate these dangerous waters of gangster life and keep on ticking (despite getting thrown from a balcony by Jimmy). When he wasn’t doing his little signature snicker/giggle, he proved he could actually be serious at times (like when he dealt with Van Alden near the end of the season -
that was quite the scene. Someone as deadly serious as Van Alden, who doesn’t suffer fools, sharing a scene with the character who’d most be considered ‘the fool’ in this show - even though he actually proved he
wasn’t - made for some fun viewing).
Speaking of Van Alden...he’s still an intriguing character. It often seemed like he was barely tolerating Lucy, but then he’d go and do something decent for her (like get her the phonograph) and show he wasn’t entirely without compassion. However, he still wasn’t very nice to her, screwing her out of the money he’d promised her in return for having a baby. He screwed her both literally
and figuratively. Paz de la Huerta actually got some really good stuff to play in the first half of this season, as her character of Lucy pretty much had no one (except Eddie Cantor, the vaudevillian) she could talk to and her being left home alone, and in all this pain, did garner sympathy (especially when she looked at her naked pregnant self in the mirror and broke down). Of course, things only got worse for her when she was unexpectedly ready to deliver her child and no one was there to help - despite her begging a kid neighbor who just shut the curtains on her/ignored her (kids are
the worst). It was painful enough to
watch her have to give birth by herself, so one can only imagine what it was like for her to actually
experience. She proved herself not to be as 'weak' as many perceived her to be. Of course, it wasn’t long before she hightailed it out of there, leaving the kid with Van Alden...but I can’t really say I blamed her.
I was disappointed we lost Lucy and she was replaced with a nanny who has a dubious ‘Swedish’ accent (it sounds like the type of fake accent I once heard one of the Angels in the
Charlie’s Angels TV series putting on when she was undercover...and that’s
not a ‘good’ thing). It’s very distracting. I was also disappointed to see Van Alden scurry away when he got found out for the murder of his partner from last season. He’s such a big imposing guy, so it’s weird seeing all these other characters have so much authority/'power' over him. His interaction with the assistant attorney, Esther Randolph (who was prosecuting Nucky), was at least somewhat entertaining. Too bad it was so short-lived. Also amusing was his line when he returned home to find Lucy had given birth (especially when she’d been at him to get lemons earlier in the episode). No one does deadpan line deliveries in this show quite like Michael Shannon. Again, Van Alden tried doing something ‘nice’ (and was completely unprepared for what he found).
Regarding Nucky...I wasn’t as fond of him this season. I think he made more of an impression last season. Though they did ramp things up by the end of this season to show he really
did mean business. I’m glad that they allowed Steve Buscemi to show Nucky getting emotional in regards to his father (even though the man probably didn’t deserve it, as we’d been told/shown). It ‘humanised’ Nucky and showed that he wasn’t as ‘detached’ emotionally as he liked to present himself. Of course, he then got shot (though only in the hand) and was shown to at times be vulnerable physically as well as emotionally. However, things took a turn in the last couple episodes when he showed he just wasn’t the forgiving type when it came to Jimmy. If I hadn’t known about Jimmy dying at Nucky’s hands prior to watching the show, it
may have been a surprise. Though, honestly, all the signs were pointing to Jimmy not getting out of this season alive.
Poor foolish Jimmy, he just kept making bad decision after bad decision, and unfortunately it not only got himself killed, but also his poor wife, Angela (I was pretty disgusted to see comments under the YouTube videos of her death saying how they thought she ‘deserved it’ and were ‘glad’ she was dead because of her ‘cheating’, completely ignoring the fact that Jimmy cheated on her too. And, also, in what twisted world is cheating equal to
death?? Some people...). I was so mad to see her taken out in such a fashion by that Manny a-hole (who I want to see get his comeuppance ASAP – you know, because he *actually*
deserves it. I also got sick of him monologuing. He clearly enjoys the sound of his own gravely voice, whereas I do not). Poor Angela never had a chance.
One could also argue Jimmy had a fairly rough time too, given his parentage. Talk about a twisted relationship. His father was a rapist and his mother had feelings for him a mother really
shouldn’t (and which he seemed to return - and this is what led him to enlist in the army, to get away from that). It had been hinted at previously, but it was still somewhat of a surprise to see them actually ‘go there’. I did feel a bit bad for Jimmy, despite all that he did to lead him to his fate. I felt worse for Angela, her innocent female partner and also Harrow (whose only friend seemed to be Jimmy. I was glad that Angela showed him some kindness in an episode and it was good to see his reaction to her blood on the floor, as it seemed like no one else really seemed to give a damn that she was dead...aside from Jimmy, of course, who made it clear to his mother just how MUCH he cared about Angela being dead when she was acting so nonchalant/flippant about it and he began to choke her, which then eventually led to him killing his bastard of a father who stabbed him in the back). I recall reading somewhere that Michael Pitt, who played Jimmy, was a bit difficult to work with. I’m not sure how much truth there is to that, but if that’s the reason his character was killed off, it’s a shame it put the actress playing Angela out of a job, as it seemed like the writers didn’t know what to do with her without Jimmy around. I was glad to be rid of the Commodore, though.
Harrow is probably one of the only characters remaining who I still
like. I felt bad for him when he was feeling suicidal (and I was glad to see that dog that stole his mask ended up saving his life. I was even
more glad to see no harm come to the dog, as these types of shows seem to LOVE to have animal harm/death usually). Harrow is an example of a character who may do bad things (like killing people), but still manages to come across as very ‘human’. His reaction to Angela’s death showed that.
I can’t say I’m that fussed on Replacement Jimmy (ie. pre-
Daredevil Charlie Cox as Owen Sleater. And what is it with this show getting non-Irish actors to play Irish characters? First, Kelly Macdonald, who is Scottish, and now English actor Charlie Cox). His fooling around with Margaret feels like eventually it’ll get found out by Nucky and then he’ll suffer the same fate as Jimmy. If that
doesn’t happen, it’ll feel like a bit of a cheat.
Chalky White continues to not get that much screentime when compared to other castmembers, but he still makes the most of the screentime his character’s given (can’t say I was overly fond of the guy he met when in jail, though. That dude just annoyed me, whereas Chalkie shows why he’s the ‘boss’). They certainly ramped up the violence this season – heads being bashed in, scalping, etc. Still, it didn’t feel quite as ‘gratuitous’ as some of the other shows I watch, so that’s something. While this season wasn’t quite as enjoyable as last season, I still like the show (more or less) and look forward to moving straight onto Season 3.