What TV show did you last watch a season of on DVD/Blu-ray?
Oct 9, 2019 22:38:34 GMT
HirundoRustica likes this
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Oct 9, 2019 22:38:34 GMT
Most recently finished Season 3 of Boardwalk Empire on DVD.
This season started off by introducing us to Bobby Cannavale’s character of Gyp Rosetti, who quickly established himself as someone prone to outbursts of violence after getting easily offended by the guy who stopped to help him with his car. I felt bad for the Good Samaritan, but was even more concerned about the poor dog that lost its owner and gained a psycho as its new (temporary) owner. I guess we were supposed to see Gyp as ‘dangerous’ and ‘scary’, but I just found him kind of over-the-top. He acted like a ‘man-child’ of sorts. As Nucky himself said, Rosetti’s the type of person who could "find an insult in a bouquet of roses”. His taking things people said the wrong way and unjustly hurting/killing them for it wasn’t ‘scary’ so much as eyeroll-worthy. These types of characters are just immature and lash out at anyone who they don’t like (which sounds quite similar to a lot of online people, actually).
I’ll admit Bobby Cannavale played the role well, and he had a certain intimidating/imposing feel to him (and could be morbidly amusing on occasion), but his character was like a cartoon, gets offended at everything, setting the Sheriff on fire at a gas station, beating up a priest and stealing church money, using a poor diner waitress as human shield (poor paper boy also) - by the end of the season I was more than ready for him to be offed so we didn’t have to be subjected to his particular brand of nuttiness - he really seemed to have lost it in his final scene on the beach (though I liked that it bookended his first scene on the show). I just hope his dog ended up with a better owner, since it came back into his possession after having been given to Margaret (and shame on her for wishing it to go back to that horrible man).
Gillian really amped up her horribleness this season too. I was able to tolerate her in Season 1, she started becoming annoying in Season 2, and this season I was as ticked off with her as Harrow was when she tried to make Jimmy and Angela’s son forget about Angela, systematically erasing her from his memory. I was glad to see Harrow wasn’t down for that and he really was the only one actually looking out for the kid/taking care of him properly, unlike Gillian who was possessive/controlling of the kid to the point where I thought she may eventually have come to 'love' him too much - like she did towards her own son, Jimmy. Instead, she decided to pretend a guy who she thought resembled Jimmy (who I didn’t think really looked like him that much at all) was Jimmy (going so far as to call him Jimmy), seduced him, then gave him a disturbing sponge bath before murdering him, pretending it was her son in the coffin and passing him off as dead Jimmy.
She really went nuts, and I honestly wish she was gone from the show and we had Angela back...but I know that’s not to be. She’s just one of the most horrible people in the show, with her attitude towards Harrow (especially considering all he did for her son and is still doing for her grandson), and considering this is a show about gangsters...that’s really saying something. Sadly, we’re seem to be stuck with her. I would’ve rather gotten rid of her and kept Billie Kent.
Oddly, I wasn't that fussed on her character when she first appeared. As bad as Lucy could be at times, I actually found myself missing her character in the show. I didn't really know what to make of Billie as a character for a good percentage of the season. However, towards the end of the season I came to not-mind her so much. She even proved kind of likeable/entertaining.
So much so that I felt sorry for her when Vaudvillian, Eddie Cantor, wasn't very nice to her. So, naturally, just as I started liking her character, the show saw fit to off her in an explosive fashion.
I was sad to see her go. I was even more saddened by the thought that with Babette's Supper Club blowing up, we lost Babette herself/Tracy Middendorf from the show.
When listening to the commentary for the episode, I echoed the thoughts of what the actress who played Billie Kent said in regards to hoping that Babette was okay. She might've not gotten much to say in the show (in fact, I think Tracy Middendorf only got a few lines of dialogue over the course of her three seasons - which was a shame, as I knew from her guest appearance in the first episode of the TV series Angel that she was capable of turning in decent performances and therefore felt she was underutilised here), but she certainly stood out in a crowd with her blonde hair and suit. She even spoke her mind to Gyp - which we'd learned was a dangerous thing to do (I worried for her after that scene, but I'm glad she wasn't intimidated by him).
It seemed that we never got confirmation of her death, but the episode with the explosion was indeed her final episode in the show (going by the actress's IMDB list of credits), so it can be assumed her character perished. Between her and Billie, what a waste of a good characters with untapped potential (yet we were forced to endure all these other horrible characters who were unfairly kept around).
Margaret continued her downward spiral into unlikable territory this season. For a character who I enjoyed so much in the first season, it was quite the 'fall' for her to become really hard to enjoy watching this season. I think the most I 'liked' her was when she sang (following Nucky's juggling act).
That^ was a good scene. But other than that, I just couldn't really side with Margaret much in her arguments - the one exception being that I couldn’t really blame her for thinking her son set the fire in the greenhouse, considering we’d heard in a previous season he had a thing for fire and he was caught with matches/lighter fluid. She only smacked him twice. He got off easily.
I wasn't that sad to see Margaret's affair with Charlie Cox's Owen Sleater cut short when he wound up delivered in a crate at an early hour of the morning (as the video of the scene on YouTube sarcastically comments, "there's nothing at all suspicious about 4am packages"), though I was a bit surprised to see him offed then and in such a fashion, as I figured he'd be around for a bit longer since he was kind of 'Replacement Jimmy' for Nucky. I guess that being a Jimmy replacement also means you share a similar (but different) fate. I was also surprised in the episode where we spent a good percentage of time with Owen, Nucky and a kid thief, that at the end Nucky offed the kid thief (after he'd been acting like he was going to employ him). I guess Owen should've realised right there that he was in dangerous territory, carrying on an affair with/planning to run away with Nucky's wife (even if it didn't end up being Nucky who offed him. Though what a way for Nucky to find out about the affair - from Margaret's reaction to Owen's demise).
I liked that, with Jimmy gone, we got more Harrow this season. He stood up to his new love interest's father (though I can't say I'm that fussed on his new love interest, as I preferred Angela), he took care of Jimmy and Angela's son, and managed to off a bunch of people who needed offing. The best example of this was in the final episode, when he single-handedly took out a bunch of guys. Honestly, if Nucky wanted Gyp dead, he should've just sicced Harrow onto him ASAP. The guy's like a Terminator. I also liked the scene where he dragged Mickey Doyle in front of Nucky, after Mickey had been claiming the killing of Manny as his own (I was SO GLAD to see that a-hole offed in the first episode of the season. Given what he did to Angela last season, I was more than ready for him to get what was coming to him - and how fitting that Harrow blew half the jerk's face off), and admitted to Nucky it was in fact himself who'd done the offing of Manny, not Mickey. I liked that there was an 'understanding' between the two, as Nucky wanted to be sure that Harrow wouldn't be coming after him next, and Harrow assured Nucky he wouldn't (as he'd just wanted revenge for Angela, and Nucky/Margaret had been kind enough to him, so they had nothing to fear).
Jack Huston continues to impress in the role of Richard Harrow (and it makes me wonder why his movie roles/performances really haven't been up to the same standard). He's one of the only remaining 'likeable' characters, and considering he kills heaps of people (as he admits to in that^ scene), it shows just how messed up everyone else is in this show when he seems like the 'decent' one in comparison to the majority of them. Getting back onto the subject of Mickey Doyle for a minute - it was somewhat fun to see him get an expanded role this season. It felt like we were treated to much more of his character than we'd been previously, as he worked his way up the ranks to the point where he was bossing Eli, Nucky's brother, around. We also got a bit more of Chalky White this season, along with his family and presumably soon-to-be son-in-law (though his daughter seemed 'bored' with the guy, which was sad to see, as he actually really came through near the end of the season when he helped save Nucky's loyal assistant/valet, Eddie Kessler, after he'd been shot). They gave Chalky some interesting new dynamics this season, like sharing scenes with Al Capone for example. Speaking of, I am still not overly fond of Al, but his scene with his son early in the season and how he played music for him on the madolin - having him touch his throat so he could feel the singing, since he wasn't able to hear it (due to being deaf) - showed Al was in fact capable of showing some 'humanity'/depth. The rest of the time he was rather annoying (unless he was offing people who deserved offing).
As for Nucky, it was interesting to see him getting more into the 'action'. Last season's final was the first time I could recall him actually offing anyone himself (alas, poor Jimmy), and this season we got to see him offing people quite a bit. I liked that they went a ways towards repairing the sibling relationship between him and Eli, and that we got to see his relationships with Chalky and Eddie Kessler explored more as well. All of these relationships were more interesting than his one with Margaret, which just started to feel tiresome. Weird that the effects of the bomb blast seemed to basically wear off after an episode or two (then again, I wasn't particularly enjoying him not hearing people properly and acting weird as a result - so I'm kind of glad they moved past that).
Last, but definitely not least, Van Alden - what a journey his character's been on. From prohibition officer to now becoming a bootlegger himself. I knew about this scene with him and the iron before even watching the show, I think. I kept wondering what season/episode it'd happen in, so I was happy to finally get to see it play out on DVD this season (rather than just watching it on YouTube)...
That's^ has got to be one of the best scenes on the show so far, and definitely Van Alden's best scene. Those guys just really didn't have a clue who they were ticking off. It's fun (and pretty cathartic, given all the crap he'd been through) to see Van Alden lose it like that. He'd been attempting to control himself so long, that it was bound to reach boiling point eventually. Michael Shannon can go nuts like no one else. It was definitely a 'Hulk SMASH!' moment. Though things started getting a bit too ridiculous with the killing – first Van Alden’s new wife (who I still don't like) whacked the dude who just came to complain about the dodgy iron he got sold, then Van Alden and wifey offed the guy. It was a far cry from the Van Alden of Season 1. It's a bit of a stretch that he keeps getting away with all this stuff. Yes, he's been caught/apprehended a few times, but he keeps managing to escape/get out of it. Still, Michael Shannon remains entertaining in the role (when he's actually *in* the show, that is. He seemed to be missing from a few episodes throughout the season, as were other characters).
Anyone I haven't mentioned I either forgot about or don't care enough about to comment on (or both). I was surprised this season wasn't quite as bad as I feared it'd be after losing a few very important/'major' characters last season. While this season still wasn't up to the same level as Season 1 (for me, anyway), it was too bad either. I have heard the final season is pretty disappointing, though. Of course, before I get to that, I have to watch Season 4 next.
I’ll admit Bobby Cannavale played the role well, and he had a certain intimidating/imposing feel to him (and could be morbidly amusing on occasion), but his character was like a cartoon, gets offended at everything, setting the Sheriff on fire at a gas station, beating up a priest and stealing church money, using a poor diner waitress as human shield (poor paper boy also) - by the end of the season I was more than ready for him to be offed so we didn’t have to be subjected to his particular brand of nuttiness - he really seemed to have lost it in his final scene on the beach (though I liked that it bookended his first scene on the show). I just hope his dog ended up with a better owner, since it came back into his possession after having been given to Margaret (and shame on her for wishing it to go back to that horrible man).
Gillian really amped up her horribleness this season too. I was able to tolerate her in Season 1, she started becoming annoying in Season 2, and this season I was as ticked off with her as Harrow was when she tried to make Jimmy and Angela’s son forget about Angela, systematically erasing her from his memory. I was glad to see Harrow wasn’t down for that and he really was the only one actually looking out for the kid/taking care of him properly, unlike Gillian who was possessive/controlling of the kid to the point where I thought she may eventually have come to 'love' him too much - like she did towards her own son, Jimmy. Instead, she decided to pretend a guy who she thought resembled Jimmy (who I didn’t think really looked like him that much at all) was Jimmy (going so far as to call him Jimmy), seduced him, then gave him a disturbing sponge bath before murdering him, pretending it was her son in the coffin and passing him off as dead Jimmy.
She really went nuts, and I honestly wish she was gone from the show and we had Angela back...but I know that’s not to be. She’s just one of the most horrible people in the show, with her attitude towards Harrow (especially considering all he did for her son and is still doing for her grandson), and considering this is a show about gangsters...that’s really saying something. Sadly, we’re seem to be stuck with her. I would’ve rather gotten rid of her and kept Billie Kent.
Oddly, I wasn't that fussed on her character when she first appeared. As bad as Lucy could be at times, I actually found myself missing her character in the show. I didn't really know what to make of Billie as a character for a good percentage of the season. However, towards the end of the season I came to not-mind her so much. She even proved kind of likeable/entertaining.
So much so that I felt sorry for her when Vaudvillian, Eddie Cantor, wasn't very nice to her. So, naturally, just as I started liking her character, the show saw fit to off her in an explosive fashion.
I was sad to see her go. I was even more saddened by the thought that with Babette's Supper Club blowing up, we lost Babette herself/Tracy Middendorf from the show.
When listening to the commentary for the episode, I echoed the thoughts of what the actress who played Billie Kent said in regards to hoping that Babette was okay. She might've not gotten much to say in the show (in fact, I think Tracy Middendorf only got a few lines of dialogue over the course of her three seasons - which was a shame, as I knew from her guest appearance in the first episode of the TV series Angel that she was capable of turning in decent performances and therefore felt she was underutilised here), but she certainly stood out in a crowd with her blonde hair and suit. She even spoke her mind to Gyp - which we'd learned was a dangerous thing to do (I worried for her after that scene, but I'm glad she wasn't intimidated by him).
It seemed that we never got confirmation of her death, but the episode with the explosion was indeed her final episode in the show (going by the actress's IMDB list of credits), so it can be assumed her character perished. Between her and Billie, what a waste of a good characters with untapped potential (yet we were forced to endure all these other horrible characters who were unfairly kept around).
Margaret continued her downward spiral into unlikable territory this season. For a character who I enjoyed so much in the first season, it was quite the 'fall' for her to become really hard to enjoy watching this season. I think the most I 'liked' her was when she sang (following Nucky's juggling act).
That^ was a good scene. But other than that, I just couldn't really side with Margaret much in her arguments - the one exception being that I couldn’t really blame her for thinking her son set the fire in the greenhouse, considering we’d heard in a previous season he had a thing for fire and he was caught with matches/lighter fluid. She only smacked him twice. He got off easily.
I wasn't that sad to see Margaret's affair with Charlie Cox's Owen Sleater cut short when he wound up delivered in a crate at an early hour of the morning (as the video of the scene on YouTube sarcastically comments, "there's nothing at all suspicious about 4am packages"), though I was a bit surprised to see him offed then and in such a fashion, as I figured he'd be around for a bit longer since he was kind of 'Replacement Jimmy' for Nucky. I guess that being a Jimmy replacement also means you share a similar (but different) fate. I was also surprised in the episode where we spent a good percentage of time with Owen, Nucky and a kid thief, that at the end Nucky offed the kid thief (after he'd been acting like he was going to employ him). I guess Owen should've realised right there that he was in dangerous territory, carrying on an affair with/planning to run away with Nucky's wife (even if it didn't end up being Nucky who offed him. Though what a way for Nucky to find out about the affair - from Margaret's reaction to Owen's demise).
I liked that, with Jimmy gone, we got more Harrow this season. He stood up to his new love interest's father (though I can't say I'm that fussed on his new love interest, as I preferred Angela), he took care of Jimmy and Angela's son, and managed to off a bunch of people who needed offing. The best example of this was in the final episode, when he single-handedly took out a bunch of guys. Honestly, if Nucky wanted Gyp dead, he should've just sicced Harrow onto him ASAP. The guy's like a Terminator. I also liked the scene where he dragged Mickey Doyle in front of Nucky, after Mickey had been claiming the killing of Manny as his own (I was SO GLAD to see that a-hole offed in the first episode of the season. Given what he did to Angela last season, I was more than ready for him to get what was coming to him - and how fitting that Harrow blew half the jerk's face off), and admitted to Nucky it was in fact himself who'd done the offing of Manny, not Mickey. I liked that there was an 'understanding' between the two, as Nucky wanted to be sure that Harrow wouldn't be coming after him next, and Harrow assured Nucky he wouldn't (as he'd just wanted revenge for Angela, and Nucky/Margaret had been kind enough to him, so they had nothing to fear).
Jack Huston continues to impress in the role of Richard Harrow (and it makes me wonder why his movie roles/performances really haven't been up to the same standard). He's one of the only remaining 'likeable' characters, and considering he kills heaps of people (as he admits to in that^ scene), it shows just how messed up everyone else is in this show when he seems like the 'decent' one in comparison to the majority of them. Getting back onto the subject of Mickey Doyle for a minute - it was somewhat fun to see him get an expanded role this season. It felt like we were treated to much more of his character than we'd been previously, as he worked his way up the ranks to the point where he was bossing Eli, Nucky's brother, around. We also got a bit more of Chalky White this season, along with his family and presumably soon-to-be son-in-law (though his daughter seemed 'bored' with the guy, which was sad to see, as he actually really came through near the end of the season when he helped save Nucky's loyal assistant/valet, Eddie Kessler, after he'd been shot). They gave Chalky some interesting new dynamics this season, like sharing scenes with Al Capone for example. Speaking of, I am still not overly fond of Al, but his scene with his son early in the season and how he played music for him on the madolin - having him touch his throat so he could feel the singing, since he wasn't able to hear it (due to being deaf) - showed Al was in fact capable of showing some 'humanity'/depth. The rest of the time he was rather annoying (unless he was offing people who deserved offing).
As for Nucky, it was interesting to see him getting more into the 'action'. Last season's final was the first time I could recall him actually offing anyone himself (alas, poor Jimmy), and this season we got to see him offing people quite a bit. I liked that they went a ways towards repairing the sibling relationship between him and Eli, and that we got to see his relationships with Chalky and Eddie Kessler explored more as well. All of these relationships were more interesting than his one with Margaret, which just started to feel tiresome. Weird that the effects of the bomb blast seemed to basically wear off after an episode or two (then again, I wasn't particularly enjoying him not hearing people properly and acting weird as a result - so I'm kind of glad they moved past that).
Last, but definitely not least, Van Alden - what a journey his character's been on. From prohibition officer to now becoming a bootlegger himself. I knew about this scene with him and the iron before even watching the show, I think. I kept wondering what season/episode it'd happen in, so I was happy to finally get to see it play out on DVD this season (rather than just watching it on YouTube)...
That's^ has got to be one of the best scenes on the show so far, and definitely Van Alden's best scene. Those guys just really didn't have a clue who they were ticking off. It's fun (and pretty cathartic, given all the crap he'd been through) to see Van Alden lose it like that. He'd been attempting to control himself so long, that it was bound to reach boiling point eventually. Michael Shannon can go nuts like no one else. It was definitely a 'Hulk SMASH!' moment. Though things started getting a bit too ridiculous with the killing – first Van Alden’s new wife (who I still don't like) whacked the dude who just came to complain about the dodgy iron he got sold, then Van Alden and wifey offed the guy. It was a far cry from the Van Alden of Season 1. It's a bit of a stretch that he keeps getting away with all this stuff. Yes, he's been caught/apprehended a few times, but he keeps managing to escape/get out of it. Still, Michael Shannon remains entertaining in the role (when he's actually *in* the show, that is. He seemed to be missing from a few episodes throughout the season, as were other characters).
Anyone I haven't mentioned I either forgot about or don't care enough about to comment on (or both). I was surprised this season wasn't quite as bad as I feared it'd be after losing a few very important/'major' characters last season. While this season still wasn't up to the same level as Season 1 (for me, anyway), it was too bad either. I have heard the final season is pretty disappointing, though. Of course, before I get to that, I have to watch Season 4 next.