Boardwalk Empire - Thread #2 (apparently this evolved into a SPOILER thread behind my back)

[Relic]

man, sebso drowned in like record time. too stupid to hold his breath?

[oneeye]

The Shark got baptised.

[The Imp's Advocate]

I really do want to hate the drowning, but the awesome shot of the reflections on the water as Van Alden poses make me unwilling to raise too many complaints.

[Paladin of Ice]

I think there was a hidden message with the gathering with Hardini. Misdirection. Something in last night's episode was not what it seems to be.

I think it was just the final hammer to the head for Margaret: for a long time she has seen the truth behind Nucky's facade, and hasn't liked what she has done in being part of his world. But she's lied to herself, whether to it's about him or about herself, and let herself be deceived because she wanted to be taken in by her own lies and private narrative. Having that laid out by someone else has made her have to confront all that.

I loved how the dude with the Tin mask was all I could go to Philadelphia and kill six people. As Slim Charles would say Murder ain't no Thing.

Yep. And it's a great reminder for everyone watching that however sympathetic one of these characters is at a particular moment, they are still very bad, very dangerous people. It's also completely in character for Harrow, the guy's a sniper for crying out loud. This sort of tactic is part and parcel of what he does to get to a target.

But anyway, I still like the show. It works much better for me that Margaret is actually a completely terrible person and we like her. I mean, she really is just the absolute worst kind of hypocrite - all her actions are driven by her own desire for power. She plays her moral ojections like a card to get more information out of Nucky. Last week, they even showed her being more upset about her dress than she was about that woman getting shot and we still like her. It's great.

In many ways Margaret is the most classic and relate-able sort of hypocrite: the sort who believes that she's a good person, but, when push comes to shove, is much more tempted by material comfort and being taken care of than she is to take a stand on principle. Which makes her like an awful lot of people, huh?

Still, I think Margaret very much has her truly good side, it's just a matter of which side of her nature she'll side with.

[Ken Stone]

man, sebso drowned in like record time. too stupid to hold his breath?

To be fair, he was underwater for about 35 seconds, which isn't long if you get to take a deep breath first, but is if you have been held down and struggling and gasping for air before hand.

The problem I had is that I've always imagined it was much harder to drown someone than that. The second I get held down a little longer than I'm comfortable with, I'm fighting. You aren't putting me under again easily. The water was only waist deep. A full grown man should have the strength to roll himself over if his life depends on it.

On the other hand I like the idea of a baptism being ruined because a guy shows up and drowns another guy during the ceremony.

[Analu]

The problem I had is that I've always imagined it was much harder to drown someone than that. The second I get held down a little longer than I'm comfortable with, I'm fighting. You aren't putting me under again easily. The water was only waist deep. A full grown man should have the strength to roll himself over if his life depends on it.

I've never had someone trying to drown me, but I used to have near-death drowning experiences on a weekly basis in big waves, and it -is- pretty hard to drown, from my experience. But the key to staying underwater longer is to just relax and not to panic, which is the exact opposite of what Sebso was doing, so I guess it's possible. Also, Sebso was probably thinking that Val Alden was eventually going to let him up, and didn't figure out he actually might die until it was too late.

Agree that Van Alden is getting silly. The evil turn reminds me of the minister in Carnivale.

Had a few episodes to catch up on, so am late to the "Jimmy is too pretty to be bad" argument. I didn't have a problem with him throwing the guy thru the window, because he was enraged. Or him shooting Rothstein's flunky so casually, which he showed he's capable of that type of coldbloodedness in the first ep. My problem is when he was the bouncer at the whorehouse and throwing out unruly customers. That was kinda ridiculous to me, as he doesn't seem to fit the type for that role at all. He's a killer, not a bouncer.

Anyways, still liking the show, but maybe not quite as much as I initially did.

[RaceBannon42]

Didn't care for the drowning, but every thing was validated by the awesomness of Richard Harrow offering to go to Philly to kill the mother, the sisters and the dentist to draw them out. Thats just fucking cold.

[Ken Stone]

Didn't care for the drowning, but every thing was validated by the awesomness of Richard Harrow offering to go to Philly to kill the mother, the sisters and the dentist to draw them out. Thats just fucking cold.

Yeah that was pretty gangsta

[Guest Raidne]

In many ways Margaret is the most classic and relate-able sort of hypocrite: the sort who believes that she's a good person, but, when push comes to shove, is much more tempted by material comfort and being taken care of than she is to take a stand on principle. Which makes her like an awful lot of people, huh?

I see what you're saying, but I think the storyline where she helps out Madame Jeanneret shows that she also really likes having power. It's not like she likes her and wants to help her, and it's not like she particularly wanted that dress. She just liked having power.

[The Imp's Advocate]

Favorite moment: Chalky winking to his date.

And apparently Margaret is just as motivated by greed as many of us have suspected. I'm happy with this, I always wanted her to turn evil :devil:

[jurble]

I didn't dig this episode too much.

[Galactus]

I always felt that she didn't so much want to do good a she wanted to just well... Get in on the thing

She couldn't give a rat's arse about the immorality of Nucky's business: She does care about being kept i the dark, and she wants a position where she is trusted/empowered (partially out of self-preservation instincts, if she has a position in Nucky's org that means she's not going to get thrown out as easily)

[Stone-Made-Soft]

I'm interested to see who Harrow sides with in the coming feud between Nucky and Jimmy. He's emotionally attached to both Jimmy and Margaret. I was so disappointed when Lucy told Van Alden that she was pregnant. Van Alden is dragging the show down with his religious shtick.

[Arataniello]

I'm interested to see who Harrow sides with in the coming feud between Nucky and Jimmy. He's emotionally attached to both Jimmy and Margaret. I was so disappointed when Lucy told Van Alden that she was pregnant. Van Alden is dragging the show down with his religious shtick.

I was slightly disappointed that we didn't see where Harrow was at the end of the series, assuming he is considered one of the main characters.

We only have Lucy's statement that she is pregnant, she could be lying to get money or some control over Van Alden. I assume that her pregnancy is the 'sign from God' that Van Alden needs to stay in Atlantic City.

[jurble]

Commentators on the AVClub think that Van Alden is supposed to parallel Abraham or something. Lucy is his Hagar.

[oneeye]

Well they explained the Sebso death as a heart attack which actually makes some sense.

Not sure on the season finale, more drama than anything, and the Jimmy betrayal made sense but still disappointed me. I guess season 2 will see the Commodore and his new crew try to make a comeback?

Nucky is damn efficient though, yeesh but without Jimmy he is weak on the gangster side of things.

[jurble]

Also: I can't see Angela surviving the second season. Her attitude is going to lead to Jimmy beating her to death sooner rather than later.

[Alcibiades]

Did anyone else find it odd that Nucky, the treasurer, gave the press conference about the law and order developments? I thought he favored exercising power through his subordinates, and keeping the facade of just being treasurer and a party leader.

[The Dude]

Not sure on the season finale, more drama than anything, and the Jimmy betrayal made sense but still disappointed me. I guess season 2 will see the Commodore and his new crew try to make a comeback?

Nucky is damn efficient though, yeesh but without Jimmy he is weak on the gangster side of things.

I don't think the betrayal has happened yet, nor was it meant to be implied as something that was going to happen immediately. I would assume that it's going to be a power struggle that plays out over part of the new season. And we don't know yet that Jimmy has betrayed - only that he is listening to his father and Eli...

[RaceBannon42]

I'm done with Van Alden, but the rest of the stuff was great.

I want to know what was in the maid's bible/journal. I'm thinking it was something important.

Also Richard Harrow is fucking bad ass.