Jan 31: Paula Abdul announces that she will not renew her contract on a television program called The X Factor. Apparently, The X Factor is on the Fox Network. Apparently, it is also a television program.
Jan 31: Paula Abdul announces that she will not renew her contract on a television program called The X Factor. Apparently, The X Factor is on the Fox Network. Apparently, it is also a television program.
In my first analysis of this great, great show, I let slip that I enjoy watching this more than I enjoy watching Mad Men (blasphemy, I know). I’ve been thinking over a little as to why that is. There is no doubt that Mad Men is the deeper show and there’s no doubt that Mad Men is the more daring show. The very idea that a television program would revolve around one ad man’s existential crisis is revolutionary and the show has, with very few exceptions, always done an amazing job of making it come to life in a visual medium which can’t be an easy feat.
Before I started to write this article I texted my friend that it’d be hard for me to restrain from just repeatedly going, “OMG, how cool was that moment?!” in my analysis. I’ll do my best, though, lest I let you fine folks down and devolve into a teenage boy who has just come out of a James Bond film and is all excited about the violence and cleavage.
If you’re a fan of attractive men with Irish accents, then tonight was a bad night for you.
Boardwalk Empire has ratings competition and stiff competition at that: The Walking Dead. Both shows air at 9 PM on Sundays: Boardwalk Empire on HBO and The Walking Dead on AMC. I watch The Walking Dead and do enjoy it but Boardwalk Empire is clearly the superior show (at least from where I’m sitting). Yet The Walking Dead gets almost three times the number of viewers that Boardwalk gets. Why?
Michael Shannon is a terrifying looking man. I’ve read interviews with him and he’s clearly a nice guy but, boy, is he one scary looking dude. His character has been crazy in the past but this episode’s freak out was one for the books. After putting up with the idiots at his office for a little too long, Van Alden (or should we call him George Mueller now?) smashes a hot iron into one of his fellow employee’s faces and trashes the room, throwing typewriters to the floor and paper into the wind. It was a satisfying moment because the humiliation his peers enjoyed putting him through was depressing to see and it also sees the return of Michael Shannon’s crazy face. What, pray tell, does his crazy face involve? Well, how about a pair of eyes that look like they’re about to pop out? Seriously, how those eyes didn’t end up falling onto the floor I’ll never know.
There’ve been a number of shows that deal with soldiers coming back from war but Boardwalk Empire is the only one that I can think of that addresses how veterans feel years afterwards and it does it in a way that’s not melodramatic. We see Richard Harrow is an extremely scarred man, both literally and figuratively, but he’s not throwing screaming fits all the time so the show can throw in our face that it’s addressing PTSD (choose any network drama that attempts this plotline and you’ll see a bunch of overly dramatic bullshit). I think it works a lot better this way because it shows us how war affects the everyday life of veterans, how war still colors their actions even when they don’t fully realize it. In last season’s finale Richard Harrow said to fellow veteran Jimmy Darmody, “We’re still there, aren’t we?” which was one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show.
“Ging Gang Goolie” is what many would deem a “slow” episode of Boardwalk Empire. No one gets whacked or even almost whacked. Our main antagonist, Gyp Rosetti, does not appear in this episode. A number of our common mobsters like Arnold Rothstein are quiet and Luciano only shows up in one scene. In other words, this was not an episode for those who were looking for mobster dealings.
Let’s talk about Gyp Rosetti’s penis. No, don’t leave, stick with me for a moment here. While Boardwalk Empire has shown nudity in the past it’s rare that we see a guy’s genitals on screen outside of a brief scene or two but in this episode we get to see that Gyp Rosetti’s got a big swingin’ dick. There’s a reason for this outside of giving Bobby Cannavale a chance to show that he’s rather well endowed.
Those of you who have been reading my reviews so far will no doubt be able to safely say that I really enjoy Boardwalk Empire. I find the show thoughtful, moving, surprising, humorous, and well crafted. However, up until tonight, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it be all that touching. I’ve been moved by the show, especially with the last two episodes of season two, but not touched- there’s a difference there. That changed tonight with two characters’ stories.
I fucking hate bullshit.
Boardwalk Empire is a horror program.
Since last year talk of Boardwalk Empire has centered on the show’s twist in its second season finale. Namely, Nucky killing Jimmy Darmody, his surrogate son, who is the second main character of the show. Both fans and critics have been debating over whether or not Boardwalk Empire will be worse off without the character of Jimmy Darmody. Very few disagreed with the decision to kill him and most called it a gutsy, edgy move but Jimmy was such an arresting character that offing him threatened to lessen the show. The big question coming into this season of Boardwalk Empire was could the show maintain the quality it was at during the second half of its last season.
I might be able to forgive Walter White, but it will be even harder to forgive AMC. When I first learned of this “split-season” nonsense, I was gut shot. Completely devastated. Either the show will attempt to tell two stories in a rushed way, completely antithetical to how the show usually works in its deliberately paced manner, or we will get a half season of set up with a mind blowing cliffhanger and have to wait 10 months for its conclusion, which is completely antithetical to how stories are typically told.
No more half measures, Mike. Remember that? This whole half season has been nothing but half measures for the old guy. He’s been slipping and sloppy. He let Lydia live. He knowingly got into business with a ticking time bomb; an irrational egomaniacal neophyte who has fully bought into his own bullshit. These are half measures, Mike. You’re better than this.
Oh, yeah…that’s the stuff. Here it is, here’s my show. We get great character moments from nearly everybody, some fantastically memorable scenes, some genuine “WTF” moments, and great cliffhanger ending.
Okay, starting at the end. Todd, who I had proudly pegged as a undercover cop two episodes ago is, fact, not that, unless he’s like, super method or something. So newbie Todd kills a little boy (would Walt have done it, if Todd wasn’t there? Probably not. Maybe not. We’ll never know, because Gilligan pulled that punch) and that was shocking, I guess, though unlike some others I hadn’t forgotten about the little boy in the teaser and the train whistle in the background so I was expecting something like this.
And with that, even the Heisenberg hat has turned against us. Remember when we cheered when the hat came on? It was always a special occasion, it was Walt’s superpower and he only invoked it when it was actually needed. To avenge Jesse after he was beat up by Tuco. To meet with Mike and Gus out in the field, after the drug dealers were killed. We may not have always approved of the things Walt did, but goddammit, we loved that hat.
With Ryan Roach on vacation this week, we will post a link to Drunk Monkeys Editor-in-Chief Matthew Guerruckey’s recap of the latest episode of Breaking Bad over at Screen Spy.
Walter White’s winning ways continue to have a ripple effect throughout the world. Next stop, Madrigal, the German parent company to Los Pollos Hermanos. We see a top muckety-muck avoid police questioning rather dramatically and permanently, then smash-cut into the opening credits.