Now that Mad Men has closed up the home office for the year, Boardwalk Empire stands alone as required Sunday night viewing (apologies to Desperate Housewives and Al Michaels), so it's good that the episodes have gotten into a reliable -- if unspectacular -- groove.
"Family Limitations" found our anti-heroes of prohibition moving forward toward the status quo. Fresh off their tryst at the end of last week's episode, Nucky and Margaret were now taking things to the next level: clothed sex, Lysol contraception, paid-for three-bedroom flats, and infidelity. Y'know, the usual.
(About "clothed sex": At first, I thought Nucky and Margaret post-coital-y wearing their underwear was just a case of Kelly MacDonald having a no-nudity clause in her contract. Then she got fully naked, like two minutes later, meaning the scene was meant to juxtapose the wild nudity of Nucky's sex life with Lucy. On paper that works, but not in theory; Margaret is chaste, but not that chaste. Also, like it would take her so long to notice Nucky's chest scratches? Come on.)
In Chicago, Jimmy was relevant for the first time in weeks, as he helped plan the murder of Sheridan and his hammy Chicaaaaago accent. Then Jimmy friend-fought with Al Capone, stared wistfully into space and still hasn't gotten any closer to returning home. Y'know, the usual.
And in New York, Arnold Rothstein still knows all -- crystal balls are handy in this world! -- and seems to be getting a little fed up with Lucky Luciano and his horse co...well, y'know. The usual.
In some of these cases, the wheel spinning has provided opportunity for some brilliance. As in: the Torio Gang's takeover of Greektown was one of the best segments of the series thus far. You knew this particular massacre was coming -- that shot of Michael Pitt pointing a gun toward the camera has been shown on HBO promos for Boardwalk Empire since August -- but that didn't make the end result any less tense and visceral. It was the first time in six episodes that Boardwalk Empire left me slack-jawed. And it all goes back to Jimmy.
Here's why Jimmy is such a key to the Boardwalk Empire universe: He's not real. Whereas we know the fates of Lucky Luciano, Al Capone and Arnold Rothstein -- or can Wikipedia them at a moment's notice -- anything can happen to Jimmy. I couldn't have been the only one to think that Capone was going to kill him when the two had their "clear the air" meeting at the episode's end. (Michael Pitt has second billing, but he's not that famous where his death would be a crippling fame blow to the incubating series.) The scenes centered on Jimmy have an air of mystery, suspense and surprise; they work and they need to be more frequently folded into the action. When Jimmy is done right -- i.e.; not pining over cut hookers and orange ads -- his arc is what Boardwalk Empire does best.
(I know what you're thinking: Nucky isn't real either. Well, he is and he isn't -- Terence Winter might have changed his surname from "Johnson" to "Thompson," but he's not going to change that much. Plus, Steve Buscemi is the lead, so duh: Any retribution -- from the mafia or the FBI -- will not be happening to the Nuckster any time soon.)
Speaking of Nucky (in the parenthetical sense at least): Nose, meet On The. Did we really need multiple assertions that Nucky is a bad guy trying to be good? Isn't that the entire point of the show? When I complain about Boardwalk Empire lacking in comparison to The Sopranos or Mad Men, this is what I mean: On those shows, no one would have to say that they were trying to be good; on Empire, they closed an episode with the words, as if they were some big character reveal. Memo to the writers: Stop telling, start showing.
Anyway, another solid, slowly cooked episode -- though it might be time for an Amber Alert to be put out for Michael K. Williams -- that seems to be leading toward an explosive season finale. Like Sheridan, let's end in a hail of bullets:
· The less said about Nelson Van Alden's self-flagellation, the better. The Da Vinci Code called, etc. We knew Van Alden was a crazy, conservative maniac, we didn't need to see him whip himself with a belt.
· I had a hard time believing that Nucky would automatically assume Lucky Luciano was responsible for the robbery and not someone else. Though perhaps his prejudice against Italians usurped any basic logic or reason.
· Vincent Piazza and Gretchen Mol make quite a hot couple. That is all.
· Is it hard to believe that Jimmy would go from war hero errand boy to slick-haired mob kingpin in less than a few months? Yes. Do I care? Not really.
· More of this: "Maybe your cunnie isn't quite the draw you think it is." Kelly MacDonald, start picking out Emmy dresses.