'Waking Nightmare': Boardwalk Empire Recapped

If you've been waiting for an episode that transitioned Boardwalk Empire into, as ArtsBeat writer Dave Itzkoff tweeted last night, something other than "Martin Scorsese's Cavalcade of Vintage T*ts, War Scars and Brain Matter," then say hello to "Home." Cue up some Bach and let's enjoy the character development together.

"Home" dealt primarily with Boardwalk Empire's two little boys lost: Nucky and Jimmy. For Nucky, that meant reliving the past horror of growing up with an abusive a-hole for a father, the type of man for whom none of Nucky's personal glories were ever good enough. Think of the elder Thompson as more braun than brain: He loves the stupid Eli, but can't bear to look at Nucky.

Since you watched the episode, you know what happened -- Pop Thompson can't stay in his house anymore; Nucky gives it away to a friend and has him fix it up; Nucky returns to see the finished product, encounters his father and decides to burn the bad memories to the ground -- but while it might have been overwrought and heavy handed, it also provided Steve Buscemi with his best opportunity for acting since the series began. Any of the earlier foibles and errant steps the writers of Boardwalk Empire took with Nucky in the first third of the season have been corrected: He's a wounded animal -- never good enough and possessed with a broken heart. The look Nucky gave his friend upon hearing about the man's premature baby thriving with the help of a mother was heartbreaking; how long before we find out that Nucky's wife died in childbirth, and their premature child lived just long enough for Nucky to get attached to some semblance of hope, before dying?

As for Jimmy, the addition of the Phantom of the Opera Richard Harrow worked despite itself. What at first seemed like another lost soul for Jimmy to take under his wing (to disastrous consequences), ended up providing the former audience surrogate with plenty of opportunities to eloquently explain his blank visage: The War, death, the soulless nature of it all. He found a friend in Richard that knew exactly what he was going through -- a sharp contrast to the "friendship" Jimmy has with war-faker Al Capone.

Was using Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" a bit over-the-top after Richard assassinated Pearl's face-cutter? Abso-freakin'-loutely. But, hey, one grand pratfall in an episode this solid can be forgiven. Kudos to Empire and actor Jack Huston for making Richard into an immediately compelling character. If only Capone, Luciano and Rothstein were this interesting to watch.

Speaking of which: Rothstein and the boys from Philly (and Doyle, who will obviously be murdered before the season ends) have now teamed together to take down Nucky, starting with Chalky. Only Chalky thinks it's Nucky who's tempting him, so...problem. This gathering storm is playing out like you would expect it to, but always remember: The star of the series will never be taken down by guest stars: Sorry, Max Casella and Dude Playing Meyer Lansky!

A recap wouldn't be a recap without a mention of Michael Shannon's Nelson Van Alden. This week, Van Alden found out that -- wait for it -- Jimmy Darmody was responsible for the truck hijacking/multiple homicide. Great! Except he already knew that. So, who cares? (Yes, he didn't know it was exactly Jimmy Darmody and Jimmy is a common name, but come on: He knew.) Last week, I seemed to take a lot of guff in the comments -- this is a recurring feature of the Boardwalk Empire recaps if you're just joining us for the first time -- because among other things, I thought Van Alden's self-flagellation wasn't sexual in nature, but penance. I still believe that -- and I still believe that it wasn't obvious either way -- but I'll be happy when the F.B.I agent is featured in discussions that are more than just about the ways he gets off. Thus far, both Van Alden and Chalky have been great, great disappointments, if only because they've been so thoroughly under used.

Oh, and Jimmy's baby mama is a bohemian lesbian, which provided HBO with more opportunity to show naked ladies. 13-year-old boys around the country are really happy their parents have HBO this fall.

Enough from me, though: What did you think about the episode?