Boardwalk Empire

Sunday night marked the end of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. The show lasted five seasons, but failed to recapture the magic of its first season. Season 1 was really strong and was giving Breaking Bad a run for its money as my favorite show. Unfortunately, some decisions were made during season 2 that really hurt the show and Boardwalk Empire never recovered from it.

After season 1, many of the seasons were uneven and less than appealing. Season 4 was probably the worst and it showed in the ratings. As a result, HBO announced the show would be ending after its fifth season. HBO only ordered 8 episodes, down from the typical 12. Another clear sign the show was no longer held in high esteem. Because of the shortened slate of episodes, the final season felt rushed. Many story threads were resolved quickly and without a lot of explanation. Some weren’t resolved at all, mainly because the show jumped 7 years into the future between season 4 and 5.

Much of the story in season 5 is told in flashback. We follow a young Nucky Thompson as he went from lawman to gangster. I would have preferred season 5 to stay in the present and resolve all of its storylines instead of jumping back and forth between the past and the present. The ending of Boardwalk Empire is bound to divide most people, but I actually didn’t mind it and thought that it wrapped up the story pretty well.

At the height of the show, Boardwalk Empire was one of the best shows on TV. Seeing the lives of these colorful gangsters at the dawn of the prohibition era was the kind of stuff I love to watch. One of the best parts about Boardwalk Empire right up until the end was the top notch set design and costuming. The show really nailed that time period and made the viewer feel like they were being transported to that time in history.

Boardwalk will also be remembered as a show with great characters and great actors. The always dependable Steve Buscemi played Nucky Thompson, somebody who is far from your typical gangster. Thompson was more bookish than the normal mobster, but proved to be just as shrewd and dangerous. Buscemi, who has made a career as a character actor, proved that he was more than capable of carrying a show like Boardwalk Empire. In fact, Buscemi won a Golden Globe for his performance as Nucky Thompson.

Other memorable characters on the show were Richard Harrow, or as he was better known - Half Face. Harrow was a deadly assassin who lost half of his face in WWI. Or Chalky White, played by Michale K. Williams. Williams is no stranger to playing memorable characters, he played the iconic Omar on HBO’s cult hit The Wire. Chalky White was one of the few black characters on the show, but this was another major theme on Boardwalk Empire. The show often times showed race relations at that time in America as well as how women were being treated.

In the end, I will remember Boardwalk Empire as a show that was incredibly well made, but never fully realized its potential.

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