The theme of the promos for season 3 is “You can’t be half a
gangster.” My first reaction was, “who thinks Nucky is anything but ALL gangster?”
Then I thought about it some more and realized that he was just a SUPER
unethical business man. Until he shot his everything-but-by-blood son. That’s all I consider him to be now. Just a
dirty gangster, married to a trampy shrew.
I’m a little wary going into the season. Jimmy was the heart
of the show for me. His wife was the only woman with depth, especially after
Margaret became so brittle. Harrow is all that’s left for me. The only
character left that I would hug. And I’m
not a fan of Bobby Cannavale except in Will & Grace and Thomas McCarthy movies. He’s
good when he’s goofy and weird. Well, let’s get the show started . . .
Whoa. Goofy, weird, and unhinged is good, too. Welcome to
the Boardwalk, Mr. Rosetti. His eyes are great at going from friendly to crazed
and twitchy. He’s definitely the twitchiest man in all of the land. He’s also a
breath of fresh air. All of these gangsters have forgotten who they are. How
dirty they are and what they really do. Rosetti is keeping it real. Mostly
really crazy, but still real.
We meet Nucky in a dirty, abandoned tenement with two
psychopaths and a feeb interrogating a liquor thief and ordering his death.
There’s no question about what portion of a gangster he is. His outfit is
pushing him into pimp territory, too. The whole scene made me look forward to
winter.
Nucky moves with ease from gangster grim reaper to political
donor. However, Nucky is slipping if he can get zinged by a political nut
tickler. Then he gets zinged by Manny who quickly works out a deal in his favor.
Margaret has really blossomed into a rich man’s wife, gracefully
and powerfully walking into a room bustling with servants preparing the house
for a party. I love the little insertions of history into the show. Something
as small as a radio news bulletin about an aviatrix flying cross country seems
to upend everything. The novelty of a
female pilot. The novelty of someone flying from coast to coast. It’s something
that wouldn’t impress many now, but the show is able to convey how impressive
it once was. The social reactions to it, especially by men, still irritates me.
Yeah, shut the fuck up, Phillip. The lady of the house told you to polish the
spoons, not flap your gums. The aviatrix situation does seem to be reawakening
the steely, independent side of Margaret. I’d love to see that side of her
again.
The Artemis Club is a pretty classy name for a whorehouse. “If
it weren’t for married men, we’d be out of business.” – Gillian. If she didn’t
have such a cruel streak, she would probably be the greatest Madam of all time.
I do understand her crazy. Repeatedly raped as a child. A single mother in a
time when that was one of the lowest things a woman could be. Her son murdered
after he murdered his father and her rapist. Wanting to forget the past and
move forward is probably the sanest inclination she’s ever had.
O’Bannion! Capone! In the same room! Love!!! I like when
gangsters use words like “encroachment” and do the legal ear hustle. It sounds
so playful and threatening at the same time. Unfortunately, it also causes them
to forget who they are and, more importantly, who the guy across from them is. An Irish gangster insults an Italian gangster’s
child? O’Bannion is a dead man.
Every time I think a show can’t make me recoil in sad
disgust, I get blindsided. What the hell was wrong with that woman at the
hospital? Oh, a miscarriage. Since when has Margaret every asked anyone what
was expected of her or what she could do? She got spoiled fast. And I don’t understand
her weirdness with the Nucky’s bodyguard. I still don’t understand why they
slept together.
There’s no way that Agent Van Alden will last as a door to
door salesman. The stress and indignity will make him lose whatever little
control he has left. That little Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey moment does not
assuage my fears, but his luck with stepping into O’Bannion’s flower market
might just save him. I was hoping Van Alden would fully embrace the dark side
and become a full on gangster, too. Oh, well. At least he didn’t kill his boss
over the misunderstanding. Maybe the deep thoughts exercise works. Try it
yourself: http://www.deepthoughtsbyjackhandey.com/today.asp
Harrow feels so out of place in this episode. I feel like I’m
watching flashbacks whenever he’s in a scene. All of the other characters have
are so one note and unsympathetic. The moments with him and little Darmody
break my heart. I hope Harrow kills Gillian.*
Even his killing the Butcher to avenge Angela’s death feels odd. She’s been so
forgotten by everyone else, even her own son, that it took me a few moments to
figure out why he shot Horvitz. I love the character, but he hasn’t moved on
like the other characters and I’m worried the writers won’t figure out a
seamless way to keep him in the show.
Now, THAT’s a New Year’s Eve party! Art Deco with an
Egyptian theme . . . Swoon! Except for the gauche ending. Too obvious. Yes, it
was a greedy time. I can glean that bit of social commentary from people being
murdered over bottles of booze. Until
the end of the party, I hadn’t noticed the lack of scenes between Margaret and
Nucky. Is the quickest way to kill romance marriage? It seems so. Margaret
seems to be headed for change. I can’t tell if it will be a change on her own
or if she’s going to try to make her marriage better, too. Maybe changing
herself will get Nucky interested again. What originally attracted him to her
was her independent spirit and strong will. And that her husband beat her and
indirectly caused her baby to die. I’m hoping it was more about the spirit and
the will. We’ll see . . .
They should just call this show, “The Psychopath Variety
Hour” and this should be the theme song:
*I think HBO holds the record for most television characters
I wish were dead.
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