Here’s our review of the Boardwalk Empire season four finale, which definitely got the job done.
All is not quiet on the ocean front.
Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams) is not in the mood for words.
And why should he?
Backstabbing is rampant on theBoardwalk.Empires are built on broken promises and .22s behind the ear.
Chalky and Nucky share a problem, Dr. Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright).
Chalky has no way of knowing that the good doctor has been lightening Nuckys envelopes.
All he knows is it looks like he was set up pretty good.
Chalkys too smart to believe everything he sees and hes got a wedding to go to.
His daughter Maybelle (Christina Jackson) is marrying a doctor.
And neither is Dr. Narcisse.
Nucky is the man with the plans.
Hes also a very lucky man.
Fortune conspires to provide him with people asking for favors.
When Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) showed up at Nuckys door, I cheered.
I did, I cant help it.
Id been waiting for the two to have that scene since, well, their last scene together.
Richard is obviously the best man for any job that needs getting done.
The first job Richard is on is getting justice for his comrade-in-arms.
Truth comes at a cost but hes a man who takes care of the things that matter.
I wasnt sure who he was going to pop.
I was kind of hoping it was going to be Nuckys brother.
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Twice in one night the ex-sheriff gets a gun pointed at his forehead.
Twice in one night.
Within the hour it looked like.
Thats enough to make you want to choke someone with their own tie.
Eli Thompson (Shea Whigham) is a duped rat.
Because he was a fucking rat.
It doesnt matter why he snitched.
He set his brother up for a fall with the cops and thats reason enough.
You cant ever trust a guy who cant stand up to questioning.
Thats why they call them standup guys.
Will knows you never answer questions.
He learned it the hard way, but he learned it fast.
He should have been at least as smart as his own son and gone to Nucky.
When Al Capone (Stephen Graham) drinks, everybody drinks.
George Mueller (Michael Shannon) has information and thats a good thing.
Thats a thing to be celebrated.
Hymie Weiss (Will Janowitz) is no Jew, hes a Catholic.
Just like the Irish mobsters that aerated Capones suite.
This is probably the most intimate Van Alder has even been with a co-worker.
Its a rough bonhomie, but its real.
He is involved and appreciated and on his way to making good with good people.
Ralph Capone (Domenick Lombardozzi) is good people.
Hes smart, knows angles and isnt bad with numbers.
And it looks like the numbers arent adding up to Weiss and Bugs Moran.
We really should thank the FBI for modern electronics.
The feds did for sound recording what the CIA did for drugs.
Without the CIA, thered be no LSD, without the FBI, there would be no stereo.
Never say the government doesnt work for you.
He left no loophole unplugged.
In his path, he left ham radio enthusiasts and woofers, tweeters and deep bass.
Hoover purported not to believe in organized crime.
What he did believe in was seditious, left-leaning anarchists and other threats to the state.
There were commies under every bed for Hoover and they werent taking pictures like his Mafia friends.
Or friends of friends.
Dr. Narcisse as an informer to Marcus Garvey is the worst indignity he could suffer.
Hoover was pretty good at finding those.
That is the line Hoover wants them to cross.
Chalky is shattered at the Onyx Club.
I felt the life drain from Chalky even as his screams grew.
Once again, Michael Kenneth Williams breaks his acting in two.
He breaks down the middle in that scene, he explodes and implodes.
He telegraphs both equally at the same time.
Richard is also shattered.
He knew instantly what he did.
Not just a bystander, but the most important bystander to the person he was doing duty for.
I thought he was going to blow his brains out before he left the club.
I felt relieved every scene after that.
Hes walking on the train tracks, hes gotta be waiting for a train.
Oh hes alright, he made it to the farm.
And as soon as I saw him without the scars I knew.
But it wasnt a cliffhanger.
It was just another day in the rat race.
The rats lost this time.
I was wholly satisfied, even if I do already want the next course.
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Rating:
5 out of 5
