Boardwalk Empire, Season 3

[Elessar]

I know right!

This show is a machine when it comes to making amazing characters and Richard Harrow is hands down the greatest thing to come out of it.

I was watching the show with a family member, and during the bedroom scene right before Harrow's entrance, it occurred to me that we hadn't seen him the entire episode. Then it hit me and I just casually said "Holy shit." She turned to me and said "WHAT?!!" Then I said "...just wait for it."

That sequence was seriously the most awesome bit of television I've seen this year since the airing of the Game of Thrones episode "Blackwater".

[Mantas-Ultimate-Version]

I loved the way Harrow was built up the whole season with the focus on his bond with Tommy, tension with Gillian, and his quest for normalcy. All of that came together perfectly and fueled the shootout tonight which delivered in spades. That is smart writing.
Also although it wasn't as epic in scope as the shootout I loved watching Luciano's meltdown after finding out what AR did. Everything from Piazza's delivery to Stuhlbarg's ever present "dentist" smirk as he shrugged it off was perfect. Every scene showing the mentor/student relationship between Lucky and AR and even the small subplot last season where Lucky/Lansky seemed to be going independent were payed off by this confrontation. Just another example of how every seemingly "throwaway" scene on this show delivers a smart pay off down the road. To me that is what makes this one of the greatest shows of all time. Just like The Wire it has a "great novel" feel to it.

[Aurelius]

I think the Richard Harris scene was a bit too Rambo for me, but otherwise a great final of an excellent season.

[ldw]

What a brilliantly constructed season. Unlike season 1 in which the show seemed to be finding it's way and season 2 in which the show seemed to lose it's way at times, this season seemed focused from the get go and never let up. Nucky and Margaret start the season estranged in private. The connection being for saving face and due to Nucky staying committed to his stepchildren. By the end, he is asking for Margaret to come home. Margaret starts out looking for symbols of independence. In the end, she is independent for possibly the first time in her life. Nucky falls in love with Billie, realizes she is and will remain a free spirit, and, just as they have come to understand each other and their relationship - she dies. Margaret falls in love with Owen, finally makes the decision to be with him - he dies. Both Billie and Owen die violently and both losses are felt. The final image of Billie is one of Van Patten's most elegant compositions. It is fleeting, a memory as it is actually happening. Owen's death is bleak. Both deaths are foretold as Gillian and Lucky, respectively, give out crucial information. We know something bad is coming and yet is more devastating than could be expected.

Yet there is hope. The two brothers, Eli and Nucky, begin the season further apart than they have possibly ever been. In the end, they are seemingly closer than ever. Eli now understands the special gifts of Nucky are not something to be jealous of just as Nucky realizes that Eli is far more than a brainless henchman doing muscle work. Eli's instincts save the day just as much as Nucky's smarts and it Eli who brings in the much needed reenforcements. Yet it is not just about Eli proving himself again to Nucky. One of the best done sequences was when Nucky and Margaret go to Eli's. It is there Nucky recognizes the importance of his bond with his brother and sees the devastation of Eli's jailtime on his wife and children. Nucky's juggling is a touching scene - a gesture that he feels safe and welcome to be himself amongst these people. In the finale, there are several moments that touch on their bond being complete again - it is Eli who goes into the Artemis Club Brothel with Nucky only to find dead bodies and it is Eli who sits with Nucky in the car by the beach. But the best touch shows that now they truly are partners in the "business" - Nucky plays Rothstein and as he does so he holds up the phone so Eli can listen in. He would never have done this before. But now Nucky recognizes Eli as an equal.

Possibly the most annoying part of the season for many was Gyp's cartoonishly violent acts. I never minded this as I saw it as a set up. What I expected was a showdown between him and Richard. The former a sadist who acts out of a deep inferiority complex and hurts innocents. A man whose treatment of women has not one ounce of chivalry. A man who seems to barely aware of his daughters's existence. Then there is Richard who does not kill for pleasure. Who helps a cantakerous, middle aged drunk like Sagorsky. Who dotes on Tommy and attempts to keep the memory of Jimmy and Angela alive to Tommy. Who is chivalrous to Julia.

Compare the two in the first episode. Gyp kills an innocent old man (who is trying to help him) due to a perceived slight. Richard kills Manny, the monster who killed the innocent Angela. As Richard tells Nucky in the only scene they shared this year (and one of the best) - unlike Jimmy, Angela was a civilian. Both are killers and yet have any two characters been as disimilar down to their acts of violence. In the final episode, Richard commits his first murders since that killing of Manny. And he does it based on a belief that Gyp would probably be confused by. A love of a child and knowledge that that child has to be saved. There is no pleasure being obtained. There are gangsters in the way so he takes them out. He feels he owes it to Jimmy and Angela, to their memory to save this child, a child who only trusts him (he will close his eyes when Richard tells him to and run into Richard's arms after the last shot is fired). And then he goes a step further. He recognizes that Tommy doesn't need a killer, even a person that deeply cares about him, in his life. I love this part because it adds an extra touch. It is Sagorsky who understands and Sagorsky says to Julia to take Tommy to the son's room (and I am blubbering at this scene because it makes such sense and is so beautiful). And so Richard's act is not only an act of salvation for Tommy and upholding a felt responsibility to Tommy's dead parents. It offers Sagorsky a salvation from the extreme pain over the loss of his son and Julia the child she never thought she would have. And Sagorsky scolds Richard but says he will talk to Julia. And maybe this is a bit of hope. Even though Richard leaves, maybe some day he will realize that he is not evil and is worthy of finding love and being part of a family.

What does Gyp get? It turns out he is not worthy of being an adversary to Richard. He runs away. He also does not die at the hand of Nucky or Al or Eli or Chalky. He rightfully dies at the hand of one of his own henchman who was witness to Gyp's cruelty to a relative. Richard gets the most beautiful sequence maybe of the entire series. Gyp gets to get gutted on a beach while taking a piss. Both get what they deserve.

Al and Chalky continue their rise to power. Mickey continues to be annoying but there is something fun about him helping to set up Arnold. Lucky finds that maybe Rothstein and Masserati may not be the kind of people he wants to be involved with. Van Alden remains unseen but I think it is safe to say someone will be joining Capone's gang in Cicero. Gillian's brother is left a bloody mess but she will survive - and we are reminded that the cruel Gillian we see, after all is said and done, was created when she was a child when Nucky followed orders that he probably wishes he never had.

It was a remarkable season. In it's third season, Boardwalk Empire which had always seemed on a lower echelon from Breaking Bad and Justified and Game of Thrones and Mad Men, showed the willingness to achieve the next level and succeeded. And critics should be open to that. Television is about seasons. Not every great show has a great season and sometimes a show that had been solid if unremarkable takes it up several notches. When the latter occurs, it is a fantastic thing to see.

As for standouts, Buscemi should be nominated for the third straight year and so far I have not seen a better lead performance this tv season. MacDonald's acting in the scene where Owen's dead body is revealed is breathtaking and alone worthy of recognition. Whigham and Shannon were superb (and his breakdown was the darkest piece of humor I have seen on a drama in awhile). Mol continues to do fine work and Meg Steedle was terrific new (if temporary) addition as Billie Kent. But it is Jack Huston's turn as Richard Harrow that I hope does not go unnoticed. As for directing, is there any better director on TV than Tim Van Patten?

[Voyeur]

I know right!

This show is a machine when it comes to making amazing characters and Richard Harrow is hands down the greatest thing to come out of it.

Love me some Richard Harrow! He's a straight up bad ass!