Boardwalk Empire – Van Alden shows some emotion

If you have read my review of last week’s Boardwalk Empire, you can probably guess that I was much happier this week. For one thing, the episode seemed a lot less Jimmy-heavy than last week’s “The Ivory Tower.” Honestly, I have no idea whether there was actually less of the character in tonight’s episode or not, but it seemed like it, and that’s all the matters. Aside from that, Michael K. Williams finally got into the game as Chalky took over the bootlegging operation. It was anything but a smooth take over, so I’m sure we will be seeing more of Chalky soon enough.

One other thing that I had requested last week was more focus on Agent Van Alden, and we definitely got a closer look at the stoic federal agent this week. In fact, he proved that he can be a lot more than just stoic as he almost went berserk on the one remaining witness from Jimmy and Capone’s hijacking from the pilot episode. Clearly the man is driven and ruthless, willing to shove his hand into an infected wound to get the information he was looking for. Personally, I don’t think I would have gone that far. It’s going to be interesting watching how far he will go as the series moves on. Is he going to turn out being just as bad as these gangsters that he is trying to bring to justice? I also enjoyed the quick peek into his personal life, as awkward as it was. Clearly, this is a man who is married to his job.

Things are starting to pile up, and most of the pile seems to be landing squarely on Jimmy, which is appropriate, as he directly caused most of the problems. I was happy to see Nucky smarten up and kick the boy out of Atlantic City. Of course, that means he’s headed to Chicago where I’m sure he will hook up with Capone again and hone his mobster skills. With the feds and Rothstein’s men both looking for him, it’s going to be fun seeing what the future holds. I certainly hope at least one group beats the crap out of him. Seriously, he deserves it … for that awful haircut alone.

Overall, the show is doing a nice job balancing story and setting, in my opinion. It really feels a lot more like a period drama than it does a mob show, and I think I’m not alone in being thankful for that. For every scene of people being hanged or threatened, there seems to be another scene showing what life was like on the boardwalk. Margaret seems to be embodying this part of the show. In this episode we saw her go to work at one of the fancy boutiques after Nucky got her a job there. I’m not sure if it’s the perfect fit for her after watching her encounter with Lucy.

As if having someone shove their hand into an infected wound wasn’t enough to get the skin crawling, this episode also featured Lucky Luciano being treated for gonorrhea. I think every man must have been squirming during that scene. I know I was. There was certainly a lot of establishment of Luciano as an ignorant thug in this episode. There was the gonorrhea, which doesn’t speak well for him, as well as the juxtaposition with Rothstein, who saw fit to correct his grammar during a high stakes poker game. There is certainly a big difference between the two gangsters and it illustrates the interesting dynamic between the “gentlemen” criminals like Rothstein and Nucky, and the new breed led by Capone and Luciano (with credit to regular commenter bsgfan2003 for pointing this out). It will be fun watching them clash as the series continues.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Oct 03, 2010 @ 22:00 EST5EDT