OK, so I fell three episodes behind on Boardwalk Empire. Do you have any idea what it feels like to have three hours of Boardwalk sitting on your DVR? Daunting. I watched one and then another one aired – boom, I was three episodes behind again.
And then everyone was talking about last night’s episode, and I decided to do something I hardly ever do – I spoiled it for myself in hopes that an exciting development would encourage me to sit down and watch. In a way, it did – I read that at the end of the most recent episode, Jimmy’s wife Angela and her new girlfriend would be murdered by a gangster looking to settle the score with Jimmy. So I sat down and watched.
Sorry you guys, but I’m still not that into this show. Sure, I find parts of it interesting and there are storylines I’m enjoying. I’m interested in what will happen to Nucky from here, I liked watching Margaret struggle with faith as her daughter is stricken with polio, and it’s been interesting to watch Jimmy try and cope with his newfound power as all the African-Americans in Atlantic City go on strike. But there is still so much I don’t care about (Hi, Van Alden!) that I found myself flipping through magazines, doing dishes and painting my nails during the episodes.
In particular, I was really hoping to get something more out of Angela before she met her demise. But everything felt like it was done in halves. She shared what was supposed to be a tender moment with Jimmy, but it just felt flat and wooden. Many episodes back she seemed to have a special connection with Richard Harrow, but we never saw a sign of that again. She had a new girlfriend, they died together, but that was nothing more than a fun fling. Yes, it was a surprising (you know, had I not read about it in advance) death, and it was beautifully shot. I’m vaguely interested in how Jimmy will react to coming home and finding his dead wife draped over her dead, naked female lover. But it’s Jimmy, won’t he just suck it up and seek revenge? I wish they’d offed his mother instead. It might have been more interesting.
Nucky has stepped down as city treasurer, but he isn’t making it easy for Jimmy to run the show instead. The trip to Ireland felt like a waste of time at first, but the plan worked – by filling Atlantic City with top-quality Irish booze, Jimmy can’t sell his. At this point, I’m simply waiting for Jimmy’s demise as a leader – he bends too easily to the whims of his colleagues, and he has a lot of colleagues.
I’ll keep watching and finish out this season, but I can’t say for sure if I’ll be back next year.
