Boardwalk Empire - season 3

+1

Plus I thought her death was especially tragic and almost poignant, while also really helping to define Manny Horvitz. Doesn't he say something like "Your husband has done this to you..." ?
It was almost Chigurgh-ish of him.

 

With thought and care, they could have pursued some compelling story lines for Angela. But I'm not lamenting the loss of the character.

As to the question of female characters on this show, I do feel they've dropped the ball. I wholeheartedly agree w/ Matrim55. Margaret in season 1 was fantastic character. Her relationship with Nucky was the heart of the show, and it was unlike anything I'd seen in a gangster/crime themed show. In season 2, she started off well. Remember when she cleverly snuck into Nucky's office to retrieve the money and the ledger? Then she gave Nucky that awesome speech about "you are stronger than your enemies." I was very excited to see how her role and their relationship might change. And then... she suddenly became religious and started to feel guilty about her association with Nucky and his crimes. Yawn. I've already seen this narrative, lots of times. It undermined everything that made Margaret cool and interesting.

In season 3 I thought they made up for that a little bit. I liked the story line with the hospital. I love that they want to explore the theme of women's reproductive rights in that time period. But by half-way through the season, they sort of lost the thread on that and began to focus more on her love interest with Owen.

As for Gillian, she started out pretty interesting too. She's a very damaged character, a woman who has nothing -- no power, no money, no education, no prospects. All she had was her sex appeal and her son, and now just the former. I was intrigued by the idea of a character who can never directly pursue her own interests, and is reduced to always manipulating the men around her to get what she wants. But by the end of season 3, it was like they didn't know where to go with her. She just became erratic and conniving. It wasn't very compelling.

I still want to give the show a chance to do something interesting with these characters, but I've learned not to get my hopes up.

 

One minor point to add on Demo and Matrim's excellent points on Margaret:
I've always loved the Richard III element to their relationship in the first place, i.e. Nucky has her husband knocked off and then woos and marries her. Talk about doomed from the start.

But I must confess, I've grown tired of Margaret's storyline. When she signed over that property to the church, that was something of a deal-breaker for me -- it seemed too big, too unrealistic, too petty maybe? I dunno, but it turned me against that story.

That said, the 'What's in the box' payoff to her affair with Owen was excellent, imho. I try very hard not to try and anticipate twists during films or shows, so --while pretty obvious -- that was a really great double reveal for me (audience and Margaret finding out about Owen; Nucky finding out about affair) and probably one of the highlights of this season.

But unfortunately my general dislike for the Billy character -- and the direction that led Nucky's character -- somehow both overwhelmed and shined poorly on Margaret's story (for me). And I'll say right now that I'm not looking forward to the script logistics necessary to accommodate a split household. Going back and forth to New York (or wherever she is) and Atlantic City to keep tabs on her and the kids could be a lot of distraction with suspect rewards.

 

I really cannot even comment on Gillian anymore.
She's reached Janice Soprano levels of irritation in my book.

 

No, her apex was when she manned Nucky up (as Demos pointed out). There was a time in season 1 and early in season 2 when it looked like Margaret was actually going to become better and smarter at being half a gangster than Nucky. And that she had real power, because he needed the votes she could bring in from the women's movement.

So the dynamic would have been that he needs her, because he needs the votes she can bring. And she needs him, because she knows he's the only one smart enough to realize that men now need the votes of women. And they both kind of love each other for being so clever, and both kind of hate each other for being in a position of need.

That's what made their season 1 relationship so ********ing brilliant. It was infinitely more interesting and thoughtful than "I feel guilty so I'm donating land to the church because oh my goodness my husband is a gangster who does nasty things." Um, Margaret knows that. She's not an idiot.

I thought, for a time, they would salvage that when she used her newfound power to influence the church's hospital toward a more pragmatic approach to women's issues. She was using any lever she could, just like Nucky would/did.

But somehow it was more interesting for her to ******** the butler. Whatever.

Ugh. I'm so mad at this show for not being as great as it could have been. In a way it's more disappointing than outright pap like TWD.

 

Yes, but she should have retaliated by using the leverage he gave her to create a bigger soapbox for herself. Could have had the exact same thing happen, but with an outcome that was more awesome.

I also think there's a big, big problem with killing Jimmy off. Yes, Richard is part of the Lost Generation as well, but he's a Dalton Trumbo character, one who is destined, because of his disfiguement, to always be on the periphery of society. There is nothing subtle about it, and in a way it's harder to relate to (though for the first two seasons any time Richard was on screen my heart melted).

With Jimmy, he was Hemingway's character. He looks fine. He can do the things anyone else can do. You forget what he's been through until he stands up and you see that limp. And it sticks with you for a second, then you forget again. And then you think about it and realize that what Richard looks like on the outside is what Jimmy looks like on the inside, and that there are hundreds of thousands of young men out there like that, and somehow they have to fit in and make it all work.

But now Jimmy's a dead mom-********er, and Richard's Rambo, and what the ******** is left? That theme is lost.

 

After the near-death experience in A.C., I totally did not get Nucky's attempted "all is swell, we're a family" ending in Margaret's crapass Brooklyn apt. IMO he would've let things chill a bit and see where things lie.

 

Nothing else to do yesterday? I agree with Dante, there is not plausible way to keep her in the story once Jimmy is murdered. Angela would never have stuck around in Atlantic City.

 

I agree. In real life Nucky would have tossed her to the curb or worse had her killed. Screwing up Nucky's well laid plans was huge. Even with all Margret knew Nucky keeping such a loose cannon makes no sense.

Billie Kent, LMFAO at the absurdity of that completely contrived relationship. Nucky like a young man experiencing puppy love. That was a complete plot device to attempt to generate some shock when she dies in the restaurant explosion and tension between Nucky and Margret. Totally implausible to believe Nucky who figures out and calculates every angle would allow himself to get into that situation.