Boardwalk Empire Finale Recap: The Stylish Surprise Ending

It's finale time on Boardwalk Empire, all rain- and blood-soaked, and we're off with a bang. A satisfying bang, at that, as Jimmy and his masked partner-in-crime Richard execute Chucky's vengeance on the KKK. After the murderous end of his father, it's clear Jimmy is attempting to rally every troop possible to secure his succession to Atlantic City's throne. The plaid-suited Chalky & Co. bring down the sledge hammers, but the violence feels futile; the black community still has a long way to go toward safety and recognition. 

Nucky and Jimmy meet for the first time in months. Jimmy is injured, tired — his bandages and braces put him in sharp relief against Nucky's unflappable posh. Weirdly, Jimmy opens up to him, admits his weariness in fighting, and offers his help against Nucky's legal troubles. It's a touching scene, but it's hard to see what the would-be king can do against the ruthlessness of the U.S. Attorney Esther Randolph, harder still to expect that any of this is real.

Esther seems to have gotten through to Margaret, who has been suffering horribly in guilt since her daughter's contraction of polio. Esther plays upon Margaret's doubts, seeming to drive the wedge deeper into the couple. Nucky appeals to her personally, though, in one of the most frank conversations they have ever had — or at least it seems that way. It's worth mentioning his beautiful pin-collar and high-lapelled waistcoat as he speaks faux-earnestly. Nucky goes on about his love for their family, their children, and urges her to marry him — for his freedom, for family, for this boss' complex understanding of what really matters to him. (Besides the clothes.)

His admission impresses Margaret's sympathies, but it's a moment she later observes between Nucky and her crippled daughter that seals her change of heart. And so marries her quite immediately in one of the most beautiful suits we've seen on the show, a glorious costume for a happy man: rich pink waistcoat, pink-checked shirt, beautiful pink paisley tie, and brown brogues. Gorgeous. And his luck doesn't end there. Jimmy sets the wheels in motion to secure the recanting of all Nucky's opponents — including one necessary "suicide" confession. As if instantly, Esther's ducks are scattered, and Nucky is a free man.

It's soon back to family matters. Jimmy is looking more fatherly than ever in blue chambray and a beautiful brown, striped vest. He spends quality time with his son, but ever under the watchful eye of his predatory mother. Nucky reaches out to Eli and offers him a deal, in spite of the revelation that Eli had once ordered the hit on him. 

And then, just as it seems like the season is going to end with the mush of a vest-to-three-piece embrace, comes the biggest bang of all. (The spoiler-scared might stop here.) In a sweeping, thunderous scene of chosen words and soaked suits, we say farewell to our favorite character and — Michael Pitt's Jimmy Darmody having become one of the medium's few remaining paradigms of style, complexity, and attitude — also to one of the more memorable faces of modern television. "I am not seeking forgiveness," Nucky says slowly, and then delivers the second bullet, instantly reminding us of this show's reliance on revenge. This is Boardwalk Empire's Tony-whacks-Christopher moment, and it is just as revelatory of the bitter relentlessness deep within the bad men of those times and ours. 

There will always be blood. And suits, but it's hard to see how the show re-dressed itself when we return (season three's schedule is still a ways out, despite a quick pickup from HBO). You can surely count on betrayal, though, and the brilliant style that comes with each surprising, shocking, yet somehow still expected new turn.

Posted by Dania on 07:28. Filed under Advise, feature, Movies, Style-Leisure . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Feel free to leave a response