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Boardwalk Empire S03E06: "Ging Gang Goolie"

While I've been enjoying this season of Boardwalk Empire quite a bit, we are now halfway through it and there's one big problem that keeps bothering me: Nucky's story doesn't make a lick of sense. Every week, he seems like a different person than he was the episode before, and the show is struggling to create any through-line between his various characterizations.

And it is not like the situations Nucky finds himself wrapped up in each week have been uninteresting. I might question a single choice here and there, but the odd flaws make Nucky a compelling center on a show with a lot of things going on. However, when you start thinking about the bigger picture and what Terence Winter and company have in mind for their lead, the weekly pleasures fade and the problems appear. It's almost as if Nucky is at the whim of the writers' needs in any given episode.

One week, he's in full-gangster mode. The next, he's hiding in New York. Then he's tough again. Then he's not. I'm willing to buy that the character is troubled and that his issues manifest in weird ways, but at a certain point, character inconsistency becomes a writer issue more than anything else. After six weeks, I think we've reached that point.

"Ging Gang Goolie" brought us a more inspired and dedicated Nucky, which is fine except that the episode didn't feature Rothstein or Gyp. There was barely any fallout from last week's bloodbath and instead, Nucky bounced around New York City and Washington D.C. trying to fix his political problems.

He traveled to NYC to make his payment to Gaston Means, only to find no one around in the hotel room with the fishbowl. Suspicious, Nuck then scooted over to D.C. to talk shop with Attorney General Harry Daugherty, only to learn that Daugherty was close to indicting him so that he wouldn't have to throw his friends under the bus. Despite Nucky's protestations, Daugherty meant business, going as far as to make sure Nucky got arrested for buying a bottle of booze.

After spending a night in jail—and missing Billie's opening in the process—Nucky faced off with Esther Randolph, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who came after him in Atlantic City. Though she wanted Nuck to go down hard, he paid the measely fine (five bucks!) and then decided to use Randolph's ambition to his advantage, asking her to help him take down the supposed bigger fish like Daugherty and his buddy George Remus.

This is the version of Nucky that seems the most natural. The political maneuvering, the somewhat-smug posturing in hopes of obtaining just a little more power (or slinking out of a sticky situation), it all sits on Nucky quite well. The gangster stuff, the more obvious intimidation games? Not so much. Steve Buscemi has been doing good work this season with the uneven material he's been given, but it seems to me that he's also most comfortable when playing Nucky in these kinds of situations. Boardwalk Empire is very good at getting Nucky into troublesome circumstances that he has to charm, pay, or scheme his way out of, and although that might seem somewhat repetitive, it still works better than the more inconsistent characterization we've seen thus far.

But that's the rub, right? There have been other episodes this season that did compelling things with Nucky, only to have them be somewhat shoved away the following week (remember when he spent an entire episode seeing little Jimmy?). The events of this episode suggest that Nucky's team-up with Randolph will continue throughout the rest of the season, but I also would've thought there'd be substantive blowback from the Benny-Rosetti shootout in this episode as well. Perhaps this unbalanced storytelling is a direct result of the show's ever-increasing scope and cast of characters—the first 10 or so minutes of this episode sped through a handful of locations with unabashed speed—or perhaps the writers are trying to purposefully construct a story about Nucky ignoring certain parts of his life so that he can focus on others. Both seem like logical answers, but something needs to give with Nucky. Either the show can't portray him in this disjointed fashion anymore, or it has to give us a reason for why it's doing so.

Much like the slowly burning embers of Nucky's crusade against the Attorney General, the rest of "Ging Gang Goolie" saw a number of other characters making big and curious choices that should have a dramatic impact on their lives. And for whatever reason, they all involved love and lust.

The most impressive of these stories was Gillian's, with her troubled feelings over Jimmy's "departure." She finally decided to take down the countless photos of him in the house—I'm sure all the gentlemen who frequent her establishment sure did love doing their thing while Jimmy Darmody's blank mug stared back at them—a move that points toward her moving on. But because this is Gillian we're talking about, she followed up the picture-removal by prowling the boardwalk for a Jimmy replacement and whaddaya know, she found Roger from Evansville, Indiana (Hoosiers represent!), who just happened to have the same horrid haircut as Jimmy. So, Gillian sexed him real good and decided to call him James. Hoo boy is this lady dysfunctional, and Gretchen Mol has done a nice job this season of portraying her demented psyche with low-key vigor.

Margaret ended the episode in the same place as Gillian, but took much more Margaret-y ways to get there. When the greenhouse caught fire and there was suspicion that her son Teddy started the blaze, Margaret begrudgingly spanked him (seriously, I think it hurt her more than it did him). Unfortunately, Owen discovered that Teddy didn't actually do it and his story about a gypsy was actually true, leading Margaret to have a minor breakdown and decide that "now" was just as good a time as any to seduce Owen again. There was less drama involved this time since Margaret and Nucky are on the outs anyway, but I have to imagine that Nucky will find out—heck, she might tell him herself—and considering the already-present tension between Owen and Nucky, this could get interesting.

And finally, Richard Harrow, romantic. He's got a little crush on the daughter of a drunken war vet. That's cute. I'm more intrigued by his nostalgia over his sister and whether or not we'll see her this season. Richard's been really aimless without Jimmy around (like so many other characters), so hopefully this development injects some life into his presence on the show.

It's been tough to evaluate Boardwalk Empire this season. Most episodes have been good, with last week's pretty clearly standing out from the pack. But there's such a weird disconnect between certain plots, particularly those related to Nucky, that it's difficult to get too excited about the successes of one episode because it could all be washed away in a week. "Ging Gang Goolie" was another strong effort, and one that suggests some big, compelling things to come. Hopefully the show follows through on them.

– Like so many characters on Boardwalk, Gaston Means' only allegiance is to himself. He might be backing Daugherty, he might be willing to help Nuck take him down. Who knows?

– I especially enjoyed the D.C. judge who was well aware of the stupidity and impotency of Prohibition and prosecution against individual usage.

1. TIE: Nucky and Daugherty (both previously unranked): These guys are coming after one another and although Daugherty has the power of the U.S. government behind him, Nucky always finds a way to punch back. Grabbing Randolph to help him was a sly move by Nuck.

3. Gillian (previous rank: N/A): Nobody manipulates a man with a terrible hairstyle like Ms. Darmody.

4. Margaret (previous rank: 3): She mishandled her kid a little, sure, but you have to admire how she steadfastly ignored Nucky's platitudes and hollow attempts to "talk." And then she stole Owen away from Megan and the nosy neighbor! By the way, Marge is the only character who appeared in the Power Rankings every week so far this season. This is important.

5. That Glib Judge in D.C. (previous rank: N/A): I can't overestimate how much I loved this guy. He says LOL to your Prohibition, U.S. government.

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Boardwalk Empire S03E05: "You'd Be Surprised"

Nucky Thompson isn't right. He claims to want to be a champion gangster and he occasionally makes some small maneuvers that suggest reality is catching up with his desire. But more often than not, Nucky ends up focusing more on anything but his "business" problems.

Throughout the first four episodes of Boardwalk Empire's third season, we've watched Nucky purposefully distract himself from what is seemingly a fairly charmed (albeit sometimes dangerous) life. Even before Gyp Rosetti started posing a legitimate threat to Nucky's booze-distribution operation, Nucky seemed much more interested in running to New York City and hiding away between the sheets with one Billie Kent or spacing through days wrenching over the terrible things that he has done.

I think we can say that as of now, Nucky Thompson is not a full gangster. It's unclear if he's even half of one at this point. Instead, Nucky is a distracted, tortured, and cowardly man who still seems unsure of how to be comfortable in his own skin, let alone with the power he holds. And as we've seen all season, there's been enough uncertainty and danger swirling around Nucky that eventually, things are going to break down.

Maybe we are not all the way there, but "You'd Be Surprised" sure suggested that it's all coming down on Nucky. And unsurprisingly, he would rather shrug it off and hide away with his infatuation of the moment than fix any of the problems he caused (avertedly or not).

In the aftermath of Mickey and company being sneak-attacked in Tabor Heights, tensions were high between Nucky and his team in Atlantic City and Rothstein and his crew in New York City. Rothstein suggested to Nucky that he start using the much-discussed backroads to transport the product, but even though he seemed to think it was a good idea an episode ago, Nucky rolled his eyes at the thought of having to find a path that didn't go through Tabor Heights. But Rothstein saw through Nucky's half-assed posturing and called him out for ignoring the Rosetti problem and spending too much of his time with Billie in New York. Rothstein might be a humorless blank slate, but he knows how to do business—and Nucky isn't doing business.

Nevertheless, Nucky didn't seem bothered by Rothstein's shakedown. Immediately after Rothstein and Lucky headed out, Owen wanted to know what happened next, only to discover that what happened next was Nucky going back to New York to watch Billie rehearse a play he'd bankrolled. So even though his lucrative and illegal alcohol distribution ring was about to crumble and even though his partners probably wanted to kill him just so they wouldn't have to deal with his silly ass anymore, Nucky ignored it all so he could grow jealous of Billie's (likely gay) co-star.

Throughout the episode, other characters considered—and ultimately made—some big moves, while Nucky sat in a dark theater trying to figure out whether or not Billie was in love with someone else and whether or not the play was any good at all. The answer to both was no, but Nucky couldn't help himself. As a result, he took all his frustration out on the harmless performer Eddie Cantor. When Cantor refused to join Billie in the shoddy play because he had a much bigger and better gig, Nucky sent Chalky and Dunn to intimidate Eddie into changing his mind. It was a low and cowardly move by Nucky, who can't seem to ever want to do anything on his own, and it was generally disappointing because Chalky and Dunn should be better used in the show to begin with.

Of course, Nucky got his way when Eddie agreed to join Billie. And somehow, he almost got his way with Rothstein as well when, after convincing Gyp that he was willing to start a new partnership, Rothstein ordered Benny to kill the whole Rosetti operation. Benny got everyone in the hotel except Gyp (because this was only the fifth episode of the season, duh), and now the lines are clearly drawn between parties.

However, this was yet another instance of Nucky doing a whole lot of nothing while others took on the risk in hopes of making something happen. A similar thing happened when Margaret discovered Nucky with Billie. He tried to explain and seemed legitimately remorseful for his actions, but ultimately, Margaret was the one who told him not to come back and not to worry about the children. She made the choice for Nucky. Because he seemingly can't make any big choices.

I don't say that to criticize Nucky or Boardwalk Empire as a show. In fact, I think it's quite compelling that, despite all the rhetoric at the end of last season and the beginning of this one (not to mention the HBO promotional campaign), Nucky isn't really much of a gangster at all. He always feels alone, even when he's not, and while he likes having wealth and power, he doesn't like it so much that he wants to get his hands that dirty. Someone else will always clean up the mess, or make a bigger one so he can skate away.

But now that Rothstein has made his move against Gyp, it might be high time for Nucky to be more invested in this battle. He's lost a handful of men and caused all sorts of upheaval simply by not caring. Now his very dangerous opponent is angrier than before and his partners would rather cut bait if they could. Something has to give, right?

The rest of "You'd Be Surprised" had some really great moments. After four episodes of set-up—quality set-up is still set-up—it seems like Boardwalk Empire is ramping up the narrative a little bit more.

Margaret is learning that starting the woman's clinic and making it successful are two different things, especially when women cannot sneak out in the evening and the nun is more than a handful to deal with.

Faced with crushing economic uncertainty, Gillian still refuses to admit that Jimmy is dead, but that didn't stop her from writing him a letter asking him to come home—though I don't know where the hell she's planning to send it.

And after receiving multiple business cards from the agent who extorted him at the speakeasy a few weeks ago, Van Alden finally broke down and told his wife some of the truth about his past, only for her to react with a knowing shrug and unfortunately attack the agent when he came into their home to complain about a crappy iron. But hey, at least she took some action—unlike Nuck.

Boardwalk Empire "You'd Be Surprised" Photos

– This episode introduced a new character played by James Cromwell, who thinks that the government's Prohibition operation is both corrupt and inept. Steven Root's Gaston Means also returned and is floating around these Prohibition hearings. More stories, just what Boardwalk Empire needs!

– No Richard this week. Sad.

1. Rothstein (previous rank: N/A): He's no longer taking crap from Nucky and is willing to blow Gyp away even though it will destroy a truce in NYC. That's swag.

2. Gyp (previous rank: 1): Surviving that sort of attack is worth major points. So is self-asphyxiating with a belt, I guess.

3. Margaret (previous rank: 4): Ditching the cheating Nucky and installing a nun in her place. All in a few day's work for AC's people's champion.

4. Van Alden's wife (previous rank: N/A): Was that a spoon she used to thump that agent's head, basically apropos of nothing?

5. Benny (previous rank: N/A): He's not "Bugsy" yet, but he's on his way. His manic personality is electric, terrifying.

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Boardwalk Empire S03E04: "Blue Bell Boy"

This season of Boardwalk Empire is a bit confusing to me. In just four episodes, we've seen Nucky go from king of the mountain to scared and confused and now he's moving back toward the top again. Things change and power comes and goes situationally, but I have to say that it has been a little disorienting watching a lead character sway with the wind. Like so many things with this show, Nucky's weird journey this season has worked on an individual episode or even scene-by-scene basis, yet his path makes much less sense when everything's lined up in a row.

Most interestingly, this week's episode "Blue Bell Boy" didn't much worry about the vision-having and the great, deep feelings of loneliness that Nucky was driven by last week. Instead, here he was, in many ways, on top of his game: ordering people around, taking care of problems, and reasserting his place at the top of the food chain. There wasn't a single mention of Nucky's obsession with Billie Kent, which was also pretty weird. I know that Boardwalk Empire sometimes takes a more spread-out, novelistic approach to storytelling, but it almost feels like the last two episodes didn't really happen, at least for Nucky. Odd choice.

However, although the visions were gone, much of Nucky's story in "Blue Bell Boy" was still about the ghost of Jimmy—just much more indirectly so. Nucky's relationship with Owen doesn't hold a candle to the tenure or complexity of his time with Jimmy, but once Nucky saw that Mickey, Nucky's employee, expected Owen to override certain choices Nuck had made, Nucky went on the offensive. It was interesting to see Nucky and Owen in tension with one another, if only because Nucky, in many ways, created this situation for himself. He likes to be hands-off with the distribution and transportation, leaving Owen to more-or-less run things while never really suggesting that Nucky isn't in power. Even when Nucky confronted him, Owen doesn't really challenge him back. He was just doing his job, and would continue to.

Clearly, though, Nucky was at least somewhat worried about Owen rising up against him or gaining more respect with the other employees because of what happened with Jimmy. This was further reinforced when Owen admitted that he'd been loyal because Nucky took him in and gave him a place to be, which is pretty much what Nucky did for Jimmy. The problem, perhaps, is that Nucky sees that Owen might be a little more, let's say, "fit" to take him on, especially compared to the tormented Jimmy.

Nucky's Jimmy issues fired up again when he and Owen tracked down Roland Smith, a youngster who'd been stealing some of the liquor. Although clearly trapped, Roland charmed Nucky quite a bit, so much so that when some dirty feds showed up to raid and kill, forcing Nucky, Roland, and Owen to hide in the cellar, Nucky didn't just kill the kid to get out of a mess. In fact, he sat down in the basement with Roland and Owen for more than a full day, disrupting distribution plans. Once the feds left, the kid begged Nucky for a job and it seemed like it was going to happen, only for Nucky to shoot the kid in the back of the head, shocking Owen and probably himself.

In one fell swoop, Nucky got rid of a kid who he clearly admired but also felt threated by, and reminded Owen of who's really in charge. Nucky isn't going to let what happened with Jimmy happen again. If that means shooting an up-and-comer or sending a message to Owen about the leadership hierarchy, then so be it.

I don't quite see how the writers decided to jump from having-weird-visions Nucky to shooting-kids-in-the-back-of-the-head Nucky in just one episode, but the character is clearly working out some complex psychological issues, so I'm willing to go with it. You could definitely make the case that Nucky's actions in this episode were a direct response—overcompensation even—to what happened in the previous two. I just wished there would have been references to those last two hours. Plus, I would like to see Owen and Nucky have more interactions in the future, even if it means each will be on his toes with the other for different reasons.

If we're reading Nucky's actions here as part of some large attempt to overcompensate or LOUDLY reinforce his power, his decision to give Eli the cold shoulder fits right alongside shooting Roland and indirectly threatening Owen. Nucky gave Mickey the directive to not move Rothstein's shipment through Tabor Heights now that it's under Gyp's control, which Mickey shrugged off and ignored, so Eli tried his damndest to A.) keep Mickey on track, and B.) get back into the good graces of his brother. He failed on both counts, and just about everyone who tried to make the trip through Tabor Heights ended up dead. Eli visited Nucky at the end of the episode, expecting that the latter might listen. But again, Nucky was clearly holding onto the past. He wouldn't give up on what Eli tried to do to him, just like he can't really get over what he did to Jimmy, and it cost him a bunch of men and liquor. Not smart.

While Nucky's problems all stemmed from his unwillingness to let go of the future, Capone let his anger get the best of him, and somehow became the outlaw hero to people who'd been bullied. Who would have guessed that? His deaf son came home from school with bruises inflicted by other deaf kids and his co-worker Jake came into work with bruises of his own, thanks to one of O'Banion's guys. When Capone realized he couldn't teach a young and scared deaf boy to fight, he transferred all that rage to the man who beat up Jake, leaving said assailant a bloody and dead pulp on the bar floor. I think Boardwalk Empire does its best work with its peripheral characters when it tells smaller personal stories instead of moving plot around, so I really enjoyed Capone's crusade. And while the north/south Chicago feud is slow-moving, it's also becoming more and more personal, which could lead to some compelling events in the future.

Finally, Margaret's overeager hope for the women's clinic was squashed somewhat. A nun put the kibosh on references to such dangerous terms as "vagina," "pregnant," and "menstruation" and almost ran away from a box of tampons, which was just barely more disheartening than the tepid reaction to the clinic's classes on the boardwalk. It seems that being one of the only progressive women in a very restrictive, regressive time is not the easiest gig. The women don't necessarily want to be pulled into Margaret's modern world, presumably out of fear. So while Nucky is out trying to put the fear into people, Marge is trying to break it down. Unfortunately for her, one is much easier than the other.

– The episode ended with Al Capone playing his son a song on the ukulele. That really happened. Boardwalk Empire is turning into Glee and Capone is worried about how he's going to compete at Regionals now that he killed (another) guy.

– I said this last week and I'll say it again: I don't know why I'm supposed to care about Lansky and Lucky's heroin business and I especially don't know why I'm supposed to care about other Italians telling Lucky that he can't trust Lansky and Rothstein because they're Jewish. That's the one story where I feel like the writers should just cut bait and move on.

– MIA this week: Van Alden, Richard, Chalky and Gillian. Heck, Gyp barely had much to do. He was more of a presence than anything else.

Someone's back in the game! Here we go:

1. Gyp (previous rank: 1): Another week, another reign at the top. Gyp's strangle-hold on Tabor Heights is causing a lot of problems for a lot of powerful people. He's bound to slip, right?

2. Nucky (previous rank: N/A): Maybe his slump is over, maybe it isn't. But Nucky sure looked like a Full Gangster this week.

3. Capone (previous rank: N/A): I can picture the PSA now: "Real gangsters stand up to bullies."

4. Margaret (previous rank: 3): Ms. Schroeder drops a spot due to the tough sledding with the women's clinic. But we knew it was going to be tough. Liberation ain't easy.

5. Jimmy's Ghost (previous rank: 4): Hard to knock Jimmy's Ghost off the list when Nucky's making big moves basically to spite him.

Boardwalk Empire "Blue Bell Boy" Photos

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Boardwalk Empire S03E03: "Bone for Tuna"

Everyone wants respect and everyone wants power. Where we run into trouble is when we can't truly handle the actions we take to gain respect or power. Some can handle it, many can't.

Nucky Thompson is in that latter category. Although he constantly likes to present himself as all-powerful and worth the respect of his peers, it's clear that Nucky's choices haunt him... quite literally, in fact. Turns out, becoming more than half a gangster does some psychological damage, particularly when it calls for murdering a protégé almost son-like figure. After spending all of last week's episode more or less hiding in New York City, Nucky's emotional issues worsened in this week's "Bone for Tuna," leaving him dead-tired, having visions, and feeling terribly troubled by his thoughts, most of which were focused on one Jimmy Darmody.

The whole point of Jimmy's "half a gangster" speech was to reinforce that Nucky isn't really cut out for this life. He's great at lathering people up and at convincing them to do what he wants, but when it comes to actually making tough choices—particularly those with violent consequences—he wilts a little, and really, never even seems like he wants to explore them. Nucky is a politician. It just so happens that in this time period, with the people surrounding him, it takes more than kissing babies and giving stump speeches to fit in. No matter how we feel about the way in which Boardwalk Empire built to Nucky killing Jimmy, I think we can agree that the show pulled the trigger there (literally) so that Nucky was forced to face the war within himself. He wants more power and respect, but can he stomach what it takes to obtain them?

Now that we've seen an all-powerful Nucky, I think the answer to that question is categorically no. It's been over a year since Jimmy's death and it's still bothering Nucky on a deep level. Tonight he had a creepy nightmare where he couldn't reach Billie on the phone, and suddenly came across a young boy who was quickly revealed to have a bullet in his head—conveniently placed in the exact spot where Nucky shot Jimmy. And when he woke up, things didn't get any better for Nucky: He couldn't get a hold of Billie in real life and started to see the young boy all over the place before falling full-bore into a memory of adult Jimmy.

Like many dream sequences that attempt to reflect a character's psychological state, Nucky's was not subtle. It was clear from the very beginning that the boy represented Jimmy, considering that Nucky helped him out from a very young age. It didn't help that in the beginning of the episode, Nucky saw the boy and was then suddenly holding a smoking gun. And other parts of "Bone for Tuna" went even further, boldly underscoring what Nucky has done and how he is (or rather, isn't) handling it. Gyp invited Nucky to accompany him to Gillian's place but Nucky declined, noting that he didn't really know Gillian that well (she basically did the same thing when Gyp later pressed her about Nuck).

But even though the episode didn't do much finessing with its execution, I'm frankly just happy that Boardwalk Empire realized that it was important to explore Nucky's psychological state in the aftermath of Jimmy's death. The story jumped ahead quite a bit between seasons, and based on the first few episodes, it seemed like, A) Nucky was okay, and B) the narrative simply wasn't going in that direction. In that regard, I'm satisfied that the show paid respect to the Nucky-Jimmy relationship by having the former walk around in a daze like a crazy person.

Perhaps more interesting were Nucky's continuous efforts to reach Billie—once he finally did, he (in his dream but really in "real life" as well) still felt alone. With the way that Nucky was desperately hoping to talk to Billie, you would think that he's deeply in love with her, but I don't think that's actually true. Instead, it seems like Nucky saw Jimmy as his family in a lot of ways. Sure, he has all these people around him and there's always a woman involved. But with Jimmy gone and his relationship with Margaret basically non-existent, Nucky doesn't have anyone. So the small connection he has with Billie is getting overblown; his attachment to her is part of the coping process. It's telling that when he had a bit of an episode in the church, Nucky grabbed Margaret's hand. He's grasping for any connection he can find because his one stand-by is gone.

Nucky's weakness were on display in his business dealings, too. He threw his weight around with Gyp in the premiere but after just one moderate bout of posturing from the hot-headed Italian, Nuck folded somewhat, giving Gyp a month's worth of product and treating him to a night in Atlantic City. Although Gyp cooled down temporarily (more on that in a moment), you have to imagine that if the roles were reversed, Gyp might step on Nucky's throat. Nucky would rather convince people to keep liking him. It's eventually going to come back to haunt him.

Though Nucky isn't particularly good at standing behind his tough decisions in hopes of gaining respect, other characters seemed to have better success in "Bone for Tuna."

Most notable was Richard taking issue with Mickey, who bragged to his underlings that he (and not Richard) killed Manny, simply as a way to motivate his crew with fear. Richard kidnapped Mickey, took him to Nucky, and flat-out admitted that he killed Manny as payback for Angela's death, which I thought was a small but powerful moment. Richard isn't afraid to take credit for what he's done, and most surprisingly, he's not afraid to let Nucky keep on living even though he's very aware of what happened to Jimmy. I think that's because, while Richard can handle the blood on his hands, he knows that Nucky can't—and it's better torture to let Mr. Thompson freak out on his own. Mission accomplished.

Gyp is quickly becoming the show's most complicated and intriguing character. In the Season 3 premiere, he was played for a fool. Last week, he stepped up and surprisingly outsmarted Nucky and Rothstein's operation. And tonight, he started the episode on the defensive, lets cooler heads prevail, and actually admitted his temper problems, only to let it all get the best of him again when Owen incorrectly translated Nucky's "buona fortuna" salutation and it comes out as, you guessed it, "bone for tuna." With that seemingly innocent mishap (though one might argue that Nucky was purposefully trying to screw with Gyp, I can't imagine he was in the right headspace to concoct such a kiss-off), Gyp reverted back into the guy that we saw in the premiere, one who has no problem beating a friendly stranger with a tire iron.

Respect is of utmost importance to Gyp, but the massive chip on his shoulder never allows him to be satisfied. Nucky, in part of his sleepless daze, kept telling Gyp that his business choices are nothing personal, to which Gyp eventually noted, "Nothing personal? What the fuck is life if it isn't personal?" I actually really like that line because so many characters in shows like this put "it's just business" out there (people in real life do it too) as if it rectifies the pain of rejection. Gyp is right. Being snubbed sucks. What's so great about Gyp is that he is basically the opposite of the reserved but internally demented Nucky: He wears his emotions on his sleeve, and that sleeve can tear at any second. So by the end of the episode, Gyp was right back where he began: He's staying in Tabor Heights and he isn't going to take this (perceived) bout of disrespect. And because he is a full gangster, he illustrated that choice by lighting Tabor Heights' sheriff on fire. Realness. But the big point is that Gyp is okay with his choices. He doesn't seem bothered by them at all, which makes him very dangerous to Nuck.

Elsewhere, Margaret and Van Alden worked to obtain respect in their own rights. Margaret used Nucky's honoring ceremony at the church (he was basically knighted) to put the bishop and the confrontational doctor from the hospital together so that she could lie by suggesting that the woman's pre-natal care clinic was actually the doctor's plan. With some slight reservations (don't want to be too progressive!), the bishop gave the bewildered doctor and Margaret his blessing, meaning Margaret got exactly what she wanted, how she wanted, and with the okay of one of the most powerful men in the city. She might hate Nucky for all the things he's done, but there's no question that she's learned how to get what she wants—and frankly, she might be even better at it than he is.

For Van Alden, the journey to respect was a little tougher. His co-workers tried to bring him into the inner circle with some mostly harmless hazing—the ink-squirting pen, always a laugh riot—but wouldn't you believe it, Van Alden didn't find it very funny (mostly because he only has one shirt). Surprisingly, he warmed up a little and decided to join them at a speakeasy, only to have the place busted up by his former co-workers at the Treasury. Going to place you hate just to have drinks spilled on you right before the fuzz breaks up all the "fun" is not a good night. Like so many of Boardwalk Empire's stories, it's tough to see where this one is going, but watching Michael Shannon's deadpan and overly serious reaction to the smallest of transgressions is one of the most enjoyable, weirdest comedic stories on television right now.

Respect is a hard thing to come by in this world. But perhaps even harder still is being able to handle what you've done to get respect. As it stands now, Nucky can't handle much of anything.

– Does anyone know if that Jimmy flashback was re-used footage from the previous seasons? I can't recall and it made me wonder whether Michael Pitt actually returned for that quick bit or not. Surely not, right?

– Lucky and Meyer's heroin operation is definitely my least favorite part of the show. Why is it relevant again?

,p> – No Chalkie and no Chicago again this week. Boo.

You'll note that Nucky is nowhere to be found. Dude's in a slump. Here we go:

1. Gyp (previous rank: 1): Stood his ground in Tabor Heights and lit a dude on fire. Not a bad week.

2. Margaret (previous rank: 3): Making a high-profile doctor look like a fool while also getting a new wing of the hospital opened is worth a move up the rankings.

3. Jimmy's Ghost (previous rank: N/A): He might be dead, but he's surely having a big impact on those he left. Jimmy's Ghost might be Nucky's biggest foil at this point.

4. Richard (previous rank: N/A): Noble, strong and honest, three great qualities—even if they don't necessarily equate with "gangster."

5. Gillian (previous rank: N/A): Her manipulation of Gyp is either going to pay great dividends or blow up in a lot of people's faces... so, you know, like all her plans.

Boardwalk Empire "Bone for Tuna" Photos

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Friday again, glad to see it. I hope you all plan on sleeping in this weekend because if that's the case I also hope that you plan on overloading your DVRs in order to pull all-nighter marathons of literally everything that's new on TV. There should really be a world record for the most new TV watched in one sitting, if there isn't already. Why don't you look that up while I tell you about this weekend's TV lineup?

What to watch on Friday, September 21...

8pm, Starz
Boss
In tonight's "Blackflash," Kane secretly, but willingly, heads off to a new and alternative clinic in order to find better treatments for his illness. At the same time, his intentions for the housing project don't exactly go as planned—rather, they lead to a whole lot of looting and rioting. Your move, Kane.

SERIES PREMIERE, 9pm, TLC
Secret Princes
You probably would have chosen a different show to feature here, but you know, just take a look at what we're working with. Friday nights aren't exactly on fire until Fringe and Community come back. And this is a new series, so you might as well know what it is. Basically, four actual princes from around the world—who all happen to be single and not super attractive—move to Atlanta of all places in order to find jobs and separate themselves from their royal pasts by pretending to be "regular." Oh, and also, they try to date... which means, they're going to try to find a woman who will then fly home with them to their native countries and live forever in love. Sounds totally doable, guys!

SEASON 3 PREMIERE, 10pm, Syfy
Haven
Rejoice! Here's a Syfy show I know you've all been waiting for. In the Season 3 premiere, Nathan and Duke are on the hunt for Audrey, but as the town begins to experience stranger events than ever before, everyone starts to wonder if it will lead to even more disappearances.

PLUS NEW EPISODES OF...
2012 NCLR ALMA Awards, SPECIAL, 8 p.m., NBC
America's Next Top Model, 8 p.m., The CW
Shark Tank, 8 p.m., ABC
WWE Friday Night Smackdown!, 8pm, Syfy
Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice, 9 p.m., Discovery
Boston Metal, 9 p.m., NatGeo
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, 9 p.m., CMT
Ghost Adventures, 9 p.m., Travel
Primetime: What Would You Do?, 9 p.m., ABC
Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, 9pm, TLC
The Ultimate Fighter, 9 p.m., FX
Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse, 9 p.m., TBS
Cheer, 10 p.m., CMT
Deadly Women, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery
Eden Eats, 10 p.m., Cooking
Fashion Police, 10 p.m., E!
House Hunters, 10 p.m., HGTV
Real Time With Bill Maher, 10 p.m., HBO
Yukon Men, 10 p.m., Discovery
House Hunters International, 10:30 p.m., HGTV

LATE-NITE PICKS:
Viola Davis and Paul Wesley on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, 11:35 p.m., NBC
Zooey Deschanel and Anthony Anderson on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 12:37 a.m., CBS
Neil Patrick Harris on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, 12:37 a.m., CBS

What to watch on Saturday, September 22...

SPECIAL, 8pm, Reelz
Creative Arts Emmy Awards
If you subscribe to the REELZ channel through your cable provider, you'll have access to an award show even more exclusive than the Primetime Emmy Awards—because at least that one's broadcast on national television. Saturday's rendition honors the creative and technical side of television, so if you're a diehard TV fan and want an even deeper look into how many people it takes to entertain you from your boob tubes, then you should tune in.

9pm, BBC America
Doctor Who
In "The Power of Three" the Doctor begins to worry about a possible invasion on Earth after millions upon millions of evil black cubes begin to rain down from the sky. Sounds like a nightmare. but really it's just another day being Doctor Who!

11:30pm, NBC
Saturday Night Live
Joseph Gordon-Levitt will host this weekend, live from New York City—and if the show goes anything like it did last week then you're absolutely right to get excited about it. Mumford and Sons will perform, so be careful not to skip them over when you start fast-forwarding on your DVRs.

PLUS NEW EPISODES OF...
Bayou Billionaires, 9 p.m., CMT
Celebrity Ghost Stories, 9 p.m., Bio
Dateline: Real Life Mysteries, 9 p.m., TLC
Happily Never After, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery
I Was Impaled, 9 p.m., Discovey Health and Fitness
Iyanla, Fix My Life, 10 p.m., OWN
My Fair Wedding With David Tutera: Unveiled, 9 p.m., WE
Tanked, 9 p.m., Animal Planet
The Suze Orman Show, 9 p.m., CNBC
Welcome to Sweetie Pie's: An Extra Slice, 9 p.m., OWN
48 Hours Mystery, 10 p.m., CBS
Deadly Affairs, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery
The UneXplained, 10 p.m., Bio

What to watch on Sunday, September 23...

LIVE SPECIAL, 8pm, ABC
64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
Here she is! The Award ceremony we just can't stop talking about... because we're a TV site, no big deal. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will deliver the most incredible acceptance speech? Who will bore us to tears and refuse to leave even after the music starts to play? There's just so much to look forward to! Jimmy Kimmel will host this year and presenters include Ginnifer Goodwin, Mindy Kaling, Jim Parsons, Louis C.K., and Amy Poehler.

9pm, HBO
Boardwalk Empire
In "Spaghetti & Coffee" Eli is let out of jail, but has trouble with his new boss when he tries his hand at a new occupation. Meanwhile, Gyp stars to eye the route that runs between New York and Atlantic City, Chalky helps his daughter figure out what to do with her life, and Nucky hits a wall when he comes across a strange collection system in New York—whether he hits it figuratively or literally is TBD.

9pm, AMC
Hell on Wheels
In "The White Spirit" Lily and Cullen are caught in the aftermath of a tragic event that leaves them scrambling to preserve order in their lives. Elam, on the other hand, has decided to take full control over his future. So, envision those events alongside a whole lot of dirt and a couple of dusty cowboy hats and you've got this week's episode!

SERIES FINALE, 10pm, Bravo
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
It's all over. Is it all over? Will somebody please tell me when it's over? What is it about New Jersey that just breeds obnoxious reality show stars? If you couldn't tell, I'm featuring this in celebration that this show is bidding us adieu for the time being. Its promos, which pretty much just feature incoherent yelling, will finally stop popping up during my commercial breaks. But let's be honest for a second: a lot of us love to hate this show so much that we actually also love to watch this show. So I'm including this in here for you fine, possibly ashamed, few. In the finale, "Strip Down to Memory Lane," the women attend the very same fashion show that ended in a wicked blowout last year. Sure, everybody wants to go in drama-free, but when Melissa runs into a guy she worked for during her stripper days, will that really be possible?

SEASON 3 PREMIERE, 10pm, HBO
Treme
The third season of HBO's New Orleans pseudo-tribute takes us all the way back to life in 2007. In "Knock With Me - Rock With Me" a neighborhood is stunned when the police react to a brass-band procession honoring a fallen musician, while Albert and Delmond struggle through the task of receiving reactions to their latest album. LaDonna looks for a way out of her new housing situation, Toni makes a friend while she pushes on in her battle for justice, and Janette (back in New York) reunites with Enrico Brulard. Lots to get caught up on, so you'd better start now!

PLUS NEW EPISODES OF...
Broadway or Bust, 8 p.m., PBS
Cupcake Wars, 8 p.m., Food
Off the Hook: Extreme Catches, 8 p.m., Animal Planet
Rehab With Dr. Drew, 8 p.m., VH1
The Code, 8 p.m., Science
Bar Rescue, 9 p.m., Spike
Behind the Music, 9 p.m., VH1
Boardwalk Empire, 9 p.m., HBO
Hell on Wheels, 9 p.m., AMC
Long Island Medium, 9 p.m., TLC
Masterpiece Mystery!, 9 p.m., PBS
Nail Files, 9 p.m., TV Guide
Oprah's Lifeclass, 9 p.m., OWN
Sins & Secrets, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery
Snapped, 9 p.m., Oxygen
The Great Food Truck Race, 9 p.m., Food
$24 in 24, SERIES PREMIERE, 10 p.m., Food
The Hunger: Death Race, 10 p.m., Animal Planet
All American Handyman, 10 p.m., HGTV
Bridezillas, 10 p.m., WE
Breaking Amish, 10 p.m., TLC
Copper, 10 p.m., BBC America
Flip Men, 10 p.m., Spike
Ice Road Truckers, SEASON FINALE, 10 p.m., History
Kevin & Dani Jonas, SPECIAL, 10 p.m., E!
Taboo, 10 p.m., NatGeo
Unusual Suspects, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery

What are you watching this weekend?

View the original article here

Boardwalk Empire S03E02: "Spaghetti and Coffee"

In the opening moments of "Spaghetti and Coffee," Boardwalk Empire's second episode of the season, a fish was poured out of his/her (relatively) spacious bowl, into the sink, and then dropped into a much smaller drinking glass before totally running out of oxygen. Without announcement, the fish had been shifted from a comfortable position to one much less familiar. Obviously, it was a fish, it couldn't really control its environment, but a sudden change is a sudden change.

If the events of this episode were any indication and he keeps traveling down the same path, Nucky Thompson could very easily find himself in a similar situation. Last week, we saw a Nucky who was not necessarily drunk on power but certainly content and confident in his status, so much so that he was willing to cut off direct distribution to Gyp Rosetti and give away literally a treasure chest of expensive jewelry and knickknacks within moments of each other. But in "Spaghetti and Coffee," Nucky's comfort was overtaken by his emotions—most notably jealousy—and because of that, his supposedly smooth-running operation took a substantial hit. It wasn't quite being thrown out of the fishbowl and into the sink, but Rosetti is certainly knocking on the outside of the bowl with a smug grin on his face.

One of the more curious things about Boardwalk Empire is how so many of the show's supporting characters are more engaging—or even given better material—than Nucky. Last week I talked about how much of Season 2 succeeded based on putting Jimmy through the emotional ringer, and despite all the rhetoric about how committed Nucky might be to the gangster lifestyle, this episode allowed a number of other characters to both plot against him and outshine him. The idea that secondary characters are more interesting than the lead is not a new phenomenon—I'm sure most The Wire or Lost fans wouldn't pick Jimmy and Jack as their all-time favorite characters on those respective shows—but it seems like Nucky is so often passive, at least until the plot requires him to, at the last minute, squash down those who rise up.

What is complicated about this approach to building up other characters is that it's not like the Nucky scenes and stories are bad in any regard. Steve Buscemi is always good and I actually really enjoyed the story tonight with Nucky growing more and more jealous over the probability that Billie, just like Nucky, has multiple lovers. We've seen Nucky let his more problematic emotions get the best of him before, and watching the character consider hiding out in New York with Billie is an interesting choice in light of his problems with Margaret, among other things.

However, the show I think at least wants us to think that Nucky believes in this full gangster mantra and by jumping right from Nucky, King of the Castle to Nucky, Confused and Jealous Adulterer is problematic. Granted, Nucky's a complicated character and perhaps showing him in full gangster mode would be totally disingenuous to what we've seen thus far. I just got the impression that by the end of Season 2 and the Season 3 premiere we were supposed to view Nucky as a (at least slightly) changed man. But here, he's kind of the guy we've seen time and time again: trying to wear lots of different hats and struggling to find which one is really his.

While Nucky was half-assed playing house in New York, Rosetti plotted a pretty cunning plan to get his revenge. Instead of trying to blow up Nucky and Rothstein's operation with a full-on assault, Rosetti recognized that there was one gas station in Tabor Heights—halfway between Atlantic City and New York—that most, if not all, of the shipment transports used, and decided to catch those who left him out of the operation by surprise.

Rosetti might be a legitimate gangster, but his ability to learn was on display in this episode. After being made a fool at the New Year's Eve party, Rosetti was more tactical—and frankly, more intelligent—in his decision-making. He let the gas station attendant teach him about the scale on maps (a nice contrast to when he beat the good Samaritan senseless last episode) and he used his financial resources to buy the gas station and presumably pay off the police as well. In two episodes, Rosetti has gone from aggressive dolt to smart and aggressive dolt, which makes him quite dangerous. Thus far, Nucky's dealt with a lot of businessmen not necessarily willing to get their hands dirty, not to mention more abstract forces like the legal system. I'm not sure he's ready for someone like Rosetti, a man who not only doesn't back down from violence, but also knows how to strategize. In a way, Rosetti is the kind of full gangster Nucky will never ever be. While Bobby Cannavale was good in last week's premiere, he's a multi-faceted performer, so I'm happy that Rosetti isn't just going to be a "blunt weapon" type of antagonist.

Perhaps the most important thing about Rosetti's big move is that Nucky wasn't anywhere to be found. Owen, Mickey, and the just-freed-from-jail Eli were on the scene supervising the transport, but all they could do was tuck their tails and make empty threats about what would happen once Nuck and Rothstein learned about the event. Although those threats might eventually come to fruition, the difference between how Rosetti operates (hands-on) and how Nucky and Rothstein like to handle things (lots of other guys doing the work) is very, very telling. It's also telling for us as viewers, because here the show brought us a really great sequence, but it did so with its main character more worried about a leaky heater.

You could make the case that Nucky has too many other things going on to really worry about Rosetti at the moment (especially since he's unaware of what's happening in Tabor Heights), but trying to make sure things are square for he and Attorney General Daugherty by paying off Gaston Means (played by the always game and always awesome Stephen Root) suggests that he's still got too much of an eye on the political sphere to become the kind of dangerous gangster that Rosetti probably already is.

If Nucky is the fish that might be unknowingly in danger of dropping from the bowl to the small cup, another character is much more aware that he is or at least might be taking the plunge. Eli is finally out of jail and unsurprisingly, lots of things have changed. His family is happy to see him, but his oldest son has spent almost the last two years working to support everyone else. While he was knocked off his sheriff post long ago, Eli has now lost his status at home as well. And trying to make up the time and money by being a lackey for Mickey Doyle, a job assigned to him by the of-course-absent Nucky, probably isn't the best way to get re-accustomed to his surroundings.

And for both Chalky and Margaret, it's more about keeping other people from becoming that fish gasping for air in the sink. After an intense but somewhat humorous diagnostic session with his daughter's medical student boyfriend Marcus ("How about you doctor me?"), Chalky agreed to let the boy ask for his Maybelle's hand in marriage. She was uninterested because doctors are boring, but after a terrible event at Chalky's club where Marcus got his face sliced and the culprit was beaten nearly to death in front of them, Chalky assumes he'd proven his point: Boring and successful is better than interesting and dangerous. It's odd that Chalky has been relegated to domestic storylines, but Michael Kenneth Williams brings such intensity to the character that even these scenes have great weight to them.

Finally, Margaret returned to the hospital with hopes of beginning her crusade to help pregnant women and, unsurprisingly, encountered some resistance. The doctor who approached her before was standoffish and assumed that she didn't really want to help, which resulted in one of those great scenes where Kelly Macdonald gets to stop being meek and polite and start being assertive and awesome. And yet, the woman Margaret wanted to help didn't really want her assistance. It appears that Nucky and Margaret aren't going to be spending that much time together this season (and they especially aren't going to be happy with one another), so I'm happy that she's going to have this big story about women and maybe even their rights.

It is obviously early in the season, but I liked the way this episode established some stories that can carry on throughout. Nevertheless, at a certain point, Boardwalk's lead character has to become more interesting—or at least more active—or the show will suffer.

– Root's Gaston Means is another compelling addition to the Boardwalk world. His method of collecting money—locking himself in an adjacent room and asking the clients to drop the funds in the empty fishbowl—is weird enough to be great. And again, Means sort of overpowered Nucky in their scene together. Root is electric; Buscemi, while good, is less so.

– Last week, we were without Chalky. This week, there was no Richard or Gillian, and no Van Alden, Capone, or any Chicago stories. That's going to happen with the show's wide scope, but it's still somewhat disappointing.

– All right, you loved them last week, you can't get enough of them! It's time for the...

1. Rosetti (previous rank: N/A): After the premiere, you wouldn't have thought that Rosetti would outsmart Nucky and Rothstein. I'm happy to be proven wrong.

2. Gaston Means (previous rank: N/A): Fast-talking, smart, and powerful. Made Nucky seem like a confused boy.

3. Margaret (previous rank: 3): Can't fault her for getting on that hospital grind, even if it was tough sledding to begin with.

4. Owen (previous rank: N/A): Standing up to Rosetti without being stupid about it and keeping Mickey from doing something even more stupid makes for a good week.

5. Nucky (previous rank: 1): Hard to drop out him out of the top five, but goodness, this was not a good week for the Nuck. Jealousy is not a good color on him.

View the original article here

Friday again, glad to see it. I hope you all plan on sleeping in this weekend because if that's the case I also hope that you plan on overloading your DVRs in order to pull all-nighter marathons of literally everything that's new on TV. There should really be a world record for most new-TV watched in one sitting, if there isn't already. Why don't you look that up while I tell you about this weekend's TV line-up:

What to watch on Friday, September 21...

8pm, Starz
Boss
In tonight's "Blackflash" Kane secretly, but willingly, heads off to a new and alternative clinic in order to find better treatments for his illness. At the same time, his intentions for the housing project don't exactly fire as planned—rather, they lead to a whole lot of looting and rioting. Your move next, Kane.

SERIES PREMIERE, 9pm, TLC
Secret Princes
You probably would have chosen a different show to feature here, but you know, just take a look at what we're working with. Friday nights aren't exactly on fire. And it's a new series, so you might as well know what it is. Basically, four actual princes from around the world—who happen to be single and not super attractive—move to Atlanta, Georgia of all places in order to find jobs and separate themselves from their royal pasts by pretending to be 'regular.' Oh, and also, they try to date... which means, they're going to try to find a woman who will then fly home with them to their native countries and live forever in love. Sounds totally doable, guys!

SEASON 3 PREMIERE, 10pm, Syfy
Haven
Rejoice! Here's a Syfy show I know you've all been waiting for. In the third season premiere Nathan and Duke are on the hunt for Audrey, but as the town begins to experience even stranger events than ever before, they all start to wonder if it will lead to even more disappearances.

PLUS NEW EPISODES OF...
2012 NCLR ALMA Awards, SPECIAL, 8 p.m., NBC
America's Next Top Model, 8 p.m., The CW
Shark Tank, 8 p.m., ABC
WWE Friday Night Smackdown!, 8pm, Syfy
Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice, 9 p.m., Discovery
Boston Metal, 9 p.m., NatGeo
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, 9 p.m., CMT
Ghost Adventures, 9 p.m., Travel
Primetime: What Would You Do?, 9 p.m., ABC
Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, 9pm, TLC
The Ultimate Fighter, 9 p.m., FX
Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse, 9 p.m., TBS
Cheer, 10 p.m., CMT
Deadly Women, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery
Eden Eats, 10 p.m., Cooking
Fashion Police, 10 p.m., E!
House Hunters, 10 p.m., HGTV
Real Time With Bill Maher, 10 p.m., HBO
Yukon Men, 10 p.m., Discovery
House Hunters International, 10:30 p.m., HGTV

LATE-NITE PICKS:
Viola Davis and Paul Wesley on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, 11:35 p.m., NBC
Zooey Deschanel and Anthony Anderson on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 12:37 a.m., CBS
Neil Patrick Harris on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, 12:37 a.m., CBS

What to watch on Saturday, September 22...

SPECIAL, 8pm, Reelz
Creative Arts Emmy Awards
If you subscribe to the REELZ channel through your cable provider, you'll have access to an award show even more exclusive than the Primetime Emmy Awards—because at least that one's broadcast on national television. Saturday's rendition honors the creative and technical side of television, so if you're a diehard TV fan and want an even deeper look into how many people it takes to entertain you from your boob tubes, then you should tune in.

9pm, BBC America
Doctor Who
In "The Power of Three" the Doctor begins to worry about a possible invasion on Earth after millions upon millions of evil black cubes begin to rain down from the sky. Sounds like a nightmare. but really it's just another day being Doctor Who!

11:30pm, NBC
Saturday Night Live
Joseph Gordon-Levitt will host this weekend, live from New York City—and if the show goes anything like it did last week then you're absolutely right to get excited about it. Mumford and Sons will perform, so be careful not to skip them over when you start fast-forwarding on your DVRs.

PLUS NEW EPISODES OF...
Bayou Billionaires, 9 p.m., CMT
Celebrity Ghost Stories, 9 p.m., Bio
Dateline: Real Life Mysteries, 9 p.m., TLC
Happily Never After, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery
I Was Impaled, 9 p.m., Discovey Health and Fitness
Iyanla, Fix My Life, 10 p.m., OWN
My Fair Wedding With David Tutera: Unveiled, 9 p.m., WE
Tanked, 9 p.m., Animal Planet
The Suze Orman Show, 9 p.m., CNBC
Welcome to Sweetie Pie's: An Extra Slice, 9 p.m., OWN
48 Hours Mystery, 10 p.m., CBS
Deadly Affairs, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery
The UneXplained, 10 p.m., Bio

What to watch on Sunday, September 23...

LIVE SPECIAL, 8pm, ABC
64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
Here she is! The Award ceremony we just can't stop talking about... because we're a TV site, no big deal. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will deliver the most incredible acceptance speech? Who will bore us to tears and refuse to leave even after the music starts to play? There's just so much to look forward to! Jimmy Kimmel will host this year and presenters include Ginnifer Goodwin, Mindy Kaling, Jim Parsons, Louis C.K., and Amy Poehler.

9pm, HBO
Boardwalk Empire
In "Spaghetti & Coffee" Eli is let out of jail, but has trouble with his new boss when he tries his hand at a new occupation. Meanwhile, Gyp stars to eye the route that runs between New York and Atlantic City, Chalky helps his daughter figure out what to do with her life, and Nucky hits a wall when he comes across a strange collection system in New York—whether he hits it figuratively or literally is TBD.

9pm, AMC
Hell on Wheels
In "The White Spirit" Lily and Cullen are caught in the aftermath of a tragic event that leaves them scrambling to preserve order in their lives. Elam, on the other hand, has decided to take full control over his future. So, envision those events alongside a whole lot of dirt and a couple of dusty cowboy hats and you've got this week's episode!

SERIES FINALE, 10pm, Bravo
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
It's all over. Is it all over? Will somebody please tell me when it's over? What is it about New Jersey that just breeds obnoxious reality show stars? If you couldn't tell, I'm featuring this in celebration that this show is bidding us adieu for the time being. Its promos, which pretty much just feature incoherent yelling, will finally stop popping up during my commercial breaks. But let's be honest for a second: a lot of us love to hate this show so much that we actually also love to watch this show. So I'm including this in here for you fine, possibly ashamed, few. In the finale, "Strip Down to Memory Lane," the women attend the very same fashion show that ended in a wicked blowout last year. Sure, everybody wants to go in drama-free, but when Melissa runs into a guy she worked for during her stripper days, will that really be possible?

SEASON 3 PREMIERE, 10pm, HBO
Treme
The third season of HBO's New Orleans pseudo-tribute takes us all the way back to life in 2007. In "Knock With Me - Rock With Me" a neighborhood is stunned when the police react to a brass-band procession honoring a fallen musician, while Albert and Delmond struggle through the task of receiving reactions to their latest album. LaDonna looks for a way out of her new housing situation, Toni makes a friend while she pushes on in her battle for justice, and Janette (back in New York) reunites with Enrico Brulard. Lots to get caught up on, so you'd better start now!

PLUS NEW EPISODES OF...
Broadway or Bust, 8 p.m., PBS
Cupcake Wars, 8 p.m., Food
Off the Hook: Extreme Catches, 8 p.m., Animal Planet
Rehab With Dr. Drew, 8 p.m., VH1
The Code, 8 p.m., Science
Bar Rescue, 9 p.m., Spike
Behind the Music, 9 p.m., VH1
Boardwalk Empire, 9 p.m., HBO
Hell on Wheels, 9 p.m., AMC
Long Island Medium, 9 p.m., TLC
Masterpiece Mystery!, 9 p.m., PBS
Nail Files, 9 p.m., TV Guide
Oprah's Lifeclass, 9 p.m., OWN
Sins & Secrets, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery
Snapped, 9 p.m., Oxygen
The Great Food Truck Race, 9 p.m., Food
$24 in 24, SERIES PREMIERE, 10 p.m., Food
The Hunger: Death Race, 10 p.m., Animal Planet
All American Handyman, 10 p.m., HGTV
Bridezillas, 10 p.m., WE
Breaking Amish, 10 p.m., TLC
Copper, 10 p.m., BBC America
Flip Men, 10 p.m., Spike
Ice Road Truckers, SEASON FINALE, 10 p.m., History
Kevin & Dani Jonas, SPECIAL, 10 p.m., E!
Taboo, 10 p.m., NatGeo
Unusual Suspects, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery

What are you watching this weekend?

View the original article here

Boardwalk Empire S03E01: "Resolution"

On Friday afternoon, Time media critic James Poniewozik tweeted a few short impressions about the opening episodes of Boardwalk Empire's third season. The most interesting of those comments were Poniewozik's two related questions: "Whose story is this? WHAT story is this?"

Seen 2 eps so far of BOARDWALK EMPIRE s3. As always, strong individ scenes. But overall: whose story is this? WHAT story is this?

— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) September 14, 2012

For a prestige drama that has won some major awards, been nominated for a slew of others, and is now in its third season, those aren't the type of questions we should be asking. Alas, Poniewozik's tweet was right on-point. In its 24 episodes, Boardwalk Empire has consistently marveled on the visual front (thanks in part to Terence Winter and company's attention to detail and HBO's deep pockets), but even more consistently frustrated on a larger thematic level. The show wants to be great—and even thinks it is great—but impeccable set and costume design and wonderful acting don't mean as much with all those things build to an empty core.

The first season cast far too wide of a wide net, with its narrative that never caught much of anything interesting. Last season was much stronger once Michael Pitt's Jimmy took center stage amid a series of miserable life experiences—it's tough to top discovering your wife's dead body, killing your father, failing to kill your father-like figure, and getting hopped up on drugs to recall your incestuous affair with your mother in the "worst year ever" pool—but then the show made its first big move in having Steve Buscemi's Nucky kill Jimmy. And although Boardwalk would like us to believe that that shooting served as a pivotal point in a much more complex story, the point remains that the show built up one character solely to be dispatched by the lead, mostly to make him more interesting on the surface.

Nevertheless, Jimmy is gone now and gone with him is a center of the Boardwalk Empire universe, a universe that is vast and somehow always expanding further. Certain current-era cable shows like this one share a tendency to craft sprawling stories about two-dozen or more "important" characters without always making the individual units fit together. Game of Thrones, Treme and True Blood immediately come to mind.

And although it sounds insane, Boardwalk Empire is closer to True Blood than Game of Thrones and Treme because like HBO's vampire soap, Boardwalk Empire is a show almost entirely about plot. It's a "stuff just happens" show. Is it as hollow or stupid as True Blood? Of course not. But could Winter and his team serve to push a little harder to move away from the straightforward (yet sometimes narratively convoluted), blood-drenched violence and gangster imagery? Absolutely.

Thus, this is something of a make-or-break season for Boardwalk Empire. The awards buzz will probably never stop and HBO will keep the show around for a long time. But if I can borrow a line from the show, Boardwalk can't be half a prestige drama forever.

Unfortunately, the Season 3 premiere, "Resolution," didn't do a whole lot to convince me that anything is going to change on Boardwalk, even though the episode was all about the possibility of "the new."

Nowhere was this more obvious than with the introduction of Bobby Cannavale's Gyp Rosetti. When his car had tire trouble on the way into Atlantic City, a random Samaritan offered to help Rosetti with the rusted lug nuts. The Samaritan unintentionally confused Rosetti about the name of product that would solve his problem, so Rosetti returned the favor by beating the innocent, helpful man to death with a tire iron. In his second scene much later in the episode, Rosetti learned that he won't be able to buy Rum directly from Nucky anymore, which resulted in an overly masculine response full of curse words, personal insults, and egotistical posturing.

Clearly, Gyp isn't an educated man. He's a gangster in a nice suit, and that's all he wants to be (unlike Nucky, who won't stop until he rises above the criminal fray, even if illegal activity is all he can do to get to the top). Still though, there's something very fitting about Boardwalk replacing the Ivy League-educated, soft-spoken, complicated, and introspective Jimmy with the loud, aggressive blunt object that is Gyp. Cannavale is a great performer and I have no doubt that he'll do fine work throughout this season. However, Gyp is just another brash man to add to the fray of a dozen brash men, all of whom are shooting and yelling and screwing their way into... something. If there's one thing Boardwalk didn't need, it was another gangster.

In certain instances, "Resolution" suggested that change might be coming. Nucky's spent the last year building himself into the full gangster Jimmy claimed he had to be, and we know that because in tonight's first scene with him he outsmarted a petty thief into giving up his wheelman, then had the thief executed. When Nucky said, "Put a fucking bullet in his head," he appeared to mean it—and when another character told him, "You're a gangster, plain and simple," it felt like the show trying to convince itself of this half-truth.

Meanwhile, now locked into a loveless marriage with Nucky, Margaret is finding it pretty easy to throw lavish New Year's parties and tour the hospital wing that she (with Nucky's money) helped develop. There's no more feeble Mrs. Schroder left in Margaret. She's aware of her circumstances and has no qualms about spending Nucky's money or challenging the head doctor of the hospital on its poor care of pregnant women.

On the surface, then, things might be shifting for Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. But we know that's not the full story. Nucky decided to funnel all of his booze operations outside of Atlantic City through Rothstein so that he could try to cool some of the heat on his buddy Attorney General Daugherty (Christopher McDonald), in what's more or less a tit-for-tat type of deal that goes back to last season when Daugherty helped save Nucky's ass. Plus, Nuck's still watching a great amount of his money (and that land Margaret sold to the church) go to causes he doesn't really care about. So, Nucky might be a full gangster now, but he's still handcuffed by his grand political ambition and his wife.

And for Margaret, the more things change, the more they stay the same. She's part of the societal elite and making some waves with her charity, but she's found herself part of a loveless marriage yet again.

Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald are both quite good in their roles and their performances in this episode were just as good as they always are. Still though, it's hard to shake the feeling that as the two lead characters, neither Nucky nor Margaret is as engaging as they could be. And I think a lot of that comes from the show's unwillingness to go beyond the typical rhythms of the gangster genre (lies and violence, always).

Elsewhere in the vast Boardwalk universe there are the usual compelling, if slightly tangential stories. With Jimmy gone, Gillian has spent the better part of a year convincing Jimmy's son Tommy that she is actually his mother, only further complicating that intertwined family tree. (The best part? Gillian keeps reminding Tommy that Jimmy was his father, making it seem as though she and Jimmy conceived this child together and ow my stomach hurts). The good news is that Tommy's spending a whole lot of time with Richard, who apparently enjoys babysitting more than one might have expected. Richard wants Tommy to remember his real mother, which didn't go over well with the manipulative Gillian.

Over in Illinois, Michael Shannon's Van Alden (still going by an alias) is struggling to make it by selling irons. In what I think was the only truly comedic story in the show's history, Van Alden spent the premiere going from door to door in hopes of winning the New Year's contest bonus. He failed miserably but thankfully Van Alden had an assortment of cliché pep talks to give himself between each failure. The best part about these scenes was that Shannon played them completely straight, with the unknowing earnestness of the character helping highlight how silly and sad his situation is. By the end of the day, Van Alden somehow accidentally ended up helping Chicago player Dean O'Banion get out of a jam with Al Capone, suggesting interesting things to come.

Much like the Nucky and Margaret stories, these threads are well-executed, particularly by the actors. Gretchen Mol, Jack Huston and Shannon are always good on the show and that was no different in this episode. However, it's tough to totally figure out where Gillian and Tommy fit into a world without Jimmy or the Commodore (though the end of the episode suggests Boardwalk won't have trouble finding something for Richard), and now three seasons in, the Chicago stories have yet to really pay off in a substantial manner. We have a long way to go in the season but the show hasn't always proven it knows how to pull strands together to make a satisfying whole.

And really, that's the big issue here. There are very, very few individual scenes on Boardwalk Empire that aren't well-acted and beautiful to look at. Nothing was different in "Resolution." But it too often felt like just a collection of scenes that happened to be sequenced together in an episode-like unit. Certain critics have argued that this kind of long-form, "collection of stories" approach works better on a full-season level, removing some of the episodic satisfactions. However, for me, Boardwalk Empire is the opposite: Individual episodes are really enjoyable, but by the end of a half- or full-season, the show is just on to the next thing.

Hopefully that—and things within the show's world itself—will actually change this season.

– There's a through-line here about the first female aviator making her way across the Atlantic, which brings up predictable sexist discussions. Margaret was super-psyched about the flight and went to the beach to see the woman fly by. Maybe things are changing for Margaret and other women this year?

– Nucky has a new side piece, performer Billie Kent. She, like Lucy, doesn't like to wear tops. The more things change...

Since the show wants to cling to the gangster aesthetic, in each week's review I'll list the most powerful characters of the episode. Here's the inaugural edition:

1. Nucky: Mr. Thompson was the cock of the walk in "Resolution." He wheeled out a treasure chest of gold and the like at the New Year's party and just gave it away.

2. Gillian: It takes a special kind of gangster to manipulate a little boy into thinking you're his mother, not his grandmother, while still reminding him of the identity of his father.

3. Margaret: Nice to see that Marge didn't stop with giving Nucky's road away. She's helped build the hospital, and now it looks like she might help run it.

4. Rothstein: Becoming the sole distributor of Nucky's booze outside of Atlantic City without having to do much to get it is pretty swag.

84. Chalky: Michael K. Williams' Chalky White wasn't even in the premiere. What a disappointment.

What'd you think of the episode?

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Well, as you may have noticed, there was no Open Caption contest yesterday. Sadly (but also excitingly) I was called away last minute to attend a TOP SECRET set visit. It wasn't that top secret, actually, you'll find out about it soon enough. But the point is that I didn't have time to dedicate to Open Caption, so I apologize. But here are the winners from Wednesday's contest:

From ViridianDynamic:

"Someday you, too, will have a carefully groomed "barely there" beard."

From JT_Kirk:

"Aww, looook, you're daddy's little career-ender, yes you are, yes you are."

From shre123:

Gary: "Aww, he has your eyes..."
Chris: "And you have some of his puke... on your chin."

I really wanted to pay homage to the Weeds series finale this weekend, but Showtime hasn't posted any episode stills from the finale. For shame! I get very disappointed when that happens. But hey, Boardwalk Empire ain't too shabby! And HBO stepped up to the plate with episode stills! The Season 3 premiere airs this weekend, so set those DVRs. In the still below, which is from the premiere, creepy ol' mama Darmody (Gillian Darmody to be exact) stands watch over two-faced Richard Harrow, who is politely helping little Tommy Darmody do whatever he's doing with that pencil. Post your best caption ideas in the comments!

Check out all of our recent winners on TV.com's Open Caption Pinterest Board.

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