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I'm Drunk and I'm Seldom Sober

By Aggie Maguire | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (9)

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Sunday’s “Boardwalk Empire” found us on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day and everyone is anticipating the holiday. Margaret’s baking soda bread for Nucky; Eli is getting ready to wow Atlantic City with his rhetorical brilliance; Nucky is bemoaning the pall cast on the day by public displays of drunkenness and the dwarves who box at the gym and moonlight as leprechauns lead us all in a collective appeal to the TLC channel when they insist on “No More Midget Shit” (I assume the graphic designers among you are already working on the t-shirt).

Saint Margaret’s halo slips a little further this week when we find out she not only has an ego that doesn’t like to be snubbed, but she’s willing to be very manipulative to show Nucky how much she understands his game and can play on his level. It’s been a bit of an inorganic transition from timid housewife to wily strategist over the past few episodes, but overall this version of Margaret makes for a much more interesting character, and it would appear that Nucky agrees.

We didn’t see enough of many characters this episode: Chalky was notably absent. Rothstein was back for a brief but beautiful and informative scene about his role in the Black Sox scandal; and Gillian got a few minutes to bond with her daughter-in-law and her grandson (if only I’d known the magic that whiskey and milk could work on a three-year-old in my babysitting days). I haven’t figured out yet if she wants Angela gone just because she doesn’t like her or so that she can assume the role of the kid’s mother and avoid any possibility of being seen as a grandmother.

In Chicago, Jimmy continues to be a nice guy; Al Capone continues to be far too dumb to ever have risen to a leadership role in the Chicago mob; and Pearl turns out to be a very realistic young girl who can clearly see her future options despite the opium fog.

The Ancient Order of Celts: between the kilts, the table center-pieces and the constant complaints from the dwarves about manhandling, one would think it was a Pride Week party and not the annual gathering of a group that would become famous for banning gays from their parade. Nonetheless, one has to feel for them having their party ruined first, by Eli’s botched understanding of Irish current events (it’s 1920 and the War of Independence is in full swing but he’s stuck back in 1916), and then by the lunatic Van Alden who performs a valuable public service in every scene by convincing me of the need for psych tests for all law enforcement positions.

And we get to close the episode without a glaring metaphor this week: instead Carrickfergus, the story of a dream never to be fulfilled, plays over a montage of the different characters’ yearnings for peace of mind, youth, recognition, and love before the spell is broken by torrid sex in Margaret’s hallway. The Atlantic City-based scenes were excellent this week: very nice character development all round. I just wish there were a real justification for the Chicago angle: is it just to give Jimmy something to do or is there a bigger connection developing?

Aggie Maguire lives in a fly-over state where she enjoys waving at the people flying over and wondering if anybody ever waves back. She is a member of the Jane Austen society and a life-long supporter of the Home for Abused Apostrophes.









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Comments

I was sure Jimmy was going to mercy kill Pearl with an overdose of laudanum, so I was relieved it didn't go that way.

My overall thematic quibble with this show is that everyone always acts on their most basic, self-serving instincts. It just seems a little too easy and becomes trite. The scenes start to write themselves if you know how a character is inevitably going to react to a scenario.

Posted by: Alice at October 19, 2010 11:22 AM

Yes! I'm finally starting to like watching Saint Margaret. Loved her throwing away the soda bread and then asking how Nucky liked it.

I think the Chicago angle is building to see how Nucky handles pressure from all sides.

I don't mind that the characters are always acting from self-interest. I think that's how most people operate, but we tell ourselves pretty stories to justify it. Margaret's only interesting now that we've had a few glimpses of her less-than-noble motives.

Posted by: Wednesday at October 19, 2010 11:45 AM

I didn't realize it until last episode either, so let it be a surprise.

Posted by: Jackseppelin at October 19, 2010 11:55 AM

I didn't read Gillian's offer to take care of her grandson as having entirely selfish motivations: I figured Gillian regrets missing out on her youth as a result of becoming a mother at such a young age, and was offering Angela the opportunity to be a free and unattached young woman again, the way Gillian probably wished someone had done for her.

Posted by: Jessie at October 19, 2010 1:48 PM

@Jessie - You're right. I almost identified the Gillian scene as an exception, but the way she offered seemed, I don't know - icky. Like, "Yeah, I got the rugrat drunk to shut him up, and hey, by the way, just give 'em to me, my pretty." There were some nasty undertones to that offer.

It's true most of us act out of self-interest, and upon further reflection, I think my perception of the show goes to the idea that we hate in others most what we hate about ourselves.

That said, where's the humanity, damnit?! I refuse to believe that we're all just a bunch of raging IDs bereft of basic compassion and sympathy.

Posted by: Alice at October 19, 2010 4:22 PM

I thought Gillian's offer was more of an "I know you are boning that photography guy" The way she rubbed it into Angela about her "bohemian lifestyle" just seemed to me that she was trying to subtly let Mrs. Jimmy know that she gets her game all to well. It seems to play with her character, as she has shown to be perceptive to people's true motives.
I felt the Pearl "resolution" was a cop out - she was an interesting character and to avoid having Jimmy look bad by ditching her, they have her remove herself. I understood she had a motive, it makes sense, it just seems to easy to get rid of her that way.

Posted by: ninetwenteetoo at October 19, 2010 4:29 PM

I totally agree about Pearl, ninetwenteetoo. I knew she would kill herself, because they couldn't have Jimmy go back to AC without her (which would make him a total asshole), and they couldn't have her go with him because that would require nuanced and complex storytelling. I imagined him bringing her along and telling Angela, "Honey, I have to tell you something, and you're not going to like it, but it seemed like the only thing I could do..." Angela might hate him for it and be simultaneously unable to stop herself from helping him help the poor girl. Seems to me they could have gotten some real mileage out of a dynamic like that. Sigh.

Posted by: Todd at October 19, 2010 5:01 PM

Something tells me if you were a prostitute in 1920, and suddenly became unmarketable you probably would off yourself. You have to remember that at the time women didn't even have the right to vote. Not to mention a LOT fewer opportunities to earn a living without a man/husband. Think about the Dale Carnegie book...

We've come a long way baby.

Posted by: MRod at October 21, 2010 1:32 PM

I wish I would have read your post. But unfortunately the code is messed up on my end. Is it just me? I can barely see the box for leaving comments. You may want to give it a check...

Posted by: instantempo at October 26, 2010 9:33 AM