# Has everyone stopped watching Boardwalk Empire...\[OPEN SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290 "2013-11-07T00:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/41 "2013-11-12T01:14:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Theme music is the worst thing about the show. Have been a consistent fan of the show since the first season, but the theme song makes me literally lunge for the mute button. Esp at beginning where fingers are heard sloppily dragging on the guitar strings - like fingernails on a chalk board. What a crap song. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/42 "2013-11-12T01:46:08Z")
So Chalky lives, but he ain’t goin’ back to Atlantic City anytime soon, unless Richard goes all richardy again and kills just about everybody. Frankly, whatever respect I might have had for Chalky pretty much faded with the clumsy way he hit Narcisse: “Okay, we shot up the place pretty good, made a lotta noise, now let’s turn our backs and casually walk away.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/43 "2013-11-18T15:18:18Z")
What the fuck? … in regard to the twist in the Gillian storyline. Actually, the whole episode was pretty meh for me. I had a bad feeling about it when the “Previously on _Boardwalk Empire_” sequence didn’t show anything about Van Alden. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/44 "2013-11-18T15:46:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > What the fuck? … in regard to the twist in the Gillian storyline. > Actually, the whole episode was pretty meh for me. I had a bad feeling about it when the “Previously on _Boardwalk Empire_” sequence didn’t show anything about Van Alden. Aside from us finding out exactly why Roy was too-good-to-be-true (because we all knew he was), and Nucky starting to get an idea that Eli is his rat - not a lot happened in this one except to set things up for the finale. I just hope Chalky makes it out of this season alive. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/45 "2013-11-18T16:03:00Z")
I just like Gaston Means’ negotiation strategy - when the buyer show reluctance, keep raising the price. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/46 "2013-11-18T16:26:38Z")
Man who was that kid who died in the bathtub? Some sort of heir to a throne? That was a tremendously long con just to catch a heroin whore admitting to a murder. And it also relied on a huge assumption - that she’d spill her guts in reaction to Office Space killing that dude - to have it come to an end. What if she didn’t confess right then? Would they have to go on getting married and stuff? I was in to Jillian getting what came to her, but not a fan of that whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/47 "2013-11-18T17:37:06Z")
I don’t get what the point was, either. To get her to admit that the person who drowned in the tub wasn’t really Jimmy, so the death certificate was fake, so Jimmy can still be considered legally alive so Gillian can’t take possession of or sell the house so Uncle Junior can repay a debt to Buffalo Bill? Bwuh? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/48 "2013-11-18T17:57:30Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I don’t get what the point was, either. To get her to admit that the person who drowned in the tub wasn’t really Jimmy, so the death certificate was fake, so Jimmy can still be considered legally alive so Gillian can’t take possession of or sell the house so Uncle Junior can repay a debt to Buffalo Bill? Bwuh? I can’t let this stellar “Buffalo Bill” reference go without proper respect. Well done. Anyone catch the nods to The Wire with Chalky’s storyline this week? Talking about corner boys, and Baltimore… not to mention we got to see Michael K. Williams wielding a shotgun again. Also, the old man was blind like Butchie - but that one I’ll say is more of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/49 "2013-11-18T20:19:39Z")
It lost me in season 2, I just wasn’t enjoying it. I haven’t had an interest in trying it again. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/50 "2013-11-18T20:38:01Z")
I know nothing about the program (largely because I’m too cheap to buy a premium channel such as HBO), but every time I see [this guy’s mug](http://media.jsonline.com/images/28007224_BE.jpg) while I’m driving past a bus stop, I wish there was a doctor in the car with me so I could ask him to diagnose whatever condition makes him look so ugly, and about how long it’s likely to be before he drops dead from a heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/51 "2013-11-18T20:49:54Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I know nothing about the program (largely because I’m too cheap to buy a premium channel such as HBO), but every time I see [this guy’s mug](http://media.jsonline.com/images/28007224_BE.jpg) while I’m driving past a bus stop, I wish there was a doctor in the car with me so I could ask him to diagnose whatever condition makes him look so ugly, and about how long it’s likely to be before he drops dead from a heart attack. What does being ugly have to do with his heart? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/52 "2013-11-18T21:07:11Z")
Besides, he’s rich and famous. If he dies of a heart attack, he’ll probably be fucking a model at the time. Although as an incidental note, Steve Buscemi was a fireman in the early 1980s before succeeding as an actor and he’s probably still in decent physical shape, at least internally. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/53 "2013-11-19T18:53:10Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > What does being ugly have to do with his heart? Okay, not necessarily a heart attack. He just looks like he’s got a crap-ton of toxins in his system, any mumber of which might kill him any minute. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/54 "2013-11-19T19:01:12Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > It lost me in season 2, I just wasn’t enjoying it. I haven’t had an interest in trying it again. I found S2 to be the weakest so far. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/55 "2013-11-19T19:14:29Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Man who was that kid who died in the bathtub? Some sort of heir to a throne? That was a tremendously long con just to catch a heroin whore admitting to a murder. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I don’t get what the point was, either. Just got around to watching the episode, but at the end Junior says that “I owed Louis that much, at least.” Louis = [the Commodore](http://boardwalkempire.wikia.com/wiki/Commodore_Louis_Kaestner). So my takeaway was that the kid was just a cypher, but Junior used his murder as a convenient means to an end. In this case nailing Gillian who he apparently suspected in the Commodore’s murder. Perhaps there is some maneuvering with the Commodore’s will as well ( the one Jimmy tore up ), to gain the house. But at the least Junior was the Commodore’s closest associate, so it might just be simple revenge, lawyer style. Heck, maybe the idea all along was to get her to confess to the _Commodore’s_ murder and the kid was just a convenient second prize and better than nothing. > [@](#): > > And it also relied on a huge assumption - that she’d spill her guts in reaction to Office Space killing that dude - to have it come to an end. What if she didn’t confess right then? Would they have to go on getting married and stuff? Yeah, that was weak. But who knows, it might have been a final roll of the dice when she hadn’t been willing to confess before and just happened to pay off. Fanwanking to be sure, but this show ain’t quite Shakespeare :D. The Pinkerton stuff per se doesn’t bother me - I’d rather expected something like that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/56 "2013-11-25T05:20:47Z")
Just watched the finale there. I’m giving this season a solid 3 out of 5. It was watchable and had some fine moments and at least one top notch episode but it didn’t really have any of the tautness, verve of season 3. I’m curious what direction season 5 is going to go in and will probably watch it but 4 was a letdown ultimately after the tour-de-force previous season. It’s sad they got rid of Harrow, as he was one of the more compelling characters in the show. Interesting that they left Narcisse and White still standing, presumably they’ll form a major component in the next season, if there is to be one. What sort of accent does J Edgar Hoover have? It seems really strange even by comparison with the accents of his contemporaries shown. Did the real life Hoover sound like that? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/57 "2013-11-25T08:10:01Z")
Yeah, the season finale was pretty good - wrapped up a lot, but left plenty of fodder for the next season. I would agree that this season didn’t have quite the punch as last season, but you can’t expect a home run every season and this one was not bad by any means. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/58 "2013-11-25T14:07:18Z")
Really enjoyed the finale, it was well done. [SPOILER]Really sad to see Richard die although the final scenes were quite lovely. A sweet shot of an whole Richard. I expected to see Jimmy there but I suppose it was about being where his heart was - with his wife, child, and family. Still, he was far and away one of the most compelling characters and my favorite. I don’t know that I’ll enjoy _hmmm_ the show as much without _hmmm_ him. [/SPOILER] ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/59 "2013-11-25T15:24:16Z")
I think I may be done with this series. Sending Richard out like a punk was the final nail. They didn’t hafta do that shit. He deserved better. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290/60 "2013-11-25T16:00:29Z")
I admit extreme disappointment at what happened to Richard, especially since I was so eager to see him go all Terminator again. If he’d blown away as many black guys as he did Italians, at least there would be symmetry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-everyone-stopped-watching-boardwalk-empire-open-spoilers/673290.md?page=4)