BingFuse: Boardwalk Empire S5E7 Review: "Friendless Child" By Greg Hernandez

Boardwalk Empire Review: “Friendless Child.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

There was so much betrayal in this episode. Mickey betrays Nucky and gets killed by an unimpressed Luciano. Maranzano is betrayed by Nucky. Gillian who we already know was betrayed as a 13 year old by Nucky, now seeks his help.

“Friendless Child,” provided many twists and turns that attempted to make the story less predictable, but did not really succeed. Let’s begin with the intro: “Gangland Graveyard,” sequence of shots was well done. I enjoyed watching many of our favorite gangsters look up in a moment of fear as a door opened or a person entered the room or walked by.

One of the strengths of this season is allowing the audience to see what our favorite characters are seeing. For example, Chalky’s death scene- we see him see the men, the guns and with the final close up on his face before the credits roll, we experience his fate in a far more intimate way because we do not see him get shot we hear it instead, as we hear Daughter’s voice in Chalky’s mind.

Another example is seeing Gillian see the chaos and hell that is her life in the insane asylum.

Seven years of misery we see. The camera pans to show the audience the totality of her dire predicament. Say what you will about this season, but you cannot argue that after five seasons, the writers have not done their best to give the audience as close to an in depth feel of their favorite characters as possible. We seldom hear what these characters are thinking, but we do see it and experience it. That is due to the incredible production quality behind this series. I am happy that there were finally flashbacks to Nuckys younger days. Still, I would have loved to have seen this in earlier seasons. I guess it does make sense to save it for the final season, but as someone who loves watching this show, I had to go back and re-watch portions of season 1 to find out more about Mabel. All the way back in episode one of season one- 1920, Nucky says that it had been 7 years since she passed away due to consumption. We see him reflect upon this to the Commodore and Margaret. So, that is 1913. Our latest flashback was in 1897, which means the series finale will have a time jump from Gillian’s rape at the hands of the Commodore and then Mabel’s death later on. This will all coincide with Nucky’s rise and demise.

Toward the start of the episode, Nucky is chomping at the bit to eliminate Luciano. He doesn’t want to sit idly by anymore and for good reason. It’s been weeks of war. War, costs money, Mickey informs him that they lost nearly a hundred grand due to the targeting of their trucks. Maranzano cautions patience. He tries to reason with Nucky, that he will provide protection for his trucks and kill Luciano.

Nucky is steaming mad. He is bloodthirsty for some action. “If Luciano shows one hair-

“I will cut it!” Maranzano exclaims. “Along with his fucking throat”

Time proves Maranzano wise- at least in the Boardwalk Empire world. As soon as Maranzano leaves, Nucky’s line, “I can be impetuous too,” comes back to haunt him by episodes end.

I am little upset that we had to wait until the last season to see more candid scenes of Bugsy Siegel! He’s a phenomenal character! In fact, in this episode he was my favorite gangster. Every time he was on the screen, I could not take my eyes off him. Michael Zegen, did a fantastic job portraying the famed gangster. Bugsy really should have his own show, along with Capone.

One of the best moments of this episode was his first line at the door, “Your husband around?” Bugsy asks. As soon as he gets the green light from his mistress, he proceeds with another gem. “Then I’ll just grab what I came for.” I love it!

The shootout, chase and fight were all well-choreographed. Once again, you got to feel Bugsy’s struggle and desperation. What was even better was the hit from Nucky’s enforcer. I like that he still carries the knife, sadly we all knew that he was not going to be cutting Bugsy’s ears off.

The tense back-and-forth between Nucky and Luciano over the phone was well done.

“We’ll meet you at your funeral,” says Luciano.

Remember William Thompson? I thought by now he would be dating his co-worker, but alas, they are only friends. Well, Lucky orchestrated a fine kidnapping of him, in broad day light too! Go figure.

The terse meeting between Eli and Will ends with the kidnapping of the Will and the crying out from Eli. Imagine not seeing or hearing from your son in over seven years? You finally see him again and he doesn’t even shake your hand…yes, you cheated on your wife and have permanently fragmented the family, but still this is your son. He even offers your money and a room to stay because well…look at Eli! The show runners even decided to have a fly buzz around him for added effect- he smells that bad!

Eli storming into Nucky’s place was good to see. “You better have a good reason for showing up.” Once again Nucky's enforcer has the knife ready to cut Eli, I love it!

The impending standoff was a pleasure to see. I truly believed Eli was going to die when Bugsy sucker punched Will back to Luciano’s side. The intensity of this standoff was palpable. Rescuing the life of your nephew is worth the loss of your empire. Family always comes first. There was not much suspense for me in this episode, because as I said in my review last week, the death of so many fictional characters destroys the suspense. At this point, that is ok. The end is here. Unless the show runners plan to rewrite history for their show than this series finale will be quite predictable.

Best bits

- Bugsy Siegel sings a real song from 1931 by "Harry Roy &his Orchestra," titled "My Girl's Pussy."
Here is the version from the scene "It's My Girl's Pussy." and here is the full song, Harry Roy & His Orchestra, "My Girl's Pussy"

- -Maranzano’s death scene was quite accurate. Stabbed several times at his office and then eventually shot head.

- - Joe Harper sounds and looks like Jimmy Darmody. This show cannot escape the backlash of killing off that character. Still you cannot blame them for killing of Jimmy once you read this article: evidence-boardwalk-empires-michael-pitt-may-biggest-jackass-hollywood/

- Will Eli die in the series finale? He has nothing left to lose at this point. His son is safe now.

- - Joe Harper refusing money from Marazano and Nucky was good to see because it mirrored Jimmy’s introduction into the darker elements of Atlantic City. Thanks to the flashbacks we see Nucky tell Joe to go be something else. He is saving him from this world. Like Jimmy, Rowland and others before him Joe does not realize the world he is involved in right now. Now, is the time to get out, Nucky realizes Joe’s youth and ignorance. Having seen a young Nucky enter the Commodore’s dark world. Nucky does not want Joe to make a similar mistake. Finally, Joe took the money and left!

- - Nucky and Mickey reflecting on how far they have come. Through all of the years of war and death. It’s Nucky and Mickey standing side-by-side.

- I liked how Mickey Doyle went out. I do not like how Nuckys enforcer was killed off. His last word was, “Puta…” really?

- - Nucky getting on his knees makes Luciano’s partner, Meyer Lanksy very happy. Solid revenge from last season’s mock execution.

Final points

- One more episode to go, Nucky is not in the clear just yet. Still, the real life Enoch Johnson lived to be eighty-five years old. Will the show follow suit? I still feel there will be one more death before the show wraps.

- Nucky took out a life insurance policy on Doyle, so as his empire crumbles, he’ll be just ok.

- Nucky and Margaret are also buying up shares from Joe Kennedy’s company?

- Seeing a young Gillian was quite enjoyable. We finally get to see the beginning of this character’s intense struggle. At the age of 13 she is an orphan who commits larceny. Upon first glance she appears to be a boy. After being cleaned up she looks wonderful- ripe for the picking for the Commodore. Gillian is so mild-mannered it is a shame that Nucky did not simply adopt her. Had he done that and managed to keep the Commodore away from her, we would have never gotten to see Jimmy. Gillian would have grown up a lot happier.