Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi) may be the de facto star of Boardwalk Empire, but this season really belongs to his former protégé James Darmody (Michael Pitt). He and Nucky's brother, Sheriff Eli (Shea Whigham), once Nucky's closest allies, are now plotting to take him down. A tightly-knit circle of conspirators has been formed around Jimmy's father, the newly mobile and healthy Commodore Louis Kaestner (Dabney Coleman). And all the while, Jimmy's mother Gillian (Gretchen Mol) is frequently in the ear of her troubled and headstrong son, quietly fueling an ambition that could prove dangerous to not only himself, but the ones he loves most of all. His desire to run his business properly requires that he bury the hatchet with his nemesis Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Vincent Piazza) and his associate Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef). It also requires him to do a bit of traveling in order to secure a customer base. The most notable new addition to this circle is Manny "Munya" Horvitz (William Forsythe), a hulking Ukrainian kosher butcher/crime lord in Philadelphia. We learn a great deal about Jimmy this season through a series of flashbacks that will have you picking your jaw up off the floor, and his arc ends with a poetic twist that marks the boldest stride we've yet seen from the series.
Nucky's personal life has taken a dramatic turn. He has ditched his former mistress Lucy Danziger (Paz de la Huerta) in favor of Margaret Schroeder (Kelly Macdonald), a widowed Irish mother of two and (gasp!) former member of the temperance league. Considering the interesting circumstances that brought this relationship to fruition (Nucky had her husband murdered), it's easy to wonder exactly how this dynamic plays out. Margaret gets a lot of screen time this season, and her backstory is filled in. Her character faces down some harsh truths towards the end of the series, and she begins to realize that her actions as an accessory to Nucky's illegal and immoral activities have consequences that don't only affect her.
Nucky may have lost Jimmy and Eli, but his criminal enterprise doesn't want for manpower. Last season ended with an interesting twist; the tensions between Nucky and New York gangster Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) are all but completely resolved. He also eventually gains a new and interesting enforcer in the form of Owen Sleater (Charlie Cox), an Irish immigrant with ties to the Irish Republican Army and a potentially dangerous interest in Margaret. However, several new conflicts spring up as early as the first episode. The warehouse belonging to Albert "Chalky" White (Michael Kenneth Williams) is shot up by the Ku Klux Klan (on orders from the Commodore), and he wants vengeance, which is something Nucky cannot practically guarantee. Chalky's role in the series is given a new dimension this season, as his dangerous lifestyle lies in almost shocking juxtaposition against his educated, affluent wife and children. Things take a more interesting turn when Chalky meets Dunn Purnsley (Erik LaRay Harvey), a career criminal who might be just the kind of man he needs to retain the support of the long-suffering black community in Atlantic City.
The other major conflict lasts throughout the entire season: Nucky is arrested for the election fraud he engaged in late in the first season. Nearly all of the action surrounding Nucky involves him covering his ass while simultaneously attempting to maintain his monopoly. His solutions range from brilliant to completely insane, and it's a joy to watch the bastard's schemes play out. Steve Buscemi really is a marvel in this role; Nucky is equally charming and duplicitous, and the veteran actor delivers an incredible performance that ranges from subtle to completely ambiguous. Half of the fun in this series is in trying to read Nucky's mind.
But what of Lucy? Last season, her role was somewhat limited. She was rude, unlikeable, and stark naked in most of her scenes. However, the end of last season dropped a bomb on audiences: she was pregnant with the child of the devoutly Christian Prohibition Agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon). They now have a special arrangement: Lucy will be well provided for as long as she remains under house arrest until she gives birth. Naturally, this isn't good for Lucy's mental health, and she soon begins to crack.
Van Alden has long since established himself as sort of a bad good guy. The way he goes about his business is frightening; you get the sense that this man could explode into violence at any second. And last season, he did when he drowned Agent Eric Sebso as part of a baptizing ceremony -- one that had more than its share of witnesses. Michael Shannon's performance is full of intense restraint and subtle hints at what kind of man he really is. His final scene in the season leaves me completely baffled as to where his role is going, but I trust the writers implicitly at this point.
Surprisingly, there isn't as much Al Capone (Stephen Graham) in this season. He was up front and center last year, as he and Jimmy worked as muscle for the Chicago Outfit run by Johnny Torrio (Greg Antonacci). The scenes with Al's family in the first season were surprisingly effective in establishing Capone as a character, and a surprising parallel develops between him and Margaret, though the characters never meet.
Visually, Boardwalk Empire is right up there with Game of Thrones. The sets, the lighting, the motifs, the cinematography. All of it is first-rate. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the setting, as I don't know anybody who was alive during the early 1920s. However, it runs the gamut between nostalgic opulence and bloody dilapidation. And I do mean bloody: Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season has more than its share of grisly kills that are equally fun and difficult to watch.
Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season has a handful of neat features, including three particularly nice Blu-ray exclusives.
Secrets of the Past: Storytelling in Episode 11 is an overall retrospective of the season and particularly (as the name suggests), the episode titled "Under God's Power She Flourishes." I've found that home releases of serial television tend to go all out with a single episode, with cast, crew, and consultants picking it apart and offering thoughts. And this is the perfect episode to do it for -- it is quite simply the best episode of the show as of this writing.
Living in 1921 is basically an information compendium dealing with all of the historical minutiae surrounding this season. It's a series of text entries and video clips that explore everything that made the 1920s what they were. Clothes, music, social mores, architecture and other bits of information are dissected in the context of the show.
Finally, the Character Dossier is a common tool in Blu-ray television releases. In case you haven't yet noticed, there are several characters in this show, and though some of them appear only a handful of times, it doesn't mean that they are any less important. This keeps you up to date as you watch.
The other features are about par for the course when it comes to an HBO show. They are informative and thorough, though there's plenty of overlap with the expansive Blu-ray exclusives.
Back to the Boardwalk is a fifteen-minute recap of Season One with series creator Terence Winter. If you haven't already seen the first season, I'd highly recommend you go out and pick up a copy over simply watching this feature, though it does get the job done.
The Money Decade feels like Living in 1921 compressed into a twenty five minute featurette that encompasses all the history and factual information surrounding this season. It may feel like déjà vu for some, but this feature is more satisfying because there's more to hear and look at.
Updates to the Boardwalk is a short feature about the incredible work they've done on the sets. And make no mistake: they are indeed incredible. But not much is really said or shown; sure, we hear from Production Designer Bill Groom, and we get a few interesting examples of how one of these amazing environments is physically assembled. However, it's only three minutes long.
The same goes for New Characters. Charlie Cox and William Forsythe share their thoughts about the season's most important new characters, Owen Sleater and Manny Horvitz. At three minutes long, it just feels rushed.
There's also Season Two Promo Spot, which is a great trailer that encapsulates the justified paranoia felt by Nucky throughout the season. HBO does trailers well all the time, and it's neat to have it in this collection.
Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season includes six audio commentaries. Each one is very appropriately assembled. By that, I mean they chose exactly the right people for each particular episode. Not each episode is the right one for Gretchen Mol, Michael K. Williams, or even Steve Buscemi. Without spoiling anything, the choices are inspired, though I can admit to being a little disappointed that Kelly Macdonald isn't in any of them.
I find myself more and more impressed with HBO's Blu-ray home releases the more I indulge myself with them. It also makes me hope that they might give the same treatment to their past triumphs (The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and The Wire please?). But their new stuff is very strong fare nonetheless. Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season is a must-own for history buffs and fans of political and crime drama.
