In last night's Season 2 finale of Boardwalk Empire, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) finally put paid to the paradox Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) laid out in way, way back in the pilot: "You can't be half a gangster." He did this in two ways, one big, one small, both with devestating consequences.

1. Nucky married Margaret (Kelly MacDonald). When the season opened, Emily and I wondered why Nucky and Margaret weren't already married, given that there's nothing really standing in their way. The season tried to build up a credible reason in that Margaret just isn't that happy with Nucky but smashed it all to bits by having Margaret regress (or worse, develop a new personality) to a superstitious simp when faced with her daughter's illness. (And did anyone else get shades of Margaret's conversation with the Temperance League lady re: Nucky when Margaret had a private chat with Esther Randolph)? But this isn't a post about Margaret, so I digress. Nucky wanted to marry Margaret, yes, but the specific timing of their nuptials was designed to keep her off the witness stand, and they both knew it. 

2. Nucky kills Jimmy. A ballsy move for the show to kill off a main character, especially one seemingly central to nearly every plot. Sure, Jimmy spends the episode acting like a man who knows he's going to his grave (his desire to put everything to rights didn't read so much as turning over a new leaf as it did "one last thing before I go"), but it's still a shock to have him show up unarmed for Nucky, Nucky of all the people assembled, to put two bullets in Jimmy's head. It's a "holy fuck" moment that stands to paid off rich dramatic dividends now that Nucky has put down his last tie to, and hope for, a non (or half) gangster life.

Last Sunday night April and I were watching Boardwalk Empire when (MAJOR SPOILERS) Angela was murdered.  A short re-enacement of our reaction:

Me: "Aw, sorry about your sad life, Jimmy."

Golden Globe nominations, because of their comedy/drama split, are always a mixed bag. Despite the fact that some excellent movies have come out in the last year, it's been more miss than hit, so we're going to try to pare it down to an essential viewing/incredibly biased predictions. Here we go:

Film

Drama

Black Swan, The Fighter

Boardwalk Empire's first season ended last night. I start watching the show because a regular dose of Steve Buscemi and Michael Shannon sounded pretty good to me (something about the way Shannon said of Buscemi, "He's the country treasurer, but he lives like a pharaoh," got me). If you're waiting for a full season to get caught up, allow me to tell you that although slow, it's a solidly built period piece with shocking bursts of violence and a star making turn from Michael Pitt.

But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. I'm here to say goodbye (for the season) to who I consider my favourite new character on this or any other show this year (yes, even above monstrously delightful Franklin). I'm talking about Richard "Half-Face" Harrow, Jimmy's (that's Pitt) fellow WWI vet as portrayed by Jack Huston. Half-Face, as my viewing companion and I affectionately refer to him, was a sniper in the war who lost, literally, half his face. He wears a bizarre, tragic wooden mask painted with the rest of his face, including moustache. We met him sad, sweet, virginal. He'll spend the rest of his life missing out because of the way he looks. But there's also something deeply scary not about how he looks but in how he operates. Tasked with tracking down the D'Alessio brothers after they take a shot at Nucky (Buscemi), he finds only their family (the sole brother who's not a gangster went into dentistry). When Jimmy muses about what to do, Half-Face is matter of fact, "I would kill the mother. The sisters. And the dentist. That would make them stick their heads up."

Jimmy, perhaps as father and husband, doesn't take Half-Face up on this offer, but that's okay. Next episode they learn the D'Alessios locations, and the only Half-Face we get is Richard badassedly blowing one of the brothers in half. So here's to getting what you want, Half-Face! The new era was designed for men like you. Hope we see even more of you next fall.