Boardwalk Empire: Complete Episode Guide
Boardwalk Empire – Georgia Peaches
Season Two: Episode Ten
Directed by: Jeremy Podeswa
Written by: David Flebotte
The Spin: It seemed like a ho-hum episode from Podeswa and Flebotte. Everyone was doing their schtick. Jimmy was proving to be completely ineffective, getting a lashing from his stroke-ridden pops while failing to broker a deal with Chalky to end the strike. The impatient hotheads from New York were getting on his case and trying to open up the heroin market in light of Nucky’s Irish whiskey run flooding AC. That saucy ADA (Julianne Nicholson) arrested that dope Eli (Shea Whigham) in hopes of getting him to squeal on Nucky concerning the disposal of a certain Hans Schroeder. Naturally Margaret saw poor Emily’s polio as an indictment from God regarding her sinful ways, while her son – desperate for attention – decided to accuse Nucky of burning down the homestead (ah – remember that from last season?) while Nucky took him to New York to meet with Rothstein’s lawyer concerning his troublesome case. But don’t worry, Nuck – the kid won’t tell no one. And lastly that silly Mickey Doyle (Paul Sparks) gets caught in the middle trying to make amends with a none-too-pleased Manny (William Forsythe). Which in all its slow-paced, period music accompanied glory led us to….a moment as shocking as it was heartbreaking.
****MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD!****
Courtesy of Manny the Butcher, poor Angela Darmody (the beautiful Aleksa Palladino) received her swan song in a closing scene completely unexpected. She is a character who will surely be missed and didn’t deserve her fate. Like all great HBO shows of old, nobody on the boardwalk is safe.
Things Learned This Evening: Margaret Schroeder is no fan of Ty Cobb. The Butcher shows no mercy; he is a villain among villains.
Wait Until Next Week: Will Jimmy completely fall apart or will he be motivated to finally take proper action? Will Margaret’s spiritual crisis fracture her relationship with Nucky? Who will the Butcher go after next?
Commentary by David H. Schleicher
To my readers and Boardwalk strollers: Thoughts, reactions, comments?
The Schleicher Spin 
The Butcher aint gonna make it. I’m making that call.
I know it’s the early 20th century with women’s rights at a low but even in that context the abuse of women abounds. Even the priest abused his station taking money in exchange for forgiveness of sin, for hope, Margaret hoping her daughter would be cured. Martin Luther (1500’s) started splintering the once dominant and powerful Catholic church over indulgences (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence), the catalyst of the many Protestant denominations that exist today. I’m figuring Marget won’t go after the church but will get her revenge on Nucky. Next week’s trailer indicates she’ll drop the cheating bomb on Nucky.
I don’t even know where to begin concerning the violent death of the lesbian lovers . . .
Women are ground meat.
Don’t really know what to do with the misogyny, though I love the show. Is it a reflection of the period or do the writers just have a pure searing hatred of women.
Dianne – so much depth…so much to explore. Considering many of the writers and producers are women, I think they are more than likely trying to show how hard it was for women back then and not displaying their own hatred of females. You could say that they equally hate men – look how many have been shot and butchered over the two seasons. Both Margaret and Gillian wield a lot of power as “the women behind the men” and poor Jimmy (and Harrow, too) were hopelessly in love with Angela, who could never truly love them back. The lady ADA is a most interesting character – a powerful woman with a powerful job – still though she is defined by the men she is trying to bring down. –DHS
What a sucker punch of an ending! I will really miss Angela. She was one of my favorite characters and someone I could sort of identify with.
My prediction is that Jimmy will get hooked on heroin. Can’t wait for next week’s episode!
Megan – Angela was a great character – and not bad on the eyes, either. She will be missed. You know, it’s funny, I was thinking when Luciano gave Jimmy the heroin, Angela might get hooked – but that’s a good call there…Jimmy surely will need something to take the pain away. –DHS
Haha! That was my first thought too!!
Dare I say that the Butcher looked pained after killing Angela.
So much potential there in having an interesting female character and I’m feeling a bit cheated that we’re not going to watch Angela evolve, but I don’t agree that the creators/writers are misogynists. They are telling a story set in a place and time that held most women hostage to societal “norms” as they were and to tell that story honestly mandates that the ugly side can’t be sugar coated. Could they have spared her? Sure they could have and I wish she was, but I question how believable it would have been if Manny just issued a warning.
I know I’m being obtuse, but I never understood why Jimmy never returned the $5,000 to Manny and made matters worse by continually antagonizing him.
Very difficult for me to watch this show and let it stand on its own merits (or demerits) – I constantly find myself comparing it to The Sopranos.
Your “spin” on BE is a great read, Mr. Schleicher – thanks….
Thanks for reading and commenting, Patti. Poor Angela – she had a lot of potential…but you are right…there is no way Manny would let anyone walk away from a scene like that. It’s hard not to compare this to The Sopranos and other great HBO shows (Rome, Carnivale – I see hints of those here, too) but I feel this might be developing into the most consistently great show HBO has ever done. Only time will tell – they could still screw up a lot of things. –DHS