“I died in a trench, years back. I thought you knew that.” – Jimmy to Nucky
It’s going to be another long stretch waiting until Boardwalk Empire returns, but I’ll be damned if we weren’t treated to the best possible culmination of this sophomore season’s events. The tide of the Atlantic has set many of its key players adrift in their own affairs, but the sweltering summer sun has pierced the depths beneath which they all keep their secrets, exposing the foundation of lies and murder on which the city is being built upon.
This season’s intense religious themes has been nicely complemented by the juxtaposition of vivid excitement and tense confrontations, which are no better displayed than in “To the Lost.” Losing his appetite for power and its high back leather chair, Jimmy offers up the Klansmen who attacked Chalky’s warehouse in the premiere as a way of asking for a reconciliatory meeting with Nucky. Nucky, in turn, is preparing for his impending trial, making certain that Margaret doesn’t testify against him by appealing to her sense of faith-bound obligation.
Margaret does Nucky the honor of marrying into the Thompson name, while Jimmy offers up his services in assisting key witnesses recant their statements which implicate Nucky in the murder of Margaret’s first husband. Esther Randolph’s case becomes unhinged in light of these very recent events, earning both Nucky and Eli the freedom of legal innocence.
Not one to let his moments of opportunity pass him by, Nucky is forced to decide on his allegiances, his crosshairs seemingly wavering over Manny Horwitz. Nucky consults Arnold Rothstein for advice, who tells him to “flip a coin” to reveal his heart’s desires – he calls Jimmy to tell him that he’s ready to serve up his wife’s killer.
There is simply no way of doing justice to the foreboding finality captured in the stormy scene at the War Memorial monument. The congregation of Nucky and Eli Thompson, Owen Slater, Manny Horwitz, and Jimmy Darmody plays out beneath a rampant rainfall, literally and figuratively breaking the heat lingering on the Boardwalk. Gillian understands what’s happening when she notices Jimmy’s dog tags around her grandson’s neck, but she doesn’t even flinch before telling the young Tommy how important he’s going to be one day, seemingly preparing him for what Jimmy was never, and will never be able to accomplish.
With his trial dropped and his brother Eli back in his good books – on top of Chalky ordering an end to the labor strike and Nelson Van Alden having fled to Cicero, Illinois with his daughter and Swedish nanny – it seems as though nothing can impede the new development Nucky has prepared for the Boardwalk next season. Unbeknownst to him, however, the deed of land that he signed over to Margaret is no longer in either of their names; instead, Margaret once again donates to the Church, naively believing her new husband to have turned over a new, forgiving leaf. The obvious obstacle this poses for Nucky only grazes the surface of what next season may bring, as it’s only a matter of time before Gillian and Esther Randolph come back for blood, having only been temporarily set adrift.
Some stats and info about Boardwalk Empire, “to the lost”
TV SHOW – Boardwalk Empire
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2 Episode 12
AIRED ON – December 11th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – HBO/Max
GENRE – Drama, Crime Dramas, Period Show
CREATED BY – Terence Winter
CAST – Steve Buscemi,Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham,Stephen Graham, Vince Piazza, Michael Kenneth Williams, Paul Sparks, Grechen Mol, Michael Stuhlbarg, Anthony Laciura, Jack Huston, Anatol Yusef
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.