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The More You Know

The Season 2 Finale of Boardwalk Empire: Didn’t See That Coming

by James Plafke | 5:10 pm, December 12th, 2011

We knew last night’s season 2 finale of Boardwalk Empire was going to be good — the show is consistently good, usually getting better with each episode, so a good finale was all we could expect. However, with all those expectations, I and — if trending topics on Twitter after the finale last night were any indication — the bulk of everyone else didn’t see the ending coming. Not so much a twist, but more an “I can’t believe they actually did that,” last night’s finale cemented Boardwalk Empire as, as far as I’m concerned, the best show currently on television. Sorry, people who watch AMC shows.

Yes, there are spoilers ahead.

Ready for those spoilers? You sure? Jimmy Darmody, played by the usually awesome Michael Pitt, is dead. Yes, Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson is the only person to make an appearance in the show’s way-too-long and boring title sequence, but Jimmy Darmody was Boardwalk Empire’s true main character. I can’t really go through the show’s entire history and add up Pitt’s screen time and compare it to Buscemi’s, but Jimmy Darmody was certainly the focal point of the show. Just about every single character revolved around Jimmy in some way, including Nucky, whereas some characters that revolved around Jimmy were barely ever even in the same shot as Buscemi. Most of the pivotal events of the show were either caused or ended by Jimmy as well. If you’re on board with that, then yes, Boardwalk Empire just killed off its main character. If you aren’t on board with Jimmy’s status as the main character, he’s certainly a very, very close second main, so yes, Boardwalk Empire just killed of its very, very close second main character. Shot through the cheek, then through the head. He’s gone, and he isn’t coming back.

Other shows have killed off their main character, most recently painful, the BBC’s Being Human killing off Mitchell, though even with that, the show is pretty much over (the other main character, George, left as well), even though it was planned to go on for at least another season. So, while BBC’s Being Human didn’t quite survive it, though I can’t currently think of any, I’m sure other shows have survived it.

With the episode before the finale, Boardwalk Empire showed us that it is willing to go wherever the showrunners feel it should, and though other shows have covered similar topics or have had similar twists, Boardwalk Empire covers them in such a way where they feel new, tasteful, and classy — something television doesn’t do very often. Last night, the finale killed off the main character, but the series shows no sign of slowing down, which is, again, something television doesn’t do very often.

Normally, removing the main character heralds the end of a show, either via that event being the final episode, or that event leading to the final season that doesn’t last very long because the main character is gone: BBC’s Robin Hood, The X-Files, That ’70s Show — barely anything survives, yet Boardwalk Empire showrunner Terrence Winter is already planning where to go with the next few seasons, and there isn’t any buzz dictating the show’s demise.

When the main character dies, or a handful of extremely integral characters die, many people — including myself — find it difficult to continue watching a show. Not because we’re angry that the show got rid of our favorite characters, but because investing oneself in characters is a lot of hard work. It pays off, of course, but it’s difficult to stay within the same universe but invest in totally new characters. Somehow, after last night’s finale, I am more interested in Boardwalk Empire than ever, even though one of my three favorite characters — and a fantastic actor — is no longer in the show’s future. Media is rarely able to pull this off, and yet, Boardwalk Empire just did.

It remains to be seen who will replace Jimmy, and how it’ll affect just about every single character and storyline on the show. Hopefully, the characters most closely related to him, which are the most interesting — his mom, Gillian, and his bodyguard, Richard Harrow — will remain a focal point of the show. Though, without Jimmy, the unsettling incestual relationship between he and his mother can no longer weird us out, nor can his brother-like relationship with Richard warm our hearts. And most of the tension on the show? Instantly gone. Nucky doesn’t currently have any enemies, though one can only assume Gillian and Richard won’t be too pleased with his dispatching of Jimmy.

Granted, Nucky finally got his hands extra dirty, shedding his role of “half a gangster,” as Jimmy so aptly put it once upon a time, and embraced his gangster nature. So maybe instead of Nucky trying to get through conflicts in the coming seasons, he’ll be causing them.

Whatever happens in Boardwalk Empire’s future, it just killed off its central character — and my personal favorite — and it was even an unsatisfying, somewhat pointless death, yet somehow, I’m more intrigued than ever.

Relevant to your interests

  • Brad_404

    i truly believe that the ratings will take a hit after loosing Michael Pitt… he was easily the best character in the the show and i can honestly say i wont be watching anymore without him in it…maybe its just me but i wanted him and nucky to clear the air and start working together again, be more like father and son rather then at war…weather jimmy dieing surprised me or not, that doesnt make it a good ending….if Terrence Winter is smart he’ll play it off as a dream of nucky’s and bring back the kid..WHAT??? soap opera’s do it all the time lol…… if not last nights episode might aswell been the series finale for me… thank you for reading

  • VANDROv2 0

    Michael Pitt was the BEST actor on that show. Why did they kill him ? ARG !!! PLEASE DO NOT KILL RICHARD. I will stop watching

  • Emma

    Truly a great show.  So why did he have to kill Jimmy? And what happens to the guy hiding out in the temple.  He deserves to die!!  oh..and did Jimmy know he was going to die?  Is that also why he gave his dog tags to his son? Could you please answer my questions that I should probably know the anwer to? Thanks

  • Pistolpete

    no you won’t

  • http://www.thechildhealthsite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1 Edcedc8

    woo no more fishlips!

  • Rossee78

    I’ve heard season 3 will focus on Nuckys beef with al Capone & they will be introducing Gangsters we will definitely of heard of before…..Can’t wait to see Season 3

  • Valmacias

    woah! Michael Pitt was the best Actor on the show (and Jack Huston who plays Richard Harrow). They both made me FEEL the conflicts of the characters. They could bring me to tears in some scenes… If Harrow goes, not watching anymore. AND that show is the ONLY reason I have HBO. 

  • Anonymous

    While I am disappointed that Jimmy is gone, I think it was the only way his relationship with Nucky could’ve gone, like Jimmy said himself right before getting shot.

  • Anonymous

    I agree, Michael Pitt was easily the best actor on the show, followed by Gretchen Mol (his mom) and Jack Huston (Richard). Not sure where we’re going to go from here — we’ll probably start following the rise of Al Capone.

  • Anonymous

    I assume he gave his dog tags to his son because he knew he was going to die, yeah. Manny will probably team up with Nucky, which is good, I suppose, I really like Manny. Just a shame that either he or Jimmy had to die.

  • Buffjonathan

    I will not be watching the show anymore! We need to band together and show the writers that they made a big mistake and hopefully bring him back!

  • Richoeric

    I couldnt agree with you more. I really hope something captures my interest to keep watching the show. Jimmy was my favorite character also. I invested a lot of emotion in his role. Almost hurts to see it end. All in all I still love the show. I will buy all seasons when the series is over.

  • Brad_404

    Anyone know how to contact terrence winter??? We seriously need to start a petition. Or something. I’m a 28 year old male with a. Harley and a lot of tatoo’s(not bragging by any means) I never thought in all nmy life I would be this invested in a character. Never happened to me before. I can’t stop thinking about this. Lol. Someone point us In the right direction to get us heard……

  • Grenemonkey

    To me this was a just nuts plot woosh! I loved Jimmy! To me they will have to work to keep the show from going flat now!  Curious though what is going to happen as a result of the land transfer.  Is the new wife gonna get snuffed too? or the priest? hmmmmm

  • grett

    Yeah, they just Jimmy just like that. Totally lame!!!

  • Grett

    Yeah, they just killed off Jimmy just like that!!! Totally Lame!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=882295640 Jonathan Buff

    Lets occupy Boardwalk Empire!!! Bring Jimmy back!!! 

  • Benbadio

    I totally saw this coming. Think about it: Jimmy’s entire backstory is given in the second to last episode of the season. No other character (including Nucky, the main character) has ever gotten so much attention in a single episode, and it just so happens that Jimmy gets the attention in the episode leading up to the finale. How else could this have gone? They we’re opening Jimmy’s book so they could shut it in the next episode.

  • Inda

    .Great season, great drama, great finale! Corrupt men and betrayal, Nucky settling the score with Jimmy was inevitable and expected. I’m a fan of the superior, intelligent drama and top notch cast. “Relating” to a character is not requisite.

  • http://scriptwrecked.com Trevor

    The problem for me was that the penultimate episode did such a great job of garnering sympathy and understanding for Jimmy, that the final episode made Nucky look like a remorseless ass.

    Beyond that, the writers have just killed off what I like to call the “foray” character; the character that audiences can most relate to. Sure, he had issues with post traumatic stress and incest that are beyond most of us, but Darmody was the only character that seemed to anguish over his decisions much of the time, and was struggling to learn the rules of the world. In essence, the writers just killed the viewer.

    The power of television is that it can build over multiple seasons to truly breathtaking moments. The many possibilities for a powerful series ending resolution (good or bad) between the two main characters, just died with Jimmy Darmody. As did arguably the most interesting character dynamics on the show.

    I’m glad Nucky got his hands dirty, but it came at the expense of killing off the central character, and making the remaining main character unsympathetic. Good or bad, that will irrevocably change Boardwalk Empire. 

    Can the new entity survive with just a brain and no heart?

  • http://scriptwrecked.com Trevor

    That’s a cop out. It happens all the time in movies where a mortal enemy saves the other’s life, thus balancing out the scales. The relationship is tenuous at first, but then strengthens over time.

  • Nils

    He wanted to be shot. It was arranged. He couldn’t bare it.
    War, mother, father, wife and all deamons in his head.

  • jackiej

    we have to agree – bad move to kill off Jimmy – Michael Pitt was our favorite too.  Would have liked to have seen Nucky go to jail better than Jimmy get wiped out.

  • Goodegg143

    i think gillian will emerge big with getting control of the commadores estate will wield more power and will stir up some interesting scenarios.

  • Ballymena

    This was a disaster.  I thought that somewhere in his heart Jimmy thought he could reconnect with Nucky.  That tension was good for the story line.  This was a catastrophe and I am not really that interested in next year despite Nucky. It seems obvious to me that this was a last minute decision on the part of management not the writers.  If Jimmy died by the hands of someone else or in an accident I would have been disapointed but more accepting.  I wanted to watch Jimmy’s character to grow and break away from his evil mother.  This was a really poor decision it is an insult to the story line and the show’s writers.

  • Terrence Wintersuks

    still so disappointed that they killed jimmy.
    Terence winter and writers you sukas

  • Bighands317

    killing off MICHEAL PITT WAS SUICIDE FOR THE SHOW …. THEY LOSE 25% OF THEIR AUDIENCE . I LIKE THE SHOW … BUT DON’T KILL OFF JIMMY

  • Michael McWhorter

    they went through all the trouble of building this union between the second generation of players only to kill the major piece i hope they dont try to replace him with owen sleater. but i’m pretty much done unless they find a way to bring back jimmy or switch the series to NY with Raustine, Luciano, and Linksy

  • Insideinformation source

    maybe he’s not really dead?

  • Shajar

    I couldnt belive that and actually i hoped that it wont be the finale it was a great show !!


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