Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A CUT ABOVE



Season One is in the books and there's no need for a vote on this one...the show is a hit and finale was tremendous. Van Alden likened Atlantic city to Carthage and his time there to that of St. Augustine who was temped and bribed on a daily basis. The city has gotten the better of him and he has decided to leave. He claimed there is nothing for him in Atlantic City after Sebso "died of a heart attack." He told his wife he is going to leave the bureau and go into the feed business with his relative. Just what this guy needs to be around, farm animals. She urged him to stay with the FBI, probably terrified at having him at home otherwise. He told her he will consider it if only God gives him a sign. Well Lucy showing up preggers with his love child is no "Grilled Cheezus" but I think in Nelson's mind it will count.
PhotobucketI loved how his face went from smile to frown in an instant when he realized it was Lucy who had come to visit him and not Margaret. BTW...Lucy was lookin good son! Pregnancy really suits her, she was "glowing." "Are you a post man Nelson?" Because this bundle inside me is C.O.D. sucka! You "made" me pregnant. Won't it be weird when both the baby and Lucy are calling Nelson "daddy?" Flethcer's people try to buy off Chalky, but being the "savvy bitness man" that he is he pocketed their bribe then told Nucky he wanted ten thousand dollars, a new car (Packard I'm guessing) and an invite to the victory party at Babette's. Nucky has no problem shelling out the cash, he probably had that in his pocket. And another shiny car for Chalky no big deal either, but the third request? Interesting to see Nucky balk at this demand. He openly deals with Chalky in front of his associates so Nucky's reluctance didn't jive with me(no pun intended). I did love how it allowed for Chalky's moment of victory though as he stood at the bar with his Nubian queen amongst all the stuffy white folk, confidently giving her a wink as if to say "how you like me now?" Nucky let's the maid Mrs Pratt off the hook, yes the same Mrs. Pratt that killed Jerry. Shocker I know. The commodore shouldn't be too upset it looks like he is going to have Gillian there to keep him warm at night. Would love to know what she said to him when she was trying to get him to drink his milk. Loved Mrs. Pratt's answer as to why she chose to poison her boss. "Cause if I used the shotgun I'd a had to clean the mess up myself." Nucky was very concerned with the Black vote and I'm sure did not want to risk upsetting any chance of their support by having a black woman arrested and charged with attempted murder on the eve of the elections. He gives her a quick lesson on morality, "you can't go around poisoning people" and a few hundred bucks and tells her that her A.C. privileges have been revoked. Like Marcellus Wallace told Butch, "when you're gone, you stay gone, or you be gone." She complied, but not before warning him to be careful and handing him what looked like a bible. No doubt she has been keeping tabs on the Commodore. Whether or not it was at Nucky's behest we will have to wait and see, but I would not be surprised to still find out that Gillian and Nucky were in the know with regard to the Commodores poisoning. The fact that they noted that the poison was even found in his tooth paste says to me that this was a well thought out and crafted attempt to rid a number of peoples lives of an unwanted presence. Oz references: As Rothstein exits his town house with Lanskey and Lucky a kid runs buy dressed as a scarecrow. Lansky was the original Fansworth Bentley it seems and for good measure Lucky also helped keep the rain off his boss. Was nice symbology for their relationship and further illustrated when Lucky remarks how "the advice is free, you pay us because we get out hands dirty." Rothstein was all but content to run away to Scotland to avoid being brought in on the World Series charges. Lansky tried to gauge the seriousness of his intent by scoffing "Scotland in November?" A.R. countered saying he heard the golf is great, to which Lucky countered with a laugh of his own saying "in June maybe." Like the trick-or-treaters running by them, frantically trying to go house to house before the candy is gone, Lansky and Lucky saw their meal ticket packing up shop before their own eyes and they were panicked. There was a quick but poignant shot where Lansky flashes a look of "do something!" to Lucky as Rothstein was preparing to get in his car. Lucky brought up Nucky and the chance he might be able to clear A.R. of this mess in Chicago and get their business back on track. They appeal to his sense of logic and tell him they don't see any "percentage" in a war with Atlantic City. Let Nucky help him out, pay him whatever he wants, offer up the D'Allessio brothers as an olive branch and move on. Jimmy came home to find little Tommy acting all aloof. Jimmy asked him what he was supposed to be dressed up as. I was waiting for Tommy to look at him and say "A pirate Dad, Arrr you going to bend Mommy over the table again?" Angela told Jimmy she and Tommy are both scared of him because of his nightmares and subsequent violent sleep antics. Might also be due to the fact Tommy saw his dad beat a wannabe Frenchman within an inch of his life with a tripod, JS. Jimmy eluded to the horrors again that he saw in the trenches. He told Angela that he would think of her and imagine he could feel her hair on his face. He asked her if they could go back to the way things were. He got his answer when he came home the next day to find she had cut most of her hair off after receiving a post card from Paris making her look like Winona Rydered circa 2002. She made her choice and Jimmy was not happy. Interesting to note how when she was sitting on Jimmy's lap the room to the left was empty, but when Angela is later sitting at the same table with her now short hair there is a painting she made of a naked woman in bed. No doubt it was a rendering of her "kissing friend." It appeared she forgave and could not forget her. Margaret comes across the grave of Nucky's 6 day old son. "So you have that in common,' says Harding's psycho mistress Nan. Anyone check to see if that baby she is carrying around is breathing? Chick has got issues. Nucky tried on his mask as Margaret entered and she suggested he leave it on. Hahahaha. Priceless. Margaret felt like she had met Nucky for the first time after he opened up to her about his family. This shot of him putting on the mask in the mirror was interesting too. Staring back at him were four reflections of himself. He is a man who certainly wears a lot of hats and masks. Leaders of the three cities met at what looked like the same spot where Sebso offed the witness. Big scene for Capone. He reprimanded Lucky telling him to "grow up uh? with the stupid jokes," after Lucky had quipped that he heard Collisomo was shot in the back of the head. Jimmy also spoke out of turn and Nucky corrected him. You clearly could see the growth of Al and how he had sort of moved ahead of his two other contemporaries in attitude and maturity. Note the hat again he was wearing and also how long he held his stare down on Lucky even after Torrio started talking again. Fantastic stuff.

Nucky called a press conference and while the reporters spilled ink on themselves to take into account the breaking news about the roadside murders, Jimmy, Richard Harrow and Capone are spilled blood all over Philly.
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Richard is cold blooded as usual. Capone still shows he has that kid inside him when he grabs the apple out of the dead brothers grocery bag, but Jimmy is dark as ever as he goes all Sweeney Todd on Vinny Delpino in the barber chair. Loved how he wiped off his knife as if to say "your blood got all over my blade!" The whole montage was spectacular and reminiscent of the Baptism by Fire sequence from The Godfather.
The election results were being tallied when Nucky tried to reassure Eli saying "almost home little brother." Nucky's little shout out to him during the press conference and his cut of the Rothstein money did little to heal Eli's damaged ego. Even when Nucky reinstated him as sheriff there was no grand thank you. Blood is thicker than water, but Eli was still none to psyched about it being his that had to be spilled. No amount of money can get his self respect back. Nucky took that from him when he made retarded Steve Sanders interim sheriff. Jimmy gets a not so warm hello from "good ole Patty Ryan." Patty mentioned that Nucky really helped him out in politics to which Jimmy said that Nucky must have pimped out his mother too. Interesting stand off between those two. I have a feeling Patty Ryan will be a big player next season.
Jimmy was over served but not out of line. I was glad to see him call Nucky out on acting as if he really cared about him or anyone else for that matter.

Commodore told Jimmy how he took the fall when Wilson came to town looking to make a name for himself. The truth started to flow and so did the brandy. The second pour of booze into the milk from Jimmy was much more generous. Great depiction of his attitude toward his father showing him slowly opening up to the guy. Then Eli rolled in and it all came together. We saw Eli staring at Jimmy and Nucky earlier when they were arguing. These three are going to become the axis of evil in Nucky's side. Closing montage we see Gillian vexed sitting alone smoking and drinking. She is either upset about her foiled attempt to off the commodore or nervous because she knows what is being discussed in the other room between her son, the Commodore and Eli. Or maybe she is just tying a big enough one on before she has to go upstairs and throw leg for the old man.

Last week Dirty Jerz fan and contributor, 'Chalky Dunne' made a great call after he noticed a duck statue in Nucky's office. Another bird with a lot of historic symbolism was featured in the finale. When Jimmy and the Commodore met we were shown that the Commodore had a pet owl in a cage. In the Celtic tradition, the owl represents wisdom, clairvoyance, stealth, initiation, change and detachment. Always aware of its surroundings, the owl uses intuition courageously, with insight into hidden truth. The Commodore is a real O.G. and knows exactly what the man behind the curtain is doing which will prove to be a serious weapon come next season.
It was also a very interesting choice of bird considering how we recently saw Nucky visiting the psychic and Gillian also has talked about her faith in clairvoyants. Adding to this theme were the apparent fortune telling properties of Margaret's Irish prize cake. She was none to thrilled to see that rag on her fork. That either meant that the Lysol has been working, or that she will end up destitute. She went right back to Nucky to lock up her well being so that the next time she finds a sheet in her cake it's going to be Egyptian 1500 Thread Count! Nucky and Margaret look like they never skipped a beat at the party when the bubbly was flowing. Not all is well though in Oz. He affectionately stared at her while hugging her from behind, but when they walked out of the club to face the new morning Nucky's expression changed to one of fear/concern and he no longer was embracing Margaret. He just stood next to her detatched. As the season closed out we saw Jimmy walking along the ocean much like Nucky does in the opening credits. The final shot showed Nucky gazing out over the boardwalk as the sun rose over Atlantic City. Could this represent the rise of a new sun/son as the Commodore and Eli look to bring Jimmy to power? We will have to see.

Notable Quotes:

Nucky Lackey: Hell Nuck you'll even get the spooks.
Chalky: The fuck you just say?
Lackey: What? I got my clerk coming the obituaries, he's writing down names.

Torrio: Noon tomorrow we'll pick a spot out by you. Nucky to butler: Ow god damnit. Torrio thinking he said "how": The train, how you think?

Rose Van Alden: Biscuit?
Nelson: The molasses hurts my filling!

8 comments:

  1. Bravo O'Doyle, Bravo!!! Amazing season finale and even better recap. you captured everything in the final episode except one little detail that I noticed during the AR and Nucky deal.

    Nucky says he wants $1 million in cash and the location of the D'Alessio brothers. If you look back you can see AR almost smile. He is going to get the indictment squashed, make friends with AC and Chicago, and get the D'Alessio brothers off his back all while making $500k. But wait, he had to pay Nucky $1mm for the priveledge. Dont forget he took out life insurance on 3 of the brothers for $500k each. $1.5 mm to him, takes $1mm off the top for Nucky and he is still a winner. Just the way he likes it.

    They left a lot open for next season. I like how we are getting deeper with Agent Van Creepy. We know he will stay in AC now, but he's too religious to get a divorce and take Lucy as his new wife, so will he keep her in AC and his wife at home all while trying to catch Nucky in the act?? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

    So what's next O'Doyle? True Blood is months away.

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  2. Best recap of the season Chris.Way to blow this bitch out of the water finale-style. You left very little unnoticed to scrape up in between the cracks, but deserve much effort from us commentators in trying to do so.

    First things first,I papa freaks all the honeys...Okok Van Creeper is not Biggie and he only freaked Lucy, but that bitch will be wanting money when mini van Freakshow enters the world.Holy shiz can you imagine when Rose finds out Van Creeps made a baby with some other trick?!!!!!Hide your kids, hide yo wife..Just fking hide.Period.Hers.Enuff said.

    Chalkey continues his swagger with the Rihanna/Tyra blend (I think this was Denzel's girl in American Gangster even though we only really saw her profile.)God I love Chalkey.He's got that Suge Knight i-don't-give-a-fug tude that makes everyone fear him. Unless he wants to come to your white people party that is. I'de like to see one of the partygoers trying to crash HIS party, "Sorry I ruined your black panther party". You should be.Enter bookcase toolbox.

    *Arrrrrrr you really buying that Tommy is giving his father the cold shoulder because of Jimmy's night terrors? That kinda seemed out of left field to me and if Angela wanted to really butch up her 'do and explain their little pirate's hesitance towards his father she could have thought of a better supporting argument.Something like "I munch box, you don't have one and by the way your impulsive attitude in front of the kid sucks Jimmy".

    Of course I need to make a Buffalo Bill circa Silence of the Lambs juxtaposition for the finale, but how much funnier would Nucky's mask in the mirror scene have been if he mixed a little "Would you fug me" dancing to Goodbye Horses in there..and THEN Margaret walks in.

    I HATE secrets and when Gillian whispers in the Commodore's ear it definitely had nothing to do with drinking his milk, maybe hers or some other kind of sexy talk statement, but I have no idea what about.Perhaps just a warning that Nucky's brother was coming in and to cut to the chase, ya know speed up the making friends in 10 seconds thing with his son before the group pow-wow.

    I would have been a little more content if Margaret held back from reappearing until the next season. Marge, I understand the bubbly is free and you can get all up in the press dancing on tables and such with your boy Nucky, but you are answering Nucky's rhetorical question, "Just how much sin can we live with?" by reappearing and washing your past words and hesitations away with the Atlantic city tides.Apparently, Margaret is willing to take on a little more.Maybe alot more.

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  3. My Man Jell......saved the best for last, i love it....you never cease to amaze me. Well played this season, i'm glad that you did decide to do the blog as it turned about to be the highlight of my week in alot of ways (as sad as that may be) either way, cant wait for the next installment (note i already started watching Californication)

    Ok, so...i could agree more that while they tried to make it seem like margaret was gonna walk through the door to see wackadoo (and he was pumped up for that to happen) that there was no chance that it was gonna be her. I gotta tell you that Lucy Mcbusherton may be one of the hottest things i have seen in a long time and we KNOW she can get down (read; the way she to to twist and scratch up Nucky while calling him daddy), yes she is my sex kitten. there i said it. btw, is she like 5'11?...gat damm. More importanly i agree w/ ohara and that there is no shot that wackadoo moves back home now to start that other schwag biz and he def not gonna leave his wife so i guess he gonna put the whole "fridays are for girlfriends" theory to the test in season 2, and as much as i hate him i actually guess in teh spirit of ying and yang we need him back...soo be it. (ps--shout to the glee ref made me smile)

    As always i gotta respect the orginal chalky (with much love to chalky dunne) for his buiness sense, 10 dimes, a new pacard and an invite w/ the rhianna lookalike to the party should treat him just fine (although i gotta tell u ldigz ur wrong about the amercian gangster ref, that aint miss puerto rico she actually may be hotter)

    I was a little confused as to WHY Lucky and and Lanskey want AR so bad...i mean wouldt they want him to step away so they could jump in and take his place? also, i assume that the relevance of showing them handing money to some cat and then truning around and blasting him was to show that they are gonna contiue t be up to no good and will be soon to take over ((although i didnt undertstand why you would even bother to hand someone money if u were just gonna turn around and shoot him anyway but maybe thats just me)

    After that whole talk that jimmy had angela and how they both agreed that they would try i guess that she eventually decided that she wasnt gonna stay with it seeing as she went with the total ellen degenres hairdo (right after he had told her how he longed for her hair in the war). Guess that didnt last long, and jimmy showed how he felt as he just looked at it and walked out the door. Fk her...sick of her sht anyhow. he should get w/ lucy..js.

    LOVE LOVE the "motion pictures"....a nice lil twist at the end of the season here and especially w/ the Dellicio sluaghter sequence (fk was that awesome)...as embarassed as i am to say i still havnt seen the godfather but that is something that i will remedy asap.

    ps-in baptism by fire sequence when they just shoot up the dude while he is twisting?..u know that aint rt, at the same time im pretty sure that is the way i wanna go, just throwing that out there.

    Have too assume that aunt jamima told Nucky that the commodre was up to something, the question is, did she know that ELI was involved? (man how i hate that fker) and what do u think there plan will be?..does the commodore really have any sort of real power anymore anyway? wtf can he do? although eli and jimmy could take down all of AC with the right recources..insert Al/torio maybe even AR. Cannot wait to see where all of this goes but i can say that it has been a blast tks to you foolz!...LOVES YA

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  4. Lucy is 5'11 for real? thats a big B and thats coming from a big B...how did u get such a close look to know its not miss PR?

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  5. haha yea you are right but on a side note...this is the real wife of Frank Lucas's now!!! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/21/julianna-farrait-american_n_584645.html

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  6. So much to go on here ...Great way to wrap up the season and Chrissy I think you 'll find this blog your most rewarding experience..It started slow but you persisted and it has risen to the top.. Kudos to you, you creepy, half mustahce, 90s movie quoting, mofo you are my kind of guy..
    Some Mute thoughts and recaps..AR situation I mean we all knew it was going to be resolved b/c in the end business is business and when it comes to money you cant take things presonally. AR needs Nucky and Nucky needs him. I mean now that Harding is president and we are 'returning to normalcy" Nucky is going to get his roads and all roads lead to NY so it makes business sense to do this. My only question was who were Lansky & Lucky killing in teh final sequence ? were they stealing from Nucky ? or from a competitor. L&L know they need AR, he is the brains and the bankroll they are smart enough to know where they are weak and what they do, they cant do what AR does and AR doesnt want to do what they do... Each hand washes the other, balance Mr. Miyagi style boys and girls, everyone practice there crane kicks..

    Chalky knows his power and how to play it..he doesnt want to be at that party, hell he dont even like those people..The point was made, " Look at this black man in a suit at your fancy fuckinnn party..Remember this face and remember that this mofo is running shit and you better recognize that." For that day and age that shit was unheard of, NEVER EVER happend. and he soaked every last bit of it in..Look at how he sipped his drink, he barely let it touch his lips...He was going to enjoy every last drop and make sure every last person saw his sexy black ass...I mean talk about the ultimate "whip it out " moment .. He just showed his and everyone took 3 steps back and stared mouths wide open..I was surprised he didnt stand on the bar and pull a Maximus "Are you not entertained?"
    Sorry i m rambling..wrapping it up ...Jimmy is a dark tortured intelligent man although he can be impulsive and haunting everythign he does is to find his way in the world..Does he hate Nucky .. I honestly dont think so I think he is hurt and jaded and things his childhood and life was a big lie. But if you want his subtle movements and the way he talks he is Nucky.. he knows how to compartmentalize his life..this is how i am at home, work and at play ...everything doesnt interefe with one another they are all separate, just like Nucky..sometimes his impulses get best of him and deep down he knows he has to do it and he UNDERSTANDS that, he wants to be normal again but he cant he can never go back not after everything that happened... his walk on the beach shows that he is trying to gain a hold of his home life while not letting it effect his work life..the sun coming up was perfect it was showing the beginning of his new life, and although it was dark and lonely he needed to move forward..there is no going back in life you either stay the same or u go forward and Jimmy needs to figure that out now.. He has slowly come to embrace his father, lose his wife, end his war with AR and find his place in his new AC. there is no one left to kill all debts have been settled he has to move on. AS uch as he hates NUcky he owes him for making him think that way and taking emotion out of the equation...Jimmy is very emotional guy so this will be interesting to see how he handles this new life.

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  7. sorry kids..went a little too long here is some more .. Van Alden...wow !! how bout that one..Oh Mrs...wait what the f are you doing here... ? Loved the St. Augustine referrence and I hate to get all Catholic school on you guys but some quick background on St Auggy in his youth he gave in to sin and hedonistic lifestyle in Carthage and carried on an affair with a young woman who eventually gave BIRTH to a son ...FORESADOWING anyone? He is also the patron saint of brewers and most importantly he is the father of the reformation..Changing the sins of the past to find divinity and grace..let that one soak in...You can all thank the priests from St Ignatius on this one....

    So how much sin can we really live with ?? everyone strives to live the right way but in the end what is the right way??

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  8. also Jimmy's execution of the Columbian necktie was special...surpised he didnt pull VInny's tooungue out right through the slit ... that would have been some serious shit...

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