I'm sorry, Chris. I completely disagree with your assessment. As a matter of fact, I don't know if they'd planned how they anticipated their beginning and end to fold together-- usually show runners don't, because show runners (and their writing staff) are usually dramatically different by the end of a series) -- but I thought they did a masterful job of weaving Nucky's character -- the "moon-eyed" rube, if you will from the beginning -- into this vacuous, never-able-to-be-filled (as his brother Eli even said to him!) character of greed, and pure undeserved WANT.
I was so worried, myself, that 8 eps wouldn't be enough, but I thought they did an amazing job of giving us the minutia of the time (the watson bulbs in the lamps, the brass statuettes on the mantle, the sheet music in the jukes.. I mean it's EVERYWHERE) with the larger scale of the overall story they were trying to tell.
I also wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of Jimmy's boy, Tommy. At this point in the story, Nucky's kids are old enough to be graduating from trade programs! So, I think it's fair to say that Jimmy's boy would have been around 16 or 17. Maybe a little younger, we have no idea if he was even telling the truth about his age, but he _looked_ young to me.
He didn't hate his grandmother, either. It's just that... when he was a boy, he was being pulled in so many different directions, he didn't know _what_ to think. Richard had been dead, at this point, for YEARS, now. All Tommy'd had was the woman Richard had married, one would assume, and ... I doubt very much she spent much time on the grandmother at all (now _she_ hated Gillian!). Which would just leave Tommy to remember, silently on his own. And what he remembered? Could very well have been the poison Gillian had been whispering into Tommy's ear since he was tiny! We don't know... but in this world they created, I think it's pretty safe to assume.
People, when they're left with their demons long enough (I mean, that's what this series is about-- it did it to all of them. To Nucky, to Gillian, to Eli, to Chalky, etc., etc., AD NAUSEUM), so when people are left with their demons like that, they see things that aren't there. They get paranoid. They build a world around themselves that isn't always what the true picture is. Why not Tommy, too? I just don't see that as being a stretch at all, or... it ruining the series.
I would never call you stupid to have an opinion (though, I find it strange that you say "Terry Winters blows"), but I think you're really far off on your envisioning of the characters in this world. I think what the writers and creators and directors were able to capture over a five year arch is nothing short of miraculous. This is not simple work, and they managed to create a sincerely duplicitous universe, built on distrust, disloyalty, and shame (from people who swore their eternal allegiance to one another, and loved themselves so much, they sacrificed the things they swore to protect).
It's sad that you found the ending so disatisfying, but I thought it was brilliant. =)
reply
share
cosmos323232
9 years ago
Thankx Jenwithapen--very insightful. I was shocked and more deeply affected than I thought I would be with Nucky's death. Made me think about it over the course of days. I'm usually amazed when people say things like, "It was too slow" "boring"---wth? Then why watch these type of shows? Stick with network TV sitcoms. I and many others like the slow detailed story building. This ending actually was perfect! Tommy (who we don't know yet)tears up the bills handed him by Nucky. Stating something about you think this is how to solve problems? Nucky says something about it's the only way he knows how, which is actually insightful. He gives Gillian a trust, Eli a hundred thousand? makes sure Margaret got $$ in the beginning and end etc etc He really has a soft spot and wants to help but it's only by giving material. This was stressed on him from a young age. His Father berates him for not getting a coin at the beach like the other boys. The Commodore stressed it to him as a young lad. It's ALL about money thus his greed grows with each season, and the ability to relate to people on a personal level diminishes with each season. The final scene of him catching a coin in the ocean as he dies, was brilliant. Also the final scene of him with Gillian as youngsters 40 years ago and him saying, "trust me, I'll never let any harm to you" as he is about to ruin her life forever as a gift to the Commodore is brilliant. Gillian reminded him in the letter that he promised her this long ago. But then when he sees her in the institution he tells her, "I can't help you, don't contact me again" was perfect for the set up of Tommy saying, "this is from my Grandmother". Nucky is shot in the same spot under the eye/cheekbone which is where Nucky shot his Father/Jimmy a decade ago. Nucky a likeable enough criminal ;) ...used so many woman/relationships and others, he really did get what he deserved in the end. Justice and Peace.
reply
share