BOARDWALK EMPIRE “Paris Green” Review

Boardwalk Empire Episode 11

BOARDWALK EMPIRE “Paris Green” Season 1 Episode 11 – The penultimate episode of Boardwalk Empire revealed Jimmy’s father at last, saw Van Alden baptising his murderous partner Sesbo and Nucky and Margaret had their first major fight. It was not as action packed as previous episodes, but it was one of the most beautifully shot and acted an episode of television I have had the pleasure of watching in a long time (well, aside from the previous ten episodes of ‘Boardwalk’).

Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald both deserve Emmy nominations for their performances as Nucky and Margaret. Their argument proves that. The rage in his face was real, the way she attacked him, from the word “fuck”, point and point after point, ferociously tearing down his defence, and his counterattacks as he finally admitted to killing off her abusive first husband. It was literally breathtaking to watch.

The way Buscemi turned his head as his brother questions why he didn’t beat Margaret (“What are these for?” He says, holding up his fists) was another wonderfully mute scene-stealing motion. The scene was put into perspective when later Nucky revealed that Eli would no longer be sheriff. Eli wanted to take care of Margaret in case she starts shooting her mouth off. That’s when Nucky tells him: “Too bad you didn’t see Hardeen the other night. It’s an entertaining act, but if he wasn’t Houdini’s brother nobody would give a fuck.” Burn, Eli, burn.

Margaret, somehow, found the strength to show Nucky that she is not, and will not be manipulated and corrupted. She leaves Nucky with nothing more than an empty house.

The big reveal of the episode (also wonderfully casual in its reveal) is that the Commodore is Jimmy’s father. Jimmy’s disgust at his slimeball father (“You were 54 she was 13″) was beautiful to watch.

Commadore: “I’m dying, boy.”
Jimmy: “Well then I will call you a priest.”

It turns out that the Commodore is not dying. He is poisoning himself with Paris Green, an animal poison which the doctor, after performing some tests, confirms “There’s enough arsenic in his body to take down a hippo.”

The relationship between Jimmy and his mother Gillian is very moving. Her kind perspective on Nucky and the Commodore, the pimp and the customer since she was thirteen, is unsettling, to say the least. Jimmy’s relationship with his Angela, whose plan to go the Paris with her lesbian lover failed, looks to be in need of a fixer upper. Unfortunately, as Jimmy tells his son that soon it’ll be just the two boys, a fixer upper may be easier said than done.

Michael Shannon once again added another clip to his lengthy Emmy montage reel as he drowned Sesbo’s body in a battle with the devil. I’ll miss Sesbo, but if losing him meant getting the crazy righteous Van Alden on my screen, I’m all for it.

What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!

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By Ciara | November 29, 2010 | 14 Comments

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pat red

I agree with many of your points regarding this episode. I did not get the same feeling, however, that the commodore was poisoning himself. My assumption was that it was Jimmy’s mother who was doing the poisoning. What did I miss?
pat red

I also thought that the scene between Nucky and his brother was one of, if not the best scene of the entire series. This was one heck of an episode, and I was even more impressed when observing that violence/sex was not a main focal point. Extremely passionate and emotional dialogue was able to carry this episode. In my opinion, it showed incredible restraint from the writers and fantastic acting from the cast. It could have been very easy to rely on the violent conflict between the warring factions for dramatic affect, but Boardwalk decided instead to bring so much more depth in the development of its characters. I say bravo to that.
Gunner

The commodore definitely wasn’t poisoning himself, I mean why would he? It’s also clear he doesn’t really want Nucky running that city. I am inclined towards Gillian being the poisoner but the way that part played out was inconclusive. Nucky could indirectly be behind the poisoning. Every other thing you’ve written, I concur with. Why does it have to be only 12 episodes? Long wait in store for us.
Brian

Well besides the fact that the reviewer has absolutely no idea what he is talking about in reference to the commodore poisoning himself, I would say that I am in complete agreement in the idea that Van Alden, Margret, and Nucky were all amazing last night….Best supporting actor (van alden), same thing, female (margret), and Best male actor, main role, def gpoes to buschemi at the emmy’s this year…best ep of the best show on television right now
http://www.themic921.com/pages/stulevitan.html Stu Levitan

Agent Van Alden — Klansman?
JimJenkins

Van Alden walking out of the river, staring at the congregation, gun in one hand and badge in the other. Beautiful.
cate

seriously? The commodore can’t get out of bed but he walks downstairs to his kitchen to stash the poison he’s giving himself?! come on now. jimmy’s mother, no doubt.

Barkum Power

The maid was the person preparing his food and was knowingly poisoning the Commodore. It was either her idea & acting alone or she was just partner in plot to kill the Commodore for his money. He didn’t treat her nicely, in step with the attitude of the times, is one way to say it.

John Gaunt

“It turns out that the Commodore is not dying. He is poisoning himself with Paris Green, an animal poison which the doctor, after performing some tests, confirms.”

He is poisoning himself?

I think you need to rewatch the episode.
http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

I think the Commodore is poisoning himself, though of course I may be wrong. Paris Green is an animal toxin, and the doctor said he had enough in him to “kill a hippo”. The motives are a bit questionable, but remember when the doctor initially wanted to examine him: he protested very strongly. Perhaps he wanted an excuse to get closer to Jimmy (unlikely I know) or maybe he tried to kill himself. Maybe I am wrong and the Commodore killed his dog (the dog in the coffin) and was infected with the toxins by accident.

If someone wants to argue my observations I absolutely welcome it. I may be wrong, but that was my interpretation of the Paris Green can.

Thanks for all the comments guys! Ye are awesome. I’m so happy other people love this show. Hopefully next year they’ll sweep the Emmys in nominations. They truly deserve it!

JD

While it’s possible the Commodore is poisoning himself, I just don’t think it’s the most likely scenario. The Commodore has never revealed signs of depression or disgust with his plight. Though fighting a perceived illness for the better part of the season, he seems to enjoy pulling strings from afar, sort of like Hesh Rabkin from Sopranos. I think the doctor is leading us somewhere when implying that Jimmy stands to benefit from the Commodore’s death, which Jimmy confirms “no”.

Who does stand to benefit? It’s not really clear. He treats the maid like garbage, though she seems to be a loyal servant, nonetheless. I guess it’s not totally absurd to believe he would bequeath his wealth to her, but again, charity doesn’t seem to be his greatest virtue. So I’m going to say it’s not the maid who is doing the poisoning. What does she have to gain if she’s not in the will? If Commodore dies, so does her job. In a sea of corrupted, conflicted characters, the maid is perhaps the only innocent one. Why would the writers stain her too?

As for Nucky, I just don’t see it. Why would he need to bump off the Commodore and what does he stand to gain? Nucky already rules the city and seeks the Commodore as a counsel and advisor.

The Commodore’s relationship with Gillian is revealed to be more deep than previously known, which could mean that the Commodore left his wealth to her as a “do right” for raping her and corrupting her life. We see that Gillian has been spending more and more time with him, which places her at the scene of the crime. Gillian isn’t above accelerating his death if it leads to her benefit. We’ve seen her dirtiness and deceptive tactics previously with Lucky Luciano. The final scene where Jimmy confronts her about the poison pretty much proved it for me.

VIC

Poison: Was the commodore baking cookies. The Maid or Mother… Maybe Nucky’s brother.

I liked the comment Nucky made about his father and the house burning down…Had to laugh!
Jbernec

It’s possible the Commodore is poisoning himself.The scene bw Jimmy and mum also projects the impression it could be her.Then again, it could be the maid working with and/or for Nucky.Bottomline, we’ll find out out soon enough.I totally love this show.Glad to have a great show to look forward to on Sundays.
Madison

I love this show but I am getting upset with Nucky’s character, he is becoming so hard to relate to. They need to make him have some redeeming qualities and fast the protagonist should not be dark.