BWW Recap: 'Nobody Ever Been Free' on BOARDWALK EMPIRE

With only two episodes to go, we raise our glasses "to the lost" on the sixth episode of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, 'Devil You Know', where we lost two of BOARDWALK's most popular characters, and two incredibly talented actors who have been with us on this crazy journey from the very beginning.

Michael Shannon and Michael K. Williams have both given tour de force performances on this show since the very first episode. The two 'Michaels', as you have it, are some of BOARDWALK's most talented artists and deliver the most riveting performances as Nelson Van Alden and Chalky White, respectively. To see them go brings a sad feeling of emptiness to most BOARDWALK fans who were captivated by Chalky's silent ferocity and Van Alden's ticking time bomb of a mind. Shannon and Williams will be missed as we proceed to the end of this show, but they certainly went out on performances that reminded us why we loved them so much. It does however bring the main character count down a great deal and as well as the very few characters left I felt invested in. If this is BOARDWALK's way of trying to get me to care more about Nucky Thompson by killing off everyone else, I'm sorry to report to them that it is not working, I still hate him.

We opened up this episode right where we ended the last, Chalky entering Narcisse's brothel and finding Daughter Maitland and a little girl asleep on the couch. Even though Daughter urges Chalky to leave while he still can, he refuses and waits with her until Narcisse arrives. Chalky asks her though whose child the girl is and she tells him she's not Narcisse's. "Then whose?" Chalky questions, expecting the answer we all were. "Just mine," Daughter responds.

I really loved that exchange because in a world where a woman doesn't have very much, and a single, unmarried mother is quite taboo, Daughter makes sure to assert that the child is only hers and it does not matter who the father is. She lets Chalky know that even if he's the father, which we all know is and he does as well, it doesn't matter because this one little thing is hers and no one can take that from her or claim it as their own. This little girl who she raised on her own and made a life for, no matter how hard it was, is just her's and she wants to keep it that way to protect her from the evils the men in this world can do. Daughter knows as well as anyone how cruel and viscous men can be and she'll do anything to shield her little girl from that and from men like Narcisse and even Chalky, who bring danger with every touch.

When Narcisse arrives and finds not only Daughter Maitland, but Chalky White with a gun, he holds his bodyguards off, enters the room, unarmed, and closes the door behind him. We find out Daughter came to Narcisse because she recorded a record with her own money, but no one will play it or hire her because of him. We learn earlier, from her conversation with Chalky, that she now makes money by cleaning toilets for a white man. She begs Narcisse, on her knees, to set her free. In this horrible, warped, image, we see the abused cowering at the feet of the abuser, begging to be let go of the bind he has on her. It's a haunting image and it haunts Chalky as he stares at the scene. He tells Narcisse to play the record, and we're flooded with Daughter's haunting rendition of "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Chalky is overcome with emotion hearing the record. "I didn't even remember what you sound like," Chalky told her earlier in the episode, recounting how much she meant to him. Hearing her voice once more, he makes his decision. He agrees, knowing he's walking to his death, to help Narcisse, in exchange for Daughter's "freedom" in a sense. Narcisse promises that he will get her booked by tomorrow if Chalky agrees with the deal to "work" for him. Chalky sacrifices his revenge for the death of one of his daughter's, to save the life of two of his other's.

When he see's Narcisse off in the alleyway, knowing full well what is about to come to him, he sends him off with one last jab. "Ain't nobody ever been free." he tells him, and it is true. Narcisse, always championing "Lybian" freedom and power to the extreme, pitting himself against Chalky to do so, is now the opposite of free. He's at the mercy of not only the FBI, but also men like Luciano and Lanksy.

In an almost euphoric moment, Chalky stands up straight against Narcisse's hired guns, closes his eyes, hear's Daughter's voice once more, and smiles, perhaps finally finding some semblance of peace in death.

Nelson Van Alden's death was more or less how you thought a character like him would go. After the mission with Eli for the Feds goes horribly wrong, he's forced to sit in front of Capone, once again with a gun to his head, and explain himself. This time however, he finally snaps and we see the old Van Alden once again, as he knocks Capone's gun away, chokes him on his desk and yells, "I am Nelson Kasper Van Alden! I am a sworn agent of the United States Treasury, and I swear by Jesus our Lord, justice will rain down upon you if it is my last--" as he is shot down by undercover agent D'Angelo, to protect his cover. However sad it was to see Michael Shannon's brilliant portrayal of Van Alden go, it was kind of great to see him go as the Van Alden we knew in season one, the Van Alden we knew was bubbling in there, deep down, ready to burst at any moment.

Luckily, Eli gets off, if you can call that lucky, as he's handed to D'Angelo to take care of, along with Capone's ledgers (Van Alden did have a hand in bringing him down after all!) to be taken to Cicero for safety. D'Angelo throws Eli money to get a bus, but where can he really go. His wife is disgusted with him, as is his son. His life really is a 'shipwreck'.

We of course got our share of flashback's this episode, once again with a stunningly accurate portrayal of young Nucky by Marc Pickering, as well as the actor who plays a young Eli Thompson! We also get to see that his wife,Mabel, is indeed pregnant, and that he will do anything to get ahead for them. That anything, we know, will be his darkest moment when he eventually gives Gillian over to the Commodore. The groundwork is all laid for that event, as we see in a nauseatingly horrifying scene where Nucky looks over and sees the Commodore bringing a very young girl into his home as her mother waits out side, looking terrified. To see this clear representation of the Commodore's pedophilia is quite sickening, and as a viewer, we know what effects such disgusting acts have in these poor children's futures.

Young Nucky is told by a store clerk to catch a young little thief who has been rummaging around Atlantic City and when Nucky see's the thief selling the stolen goods on the boardwalk, he runs after him, only to discover his hiding spot. When him and Eli stake out there later, they catch the thief who is revealed not to be a boy, but to be a young Gillian. This sad image of a young, roughed up Gillian forced to steal to get by puts the future circumstances in appallingly upsetting context, as Gillian was always given the short stick in life.

We also see Gillian attempt to use a fake name when Nucky asks her, claiming to be Nellie Bly, author of a book she stole, and name written on that letter to Nucky a few episodes back. This connection and fascination with Nellie Bly on the part of Gillian is incredibly fascinating and symbolic as Nellie not only wrote an report, exposing the poor conditions at an insane asylum, after faking insanity to see the facility from within it's walls, but also set a world record traveling the world in 72 days. For Gillian to associate with such a woman, who represents everything Gillian never had because it was taken from her, is so poignant.

Also in an episode, where we see Nucky come face to face with possible regret for what he did to that little girl, we are given quite an extensive look at someone who appears to be a new character, young Joe Harper, who works for Nucky. Joe finds Nucky drunk and passed out, coming out of a flashback between his first meeting with young Gillian, yelling "Why would you trust me?". This apparent regret beginning to boil within Nucky, for his original sin, is timed perfectly with the arrival of said "new" character, who I, and many fans, don't believe to be so new. The writers couldn't have dropped enough hints this episode. I believe this young boy is Tommy Darmody, all grown up and how right it would be to have him wake Nucky from his stupor as he yells his regretful anger about his actions ruining Gillian, the boy's grandmother. I truly think this young boy is Tommy, as they wouldn't put such a focus on a new, random, pointless character so late in the game if he didn't have real significance, and how right would it be if Tommy Darmody's first kill was Nucky, whose first kill was his father?

Things are heating up as we make our way to the penultimate episode of the final season of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, which is sure to go out with guns ablaze! Check out a preview of next week's episode, then share your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo Credit: HBO

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