BWW Recap: 'The Past is Past' on BOARDWALK EMPIRE's Series Finale

Here we are, at the end. It's a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to a show as brilliant as BOARDWALK, but it must be done. So raise your glasses "to the lost" one last time, waving off an exceptionally superb show that we loved with all our hearts!

This ultimate episode, entitled "Eldorado", meaning a land of wealth and opportunity, opened in a parallel scene to what we are used to seeing in our opening credits. Nucky, on the shores of Atlantic City. It's different this time however. It's darker, Nucky removes all of his items of wealth and stature, and dives head first into the raging tides of the water, a truly incredibly metaphor for the door to Hell and darkness Nucky walked through and never came back out of.

I can't tell if this episode was truly great or miraculous in any way, but it felt quite satisfying in a sense and I really enjoyed the small moments of character we were given.

With his ledgers in the hands of the Feds, Capone faces prison for Tax Evasion and although he acts tough for his men, his brother, and his wife, he can't help but worry. He knows this isn't going to end well and in, perhaps, one of the most incredible and heartbreaking moments of BOARDWALK history, Al Capone and his son share a sweetly tender moment. We've seen the big Al Capone, the famous Al Capone, a lot this season. The Capone with the loud voice, jokes, and a love for fame and violence. We haven't, however, gotten to see the person Capone is behind those doors. The person he is when his persona is turned off. In fact, the last time I remember seeing Capone this way was back when Jimmy Darmody was still on the show and we saw those warm moments of him with his family and with his guard down. We once again saw that man tonight and saw Al Capone, the father. If Capone loves one thing more than anyone else, it's his son and he tried to build a legacy for him, no matter what it took. To see him break down, telling his son that he might have to go away for what he's done, really tugged at my heart and it's great to see this real duality in Capone's character that I felt was present when we first began the show. It was also really beautiful to see his family once again as we wrapped his storyline up and said goodbye to a BOARDWALK favorite, and brilliant performance by Stephen Graham.

Of course, we couldn't leave the last episode without returning to our new big boys in town, the New York gang. In a truly tour de force performance by Vincent Piazza as Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano, we see the slight hesitance and nerves that come with being in charge. Now that they've got there, they've got to figure out what to do with it and in a truly illustrious moment, Luciano let's everyone know the game is changed. They're not going to handle things like they used to be handled in the past. No more petty battles, no more necessary spilt blood. A real unity finally forming and filling in the cracks that took out the old. It's truly a great moment. The "new vs. old" theme has been long running on BOARDWALK, and is perhaps one of the most prominent themes of the show, and in this case, the "new" really learned from the mistakes of the "old". "The old way of doing things, it's over" Luciano declares. He incites a much more progressive, opened way of running things and it is this change of mind, this change of understanding of the game, that propelled Luciano, Lansky and Seigel to the top of the game, becoming the notorious gangsters we know them to be.

Margaret, lovely lovely Margaret. She absolutely killed it in the game that is stocks for Kennedy and Nucky and with another great performance by Kelly Macdonald, Margaret reminded me why she's my favorite, as she uttered the line "think about the thing you want in life, and then picture yourself in a dress" when he made a comment on the women's mind. All I can say is thank you Margaret Thompson. Thank you for existing.

The most prominent part of the episode, however, was of course focused on our protagonist, Nucky Thompson, and rightly so. I use the word protagonist very lightly because it also seems that he's quite the antagonist in a sense. As we've been building up to in the past few episodes, the moment where Nucky hands Gillian over to the Commodore is finally revealed. Plagued by a physical fight with his father and the loss of his future child, Nucky walks into the parade atmosphere of the day out of it and unhappy. When he spots a young Gillian in the parade, it almost seems as if he is finally cracking his shell and is willing to help this girl in need. Then, the Commodore fires him on the spot, or at least Nucky thinks he does. Then, as Nucky steps down from the podium, he finds out that he in fact, promoted, and the Commodre is in need of him to perform a "special task". That task, of course, is handing Gillian over to him. Granted, I understand Nucky was almost broken before he got the "promotion", fearing he lost everything he worked so hard for (his job, income, baby, family), but what he does next is perhaps the most despicable, nauseating thing I've ever seen.

"I promise I'll always look after you" Nucky tells Gillian, in order to coerce her to go see the Commodore. To know what happens next, to know what horrors await her and to see him promise her the exact opposite of the Hell he is about to force her into is horrifying and appalling. As he extends his hand, you truly see that this man is irredeemable now. He had crossed the threshold to Hell and can never come back. To do this to a such a young girl, and one that he knew terrifies me. Here's this young girl, who he knew had such hardships and had been mistreated so much in life, who only wishes to travel the world like Nellie Bly and have a chance at joy and a life, and he snatches that from her. She confides in him and she trusts him and he sends her into the situation that ultimately ruins her and breaks her. Seeing that false promise uttered from his lips is just so vile because we know all too well what the real meaning behind those lies mean, as we see a young Gillian for the last time, extending her hand in the hope of life, only to be brought to her metaphorical death. Nucky ruined this girl, he broke her, he stole any shred of childhood she had left in her.

When we see him visiting Gillian in her insane asylum, he goes on and on about how he will not help her more than he already has, he will not get on his hands and knees for her and that " the past is past". To see him, even then, even after seeing, perhaps for the first time, the true affects his life has had on her, still refuse to extend out that hand she so desperately needs which he falsely presented her with before. In this moment, I knew I truly hated Nucky Thompson and I found it so incredibly interesting that BOARDWALK embraced that as well.

Last but not least, we also have another remnant of something, or should I say someone, Nucky has ruined and broken. Remember that boy Joe Harper? The one we all thought was Tommy Darmody? Turns out we all were right! I can't say I'm surprised. I'm more saddened to see all Richard and Jimmy did to save Tommy from living a life like this was all in vein. Tommy ended up extremely broken and extremely destroyed. Nucky ruined Tommy, just as he ruined Gillian. He took from him his father, his grandmother. He's responsible for all the dysfunction in Tommy's life and to see that echoed in older Tommy's grief and anger as he goes up to Nucky on the Boardwalk, gun in hand, revealing his identity. In a satisfying, parallel shot under the eye, just as the one Nucky dealt his father, Tommy inevitably follows his through line and we see the true effects Nucky has had on people after he became a man too far gone. Nucky's past catches up with him, as you can never evade your past, and rightly so in the bittersweet form of Tommy Darmody.

So I think it's safe to say Boardwalk sent us off with a great, epic finale, with the most incredible performances. TO THE LOST! I will truly miss this show.

Let us know what you thought of the finale in the comments below, or you can let me know on Twitter @xjessiexx.

Photo Credit: HBO

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