Boardwalk Empire Review: “Cuanto” (5×04)

“How much?” is a question asked regularly by this show. . How much is enough? How much of yourself will you give up? How much that you love will you sacrifice, and to what end? So far, Boardwalk Empire's answer to this question is two-fold: eventually you will lose everything, and your loss will be in vain. This week's episode paints a bleaker picture than usual. In his youth, Nucky is released from work by the Commodore at summer's end; unable to bear the thought of returning to school, and to his life, Nucky ends up sneaking back into the mansion with little Eli, showing him the Commodore's various wonders, including a fully functioning toilet. Nucky is caught, of course, by Sheriff Lindsey, but, in the first suggestion of a talent we'll watch him exercise later in life, he parlays this into a new “job” as deputy sheriff.

The story of Nucky's youth feels particularly Dickensian this week, telling of a downtrodden, poor young man, who makes a promise to himself and to his brother to one day pull himself out of poverty, to make something out of himself. (You might even say “to leave something behind,” if you were feeling particularly cheeky.) But the flashbacks this week intrude in a way that they did not last week. They don't feel like they are particularly informative; in fact, they feel obvious, on the nose. Once again, they are providing information we already knew about Nucky. There are some great beats that arise from the flashbacks this week—for instance, juxtaposing young Nucky's protectiveness over Eli to the brief, clipped conversation on the phone in the present—but nothing that justifies the great amount of time spent on them this week.

Sluggish pacing has always been an issue with this show, and even this truncated season is no exception. Here, at the end of episode four, the death of Sally Wheat finally indicates that the season might be done drawing its breath, and is now at long last ready to begin the sprint to the finish. But that's just one portion of what's become a sprawling story. “Cuanto” does push Van Alden to a similar point, as the truth of his identity is now out, the hammer poised to fall at any moment. But with other characters entirely absent, one wonders when the show is going to begin telling stories with them, and not merely playing catch-up with the viewer.

With all of that said, there is very much to enjoy this episode, but much of it is atmospheric, or performative, rather than narrative. Everything with Capone draws a giant line under character traits we've already become well acquainted with. Al Capone is a bona fide psychopath, and its his lack of control that will eventually give Luciano the upper hand. The show has great fun with these scenes, though, as does Stephen Graham. The newsreel clip especially is a neat way of briefly recapping Capone's historical rise to fame.

Margaret Schroeder is more entertaining and interesting in this episode than she has been in a long time. She waltzes back into Nucky's life with one hell of a complication, especially as Nucky endeavors to go legit. Their relationship was never simple, but now has taken on a new level of criminality. They spend much of the episode just talking over a boozy lunch, and it is magnetic. This new arrangement between them is a shot in the arm for a relationship that had grown stagnant in terms of its importance to the show. Kelly Macdonald plays Margaret's ambivalence really well, and with verve and a sense of fun to boot. Her chemistry with Steve Buscemi is palpable, as well. Margaret and Nucky sit there, feeling each other out, testing how far they can push back, wondering how far apart they've really grown.

The pieces are slowly—slowly—moving into place. While that happens, the show remains often captivating and occasionally fascinating. But the sluggish crawl of the season arc is too much for “Cuanto” to bear, especially with respect to the flashbacks, and we end up with an episode that feels longer or bloated than it should. The moments of excitement or genuine tension are swallowed up by the tedium elsewhere. “Cuanto” is almost certainly a turning point, though, and where we go from here will ultimately determine Boardwalk's legacy.

Stray Observations

– The scene where Capone interrogates Van Alden is an example of that genuine tension. With the show coming to an end, there is no reason at all that Capone wouldn't splatter Van Alden across the wall, and the show plays that uncertainty for all that it's worth.

– The chain of lackeys handling Capone's Empire State Building statue is hilarious. The statue itself was marked for its violent end the moment it appeared on screen.