dex14

8 episode final season.

Decker

Looking forward to this!

bluetoast

Pretty excited for what's next.

MrX

Good start. I liked the flashbacks more than 1931 Nucky.

Looking forward to New York. Nice touch giving Luciano the scar and droopy eye.

JasonF

I'm a little disappointed that they skipped over the Castellamarese War and jumped right to Joe Masseria's assassination, but I guess there's only so much you can fit into 56 hours (?) of TV.

I did like the flashbacks to Nucky's youth. The guy they got to play the Commodore looks and sounds a lot like a young Dabney Coleman, so good casting for sure.

The Cuba stuff reminded me of Godfather II (well, Godfather II meets Reservoir Dogs).

Neil M.

At this point, I'm just anxious to see if they can create a satisfying ending. Margaret dying in a hail of gunfire would be magnificent.

stopgap

Yeah, that caused me to 'lol'.

Decker

I didn't like the flashbacks. Showed stuff they'd already talked about - don't need to see child abuse to know it took place. We saw Nucky work through his Daddy issues during the previous seasons, so why rehash them?

Was wondering about that. Something with real Lucky, I assume.
Also was wondering if that Don in the NY scene was the real-life model for The Godfather. I got that sort of a vibe.

I liked the Cuba stuff. It's one of the interesting locations to set this world in since we know so little about it. I assume Meyer ordered a hit on Nucky to keep him from Bacardi. Is that what we're supposed to be thinking?

There's no Inside the Episode for this episode -- at least not yet on HBO Go. I really like watching those after the episode is finished and am disappointed that I can't tonight.
edit : Here it is. Don't know why it's on You Tube but not HBO Go, but whatever.
Contains episode 5.1 spoilers *duh*
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xGHxVCUa3dw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Jackskeleton

Such a disappointment that we had such a huge time jump and Michael Stuhlbarg is out of the picture. He was a great part of this show and that was no way for his character to just get knocked off with some off hand remark.

Also, no Chicago with only 8 episodes this season? That's such a waste of time.

majorjoe23

Lucky sharing blood with everyone in the Mafia seems like a good way for everyone to get hepatitis.

CPA-ESQ.

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

What a waste of an episode. Is it necessary to waste so much time showing how Nucky got started in AC, his family life, his dying sister? Oh, and don't get me started on a whole bunch of time wasted on Margret in that brokerage house.

With only 7 episodes left and so much in Chicago and NY why not focus on that.

Bill Needle

Have to agree. Not a bad episode per se, except when taken in light of the fact that so few episodes remain.

Such a tease when Margaret's boss ended up shooting himself.

andicus

That's exactly what I thought. Was smart of the first guy to get in right away before half the room had contributed their potentially tainted blood.

I enjoyed the episode, and the flashbacks.

Although, I was disappointed that Rothstein's death was barely mentioned.

Neil M.

The point of the show has always been focused on Nucky. Chicago probably wouldn't have even been in this season had they not put Eli and Van Alden there.

Decker

Agreed. Don't see why we have to get a Nucky origin story since we already knew it anywayAndy Greenwald wrote a piece for Grantland and describes a lot of heavy lifting involved in getting everyone back together. He describes the mechanizations involved in bringing Margret back into the fold as "ingenious", so I'm willing to ride it out a bit and see where it leads.
A little Capone goes a long way and Val Alden's character has been off the rails for years. I'm okay with an episode or two without Chicago. Just like GoT will go an episode or two without an Arya or Bram story.

What really hit me last night was that with Jack Huston's Richard Harrow gone, there really isn't anyone to root for. It's like the show not only lacks an emotional center, it even lacks an emotional periphery. Maybe that's why they're doing the flashbacks? My 13 year-old daughter came in while I was watching the show last night and asked me what it was about. I tried to give a rough sketch of the story. She asked me "So is Nucky an anti-hero?" I thought it was an interesting question. I told her the writers probably want him to be, but unlike Tony Soprano, Walter White or Don Draper, I don't think the audience has any rooting interest in Nucky. What would be the ideal ending for this show? Are you guys rooting for anyone any more?

bluetoast

Not a fan of Patricia Arquette on this show, but seeing Cuba was nice. Add me to the list of people disappointed we didn't get to see Chicago.

zuffy

I agreed, flashback of Nucky was boring. What a waste of precious time that could've be used better.

Coral

I also agree that too much time was given to the flashback scenes. The trailer warned us we'd be seeing some sort of flashback to Nucky's youth - but I didn't expect it to be so much. Hopefully they don't continue that in future episodes.

Glad I don't have to listen to Joe Masseria's horrible accent anymore.

Kind of slow going for me. Hope it picks up.

7 more episodes to go.

johnnysd

Seems that in the end Nucky just won't be powerful or fast enough to keep up with the big boys.

JTH182

I'm so horrible at understanding people with accents that I feel like I need captions on with this show. I think I missed half of what was said.

Neil M.

The flashbacks are continuing for what I assume is the rest of the season.

Decker

Yeah, that's a plus. He always reminded me of this guy

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dv8tVxk6Nj4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

bootsy

slop101

Yeah, the flashbacks were redundant and unnecessary as they revealed nothing we didn't already know, and with an abbreviated final season, it was a straight up waste of time. Everything else was great though, but I'm getting a little tired of Michale K. Williams' perpetual sourpuss.

slop101

BTW, what year are they up to now - is the prohibition almost over, or still just a few years into it?