Line #27 YMMV/BoardwalkEmpire


1	* AlasPoorScrappy:
2	** Not many audience members were big fans of Angela, Jimmy's wife, but even the most ardent members of the character's hatedom were shaken by [[spoiler: her brutal death at the hands of Manny at the end of "Georgia Peaches".]]
3	** [[spoiler:Billie Kent]]. Some saw her as a ReplacementScrappy for Lucy, while others didn't like her to begin with. But almost everyone was shocked when she [[spoiler:was caught in the explosion at Nucky's restaurant [[ADeathInTheLimelight right when we were getting to know more about her personal life]]]].
4	** A non-fatal example with Gillian. She crossed the MoralEventHorizon more than once, but even her biggest detractors were misty-eyed in the series finale where [[spoiler:she went through a painful surgery, lost her mind completely, and is unaware that [[FateWorseThanDeath she'll be spending a majority of her life locked away in an asylum]]]].
5	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
6	** One with a generous dose of FridgeHorror: could Margaret's son Teddy be a budding [[TheSociopath sociopath]]? Mention is made of his bed-wetting and [[{{pyromaniac}} pyromania]], which are both considered key indicators of the condition in children. Furthermore, considering that he's probably mature enough to understand human mortality and the fear that comes with it, it could be seen as quite a KickTheDog moment when he taunts his mother by [[spoiler:pretending that his legs have stopped moving, suggesting that he's caught polio from his sister.]]
7	** The episode where he chased his little sister around with a hammer, and that serial killers have often had some form of traumatic childhood... in this case, an unstable, violent alcoholic who routinely beat his wife in full view of the children.
8	** Was Roger Mccallister a genuine good guy that had the misfortune of running into [[FemmeFatale Gillian]], or was he planning to con her out of her money? Both?
9	** Was Margaret really in love with Owen at some point or was it just sexual attraction? This same question can also be asked of Owen here.
10	** Even though Luann Pratt confesses to be behind the Commodore's poisoning, there are a number of people who think that the real poisoner was Gillian and that Luann was bought into covering for her.
11	* AluminiumChristmasTrees:
12	** Esther Randolph is a high-ranking district attorney serving just a year after women gained the right to vote. The character seems pretty fantastical, but she is based on a real person, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Walker_Willebrandt Mabel Walker Willebrandt]], the "first lady of law."
13	** In season 5 [[spoiler:Gillian]] ends up in an insane asylum run by a certain Dr. Cotton, who believes that insanity can be cured by removing the patients' teeth or certain internal organs. Sounds fantastic? Dr. Cotton [[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/books/review/29MCGRATH.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& was a real person, and that's exactly what he did]].
14	** The weird scene in series finale "Eldorado" in which a young lady barker lures Nucky into a mysterious booth to show him "the future", revealing herself singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on a crude TV set, might strike viewers as bizarre Creator/DavidLynch-ian craziness. Well, it is David Lynch-ian craziness, but experimental television was a thing in 1931. The first experimental broadcasts had been made in 1927, and by 1931 the new technology was occasionally being shown to the public. TheGreatDepression and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII delayed television's coming-out party for several years.
15	* AngstWhatAngst: Emily catches polio in the second season and is a source of great angst for the main couple. O'Neill mentions that his daughter has polio in the first season... and that's about it.
16	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
17	** But the opening theme, "Straight Up and Down" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre stands out in spite of its anachronism.
18	** "Carrickfergus" over the final scenes in "Nights in Ballygran", as sung by Loudon Wainwright III.
19	** "Life's a Very Funny Proposition" (sung by Stephen [=DeRosa=] as Eddie Cantor) in "A Return to Normalcy".
20	** "My Buddy" sung by Stephen Graham (and Henry Burr) at the end of "Blue Bell Boy."
21	** "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" by Lois Deppe and Earl Hines at the start of "Sunday Best."
22	** While [[OneSceneWonder Kathy Brier]] did not return as Sophie Tucker for seasons 2 and 3, she did sing the songs in the montage opening each season: Irving Berlin's "After You Get What You Want (You Don't Want It)" and Billy Higgins' "There'll Be Some Changes Made".
23	** Stephen [=DeRosa=] and Meg Chambers Steedle's rendition of "Old King Tut".
24	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
25	** Gyp's VillainousBreakdown in the aftermath of defeat, which involves [[spoiler: impersonating Nucky and singing the "Barney Google" song loudly while taking a piss... and then being knifed to death by Tonino mid-song.]]
26	** In Season 4, Eddie gives a hyperbolic speech in support of Nucky, essentially claiming that Nucky is God. Since they aren't on the best terms at that time, it's likely meant to be a sarcastic jab at Nucky's overconfidence, but it's still a bizarre scene that comes completely out of nowhere and is never commentend on afterwards.
27	---> '''Eddie:''' Mr Thompson is part of everything. He is in the sky and sea. He is in the dreams of children at night. He is all that there is, forever.
28	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
29	** Jimmy Darmody is either one of the most interesting and compelling characters on the show or he's poorly written and dull. Those who find him interesting are divided in turn over if he is an AntiHero or an outright Villain. And then there are the fangirls who [[DracoInLeatherPants drool over him no matter what he does]].
30	** "Under God's Power She Flourishes" split the fanbase for Gillian; either you think she's a heinous, abusive bitch who ruined her son's life at least twice by exploiting him, or you feel bad for her for continuing the cycle of abuse she herself experienced.
31	* BrokenBase:
32	** After the Season 2 finale, there was a split between those who thought that [[spoiler: Jimmy's death]] ruined the show and it isn't the same without him and those who thought that this was when the show solidified itself as having guts and capitalized on the potential it showed in the first season.
33	** In a similar manner, Season 4 in general and the final episode in particular were ''extremely'' controversial for killing off [[spoiler:Eddie Kessler]] and [[spoiler:Richard Harrow]], two of the show's most beloved characters, in what many viewers perceived as an undeserved and unnecessarily cruel manner.
34	** [[spoiler: Joe Harper turning out to be Tommy Darmody and murdering Nucky]] in the finale is seen either horribly contrived and hokey, a poetic and fitting way to end the show or a little bit of both.
35	* CatharsisFactor:
36	** For certain people, [[spoiler:Gillian's]] HumiliationConga at the end of Season 4 given the character’s role in previous seasons as a total loon, despite what was clearly a reasonable FreudianExcuse.
37	** [[spoiler:Eli beating Tolliver/Knox to death]] given how much of a smug prick the latter was.
38	* CompleteMonster: Season 3: While other gangsters have shown shades of ruthlessness and callousness, [[AxCrazy Giuseppe Colombano "Gyp" Rosetti]] is an absolute lunatic of a mob boss who eclipses Nucky Thompson and any other gangster on the show for sheer, senseless and brutal violence. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Introduced beating a man to death]] after the man fixed his car but [[HairTriggerTemper made an offhand comment Rosetti interpreted as condescending]], Rosetti soon all but declares war on Nucky and sadistically burns a man to death later after dousing him in gasoline. In an attempt on his life, Rosetti uses the waitress he was sleeping with as a HumanShield and soon beats a priest to rob his church. In a botched assassination attempt on Nucky, Rosetti [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill bombs a restaurant]] on the Atlantic City boardwalk which Nucky frequents. Dozens of people are killed along with Nucky's mistress, which Rosetti taunts him with over the phone. When one of his men makes a comment indicating he [[DisproportionateRetribution knows more about nautical terms than Rosetti, Rosetti buries him up to his neck in the sand for the tide]], but shows “mercy” when his bodyguard begs him to, as the buried man is said bodyguard's own cousin, by [[BaitTheDog taking the shovel, walking to the man and then smashing his skull in with it]].
39	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
40	** Gyp Rosetti going berserk is not played for comedic sociopathy, but sometimes his reactions and his mental process are so absurd that it can't be [[{{NarmCharm}} taken seriously]] at 100% either, and then again the guy has his LaughablyEvil moments.
41	** In-universe, Jimmy can only make a WTF? face and laugh when the still recovering Commodore sarcastically commands him to "show 'em your cunt... lift up your dress, let yourself be fucked" in response to Jimmy's poor handling of a strike engineered by Nucky.
42	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
43	** Richard Harrow, the disfigured World War One vet who Jimmy befriends late in season one. Both the IronWoobie and HandicappedBadass, he's beloved by fans for his complex and intriguing personality, his sweet relationships with Jimmy, Tommy, and Julia, and for being a complete OneManArmy badass.
44	** Both Babette and Odette (the prostitute Richard Harrow loses his virginity to) have a surprising number of followers, despite being extremely minor, OutOfFocus characters.
45	** Joe "The Boss" Masseria has a lot of fans too, in part because of the research that went into Ivo Nandi's depiction (i.e, speaking the genuine Sicilian dialect), and in part because in comparison to [[SurroundedByIdiots colleagues]] like [[AxCrazy Gyp Rosetti]], he has his head on straight, which actually makes him a more dangerous foe.
46	** Eddie Kessler, Nucky's [[TheFunnyGuy bumbling manservant]]. Of the main characters, he is the most OutOfFocus (except maybe Doyle), but ''unlike'' Doyle, most viewers love him. [[spoiler: And shed ManlyTears after his death in "Erlkönig".]]
47	* EvilIsCool: Nearly all of the gangsters in the series are [[BadassInANiceSuit well-dressed]], eloquent/witty, and badasses.
48	* FriendlyFandoms: With Series/PeakyBlinders, due to similar themes of the rise of organized crime in a country still recovering from [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI World War 1]].
49	* GrowingTheBeard: Season One had a somewhat mixed reception, but the show's reputation and quality climbed steadily from there. In particular:
50	** The final three episodes of season two. Killing off ''three'' main characters in [[spoiler: Angela, the Commodore, and Jimmy]], depicting [[spoiler: Parental Incest]] on television, and having one of those deaths be of [[spoiler: Jimmy, who is arguably a protagonist]] was fairly brave.
51	** Season 4 is also argued by many critics as seeing the show reach another level and has gotten much more notice than prior seasons.
52	* HarsherInHindsight:
53	** Watching Nucky's father withering from dementia in Season 2 can be heartbreaking when you consider that Tom Aldredge died in mid-2011 and this was, in fact, his last role.
54	** Gillian's intentions of raising Tommy herself, as [[spoiler: she may be planning to be more than a surrogate mama.]]
55	** This exchange between Nucky and Jimmy in the pilot:
56	--->'''Nucky''': [[spoiler:I could have you killed.]]
57	--->'''Jimmy''': [[spoiler:Yeah, but you won't. (...) You can't be half a gangster, Nucky. Not anymore.]]
58	*** [[spoiler:Note that Jimmy is actually right about this. Nucky doesn't have him killed, he does it himself.]]
59	** Atlantic City, along with the rest of the Jersey shore, was nearly wiped out by Hurricane Sandy halfway through the third season's airing.
60	** "I will protect this with my life..."
61	** The meeting between Richard and Chalky in "White Horse Pike" initially seemed like a tease to two fan favorites teaming up together. Not to mention the revelation that Chalky considered Richard his friend, and vice versa.
62	** Eddie Cantor's comment to Billie Kent, when he asks what she knows about Lucy. "The next one won't know a goddamn thing about you either." [[spoiler:Indeed, even Nucky himself, traumatized as he was by Billie's death, got over her pretty quickly when he moved on to Sally.]]
63	** The departure of Paz de la Huerta as Lucy Danziger from the series. Viewers grew to despise the character, and the actress by extension, so it was felt at that time the departure was inevitable. Later reports emerged that de la Huerta might have been one of the many actresses victimized by [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]].
64	** Nucky's comment about Margaret naming her son Enoch after him seems humorous at first but becomes a lot harsher at the end of the first season when we find out the full story.
65	* HilariousInHindsight:
66	** Van Alden refers to Atlantic City as the remnants of a great metropolis becomes funny considering Michael Shannon's next [[Film/ManOfSteel big role]].
67	** Shea Whigam's very next role after the show ended is a completely straight-laced law enforcement figure in ''Series/AgentCarter''. And one of his men is named Thompson. He later become known as a straight-laced county sheriff in ''Series/FargoSeasonThree''.
68	** For seasons 2 and 3, Creator/CharlieCox plays Owen Sleater, an IRA hitman and fighter in his own right. He's killed when he tries to carry out a hit on Joe Masseria. Years later, he went on to play Matt Murdock in ''Series/Daredevil2015'', who has a lot better success in bringing down Wilson Fisk. The Irish accent Cox used to play Owen is not too far removed from the New York accent he used as Matt.
69	** In season 3, there's a scene where Nucky, Owen and Roland Smith have to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJhugK2fhJs hide from crooked Prohibition agents]] in the cellar of a stashhouse, and they narrowly avoid being detected by agents who search said cellar. This would not be the last time a character played by Charlie Cox would do this, since in ''Daredevil'' season 3, Matt and Karen Page have a similar near-miss while hiding in a church basement from corrupt FBI agents working for Wilson Fisk.
70	** On the subject of the MCU, Erik [=LaRay=] Harvey's role as Dunn Purnsley has many shades of his future role in ''Series/LukeCage2016'' as Diamondback.
71	** After playing the horribly disfigured Richard Harrow, in ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudiceAndZombies'' Jack Huston played [[spoiler:one of the few zombies whose face isn't damaged at all.]]
72	** At the time the series was made, the historians consensus was that UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding had no children, and that his mistress's claims that he was the father of her child was part of her delusion, but the show portrayed Harding's paternity as real for the sake of drama. In 2015, a DNA test found a match between descendants of Britton's daughter and members of the Harding family... evidencing that Britton, and the show by extension, were ''correct.''
73	* HoYay: A rather surprising amount of it.
74	** Richard and Jimmy--they start out sharing a HeldGaze in the hospital, and then Jimmy brings him along to Atlantic City and bargains with Nucky to get him a job, defending him whenever someone makes a comment about his appearance. Richard, in turn, who has no personal stake in any of the Nucky/Rothstein/D'Alessio madness, immediately starts [[HitmanWithAHeart offering to help Jimmy by offing people left and right]]. ...OK, so it's [[{{Angst}} dark]], but there's something very sweet about the two shell-shocked veterans bonding that way.
75	*** "What Does the Bee Do" has Angela getting in on the bromance and admitting they're good for each other. And "Gimcrack and Bunkum" made their bond pretty apparent:
76	--->'''Richard''': Would you fight for me?
77	--->'''Jimmy''': Of course I would. Right down to the last bullet.
78	*** How does Jimmy decide to spend his last night on Earth? Laughing and drinking with Richard.
79	*** One could easily see that Jimmy shares a more intimate bond with Richard than he does with Angela, his own wife. The scene at Babette's where he tells Richard that they ''both'' did it can be seen as Jimmy seeking approval from Richard.
80	** There's also Jimmy and Al Capone, going back to the pilot. They bond over being the low men on the totem pole, then rise through the ranks together. By the time Al drops by Jimmy's house in Jersey in "A Dangerous Maid", playing with Tommy and speaking Italian with Angela, he comes off as Jimmy's ex, complete with tension with Richard.
81	*** There's a part where Al acknowledges their relationship might be "a little fruity" while they're both shopping for suits
82	** All of Team New York are basically married to each other. There's all of Luciano and Rothstein's interactions in Season 1, with Rothstein treating Luciano like a very well-kept pet. He dresses him, teaches him how to speak, and when Luciano does something wrong, Rothstein's there with a quiet "Charlie, no" and a restraining hand. Lansky and Luciano take over the HoYay in Season 2, rarely out of each other's company and always acting as a unit.
83	*** "Some things, Charlie, you just have to swallow."
84	*** Hell, in Luciano's and Lansky's first scene together, Luciano acts incredibly defensive when the D'Alessio brothers use an ethnic slur against Lansky.
85	*** This goes even further in season 3, where they act like Benny Siegel's doting parents. A scene of them sending him out to make a heroin deal plays more like it's his first day of school.
86	*** Luciano comments on Meyer's beautiful face. What's even better is that he says it in ''Yiddish''.
87	*** When Masseria makes a remark how Jews have sex through a sheet and therefore a joyless bunch, Luciano asserts otherwise; specifically that Meyer does it like a sailor on shore leave. It's not clear exactly ''how'' Luciano knows that.
88	*** In "Two Imposters", Meyer [[IndirectKiss lights his cigarette with Lucky's]].
89	*** And Lucky says that Meyer hurts his head. The way he says it can be mistaken for 'heart' very easily too.
90	*** And [[spoiler: after selling him out to Masseria]] in "Margate Sands", Rothstein muses sadly over Lucky's ongoing impetuousness and pleads to Meyer that he "understand".
91	*** In Season 5's episode "Friendless Child", [[spoiler: Lucky and Lansky disbelieving Benny's story about being kidnapped and demanding him to come back to New York seems like 2 parents scolding a child for playing hooky.]]
92	*** Between the physical contact, faux paternalism, and particular focus on Jews as both traitorous and 'passionless,' Masseria's persistent attempts to get Lucky on his side have an almost predatory subtext.
93	*** The brief exchange between the four [=NYC=] gangsters in "New York Sour" has a lot of HoYay for such a short scene.
94	*** In "All In", Nucky tells Meyer to talk about himself. Meyer starts with his partnership with Lucky; when Nucky says that he wants to know what kind of man Meyer is, Meyer ends up talking about how he and Lucky met.
95	*** Lucky and Meyer's argument in "The North Star" plays like a break-up scene, complete with Lucky storming out and Meyer left smoking alone.
96	** The poker game between Arnold Rothstein and Nucky in "All In" is loaded with dialogue that could easily be turned into HoYay.
97	--> '''Rothstein:''' ...Do you recall our first encounter, Mr. Thompson?
98	--> '''Rothstein:''' ...I figured you for a straight.
99	--> '''Rothstein:''' ...always ready to stick your fingers into a piece of pie.
100	--> '''Nucky:''' I don't like pie.
101	--> '''Rothstein:''' Well, I have learned something new about you.
102	** Then, the meeting in "The Milkmaid's Lot," where Nucky tries to enlist the help of the other gang leaders against Gyp Rosetti, only to have them all reject him and leave. The way he repeatedly calls after Rothstein, by his first name ("Arnold? Arnold?!") invokes a lot of HoYay.
103	* IdiotBall: After being characterized as an intelligent plotter who is gunning for Chalky's territory, Doctor Narcisse positions himself behind a large window with his back to the street during a conference, making him a sitting duck for an assassination attempt. Only PlotArmor saves him.
104	* IronWoobie: Tonino. Aside from having to put up with his highly unstable boss, Gyp Rosetti, Tonino is forced to watch as said unstable boss brutally murders Tonino's cousin.
105	* JerkassWoobie:
106	** Eli in season 3. His jail stint has [[TookALevelInKindness made him so pitiable and humble]] that he hardly qualifies as a jerkass anymore.
107	** Paul Sagorsky is crass and reprehensible, but also a broken ShellShockedVeteran capable and probably in need of warmth.
108	** Van Alden may be a despicable, [[KnightTemplar fanatic]] with a high body count but damn does his life utterly suck.
109	** Willie Thompson. As a result of his prank gone wrong, he ends up throwing his roommate under the bus at Nucky's behest.
110	** Gillian does heinous things that may put her well past redemption, but her storyline is nuanced enough that the writers make her walk or jump the line between pitiable and pitiful. In season 4 [[spoiler:Gillian is so pathetic after his forced heroin addiction costs her everything that you'll probably have some level of pity for her. It helps that it's capped off by a HeelFaceDoorSlam]].
111	** Agent Warren Knox towards the end of Season 4. He may be brutal and uncompromising but considering [[GreyAndGrayMorality who he's after.]] He doesn't reach full Woobie status until [[spoiler:the end of Season 4. Try not to feel a tad bit sorry for him when he's undermined at every turn by Hoover and his career starts going down the toilet]] despite genuinely wanting to erase organized crime.
112	* JustHereForGodzilla: Complaints against characters whose storylines "stand in the way" of the iconic violence of the roaring twenties are not uncommon. To a lesser extent, this reaction is sometimes shared by viewers who know that slow character development is the name of the game in an HBO show.
113	* LoveToHate:
114	** Gyp Rosetti steals the show with his scenery chewing over-the-top villainy, as evidenced by Bobby Cannavale's Emmy win.
115	** Warren Knox is quickly become this as well.
116	** Mickey Doyle's obnoxiousness becomes enjoyable at times because it leads to someone [[TheChewToy putting him in his place]], often violently.
117	* MagnificentBastard:
118	** [[GreedyJew Arnold Rothstein]] is one of the most powerful gangsters in New York. Upon losing a major shipment of liquor that brings him in conflict with Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, Rothstein wages a proxy war using his associates, the D'Alessio brothers, to create a problem for Nucky in Atlantic City before selling them out when they [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness cease being of use]]. Managing to connive his way as the sole supplier for Nucky's alcohol, Rothstein later [[YouHaveFailedMe punishes]] his wayward proteges Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky for going behind his back by setting up their arrest with the heroin of rival Sicilian mobster Joe Masseria while having the heroin delivered back to him so he can cut Masseria in as the weaker partner, [[CrazyPrepared making more money and humiliating his would-be rivals]] in one move.
119	** [[VisionaryVillain Giovanni "Johnny" Torrio]] presents as one of the most conciliatory and reasonable mobsters who is nevertheless a force to be reckoned with. Upon his boss Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo refusing to get into bootlegging, Torrio [[DragonWithAnAgenda sets him up for death]] and takes over the Chicago rackets, bringing in profits like never before. Helping to set up the crew of Charlie Sheridan for death after their attack on one of his prostitutes, Torrio later helps to arrange a peace with the Irish mob led by Dean O'Banion, only to have O'Banion killed when he tries to foolishly betray Torrio. After his [[RetiredBadass seeming retirement]], Torrio allies with Luciano and Lansky, using his [[VillainWithGoodPublicity good reputation]] to help set Nucky up for death or to lose everything.
120	** [[FromNobodyToNightmare Charlie "Lucky" Luciano]] and his best friend [[TheStarscream Meyer Lansky]] spend the first four seasons [[TaughtByExperience learning at the sides of the greatest mobsters of the age]] and put their lessons into ruthless practice in season 5. Luciano has his former mentor and boss Joe Masseria assassinated after manipulating him to his death, seizing control of his outfits and having his rivals killed. Luciano and Lansky proceed to force the other mobsters to submit to them or convince them it is in their best interest to give in and "partner" with them before forcing Nucky Thompson's capitulation by [[IHaveYourWife kidnapping his nephew]] to use as leverage. Realizing that the criminal Valentine Narcisse may also prove a problem, Luciano and Lansky allow him to think he is safe for a time before having him publicly assassinated, ending the season as the dominant masters of organized crime, sitting down to [[TheBadGuyWins do business with a new coalition of their making]].
121	* MemeticBadass: Teddy to some parts of the fandom (in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion, obviously).
122	** Manny Horvitz. A [=YouTube=] user lamented that [[spoiler:Richard killed him]], arguing that his destiny was to go to Germany and [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct destroy Hitler]] with his own "fists of Jewish glory".
123	* MoralEventHorizon:
124	** Eli [[spoiler: killing George O'Neill]] in an attack of drunken rage.
125	*** And for those who were not convinced yet, he [[spoiler: suggests killing his own brother]] in the next episode he is in.
126	*** Eli seems to be coming back out from the opposite side of this in the third season. For varying degrees of good, at least he's trying hard to fit in and be a good brother again.
127	** While Van Alden [[KickTheDog kicks a lot of dogs]], the usually pointed MoralEventHorizon is [[spoiler: [[DeadlyEuphemism "baptizing" Sebso]] in front of a black congregation and then leaving while showing his gun and badge so they'll be too afraid to say anything]]. Oddly, he only begins to PetTheDog well after that.
128	** Manny's comes in "Georgia Peaches" when he [[spoiler: murders Jimmy's wife and her lover in cold blood.]]
129	** Gillian's first one comes in "Peg of Old" when she talks Jimmy into [[spoiler: letting the hit on Nucky stand.]]
130	*** Gillian racks them up in "Under God's Power She Flourishes". [[spoiler: She doesn't give a shit that Angela died, plans to tell Tommy that she abandoned him to party with her friends in Paris, tells Jimmy to kill the Commodore and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking calls Richard a simpleton]] (in the guise of throwing a police officer off the trail of Angela's murder). Just to add fuel to the fire, the flashbacks reveal that at Princeton, she had drunken sex with Jimmy, freaking him into joining the army.]]
131	*** Another one comes in "Sunday Best", when she [[spoiler: shoots up Roger, her replacement-Jimmy, with heroin, and drowns him in her bathtub]]. This one is justified in-universe because she [[spoiler: needs to prove Jimmy's death to gain control of the Commodore's house and money]], but rather than admit the hard truth, she takes this way.
132	** Nucky has several key and potential moments:
133	*** In "To the Lost", wherein throughout the episode, he reveals himself as TheSociopath, with his affable side appearing to a significant degree to be just a front. This culminates at the end of the episode, in which [[spoiler: on the pretext of letting Jimmy take revenge on Manny, instead coldly murders Jimmy as Manny and Eli watch. That Jimmy expected this and was thus committing SuicideByCop doesn't really make Nucky's actions any better]].
134	*** Even worse, [[spoiler: he makes Jimmy's body disappear, adding unnecessary torture and economic hardships to Jimmy's mother and son, and one season after Jimmy's death it's still unknown what happened with it. Nucky then has the gall to present his "respects" to Gillian in her own home when he is informed of the death of fake!Jimmy.]]
135	*** The murder of [[spoiler: Roland Smith arguably crosses the horizon more. While Jimmy was no saint and had tried to have Nucky killed, Roland was barely more than a kid. It seems as if Nucky only did it to prove a point to Owen.]]
136	*** The finale emphasizes that he crossed it before the main events of the series, in 1897, when he sold out Gillian to the Commodore, and his own soul in the process, "[[AmbitionIsEvil to get ahead]]". Interestingly, Gillian is not mad with Nucky in the present day, as he's been good to her, in his own way.
137	** The Commodore crosses it once his fondness for child rape becomes evident.
138	** Gyp Rosetti crosses it during his EstablishingCharacterMoment, killing a good samaritan for using a term Rosetti didn't understand, and it only gets worse each episode he appears in.
139	** Dunn Purnsley [[spoiler:knifing the Deacon.]]
140	* OneSceneWonder:
141	** Erik [=LaRay=] Harvey was so awesome as one-episode character Dunn Purnsley in "Ourselves Alone" that the production crew decided to call him back and make Purnsley Chalky's new right-hand man.
142	** Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon.
143	** Smart mouthed young thief Rowland Smith.
144	** Margaret's brother Eamonn, mostly thanks to him being the only one character ever to give her TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
145	** Joe Masseria's single scene in Season 2; his meeting inside his restaurant in New York City ''feel'' like deleted scenes from ''Film/TheGodfather'' trilogy. The whole atmosphere is reinforced by the casual [[SwitchToEnglish switch from Sicilian to English]].
146	** Louis Gossett Jr's one time appearance as Chalky's old mentor.
147	** Creator/JimTrueFrost appears briefly for one episode, but merely the name of his character has a lot of shock value. He's Eliot Ness.
148	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Lucy has improved in leaps and bounds between the first season, where she mainly whined and had a lot of sex, and the second season (especially in [[spoiler: her pregnancy storyline]]). That entire storyline rescued not only her, but [[spoiler:Van Alden, his wife]] and the plot device in general.
149	** It happens to Eli in season 3, thanks to [[spoiler:him being a completely broken man after spending two years in jail, and far more loyal to Nucky.]]
150	* TheScrappy:
151	** Lucy's not very popular among the {{fandom}} to say the least, though this could change after episodes like "A Dangerous Maid" where she is more exposed[[note]]In the other sense of the word[[/note]] and shows signs of [[PrincessInRags falling into despair]].
152	*** The second season tries hard to get her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. It gets almost hilarious when you remember that she was probably built as TheScrappy in the season before to justify Margaret's supplantation of her place, but now Margaret is [[TookALevelInJerkAss taking a level in Jerk Ass]] after another instead...
153	** Angela hasn't been well received by audiences, either. But see AlasPoorScrappy above.
154	** Season 2 made everybody pretty much hate Eli, but even more so when he survived it in the end. Fortunately, he was rescued in Season 3.
155	** Billie Kent seems to be fairly loathed by most of the fanbase.
156	** Even the fans who liked Billie didn't think much of Sally Wheet.
157	** Margaret slowly but steadily becomes one along the second season, and she only gets more hated in the third. Some hate her because she is a hypocrite (and this is apparently worse than being a murderer), while others that are JustHereForGodzilla think that every minute dedicated to her subplots is one less that can be used to show the gangsters going at each other's throats.
158	** Willie Thompson. Where to start? His major TookALevelInJerkass from the dutiful eldest son who helped a crippled Emily on Easter in Season 3 to a belligerent wangsty sociopath in Season 4 on the flimsiest of justifications, his KarmaHoudini status after poisoning a rival JerkJock and then framing his roommate with the help of Uncle Nucky, his subplot that appears to consume most of the screen time, forcing more beloved and/or historically important characters out of focus, yet hardly ever seems to be going anywhere, being the studio's ReplacementScrappy for Jimmy Darmody despite lacking any of the complex personality or charm of Jimmy...
159	** Daughter Maitland teetered on the edge in Season 4, with many fans considering her a thin character who didn't justify Chalky falling so hard for her. Then it became set in stone in Season 5 as [[spoiler:she's the reason Chalky doesn't get his revenge on Narcisse.]]
160	* {{Squick}}: This is HBO. Sex and violence are the name of the game. If nothing else, Steve Buscemi's O-face'll get ya.
161	** Jimmy's mom jumping over, wrapping her legs around and then kissing him. While "wearing" nothing more than panties and pasties.
162	*** Jimmy and Mommy [[spoiler: finally doing it onscreen]].
163	** Lucky Luciano getting treatment for gonorrhea. It involves sticking needles and various devices with zinc sulfide into "little Lucky".
164	** Lucy and Van Alden's sex scene was just wrong, and was extremely hard to watch.
165	** Lucy and Nucky's relationship when one realizes that Steve Buscemi is old enough to be Paz De La Huerta's father. It doesn't help that Lucy has a tendency to call her lovers ''"Daaaaaaaaaadddddddyyyyyyyy"''.
166	** Gillian giving birth at thirteen is bad enough but it reaches new levels when you find out the father was the Commodore who would have been fifty-four at the time.
167	** Clarkson is badly-burned on the right side of his body in "Age of Reason" from the explosion.
168	** The scene in "Peg of Old" when Owen garrotes a guy in a men's toilet, slicing his fingers off as the guy tries to get free. We actually see the severed fingers and gushing blood. And oh, how dirty that toilet looks.
169	*** And [[spoiler: Nucky]] gets shot in the hand in the same episode.
170	** Richard shoots James Neary through the mouth in "To the Lost" and stages his death as a suicide. When the body is found, there's a nice shot from behind of the exit wound in the back of Neary's head.
171	** A woman having a bloody miscarriage in a hospital hallway, in front of a tour group.
172	** Babette casually mentions her ''tapeworm diet''.
173	** Richard Harrow's [[spoiler:massacre of Rosetti's men, both during and when the show displays the aftermath.]]
174	*** Which is carried on to the Season 4 premiere, where he shots a man through the cheek and while otherwise paralyzed, he is still capable of murmuring a "why...?" while blood pours to the ground from his open mouth.
175	** The victim of Willie's prank gone wrong, a JerkJock, [[spoiler: shits himself to death. And we see his body on the bathroom floor, bleeding from the mouth. Repeat: he SHITS HIMSELF TO DEATH. Gah.]]
176	** Lucky, who had earlier discovered he had the clap, making a blood bond with the entire New York mob.
177	** [[spoiler:Tonino's]] amputated ear is shown very graphically, with the camera being sure to zoom in on it in a spiral for several seconds before cut to black.
178	* StrangledByTheRedString: Van Alden and Sigrid. He hired her as a nanny in season 2. In a short period, she apparently fell madly in love with him, so much that she was willing to go to another city with him, take a new identity, have his child and even commit murder for him, despite showing no signs of attraction to him before the finale of season 2.
179	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Two lines of dialogue inform that Rothstein has shrugged off his end of a major GambitPileup and his legal problems in the gap between seasons 3 and 4. Somewhat justified since another war between Nucky and Rothstein could have potentially felt like a retread of season 1's plotline.
180	** A brief meeting between the two in season 2 shows that Richard and Owen see each other as [[WorthyOpponent Worthy Opponents]] and offers a tantalizing hint at the two of them having a rivalry and a potential violent confrontation in the future. Sadly, the two never share any significant screen time together ever again.
181	** It is crystal clear that [[spoiler: Jimmy and Angela]] were supposed to appear for more than two seasons. Backstage problems forced the writers to exit them earlier.
182	** Eddie becoming a bagman for Nucky with a [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark and troubled past]] in Season 4 [[spoiler:is only explored for a few scenes before he [[ADeathInTheLimelight commits suicide]].]]
183	** Perhaps the biggest example is the TimeSkip between seasons 4 and 5 skipping the story ahead to 1931. Most disappointing is that we miss 1928-1929 completely, historically a time period that saw the death of Arnold Rothstein, the crash of the stock market, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (which also doubles as ''the'' bloodiest episode of the MobWar and the most famous gangster crime in history) and the Atlantic City conference.
184	* TooBleakStoppedCaring:
185	** After the Season 2 finale, some people found it hard to keep rooting for Nucky--or a majority of the cast for that matter, since nearly everyone is a criminal or involved with organized crime somehow. By that point, the most sympathetic characters were Richard Harrow, Eddie Kessler, Owen Sleater, and ''Al Capone''.
186	** After the Season 4 finale, it became obvious that none of the main characters are going to have a happy ending because everyone keeps dying or getting themselves into situations more horrible than the last. On top of that, [[spoiler:three of the four characters listed above have died]], and Al Capone [[TookALevelInJerkass fell off the wagon]] after becoming a cocaine addict.
187	* TooCoolToLive:
188	** [[spoiler: Jimmy and Manny.]]
189	** [[spoiler: Owen Sleater.]]
190	** [[spoiler: And Richard. Sigh.]]
191	** [[spoiler: Van Alden and Chalky in the same episode.]]
192	* TheUnTwist: [[spoiler:Daughter Maitland is a mole for Doctor Narcisse.]]
193	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The show has [[http://vimeo.com/18275127 more computer effects]] than it looks like at first.
194	* TheWoobie:
195	** Richard Harrow. The poor guy cuts pictures of families out of newspapers and glues them into a book because it's as close to actually having a family as he'll ever get.
196	** A pregnant [[spoiler:Lucy]] being forced to stay inside and not have contact with anyone because [[spoiler:Van Alden is basically paying her to keep quiet about everything]].
197	*** Which is ratcheted up to eleven when she goes through hours of labor ''by herself''. Even those viewers who couldn't stand [[spoiler:Lucy]] probably had the urge to hug her.
198	*** And is then taken another step further still when it becomes clear that [[spoiler: Van Alden never intended to pay her.]]
199	** Angela. Sure, the fandom was quite [[BaseBreakingCharacter divided about her]] in season 1, but only the most cruel could think that she deserved any of what she got in season 2.
200	** Tommy Darmody. Starting off as a CheerfulChild, as the seasons progress [[spoiler:his mother dies, his father dies, his grandmother tries to brainwash him into forgetting about his mother and isolates him from contact with most people except for Richard, he gets tricked into seeing his favorite woman friend (one of the women in Gillian's brothel) having sex, he's used as a hostage by Gyp Rossetti's men and traumatized for months following Richard's killing spree to rescue him, his grandmother is arrested for murder, and when it finally looks like he may have a chance for a normal life with a loving family his ParentalSubstitute, Richard, dies.]] By the time of the finale [[spoiler:he claims he doesn't have a home anymore and finally loses everything when he's arrested after killing Nucky in retribution for Jimmy's murder]].
201	** Though she's a minor character Rose Van Alden is the most sympathetic person in the show. She desperately wants to have a child, but Nelson will not compromise his principles to help her. Then he does compromise his principles to get drunk and knock up Lucy. Upon discovering this she's incredibly compassionate to an exhausted Lucy even though society at the time would've looked at her (Lucy) as being the villain in that situation. When she bites and and eventually divorces Nelson it's pretty satisfying.

Context YMMV / BoardwalkEmpire