Boardwalk Empire

Teekey

Mr. Poopybutthole
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-6,335
Oh, I agree with that, about the "ultimate hit man" stuff--I think it would have been stupid for Harrow to continue being the Terminator. Once is amazing, do it too much and it becomes stupid. But, it doesn't have to be a choice between tragic and dues ex killing machine. What's wrong with a redemption story? Why not have harrow marry the woman, lay down his gun and literally never appear on the show again. Redemption stories endear characters to people's hearts as much as tragic ones. I love me some Shawshank.

Harrow's Shank Redemption.
I think he had his redemption in finding people he truly loved - and people who truly loved him (which he never thought possible). However, I think Richard has been 'dead' for a long time.
 

Ome

Molten Core Raider
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However, I think Richard has been 'dead' for a long time.
While that may have been true at one point, it certainly wasn't the case near the end of this season when he finally found the family hes always wanted to have. A son and wife who truly love him and he loves in return. He even quit the hit man life to get a regular job to support his family. If ever he was alive it was near the end and they yanked it away from him. At least he died knowing he was loved.
 

TheBeagle

JunkiesNetwork Donor
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Deserve ain't got nothin to do with it.

Great finale, great season. The fight between Eli and Knox was the best i've seen since Dan Dority and Cpt. Turner threw down.

 

Bondurant

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Lots of powerful scenes and awesome cinematography on this season finale. Harrow diedunder the boardwalk, strong scene reminding everyone he was just a pawn. Hoover / Narcisse meeting was very good, Hoover's face being half in the dark while asking Narcisse to answer "yes Sir" was so perfect. Also Eli got the upper hand during fight when he basically got under Knox's back. Chicago storyline seems quite promising for next season, I just hope AC / Nucky storyline won't be botched up.
 

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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4,263
I wouldn't mind Harrow's death so much if he hadn't completely fucked up his final mission. I'd have preferred that he killed Narcisse and then got shot while making his escape, going down like a soldier.

Anyway, I feel for him because I used to do that shit all the time by accident on CS friendly-fire servers. It's hard as hell to see who is approaching when you're zoomed in on your AWP.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,849
134,259
harrow fucking up, opens lots of storylines, nacisse knows that nucky betrayed him, chaulky believes narcisse killed his daughter as a show of strength. i'm not military or nuttin, but don't snipers use both eyes, one zoomed and one for the wide-angle, that's why it's weird he's a one-eyed sniper?
 
Great , GREAT season and the show is just fantastic.Great conclusion for Harrow , I for one loved how it ended and am satisfied with it. So many awesome moments in it , cant wait till next season. Really need another show now to fill in the void of great TV.
 

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
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harrow fucking up, opens lots of storylines, nacisse knows that nucky betrayed him, chaulky believes narcisse killed his daughter as a show of strength. i'm not military or nuttin, but don't snipers use both eyes, one zoomed and one for the wide-angle, that's why it's weird he's a one-eyed sniper?
Modern military snipers have a spotter with them to figure out zeroing/distance/etc.
 

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
28,326
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Ugh, that ending kicked me right square in the feels. I thought this was an awesome season, personally. Was glad to see little Agent Sociopath get his and was definitely feeling bad for Chalky after his daughter took one in the head. Long wait until next season!
 

Slaythe

<Bronze Donator>
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I got the opposite off Jimmy. That last bit of Jimmy, I think he realized he was dead as soon as the nucky assassination attempt failed and the whirlwind of trying to make things right wasn't a plea for mercy or a manipulation of the audiences expectations but an admission of his final days. That's why I didn't mind it with jimmy and what made it emotionally resonant. It didn't come across as so blatantly trying to offer a glimpse of hope that Nucky was going to be merciful -- not even Jimmy expected that, and he didn't ask for it.

But that's just what I saw as I was watching it. If I went back and rewatched it, probably what you're talking about holds up.

Edit: With harrow, they just fucking manipulated us. BASTARDS. THEY KILLED HARROW.
I don't really like questioning Lithose because his analysis is always better than mine and usually spot on (especially in the Mad Men thread), but how you describe Jimmy is how I took it too. He's doomed the moment that hit fails.

To me it was a big clusterfuck of denial, regret and acceptance leading up to the climax (lol) episode of him in college that explainseverythingabout the character. The last episode couldn't be any less subtle about his fate. Maybe you have hope, because you've grown to really like the character, but I think it's false hope given the context.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I've watched that season. I could be wrong.

Agree overall with the comments about Harrow. It's a little cheesy to get the audience's favorite non lead character so close to happiness only to jerk it away at the last minute. The imagery of the death scene is great though and it fit well for the character.

Lithose, are there other examples of this in the show? Have we lost any other characters we've really liked outside of Jimmy and Harrow? That's maybe a reason I'll give this a pass, because I don't think Jimmy's death toyed with the audience anywhere near the same level as this one did.
 

Brand

Molten Core Raider
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Anyone else really liking where they took Eli's son? I think we'll get some good development out of him in the next season...Looking forward to it.
 

an accordion_sl

shitlord
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8
They've done a lot of really interesting setup this season, with Capone running Chicago, Rothstein working with Margaret and Chalky going full Omar.
 

eek_sl

shitlord
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0
I think a lot of what they were trying to do with Harrow all season was to reinforce the overriding theme that there are no happy endings for the guys in this life. All season long, you have people trying to tie up loose ends so they can lead a happy life. Ultimately, the gangster life always wins, and you end up with a tragic ending. Nucky lost his family last season and couldn't retire to Cuba to be with that blonde cow in the finale, Eli is now exiled from his family, and Chalky lost both his lover and his daughter. If you lead this life, you're all-in. You can't fold your hand and hope to get out cleanly, you always have to leave something on the table.
 

Bondurant

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Another foreshadowing come to mind : Eli, former cop turned criminal, is welcomed in Chicago by Van Alden, former cop turned criminal as well. And they both killed a cop.