What I’m Watching: Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire: Season 5, Episode 3 “What Jesus Said” (B+)

This show is back on track, delivering its first truly involving episode of the season and reminding viewers why it was great in the first place. I didn’t make mention of the show’s newest character in episode two, a very familiar and historical name, Joe Kennedy, portrayed by Matt Letscher, who used to be on “Scandal,” among other shows. Kennedy is a dynamic and very intriguing new player, and his desire not to drink to avoid perpetuating an Irish Catholic stereotype is pretty terrific. Watching Nucky around him is particularly interesting, and I’m now starting to see the point of all these flashbacks. There was something magnetic and haunting about Nucky delivering flowers to the man and his female friend every day, and it leading into Margaret coming back was very effective. Margaret’s reaction to her aggressive encounter with Rothstein’s widow was great, and I’m glad that her path has led her back to Nucky, even though it’s not for a good reason. Who would have thought that Mickey could survive this long without getting himself killed? Another character I didn’t expect to see was Narcisse, who I thought was doomed to eternal imprisonment after the season four finale. His inability to compromise didn’t serve him well, and now we have yet another bloodbath on our hands. Chalky’s home invasion was intense but made for very captivating drama thanks to the players involved, and it’s interesting to see that Chalky’s intellect actually managed to get him into trouble rather than help him since it both revealed his humanity to his captors and caused panic in his coconspirator.