![]() To me, The Commadore, or even Eli, turning on Nucky, lacked weight because I barely knew the backstory. It's all the meat and potatoes I wanted back during the first two seasons - which admittedly felt empty to me because I didn't know the full history of all the people who were betraying each other. And it wasn't until this episode's flashbacks, where we saw a young Gillian with Bly's book, that the connection was formed. It was Gillian writing to him - a privilege that she earned, indeed, by providing sexual favors (as indicated by the ominous "closing of the door" here). And now the "Nelly Bly" letter that Nucky received back in "What Jesus Said" has been explained. Down to what the flashbacks have been leading us too since the premiere: Nucky and Gillian. And with each thread eliminated, the story becomes more and more focused. As I mentioned in last week's review, this season had been more or less playing out predictable beats until it started axing major characters - beginning with Van Alden and Chalky (and partially Sally, though her demise wasn't as impactful). It was the biggest move he's ever made on the series, if you don't count the moral crossroads he's about to come to in his flashbacks - assumedly in next week's finale. And then quickly betrayed his allies too. Nucky stuck up for family and sacrificed his entire kingdom for it. And also because we're winding things down on a gangster show that we know will have a huge body count before the day is done. Again because at each moment I didn't know how things would play out for Nucky's side. The whole thing was a pulse-pounding ride. And Eli, in the most capable act he's done in seven years, murdered Maranzano to get Will back alive. Only Nucky and Eli reside now on the Thompson side of things, brought back together in crisis due to Will's ordeal. Mickey and Arquimedes fell during the tense prisoner exchange-gone-wrong - Mickey because he both betrayed and spoke too much, and Arquimedes because he was loyal and angry. And it wound up costing him everything he had. No, the Bugsy-napping was not the smartest of moves considering how both Will and Margaret were out there for the taking, but Nucky wasn't thinking clearly. Which, in turn, led his enemies to swipe Will. Wherein an impatient Nucky, tired of playing "chess" like Maranzano, made a bold move and kidnapped Bugsy. Particularly because we skipped past most of the bloodshed and got right into the end of the conflict, in fact. Despite the fact that most of the gangland violence between the warring factions was committed off-screen (recapped in a radio broadcast), this penultimate series chapter was plenty intense. Sure, it would have meant that the final episode would have been missing the lead series character, but the story in the moment had convinced me that it could happen. So there was even a moment here, in "Friendless Child," when I wondered if Nucky was going to die on his knees in front of Luciano. And given that this show is this show, it all more or less comes down to how Nucky will fall. ![]() They've always been destined to be the founding fathers of American organized crime. As much as Nucky had promised death toward Luciano and Lansky, it wasn't going to happen. ![]() I mean look, history unfortunately dictates the winners and losers in this show's final season gang war. I did not see a lot of this episode's action coming. ![]()
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