‘Boardwalk Empire’ season 5, episode 6 shocker: Chalky, Van Alden, and devastation

“Boardwalk Empire” has been criticized routinely over the past several weeks for being a little too slow when it comes to delivering the hammer, but given Terence Winter’s many strengths and the past four seasons of the show, we did feel strongly that sooner or later, the key art that we’ve shared here would come to fruition.

Well, that happened tonight in some pretty devastating ways, since two important characters related to the HBO series are now gone: Chalky and Van Alden.

The passing of Chalky may in many ways be one of the most beautiful, poignant moment created by the show in a rather long time. The whole point of the story was that he died out of sacrifice, and not so much due to a rainstorm of bullets. He knew what was going to happen when it comes to Narcisse, and yet he gave himself up anyway rather than being an asset in the battle with Luciano. Yet, he still made the move anyway all to protect Daughter, and largely thanks to the information that was uncovered last week.

As for the other prominent death in the episode, that person was none other than Van Alden. What happened here? This was certainly a more violent death, but also one that felt a little too over-the-top. We haven’t really been able to wrap our head around this character for years now, so maybe this was appropriate. Then again, we almost wish we had more time with Chalky instead.

What did you think about tonight’s “Boardwalk Empire” episode, and are you shocked to see both Chalky and Van Alden go? Let us know your thoughts right now with a comment.