‘Boardwalk Empire’ season 5, episode 3 review: Shots fired, past and present

Who is Nucky Thompson really? This is something that we saw as a central discussion point throughout Sunday’s “Boardwalk Empire,” especially when he uttered the words about how desperately he wanted to “leave something behind.”

To us, it is pretty clear at this point that Nucky is a man who does want to leave this world without something to be remembered for.

What perhaps left the biggest imprint on us this week was finally learning a thing or two from Nucky’s past that really impacts his present. Just imagine what seeing a dead body at that age must have done to him. It may have created a bizarre disconnect over death, which in turn influenced the more ruthless part of his personality. It also further shaped his identity as a hustler, and someone who worked from the very beginning to be a success.

Also, this season as juxtaposed brilliantly with the shooting up of many prostitutes, which was arguably to us the most squeamish we were watching the entire episode … which probably ended a few minutes too short for our liking.

In the end, though, was there a happy ending? It’s almost like all of the questioning and deal-making this episode existed to get us to a place where Nucky and Margaret were back in the same spheres again. It’s not that we really mind, though, since we assumed that this was a move that was going to take place on the show eventually. Now seems like the right time, given there is only so much more left before the series finale. Will she actually help him, or hurt him? We see both as possibilities.

Shootings aside, though, we still feel like given that we are three episodes in now to a season of only eight, we were hoping to see a little more happening. Hopefully, the story picks up soon, since we don’t want a series-ender that feels rushed and completely out of place with the rest of the show. Grade: B-.