I think Todd VanDerWerff (R.I.V., Rest in Vox) once said that one of his favorite things about Boardwalk Empire was that amongst all the modern male anti-hero characters, Nucky Thompson was one of the few, and perhaps the only, who consistently hated what he had become. Despite my other faults with the final season, I…

He gets free membership to the TV Survivor's Lounge where he can hang out with Paulie Walnuts, Ryan O'Reilly and Slim Charles.

Of course that's the goal, but there should be much more elegant ways to craft that parallel than dedicating a quarter of the season to re-telling stories we've already heard. A brief allusion or callback can go a long way.

Probably my biggest problem with the flashbacks is that in an already shortened season they take up time that could have gone to Chalky's story. While I'm glad he got to end on a poetic note, it's still disappointing Michael K. Williams got so little to do this season, especially after he was almost co-lead with…

I think the flashbacks have been executed much better as the season has gone along but I still don't know if they've really provided any valid reason for existing in the first place, other than to give some actors a fun opportunity to impersonate Steve Buscemi and Dabney Coleman.

I would just like to point out that with tonight's casualties, Mickey Doyle is now the 5th most senior character on the show.

Something that's been bothering me all season: How is Anatol Yusef not a member of the main cast now? Nucky's nephew shows up in season 4 and gets upgraded to main cast the next year, but Lansky's been a key part of the series since the latter episodes of season 1 and still can't get billed in the opening credits.…

I've had a lukewarm relationship with Boardwalk Empire for the past few seasons now, but if they just decide to make the final year a Depression-era Wire reunion I will eagerly hop back on board the bandwagon.

I love how this review is over 1000 words long and you're focusing on a single letter.

As Frenchman Bob was one of they eponymous 8 in the live script reading and Bob the Mexican is now listed in his spot here, they'd seem to be the same guy. My guess is that Denis Menochet, the French actor Tarantino originally had planned for the role, wound up not being able to fit it into his schedule so QT rewrote…

You're thinking about this the wrong way. Don't imagine Billy Madison the Nazi killer, imagine Barry Egan the Nazi killer. That could have been amazing.

I'll confess I went into The Butler expecting it too be the schlockiest, most indulgent piece of awards bait ever, but actually came out of the theater liking it quite a bit. Aside from some awful gimmicky casting choices (how John Cusack avoided a Razzie nom for his Nixon performance dumbfounds me) it's a really…

I kept assuming Wrench would show up as something of a deus ex machina during the scene where Malvo attacks Lester at his house. I'm glad he didn't - that would have been just too tidy and convenient - but it still would've been nice to get a quick check-in on that character.

I still think the writers went a little too out of their way to make Bill a roadblock to Molly. Even with his final speech, the character's obstinate nature always seemed like an artificial impediment put in place in lieu of a more natural and elegant reason to hold up the investigation. But Odenkirk's performance did…

I mean Sister Ingalls' backstory was worth it for that book cover alone.

Except the whole general thesis of the show is pretty much the opposite of that…

Yeah, I really think Vee was a double-edged sword this season. Her presence opened up some really great story lines for Red, Taystee, Suzanne, Gloria and others, and Lorraine Touissant was incredibly engaging in the role. But the fact that she never got any shading beyond pure manipulative evil made her feel more like…

Ah yes. The movie where Ralph Fiennes shows up and you think "Hey, it's Ralph Fiennes! He's surely going to turn out to be an important charac- oh I guess not."

Presumably draws go to whoever dies last. Ultimately, that's what any fight to the death is about, right? This is the same episode where Littlefinger says we all die eventually.

Ramsay definitely cares what his father thinks about him. All of their interactions seem to indicate that Ramsay has been naturally conditioned to fear Roose due to a lifetime of abuse and neglect. I imagine most of the tricks he's been using on Theon are just extreme extensions of the way Roose (and possibly Locke)…