I don't think so, and I was raised Jewish so I was pretty schooled in the "Old" Testament (though Hebrew School was a while ago…) I think that Adam/Eve and God/Adam are sensible answers, or even Cain/Abel if you're overthinking it.

Huh, I never thought about what an incredibly Irish name "Donovan McNabb" is until now.

Great analysis. I've also thought that as much fun as it was, the show would have been better off without the entire Chicago subplot. A glimpse of early Capone in Atlantic City was something different and interesting — Stephen Graham was fantastic in the role, but his story didn't really fit with the rest of the show.…

Boardwalk is definitely a show that improves with binge-watching, too. It's generally not as exciting week-to-week as something like Breaking Bad, but in large you see the novelistic connections and themes.

Winter addressed this in his interview with Alan Sepinwall over at Hitfix. He basically said he thought the show hit the major thematic points of the Atlantic City conference back in season 3 when Nucky convened a somewhat similar meeting of gangsters.

I was iffy on the flashbacks at first, but the more I think about it the more I like what they revealed (or reiterated) about Nucky's character.

I agree, I think the Commodore was (rightfully) afraid of Nucky's naked ambition. When he said that everything in AC came from him or through him, I understood a double meaning that Nucky might try to go "through" him if he weren't co-opted first.

Getting picked up by Mickey was a stroke of luck, but Tommy went to AC with the specific purpose of getting close to Nucky. If he hadn't been chosen by Mickey that night, he would have kept trying until something worked out. So I don't mind that particular contrivance.

Eh, I think people like us who frequent the AV Club and similar sites tend to forget what a small minority we are. My parents, for example, have watched Boardwalk from the beginning and had absolutely no idea that kid would turn out to be Tommy Darmody — I probably wouldn't have either, if I hadn't seen it theorized…

That's a really good point, and somewhat ironic. Nucky thought he was being kind by pushing "Joe" away — people close to him tend to end up dead or otherwise ruined. But all Tommy could see was the distance without the understanding the viewer has of Nucky's thought process.

That thought crossed my mind as well, but then I tried to think of a voting method that would planet-wide, near-instantaneous, and representative. I suppose they could have invented some future voting tech, but I think it's fair to say that the wealthy and technologically advanced would be over-represented — just like…

Definitely – for all her villainous characterizations, all (or at least most) of her actions up to that point had been pretty benevolent. That line gave a sense of foreboding to her rule.

The thing is, most of the successful stand-up/sitcom combos you mentioned have their share of flops (does no one remember Lucky Louie?) or took a season or so to find their groove. What I've seen of Mulaney looks pretty bad, but it may still be salvageable, or he may be better in a different format.

Syphilis was eating away at Capone's brain at this point… plus all the cocaine and to-be-expected boozing.

He's been like that for a while. In early season 3, Jess complains that she found a note he wrote that said "Put on pants?"

NPR's Planet Money did a really interesting episode about Alibaba : http://www.npr.org/blogs/mo…

"Whatever reason" = Enormous piles of cash (not that I blame him)

"Didn't ya hear? Utah has ratified the 21st Amendment, thereby providing the requisite 3/4 of states!"

It's been awhile since I've read it, myself, but we actually talked about it in one of my stats classes not too long ago. I'm familiar with the argument that the poor vote "against their interests." What I'm saying is that Frank's methodology is flawed — he compares rich states to poor states instead of looking at…

That's a bit misleading, though, and the central problem with What's the Matter with Kansas and its ilk. Sure, poor states vote Republican, but poor people in those states tend to vote Democratic (when they vote at all), same as anywhere else. That said, I still agree with your larger point.