Boardwalk Empire Season 3 E01 Review--Spoiler level: Extreme

The best show on TV is back. After an upsetting cliffhanger, the show's third season premiered on September 16th on HBO, and will ultimately focus on Nucky Thompson's evolution from politician to full-fledged gangster.

As you can see above, one thing that really interested me in this episode was that all of the gangsters that have been at each other's throats since the beginning (Rothstein, Lansky, Remus, Luchiano) are all here relaxing together on new year's eve and casually discussing business. But the narrative purpose of this meeting was to show how Gyp Rosetti, a newly introduced character, is a loose cannon and will definitely cause endless amounts of trouble this season. It only took about four minutes to commit the first murder of season three, and all over a can of oil. And by the way, never tell a native Italian what "regina" means.

We get to see some of our favorite characters interacting with their new surroundings, two of which stand out the most. Richard Harrow, who's two best and only friends were murdered in the season two finale, tries to fit in as an enforcer at Jillian's club. She lectures him for trying to remind Tommy who his real mother is. Next is obviously the lamming "George Mueller," a.k.a. the notorious Nelson Van Alden. For those of you who dislike Van Alden, you will be pleased to see his new life is not quite working out. He's doing a nightmarish job--selling irons door-to-door on new year's eve to support two infant children. Yes, you heard me. Two. He had another child with his Dutch house keeper from season two. It's a boy. He has an interesting interaction with Al Capone where he unwittingly helps a store keeper repel Capone away. This interaction will definitely be narrative fodder for later in the season when Van Alden is desperately strapped for cash.

One of my favorite characters, Eddie Cantor shows up to perform at Nucky's new year's party, and he's not alone. He's got a beautiful accomplice, who I must confess I've got a serious crush on, Lillian Kent. She's a performer, and at the end of the episode, it's revealed that she has been Nucky's gumar (as Tony Soprano would put it) for an unidentified period of time. Although I'm a fan of Nucky+Margaret, it's definitely going to make things interesting if the affair ever comes out in the open.

Speaking of Margaret, she is handling married life seemingly well. She took the NJ road money as a stepping stone toward the life of total philanthropy, and it's shown as she is given a tour of the new Margaret and Enoch Thompson wing of the hospital. She's being so generous because she's trying desperately to atone for her sins and the sins of her partner, shown in dense themes of religion and Catholicism in season two.

I've been a fan of Manny Horvitz since his first appearance, and especially with what he brought to the proverbial table of religions. I don't know much about Judaism, but Boardwalk gives more attention to the Jewish faith than any other show/movie/book that I've ever seen or read. It's nice to see strong characters representing true Jewish values that aren't the awful stereotypes that are rampant in the few representations of Jewish characters in The Sopranos and The Wire. So seeing a huge amount of screen time dedicated to Horvitz gave me high hopes for this character in season three. My justification was that now that Jimmy and Angie are dead, they've got to divide plot lines evenly among less protagonistic characters. But these hopes were dashed when, early on January 1st, 1923, Richard Harrow shows up and shoots Horvitz in the face with a shotgun. It was shocking to see this, especially when I was hyping Horvitz to myself throughout the entire episode. But I definitely don't blame Harrow--Horvitz was directly responsible for the death of the woman he loved, Angela Darmody, and indirectly responsible for the death of his best friend, Jimmy Darmody. Horvitz had it coming, but this was a little soon.

I tout Boardwalk Empire as the best written show on TV and the most detailed historical portrayal I have ever seen, and here's to hoping that season three will be able to carry on without Jimmy. 

Downton Abbey Season 3 E01 Review--Warning--Spoiler Level: Extreme

If you live in America and are like my parents, then you probably didn't see the series three premier of Downton Abbey because it didn't appear on BBC America. The show isn't scheduled to air in the U.S. until much later this year/early next year. But if you have an internet connection, you really have no excuse for missing out on this amazing show.

Second Spoiler Warning--Extreme series spoilers abound in the following review

Wedding fever has officially reached Downton. If you all remember the romantic ambiance from the Christmas special, this episode picks up where that left off, focusing more on the practical details of planning and executing a high-brow wedding worthy of the Granthams. Weddings are a staple of TV series, and I've seen more than I care for, but DA definitely pulled it off. I think it was because most of the time, a TV show will put a wedding in the season finale and have some foolish cliffhanger (see Friends season four), but because this was the first episode of the new series, and keeping in mind that DA is normally a no-nonsense sort of show, I was sure that the episode would end with a happily wedded Matthew and Mary.

With weddings, come the guests, and there was no shortage of appearances in this episode. We got our first glimpse of Cora's mother, played by Shirley MacLaine, and turned out to be an American version of the Dowager Countess. The members of the household began building her up about a quarter way through the episode, and with good reason: as soon as she arrived, she began slaying British culture and being a typical American! Branson and Sybil also come back from Ireland for the wedding, and created some interesting drama in the house upon their return. Of course we all know that Sybil and Branson's marriage was seen as uncouth, but the family seemingly wants to give him a chance. But this chance only revolves around Branson's compliance with complete assimilation into the culture of the high-bred Downton-ites, a condition that he simply cannot undergo. He is too close to his Irish roots to change, a trait that I highly respect. Throughout the episode he becomes upset with his hosts while discussing Irish war for independence, a topic that the family discusses lightly, but Branson, of course, weighs heavily on. This arc comes to a head when Branson is making more of a scene than ever before and appears to be drunk in front of extended company, featuring the family of close friends, one of which used to court Sybil long ago. It turned out that Sybils former love interest had drugged Branson with hopes that he would make a fool of himself in front of polite company. Luckily, this man was found out and humiliatingly scolded by his father in front of the group while Branson was forgiven. And as the Dowager Countess most hilariously puts it: "Forgive, perhaps. Forget, never!"

There's trouble in the workforce as well this week, as a new footman (who looks surprisingly like William) is hired despite the tight budget. Daisy wants a raise, and with encouragement from Thomas (who else), goes on strike as best she can. It's a rather sad attempt at getting Ms. Patmore's attention, and ultimately ends up in the same position as before. Moseley is worried about his lack of job security and makes up for it by working harder, and is rewarded by reassurance from Matthew.

The aforementioned money troubles all stem from a poor investment by the Earl, resulting in a huge sum of money being lost, most of his wife's great fortune. But Robert will never give up on Downton, and he tells his lawyer so despite the obvious problem of running a large estate on fumes.

Mary eventually comes to know of this and is delighted when Matthew tells her that he will very probably inherit the Swire fortune, as he is third in line to receive it after his late fiances father named him heir. But obviously, Matthew feels troubled by this considering the events leading up to Ms. Swire's death. I definitely understand why Matthew would not be so keen on using the ill-got Swire fortune to save Downton, but unfortunately, his new fiance doesn't understand like we do. There is a brief quarrel where Mary behaves exactly as you would expect and Matthew comes and saves the day, showing true initiative as a future husband. It was a delightful scene.

This episode was a good premier, and did great justice to the moment that many viewers have been waiting for. It was extremely well written and the actors were amazing as always.