Broadway Limited (Boardwalk Empire)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Broadway Limited" is the third episode of the first season of the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
television series ''
Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...
'', which premiered October 3, 2010. It was written by supervising producer
Margaret Nagle Margaret Nagle (born January 12, 1969) is a screenwriter, television producer and human rights activist. She has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and won three Writers Guild of America Awards. Nagle began her undergraduate work at UC Berkel ...
and was directed by
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
Tim Van Patten Timothy Van Patten (born June 10, 1959) is an American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed episodes of ''Perry Mason'', '' Boardwalk Empire'', '' Black Mirror'', '' Deadwood'', '' Ed'', '' Game of Thrones'', '' The Pacifi ...
. Nucky makes a deal with black gangster Chalky White to handle the repackaging and distribution of bootlegged whiskey. Margaret is given a job at a boutique through Nucky's connections. Van Alden learns that Jimmy was involved in the shooting in the woods.


Main cast

*
Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...
as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson * Michael Pitt as James "Jimmy" Darmody * Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder/Thompson * Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden * Shea Whigham as Elias "Eli" Thompson * Aleksa Palladino as Angela Darmody * Michael Stuhlbarg as Arnold Rothstein * Vincent Piazza as Charles Luciano *
Paz de la Huerta María de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta y Bruce (; born September 3, 1984), known professionally as Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress and model. She had roles in the films ''The Cider House Rules'' (1999) and ''A Walk to Re ...
as Lucy Danziger, Nucky's mistress *
Anthony Laciura Anthony Laciura (born September 27, 1951) is an American actor and operatic tenor. Laciura is often noted for his abilities as a comprimario, and actor. Born in New Orleans, he studied voice there with Charles Paddock, also the teacher of Ticho ...
as Edward Anselm "Eddie" Kessler, Nucky's assistant and butler. * Paul Sparks as Mieczyslaw "Mickey Doyle" Kuzik, a bootlegger and former associate of Nucky's. * Michael K. Williams as Albert "Chalky" White


Plot

After being informed that the robbery survivor has been hospitalized, Nucky orders Eli to kill him before he can be questioned by federal agents. At a livery stable, Nucky finalizes a deal with Chalky White to dilute and bottle bootlegged whiskey for resale in exchange for 35% of profits. Eli attempts to smother the witness, but is interrupted by Van Alden, who uses a clever ruse to smuggle him out of the hospital. Nucky arranges for
Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...
to be hired at a dress shop in Atlantic City's Ritz-Carlton hotel; the Frenchwoman who owns the shop is angered when Nucky makes her fire her experienced assistant. Nucky's mistress, Lucy Danzinger, visits the shop and takes every opportunity to insult Margaret while she assists her in trying on dresses. Van Alden tries to transport the witness to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
but is soon forced to get him medical attention and strongarms a dentist into giving the man injections of cocaine to keep him alive. The witness reveals
Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
's involvement in his shooting before dying of complications from the torture inflicted on him by Van Alden.
Rothstein Rothstein is a Germanic-language (German, Yiddish) surname of several possible origins: toponymic surname from a place with the same name near Merseburg; from a Germanic personal name, Hrodstein (''hrod-'' ('' Hróð-''), "fame", "glory", meaning " ...
learns that the witness, a distant family member, has died, and sends Luciano to
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
to find Jimmy and uncover the identity of his accomplice. Elsewhere, Jimmy learns of Angela's friendship with a local photographer and is forced to confront the reality that his decision to fight in the war cost him numerous opportunities to be a good father and provide for his family. Nucky informs Jimmy that with Van Alden on his trail, he can no longer risk his own interests by protecting him. Though Angela protests that he can't just leave them again, Jimmy packs his belongings and flees on a train headed westward to Chicago. Mickey gets released from jail and meets with his financial backers, the D'Alessio brothers from Philadelphia; displeased with Mickey losing their investment in his liquor business, they demand that he repay their losses or suffer the consequences. Chalky discovers that his driver, a boy of just nineteen years of age, has been lynched. Nucky warns Chalky not to spark a
race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s ...
by seeking revenge and agrees to increase his take to 50% of profits in return for agreeing to let Eli cover up the boy's death as that of a jealous husband shooting him for sleeping with his wife. Van Alden is ordered to return home by his superiors at the Bureau while they determine whether he has the legal authority to continue his investigation. Nucky silently contemplates whether he might want to start a family.


Reception


Critical reception

Phil Pirrello at ''IGN'' gave the episode a positive review with an 8/10 score. He said ""Limited" ends with Nucky forcing Jimmy out of town, and we're left surprised that this turn happens in episode three as opposed to at the end of the season. The first three episodes burn through a lot of story on the Nucky-Jimmy front, but that's okay - sending Jimmy to Chicago to play gangster with Capone is a good thing. It will complicate things for Nucky worse than Rothstein sic-ing Luciano on him. And more Nucky drama is never a bad thing." When talking about Shannon's character Van Alden he said "Shannon's Van Alden is one of the few characters who uses violence as a last resort, as he interrogates the suspect by putting his hand wrist-deep into the man's shotgun wound. As powerful and threatening as men like Nucky are, Van Alden emerges as a truly unique and dangerous threat; a pious federal agent who can use both the Bible and the law to justify his actions. Shannon excels in this scene, and in its follow-up: A quiet dinner at home with the wife that says very little but speaks so much about how complex and unpredictable Van Alden is." Joseph Oliveto at ''ScreenCrave'' also gave the episode 8/10 and said "Things are heating up: The previous two episodes of this show featured excellent performances but not much plot development. Luckily, we're picking up the pace now. Characters are facing actual threats, be it from the authorities, or competing criminals. Any good gangster drama needs a constant atmosphere of danger, and now we're getting one."


Ratings

Ratings for the third episode were mostly stable. Ratings were down 0.1 with adults 18–49 to a 1.4 rating but once again having over 3.4 million viewers in its initial telecast.


References


External links


"Broadway Limited"
at
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
* {{Boardwalk Empire 2010 American television episodes Boardwalk Empire episodes Television episodes directed by Tim Van Patten