Boardwalk Empire’s Shocking Season Finale: Michael Pitt Talks

It’s officially Monday morning, and time to rehash the events of last night’s Boardwalk Empire.

Boardwalk Empire is a show that while compelling, has yet to reach the heights of its ganglands-of-New-Jersey predecessor, The Sopranos. The turn-of-the-century drama seems nearly Shakesperian when contrasted with the tale of the modern-day mob boss Tony Soprano, even though the former features Sopranos star “Tony Uncle Al” Steve Buscemi in the main role of Atlantic City mayor and boss, Nucky Thompson. And while Thompson seems the consummate gentleman gangster compared with Tony, fans will still probably be a bit angry with Thompson’s character after the stunning reveal in the last ten minutes of last night’s Boardwalk Empire season finale.

If you were out Christmas shopping and DVRed it (why are you reading this?) please stop here, as there are spoilers ahead. Go on, go read about the new Doritos flavored taco shell at Taco Bell.

Got this far? Well, Jimmy’s dead. Barring fan outcry and a write off as a dream sequence, the young Mr. Darmody has followed his wife Angela into the great beyond after what appeared to be a reconciliation with his dad-by-proxy Nucky at midnight in the rain. It was a set up, but ever the classy gangster, Jimmy went to his death not begging, but soothing his once-mentor Nucky after the events that had led them both to the inevitable conclusion. It almost looked as if Jimmy would get a last minute reprieve, but after one bullet pierced his cheek and left him still breathing, a second ended the Jimmy Darmody storyline for good.

Michael Pitt is similarly impassive about the end of his run on Boardwalk Empire, telling Entertainment Weekly via email that while he’ll miss working on the show, he approves of the overall handling of Jimmy’s betrayal and ultimate demise:

“I like it… As much as I will miss working with everyone on this incredible project, I thought that it would be very shocking and I’m always drawn to that.”

It looks like there will be no stunning Lazarus-like moments for Darmody’s character- showrunner and executive producer Terence Winter told the mag:

“It was a really hard decision. You’re sort of blowing up your own show, in some ways. Now we’re back in the writers room trying to figure out where we go from here without Jimmy Darmody… People won’t believe [Jimmy’s dead] until the last second and even then some will wonder if it’s a dream. People didn’t believe it when Adriana was killed on The Sopranos and that was in season five.”

How do you feel about the decision to kill off Jimmy? Will the show be as compelling without him?