Broadway Limited (Boardwalk Empire)

"**Broadway Limited**"
"Broadway Limited"
Boardwalk Empire episode
	Nucky, Jimmy and Eli meet at the hospital
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 3
Directed by	Tim Van Patten
Written by	Margaret Nagle
Original air date	October 3, 2010
Running time	51 minutes
Guest appearances
	Gretchen Mol as Gillian Darmody; Edoardo Ballerini as Ignacious D'Alessio; Max Casella as Lucien D'Alessio; Peter McRobbie as Supervisor Elliot; Erik Weiner as Agent Sebso; Jordan Gelber as Simon;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Ivory Tower"	Next →; "Anastasia"
	List of episodes

"Broadway Limited" is the third episode of the first season of the

television series Boardwalk Empire, which premiered October 3, 2010. It was written by supervising producer Margaret Nagle and was directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten

.

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 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 as Lucy Danziger, Nucky's mistress
Anthony Laciura 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,

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

Atlantic City 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 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."^[1] 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."^[2]

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.^[3]

References

^ "Boardwalk Empire: "Broadway Limited " Review - TV Review at IGN". Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
^ "Boardwalk Empire: Season 1 Episode 3: Broadway Limited – TV Review". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
^ "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Boardwalk Empire' Mostly Stable; 'Rubicon' Still Tiny; Mad Men, Kardashians, Dexter & Lots More - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2010-10-16.

External links

"Broadway Limited" Archived 2017-10-01 at the Wayback Machine at HBO
"Broadway Limited" at
IMDb

[1] "Boardwalk Empire: "Broadway Limited " Review - TV Review at IGN". Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2010-10-17.

[2] "Boardwalk Empire: Season 1 Episode 3: Broadway Limited – TV Review". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-10-17.

[3] "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Boardwalk Empire' Mostly Stable; 'Rubicon' Still Tiny; Mad Men, Kardashians, Dexter & Lots More - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2010-10-16.

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