HBO’s Boardwalk Empire ended it’s run this week and it was a rough one. Five seasons with Nucky Thompson had more ups and downs than you could count, but the final eight episodes was like sliding into home plate with your face getting all the contact with the ground. I sound like I’m saying the show was bad, but I’m talking about the sad life that Nucky had. I’ve read a lot of negative press for this season and I think the writers just went for a complete Rome is Burning run that leaves the viewer with basically nothing to be happy about. It was hard to watch not because of the quality, but the trail of bodies and tears left behind.

Boardwalk Empire has been a love it or hate it show from the start. It’s often very slow with absolutely amazing season finales. There’s a ton of development and maneuvering that didn’t get a pay off until a season came to a close. Nucky was a weird main character because he was often not the main character. Supporting cast was almost always just as important and fantastic as he was (I’m a big Steve Buscemi fan, so Boardwalk was a big treat for me). His story lines would often become the B story line and then tie into everything later. It’s really an ensemble show.

That said, this final season really focused on Nucky. As everything got stripped away, we got a lot of his back story which dredged up a lot of dirt from the first two seasons. Major props to the actors they found for young Nucky (the boy and the truly amazing 20 something Nucky) and young Gillian. Nucky scratched and clawed his way through his entire life and while he did see success, it came at a terrible price. We followed him for around 15 years from the start of prohibition and every great plan saw many people die for and because of him. At heart he was a good, altruistic person, but in the end he couldn’t help himself or anyone else. The walls were always closing in on him. That’s hard to watch.

I think Boardwalk Empire will be remembered well over time. Far from a perfect show, it had a lot of great things going for it. A massive cast of fantastic actors with characters to match and HBO’s high production standards made it a great watch. A lot of the best bits fell to the side (mainly many of the strongest female characters) as the show went on, but the core still manged to stay strong. I’ll miss it, but I think they brought it to an end right on time and with class.