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"Golden Days for Boys and Girls" is the first episode of the fifth season of Boardwalk Empire, and the 49th episode overall. It was written by Executive Producer Howard Korder and directed by Executive Producer Tim Van Patten. It first aired on September 7, 2014 and drew 2.37 million US viewers.

Plot[]

Synopsis[]

Season 5 opens in 1931 with Nucky in Cuba, where he presses a U.S. senator on the likelihood of Prohibition's repeal and eyes a future business deal with a rum magnate. Meanwhile, Margaret witnesses a casualty of the Great Depression on Wall Street; Luciano makes a bold career move; Chalky catches a break to get out of a bad situation; and in a flashback to 1884, a young Nucky makes an impression on the Commodore.

Recap[]

(Minor spoilers within, as the seven-year gap between seasons of “Boardwalk Empire” means that some of its historical characters have passed on.)

The world of 1931 is vastly different from 1924, when the roaring twenties were in full swing and fatcats like Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) were getting rich off of prohibition. Cut to seven years later, and the party’s over. The Great Depression has decimated the country and the landscape has totally changed. Nucky Thompson is now operating in Cuba, laying the groundwork to go legitimate as the end of prohibition approaches. Alongside Sally Wheet (Patricia Arquette), Nucky meets with a U.S. Senator to forge ties with the Cuban company behind Bacardi Rum.

Meanwhile, since “Boardwalk Empire” and its creators choose not to toy with history the way Quentin Tarantino did with “Inglorious Basterds,” Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) is out of the picture (murdered in 1928 after failing to pay a large debt resulting from a fixed poker game). Pour one out for A.R., but in the wake of his death, his protégés, Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) and Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef) —now estranged from each other— are trying to make up that lost ground.

Knowing an opportunity when he sees one, Lansky conveniently turns up in Cuba to meet Nucky. Meanwhile, Luciano turns his back on former boss Joe Masseria (Ivo Nandi), selling him out to rival Italian gangs, having him killed and swearing allegiance to the opposing team.

The only other familiar character in this episode —aside from a brief cameo from Margaret (Kelly Macdonald), Nucky’s estranged wife who feels the effects of the depression when her boss kills himself in front his entire staff— is the african american gangster Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams). When we last saw Chalky, he had just survived an assassination attempt by his nemesis Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) which claimed the life of his mentor. Cut to seven years later, and Chalky is doing the convict shuffle; working on a chain gang, imprisoned for some crime or another, and is beaten and abused by his guards. When a prison riot starts on a work release trip, Chalky seizes the moment and escapes, with another convict by his side.

Appearences[]

First Appearences[]

  1. Salvatore Maranzano - new Boss of New York.

Deaths[]

  1. Mr. Bennett - Committing suicide.
  2. Joe Masseria - Shot by Benjamin Siegel and Tonino Sandrelli.
  3. unknown numbers of prisoners and guards
  4. Unnamed Meyer Lansky's hitman.

Production[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

  1. Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson
  2. Kelly MacDonald as Margaret Thompson
  3. Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden / George Mueller (credit only)
  4. Shea Whigham as Elias "Eli" Thompson (credit only)
  5. Stephen Graham as Al Capone (credit only)
  6. Vincent Piazza as Salvatore Charlie "Lucky" Luciano
  7. Michael Kenneth Williams as Chalky White
  8. Paul Sparks as Mickey Doyle (credit only)
  9. Jeffrey Wright as Valentin Narcisse (credit only)
  10. Ben Rosenfield as Willie Thompson (credit only)
  11. and Gretchen Mol as Gillian Darmody (credit only)

Guest Starring[]

  1. Patricia Arquette as Sally Wheet
  2. Anatol Yusef as Meyer Lansky
  3. Ian Hart as Ethan Thompson, 1884
  4. Chris Caldovino as Tonino Sandrelli
  5. Ivo Nandi as Joe Masseria
  6. Boris McGiver as Sheriff Peter Lindsay, 1884
  7. Michael Zegen as Bugsy Siegel
  8. John Ellison Conlee as Commodore Louis Kaestner, 1884
  9. Erin Dilly as Elenore Thompson, 1884
  10. Giampiero Judica as Salvatore Maranzano
  11. Patch Darragh as Mr. Bennett
  12. Paul Calderon as Arquimedes
  13. John C. Vennema as Lawrence Conors
  14. Danny McCarthy as Pat Halligan, 1884
  15. Nolan Lyons as Enoch Thompson, 1884
  16. Oakes Fegley as Elias Thompson, 1884

Co-starring[]

  1. Marcus Anturri as Jim Neary, 1884
  2. Onata Aprile as Susan Thompson, 1884
  3. Roberta Colindrez as a Cuban prostitute
  4. Roberto De Felice as Gerardo Scarpato
  5. Michael De Nola as a Maranzano Gangster
  6. James Engel as an Atlantic City Tourist, 1884
  7. RJ Fattori as a Street urchin, 1884
  8. Jorge Ferragut as Rogelio, the waiter
  9. Lee Godart as Maxime Ronis
  10. Olli Haaskivi as Conor's Assistant
  11. Brian Haley as the Lead Guard
  12. Joseph Huffman as a Stock Broker
  13. Eliud Kauffman as a Cuban Army Captain
  14. Elisha Lawson as a Chain Gang Prisoner
  15. Rachel McPhee as Lady in Wagon, 1884
  16. Warner Miller as Milton, prisoner
  17. Juan Mirt as a Cuban business child
  18. Valentino Musumeci as an Atlantic City urchin, 1884
  19. Julia Osborne as an Atlantic City Tourist, 1884
  20. Donald Paul as a Chain Gang Prisoner
  21. Sarah Shankman as Alice, Margaret’s co-worker
  22. Michael Siberry as Senator Wendell Lloyd
  23. John Talalas as a Chain Gang Boss
  24. Laura E. Taylor as an Atlantic City Tourist, 1884
  25. Daniel Wolfe as a Chain Gang Guard
  26. Maxwell Zener as a Havana Tourist, at the protest
  27. Jonah Young as a Chain Gang Guard
  28. Bree Branker as a dancer
  29. Lou Brockman as a dancer
  30. Eva Carrozza as a dancer
  31. Heather Gehring as a dancer
  32. Natalia Lepore Hagan as a dancer
  33. Stephen Hanna as a dancer
  34. Melana Lloyd as a dancer
  35. Manuel Rojas as a dancer
  36. Jeffrey C. Sousa as a dancer
  37. Ian Klein as a dancer

Crew[]

Opening credits[]

  1. Meredith Tucker - Casting
  2. Bill Groom - Production Designer
  3. Kate Sanford, A.C.E. - Editor
  4. Jonathan Freeman, A.S.C. - Director of Photography
  5. Dhana Rivera Gilbert - Co-Producer
  6. Pepper O'Brien - Co-Producer
  7. Brad Carpenter - Producer
  8. Rick Yorn - Producer
  9. Allen Coulter - Producer
  10. Joseph E. Iberti - Episodic Producer
  11. Eugene Kelly - Executive Producer
  12. Howard Korder - Executive Producer
  13. Tim Van Patten - Executive Producer
  14. Stephen Levinson - Executive Producer
  15. Mark Wahlberg - Executive Producer
  16. Martin Scorsese - Executive Producer
  17. Terence Winter - Executive Producer
  18. Terence Winter - Creator
  19. Howard Korder - Writer
  20. Tim Van Patten - Director

Closing credits[]

  1. Chris Place - Stunt Coordinator
  2. Dhana Rivera Gilbert - Unit Production Manager
  3. Joseph E. Iberti - Unit Production Manager
  4. Julie A. Bloom - First Assistant Director (AD)
  5. Jessica Pollini - Second AD
  6. Lesley Robson-Foster - Visual Effects Supervisor
  7. John Flavin - Co-Producer
  8. John Dunn - Costume Designer
  9. Lisa Padovani - Co-Costume Designer
  10. Randall Poster - Music Supervisor
  11. Cristine Chambers - Executive Story Editor
  12. Russ Hammonds - Associate Producer
  13. Pat Birch - Choreographer
  14. Deanna Dys - Assistant Choreographer
  15. David Yazbek - Original Music
  16. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks - Recorded Songs
  17. Nelson Johnson - Based on his book Boardwalk Empire

Promotion[]

Images[]

Videos[]

Reception[]

Memorable Quotes[]

References[]

  1. Fikkel Fame Supporting Cast of Golden Days Boardwalk Empire

External Links[]

Season Five
#01 "Golden Days for Boys and Girls"#05 "King of Norway"
#02 "The Good Listener"#06 "Devil You Know"
#03 "What Jesus Said"#07 "Friendless Child"
#04 "Cuanto"#08 "Eldorado"
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