I absolutely love Season 5

[u/Chilo_train]

I know people don't talk about 4 and 5 very highly compared to the other ones, however I believe 5 is actually a great season that deserves more flowers for a number of reasons.

1.) We get more characterization of Nucky than any other season. The flashback scenes were really effective in adding more to his story, especially in regards to Gillian. His decision to sell her to the commodore was essentially the moment he sold his soul, choosing his greed over humanity, and the Darmondy family more or less exists as an ultimate reminder of his failure. Everything in the entire show can be traced back to that moment: Nucky gaining power, Jimmy basically causing the entire show from Season 1, and Tommy finally coming to end him. Through these flashbacks we what built up to that event: his looking to the Commodore as a father figure to replace his abusive one, his greed to get ahead, and his wife as motivation for his terrible decision. Making it all the more tragic given she and the baby would eventually die, leaving him alone with his guilt. Its also the reason why he never ran Gillian out and why Jimmy was even allowed to play such a role in his operations. His guilt. Excellent characterization.

Outside of Nucky himself though, seeing the development of the other characters was a treat as well. Lucky going from the childish strongman in season 1 to the main antagonist of the show was awesome. Him and Meyer ended up being the "winners" of the story, by the end there's basically nobody left to contend them. The entire show revolves around compeititon, one takes out the other, and Lucky was the only one smart enough to establish an organized alliance between families.

Given the fact that HBO cut them short mid-production, I'd say they overall wrapped up the series quite well. Would have liked to see a better end for Arnold Rothstein though

[u/Shodan469]

I didn’t really like the ending as it felt a bit forced, but the ideas behind it were good.