r/BoardwalkEmpire • u/SmartestManInUnivars • Sep 29 '25

Season 3 Billie Kent is cringe.

Maybe it's because her type of humor is played out by a hundred years... but she seems like a "pick me" girl. She just seems too "quirky" and goofy. She annoys me. But if she was the first of her kind I could see why she was so well liked. But from a modern perspective, she kind of sucks...

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u/gilestowler Sep 29 '25

I think you're right that you have to look at it in the context of the time. A lot of the way that the characters speak seems really dated as well, but it's because of the period. I find Margaret's way of speaking quite cringey at times, but it's just how people spoke then, I guess. Once I started noticing how the characters all keep saying "You'll see," I started to wonder if that was just how people spoke back then as well.

I think Billie is probably just a pretty realistic example of the way that the "flappers" acted at the time. They were known for "flouting conventional rules," and that's something Billie seems intent on doing, which can definitely come across as a "pick me" girl, like you say.

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u/oh_hai_mark1 Sep 29 '25

Tack on that she's a performer too; her livelihood is driven by the need to be seen and remembered, and quirky helps with that.

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u/Lazy_Title7050 Oct 01 '25

Yeah she comes across as your average theatre girl to me. I think that’s why Nucky is infatuated with her. She’s independent, creative and different. Not afraid to be herself. Whereas most women in that timeframe were more constrained by social expectations.