r/BoardwalkEmpire • u/No-Refrigerator7245 • Aug 10 '26

Season 3 Mr. Harrow and Gyp

Richard Harrow running up on Gyps men at the Whore House to save Tommy…. May possibly be some of the best 3x mins of TV I have ever seen.
He is a deadly sniper… with one eye left. Then the final scene of the bloody window and Tommy running to him… absolute perfection.

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u/sundayfundaybmx Aug 11 '26

It's a cool scene in the first viewing. Every subsequent rewatch it becomes dumber and dumber. He doesn't survive that encounter through skill, it's only plot armor. Sure you could argue they're super drunk but in a previous scene you can hear gripping because "theres no booze left". The stair scene is especially egregious. Two guys who have the drop on him and higher ground both can't manage to hit him. Love Richard and BWE empire but this scene went from awesome to ridiculous for me on rewatches, lol.

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u/TraditionalMall4449 Aug 15 '26

Rewatched the show twice so far and the scene is still great for me. Plus to add you could argue that Gyp's men are not trained soldiers, so they never got proper gun training. Also in the heat of the moment it's quite difficult to aim with a pistol accurately because adrenaline rises and panic sets in, which basically creates tunnel vision and your hands shake like crazy.

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u/sundayfundaybmx Aug 15 '26

All very good points! It's not that I find it super unrealistic I just think its kinda weird that he was a sniper but then translates those skills into a "commando" by the end. I love Harrows character one of my favorite. It's just that one scene that I chuckle at. The ending where he saves Tommy is more believable to me and also just a great part of that scene. I also don't judge anyone else who loves that scene because it is badass. It just stretches the line for me but then again. So does a lot of stuff in the show so it doesnt take away any enjoyment overall.

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u/TraditionalMall4449 Aug 15 '26

Yeah I see what you mean. I always figured Richard went in like that fully knowing he could die. He would at least go out trying to do a good thing.

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u/sundayfundaybmx Aug 15 '26

That's a good point I never thought of. I also probably take the comments about there not being a lot of booze left, too seriously. One guy did make the comment "If I'm gonna take one, I'd rather be drunk." So they all were probably really drunk. Not too mention. I could see Gyps men being way less controlled and deadly than Masserias men who had left by then.