Jimmy's Memorial Day Speech

Boardwalk Empire Season 2

[@jackbolton7824]

He was so damaged... I loved your character Jimmy. Long after the show buried you.

[@TheSands83]

His death buried the show imo .., I had a hard time caring about the show after jimmy died

[@stephenkorz8563]

@@TheSands83 I believe the fault is on the actor.

[@isabelbeckerman1262]

@@stephenkorz8563 A rumor circulated Pitt was under the influence, an issue the producers decided to dismiss him from the series. He was difficult in the set and often late for work, but these accounts were unexplored though.

[@RawOne911]

I love how damaged characters gets so much love but in real life if you're damaged you gotta cry on your own fuckin shoulder, stare at 4 walls alone and in your own arms.

[@YeagerBomb115]

@@RawOne911 That’s too real, i hope you’re well

[@AdminAdmin-ys8ir]

A great scene - Jimmy demonstrated time and time again how capable he was in the series. Nucky puts him on the spot and he rises to the challenge. He rose to every challenge he faced, had principles, empathy, even honour. The war taught him how to kill and be cold blooded about it, but he was never truly ruthless. He lost the war against Nucky because his heart wasn't truly in it - at the gangster meeting when they arrange the hit, it's clear Jimmy doesn't want things to go that way. He was never truly a gangster, not in the way Capone and Luciano were. A tragic character but one that provided a great arc for the show.

[@snewsh]

Isn't the first thing jimmy does when he gets back is get nucky into a craploud of shit? Which forces him to, essentially, exile jimmy?

[@aznbigboyjo3]

Jimmy was dead inside after his mom raped him. He only enlisted to the war hoping to die as an hero but he survived.

[@anotherrealm6176]

Pitt is an excellent actor. The dude just not into the mainstream stuff

[@mephenigma]

It's a shame he didn't make it out the other side. I would love to have a conversation with the person that did.

[@jeeither]

he was capable but he was also young, careless and irresponsible. He was smart, and a good killer, but he wasn't much of a businessman. Look at what happened with him and Manny Horvitz. All he had to do was pay his debt.

[@tomservo5347]

Nice touch with the old Civil War veterans who were many times just as broken inside as Jimmy. Different war, same veteran.

[@zyzor]

Yeah and if you notice a veteran of the Spanish American war who is missing his arm. He’s younger than the civil war guys but also wearing blue

[@zyzor]

That was truly a forgotten war but the rough riders earned their place in history

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Every war is different. Every war is the same.

[@dansocha401]

I very much agree. It certainly fits the timeline. I think it would be fascinating to investigate if there was any sort of relationship between the aging veterans of the Civil War and youthful veterans of the Great War in the 1920's. Two wars fought on such a mind bogglingly high level, presumably the two must have had a lot of common ground.

[@tomservo5347]

@@dansocha401 Probably just the 'knowing' glance and the mutual understanding only veterans have.

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

Props to the show for using the actual names of Americans killed in the great war.

[@craigcooknf]

I love the detail of including civil war veterans. Many movies of remembrance events during this period, miss that completely.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

And some of those old civil war veterans saw old revolutionary war veterans.l when they were boys. Goes to show you how young America is.

[@genxer1]

Yeah, time is a funny thing. I am in my 50's. To young people now Vietnam seems like it was so long ago, but when I was in the US Army in the 90's I served with some Vietnam veterans. I am a First Gulf War era veteran, and thinking about it, someone born today would have more time between their birth and the First Gulf War than I did between my birth and WW2. Feels weird to think that WW2 only ended less than 27 years before I was born and we left Vietnam the year I was born. There were a lot of WW2 veterans (and a few WW1 veterans) around when I was young (both my grandfathers and numerous uncles and cousins served in WW2; one cousin and an uncle were killed in France in 1944; the uncle is still over there, buried above Normandy beach) and I have several relatives who are still alive who served in Vietnam. @@TheMrPeteChannel

[@PaulThePuppetier]

To the lost.

[@cozybones4644]

This scene was so satisfying. Nucky gets off on having power over people and lording his intelligence over others. He tries to big league Jimmy and spring a public speaking appearance on him and Darmody knocks it out of the park. And you can tell it hurt Nucky’s pride that Jimmy outplayed him, because he wouldn’t stop bitching about it at the golf course afterwards. Throughout the show Nucky tries his best to act like he’s the shit but his ego is fragile as hell.

[@kcloe88]

And to add insult to injury, the fellas he was playing golf with could've cared less.

[@Howard.Stern.]

It was also to show that Jimmy could speak publicly without any training. But Eli took speech lessons and failed miserably. Yet Nucky always worked with Eli because blood was thicker than water. And killed Jimmy and refused to work with him.

[@dreadiejaquan9240]

​@@Howard.Stern. Exactly.. Jimmy even looked up to him as a father, and Nucky kept neglecting him..

[@Doomseer]

​@@dreadiejaquan9240Nucky is the very epitome of the father who absolutely loves and adores you like no other when you're doing what he tells you but once Jimmy bucked agianst Nucky and served in WW1 it truly enraged him because he's a man who can't handle in the slightest not being able to control people and that's especially the case for those he loves. Basically he's a control freak and that truly was the source of many of his problems and the cause of Jimmy's eventual fate who he should of mentored and loved instead of attempting to constantly control him and when that would fail belittle him.

[@CradaOC]

Jimmys eye just exude pain in every scene

[@KenKennedy93]

I don't think he wasn't prepared at the end, he was just done fighting hence the line "I died in the trench", Ange's death coupled with his murder of his own father and realization of what a cold hearted manipulative bitch his mother was pushed him over the edge, he walked willingly into deaths arms. He knew Nucky was going to betray him, hence walking in unarmed and forcing Richard to stay behind, plus making that farewell speech to Richard.

[@mrharvy100]

That backfired on him ironically. Jimmy has some speech skills, at least on the topic of war

[@JoshyManTheGreat]

Jimmy was complex. Had everything. But needed more. Had deep issues, but back than they didnt understand.

[@vafangul5716]

@@JoshyManTheGreat well, he banged his mother... Soooo yeah, dude had some issues for sure lol

[@tobe1207]

His mom was hot though tbf

[@johnyguitar258]

@@vafangul5716 he dint bang his mother his mother was a terible person who did this and more to him ,

[@nicoledezzutti7455]

@@johnyguitar258 never saw this show but read that Jimmy did have an incestuous relationship with Gillian. Well that’s one spoiler alert! Lol

[@Hypnociss]

To The Lost.

[@Seanith]

I've never watched a show as immerse as this one was. Something about these kinds of scenes make me feel like i'm there, feeling all that raw emotion.

[@bmillerdrums]

Fuck yeah man well said

[@Seanith]

the fuck was i smoking

[@rgergashev]

This part is where Thompson and Jimmy were fighting against each other. Thompson is an old crook in this game, duplicitous public speechs and stuff is in his nature. Jimmy is warrior, foot soldier, who was dragged to the next level of hierarchy by his father and mother, where he can't fit in. That's why Jimmy said Thompson "You think I can't play this game?" And he answered "I think you do not even know the rules". I'd recommend you to watch it. This kind of plot, performance are rare. You won't regret it.

[@CocoKickz94]

@@Seanith you was probably rolling & smoking & smoking & rolling. Rolling & smoking & smoking and rolling. More than likely you were sitting in a chair Rollin up some weed, not giving a fuck about what other's need.

[@FranklinSninsky]

@@rgergashev thats wrong he dropped out of princeton to go to war, he shoulda stayed in school, and become a lawyer or Politcian in another city like lets say New York like nucky told him to when he asked how he could become president when he was ten. He chose to go to war, when he shoulda stayed in school....... and stood by nuckys side, he was too stupid to see Al Capone was using him and didnt give a fuck about Jimmy or his life/repuation at the end of the Day Jimmy was too trusting....

[@corvusboreus2072]

This, for me, was the scene that established a fundamental respect for James Darmody and cemented an underlying contempt for Nucky Thompson.

[@patrick4662]

Jimmy was a freaking badass. One of my favorite gangster characters all time film or tv

[@seanhuds229]

Aww this breaks my heart, he has absolutely nothing left in the world. A trully broken man. His spirit has left him.

[@PaulRobert474]

YOU can't unsee something...

[@milvache]

I love that Jimmy honors the fallen of the War

[@muhsinyarbay3957]

I like how Nucky punishes him to speak in front of people. That shaking hand is the definition of social phobia.

[@ardshielcomplex8917]

Only Veterans should be allowed to speak publicly on Memorial days, not Politicians or local celebrities etc

[@ferda9476]

Jimmy's voice fades out when he gets to the last names beginning with G & H. Right where Richard Harrow's name would be.

[@ulysses1320]

The list is for the dead not the wounded.

[@ryman1933]

@@ulysses1320 Isn't that the point though? That they died in the trenches and came back shells of themselves, dead men walking.

[@ulysses1320]

@@ryman1933 ?? Not really, as combat fatigue and shell shock were largely ignored and misunderstood if considered at all. Besides this list is to commemorate the Dead from Atlantic City, probably the whole county. The wounded, although having an (arguably) fate worse than death, get no props here

[@ryman1933]

@@ulysses1320 I think you once again misunderstand. His name would have come next but it didn't, because he is technically still alive. Yet the show cut to him to show while he is still alive his name might as well be on the list because mentally he died in the trenches.

[@ulysses1320]

@@ryman1933 ah I see your point, I did not think symbolically I just was thinking in a historical context

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

Even with World War II many years in the future, the men represented here were well acquainted with the horror of war, be it in France, Cuba, or the Philippines. For some, it was only a few hundred miles away in places like Gettysburg and Antietam.

[@UnblemishedYoussef]

0:39 I'm a senior engineering student. I know that feeling.

[@tragicsans9319]

It wasn't Memorial Day back then, it was Armistice Day.

[@beforethemast3678]

TragicSans Armistice Day became Veterans Day, not Memorial Day. Memorial Day started off as Decoration Day.

[@jhondahl3111]

you mean seize-fire day

[@aaronschutte7160]

Veteran’s Day in the U.S. is Armistice Day in the U.K. Same date, and whenever the Brits and the Yanks are together, we celebrate together.

[@no1guy825]

you catchin this? realize your mistake?! you there, you listening?

[@bryanpinto4051]

The towns along the sea were all out of the ordinary. Hard places in the winter, outhouses, fireplace heat and most worked in or around the ocean, regardless of the weather

[@naylik2562]

Jimmy is like a more pathetic and heartbroken Thomas Shelby, meanwhile Tom was so empty he just decided to rise to the top and crush anyone on his way because fuck it. I love both characters btw.

[@williamfrank962]

Jimmy as a character hits home for me. He would have been the same age as my great grandfather back during the 20s who signed up at 16 to fight in the Great War in 1914. He served at the Christmas truce , Ypre, Somme pashendale and St Quentin. He survived it all but never talked about it to my father, later in life I would found out his entire battalion or Regiment I can’t remember were completely wipe out except for three men during the last few months of the war. All he ever said about it was “I lost my buddies.” I always assume he must’ve been like jimmy in a sense being severely shell shocked but the good news is got through it in the end had an amazing life afterwards and lived to the age of 88. Rest in peace to all men who served during the Great War.

[@eddihazel3658]

1:08 soldier is clapping with one ✋!!

[@wilheim007]

Nucky may have been right overall on jimmy not knowing rules. But here he showed nucky that he could speak

[@raymondacbot4007]

Interesting there are civil war vets in that crowd

[@raymondacbot4007]

@Larry Lamovsky When you put it that way...wars seem like just a string of devastation, from one generation to another. Same broken men, different war.

[@spinner771]

@@raymondacbot4007 I mean pat Robertson’s dad was born in the 1880s and he is alive. I’m black and born in 1990, my dad is older than the civil rights act and he remembers when MLK was killed. It might be history for us but it’s not really that long if you live long enough.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Some where probably Indian Wars vets too. The guy missing an arm was Ethier a Spanish-American war or Philippine-American war vet. By 1920 there was a handful of Mexican-American war vets left.

[@genxer1]

That's true. 1990 was a good year, I graduated high school that year and remember it well. I was born in 1972 and my father was born in 1942, during the height of WW2. He remembers when JFK was killed, when Elvis died, when MLK was killed...all these historical and monumental events. Must've been some time to be alive. You're right, WW2 seems like ancient history to young people now, but both my grandfathers were born over 100 years ago and served in WW2. I remember spending a lot of time with one of them in the 70s and 80s, and it seems like yesterday. Both of my great grandfathers were born in the 1890s and were still alive when I was born.@@spinner771

[@flightofthebumblebee9529]

The best speech is the one not rehearsed.

[@Mirza247]

To the Lost....

[@paraguaymike5159]

To our fuckin lost. May they all rest in peace.

[@murat_yurttas]

War is hell.

[@francisphillips53]

War is war.. hell is hell. Out of the two, war is worse. Because in hell there are no innocent bystanders. (I agree with you.)

[@murat_yurttas]

@@francisphillips53 Well said.

[@socallawrence]

@@francisphillips53 Charles Schwab ova here

[@kineticblues2766]

_mothers, sons, wives...._ 🙄just so happens to be in Jimmy's order of importance as well:///

[@xstacyk7387]

Commodore really fucked Jimmy up. Nucky tried to help him as much as he could but only cause of the guilt he had harboured due to Gillian. Jimmy was a sad character. Fucked up since his birth by Gillian and then went away on war. Michael Pitt really aced the character though..

[@Thefarukcan]

nucky knows how to attack the enemy. right after he learns jimmy betrayed him, he makes him feel he dies in the war in france. he made him to force to say father, jimmy thinks he has two father and he betrayed nucky. what a great scene

[@timmmmkay]

To the lost..

[@stiltmansstilt1014]

I don't think people realize how important are servicemen and women are.

[@ardshielcomplex8917]

We're only allowed out on commemorative days to enable politicians and local celebrities the opportunity to waffle BS and be seen in public and the media. Consider all the homeless Veterans and the many still fighting for their benefits generally ignored by govt and others

[@Banapeelerwee]

People had cooler names back then...

[@mattv.4089]

Banapeelerwee yea Lester Dayton is a cool one

[@Ocelot10]

Remind me of Born in the 4 of July movie with Tom Cruise making a speach...

[@balbock_2555]

I think the most interesting part of this scene Harrows reaction

[@RawOne911]

Is that uncle Jun in the background?

[@e_sidera]

if his mother wasn't so daring, he'd finish school.

[@steverzucidlo9065]

I wish I could give this speech.

[@jsuper333]

Anyone else thinks nucky looks kinda like the joker?

[@richardwhite6288]

Uglier

[@JimS870]

Here in Canada, we wear poppies in November for Remembrance Day. I think it looks great and I was intrigued to see it in Boardwalk Empire. Is this a tradition that has fallen by the wayside?

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Jimmy870 Wearing poppies on Memorial/Remembrance Day become less popular after the Vietnam War.

[@kennethhigdon1159]

Jimmy870 I purchase a poppy every November from a veterans charity

[@mattv.4089]

It has. It’s probably racist or offensive to some group. Or insensitive to plants or some shit.

[@keelanmurphy9941]

The poppys always been a British and commonwealth thing.

[@menschman1464]

You still see it in the us just not as much

[@steverzucidlo9065]

I know this feeling.

[@steverzucidlo9065]

His Holiness Benedict xvi understands.

[@bmillerdrums]

Michael Pitt always looks fried either in his movies or in reality. The guy has got to be a stoner of some sorts i would pretty much bet anything on that...

[@idzoavitsi4211]

people on set said he was always nodding off on heroin and shit. EDIT: i was incorrect in this statement and have posted another comment in this thread with more details. my apologies if i mislead anyone, i simply combined two separate stories.

[@ReservoirPunk]

No, they didn't. Wtf are you talking about?

[@InfamousMedia]

bmillerdrums my co worker saw him outside a bar or train station in LA 3-5 years ago. He was casually smoking a cigarette like an average joe, my co worker had to double take. They ended up talking about drugs and crazy shit, I remember my friend telling me Michael Pitt told him something about a crazy stripper party idk some Hollywood rowdiness. So you’re not far off lol

[@idzoavitsi4211]

​@pete zah i was actually mistaken by saying he was nodding off on set, I think I was combining Pitts general douchebaggery on set and his likely offset drug use with a story of the late Phillip Hoffman, just got them mixed up and remembered incorrectly. The quote I was thinking of was in an uproxx article which said he was always looking strung out on drugs or hungover and was always oversleeping by hours and missing his rides to the studio and was never able to remember his lines to the point of shooting his scenes later than everyone else. I've had alot of struggle with addiction. This really seems like a opiate of some kind to me based solely on my personal experiences, but my apologies to everyone for the bad information, I should have fact checked before i posted, my intent was not to mislead anyone. i have amended my original comment to reflect this. The uproxx article in question is linked below if you want to read yourself. uproxx.com/tv/evidence-boardwalk-empires-michael-pitt-may-biggest-jackass-hollywood/

[@johnngatia4880]

The real Heros like Richard were never mentioned

[@saz6950]

Gillian Darmody should have been there.

[@raterNAZ]

I wonder if they used real name sof WW1 vets in that speech?

[@johnlime2610]

They did

[@maybachrob9475]

To the lost

[@MasterControl-MCP]

What were the rules for Nucky’s game?

[@davidtran1360]

So did the US have a tradition of wearing poppy's but then stop?

[@Obikron123]

Poppy flowers were symbolic of WW1. At the WW1 memorial in Kansas City they have a whole floor of artificial ones on display.

[@jiveassturkey8849]

This isn’t the same holiday as Remembrance Day, we call that Veteran’s Day in the US, it’s celebrated on November 11, the WWI Armistice Day. This scene is Memorial Day, which is in May. It strictly observes those killed in war. Veterans Day is for all vets. But no, the US never wore poppies, that’s a British-Commonwealth thing.

[@farsalor2627]

@@jiveassturkey8849 Poppies were more popular here prior to Nam but, even then it wasn't much of a thing.

[@socallawrence]

Why did Eli look down like that ?

[@w.2621]

0:00 to 1:20, 1:53 to 1:57

[@modenasolone]

Yes

[@Kblog777]

It was Nucky's fault Jimmy was as damaged as what he was.

[@RosaHernandez-ge6dz]

Kblogg 777 how

[@kbholla]

Kblogg 777 Uhh no, it was the years of hell in war that he experienced.

[@knosje]

It was Nucky's fault Jimmy was born at all

[@trillgates2452]

No, the fuck it wasn't. Jimmy's stupid ass chose his fate by being a conniving fuck. The only time he used his brain was to keep his ears apart.

[@steverzucidlo9065]

Apparently Steve bushemi is an undesirable actor.

[@Guru22007]

Hmm, Think I missed this episode.

[@steverzucidlo9065]

I know General Pershing.

[@WickedDealer]

Hard to fight for "Democracy" when you live in a Constitutional Republic.

[@steverzucidlo9065]

Why did this even happen?

[@frankieflash]

It's commonwealth thing

[@stonedimaculate1983]

poppys are a canadian thing

[@TheSealOfTheRose]

And American and British.

[@steverzucidlo9065]

I am very week.

[@FranklinSninsky]

tf is wrong with his leg?

[@ndapandulaipinge790]

He sustained a leg injury when he was fighting in the war.

[@johnpoop5237]

I WASN’T.

[@skuzad25]

To the Lost.