The last couple of episodes have picked it up a bit and have set up the final 3 of the season to be pretty solid. The first few of the seasons seemed to be a lack of Jimmy hangover, but they have gotten out of it a bit of late. Still too much of Jimmy's mom and not enough Capone, but overall the third season has gotten better as it has gone on.
Earlier I had posted how I lost interest in the show. I ended up watching the last two episodes of the season and I really enjoyed them. I am still not completely sure why I wasn't digging the first couple episodes. I think like you said I missed Jimmy and thought Capone should have way more screen time, he is one of the shows better actors/characters.
However the last two episodes were classic Boardwalk episodes. I really enjoyed the finale, wont spoil it for anyone.
I still think it should be a 30 minute show. I feel that some of the story lines drag on far too long in some episodes. Some drawn out scenes get a little boring for me, while other scenes deserve a bit more time.
I think the show has a problem of trying to balance real people with fake people with those in the middle. It wants to remain historically accurate, but it is hard to do that when you have made up people at the center of the show, which is why I think they offed Jimmy. They could get away with him for a couple of seasons, but since he isn't real they couldn't keep him around forever. They also don't want to go full bore into the real figures that have been done a thousand times because they want to keep a lot of the action historically accurate but essentially made up, thus the show will never focus on the gangsters we all know like Capone, Luciano, Lansky, Rothstein, and Torrio. So it has to be centered on Nucky Thompson who is the fictionalized version of Nucky Johnson, and that will probably be the show's downfall because Nucky just isn't all that likeable as a person and Buscemi isn't exactly the ideal actor to carry the show in that role (he doesn't have the natural charisma to pull off that character).
They are apparently doing another time jump for season 4, which will take place around the time the liquor stores start drying up and the real gangster era of the 20's goes into full bore. I'm not sure how much longer they can go on with the show without shifting focus to Capone and Luciano and I'm not sure they want to make that show.
Yeah this is a very interesting point. For me I feel that there is only so much more they can do with Nucky Thompson. They will find a way to keep the seasons rolling Im sure due to its popularity. But I wonder what direction it will take in the future without focuses on those already well known gangsters.
