When we first met Jimmy Darmody he had just returned home from France where he fought in World War 1. As is the case with many veterans, especially those who have seen combat, Jimmy was struggling to find his footing back in the civilian world. He was figuring out who he was and had a fiancé and young son to look after. When things aren’t going as smoothly as Jimmy planned, he decides to take matters into his own hands and teams up with Al Capone to hijack a load of liquor that belongs to Arnold Rothstein. This hijacking would get Jimmy into hot water with Nucky Thompson and would ultimately force him to move to Chicago where he worked for Johnny Torrio. When things are going bad for Nucky, he brings Jimmy back to Atlantic City, where he serves as his muscle. After a while, Jimmy become disillusioned with working for Nucky and his duplicitous father, the Commodore, takes advantage of this by using Jimmy to take back Atlantic City. The influence of his mother Gillian didn’t help any. It’s fairly obvious that Jimmy doesn’t want to betray Nucky and he himself doesn’t truly understand why he’s doing it. As Jimmy’s story unfolds it becomes easier and easier to understand why he might be conflicted. Along with seeing serious atrocities and being surrounded by death during the war, the fact that his birth was the result of a 54 year old man taking advantage of his 12 year old mother, his mother having incestuous feelings towards him, and overall being surrounded by dysfunction Jimmy’s mistakes seem very forgivable given the good qualities that he does possess. While his relationship with his wife Angela is somewhat tumultuous you can tell he truly loves her deeply as well as his son Tommy. The relationship between him and his friend Richard Harrow is also touching as they look out for each other constantly. As the plan to dethrone Nucky moves along, however, it becomes evident that while Jimmy is full of potential he is just not ready to fill Nucky’s shoes. He doesn’t have the experience and it shows. Nothing seems to be going right for Jimmy as he had to deal with the cunning, cold, calculated nature of the experienced and dangerous Nucky. You almost feel like Jimmy wants to die as you watch him operate. Unfortunately, as we grew to care for Jimmy, his story doesn’t end well. He concedes to Nucky to make amends but knows it will end in his demise. In the end, Nucky wins the war, Jimmy murders his father, Angela Darmody is killed by Manny Horvitz, and eventually Jimmy is done in by Nucky himself. Jimmy was a soldier and his intentions were good but the toll the war and his past had on him were too much to bear. He was almost forced into a way of life that would eventually see him dead. He can rest at east knowing Julia has Tommy. Good-bye Jimmy, to the lost.
Article By: Jon DaBove
