Confess your sins, then you say you're sorry. Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Episode 6
Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Episode 6: ‘The Age of Reason’ making of.
Priest: How can we avoid the fires of hell, if we can't stop sinning?
Teddy: Say sorry.
Priest: What else? Before that.
Nucky: You have to confess your sins, then you say you're sorry. He knows.
Terence Winter: Episode six is titled ‘The Age of Reason.’ The title refers to the point at which a boy becomes capable of understanding the differences between right and wrong, according to the Catholic church. In this episode, Margaret's son Teddy is about to have his first confession, his first communion. And that's sort of the backdrop for the entire episode.
Jeremy Podeswa (director): One thing I really love about Boardwalk Empire, is that the titles of the shows always are really important. And they kind of signify what the whole show is gonna be dealing with on a larger thematic level. So ‘The Age of Reason’ is an interesting title, because actually it's the name of a pamphlet that was written by Thomas Paine in the 18th century. And it was really about a criticism of organized religion. About the church’ role in politics at the time. He was a big American revolutionary, so it's very much about the separation of church and state. This idea of rebellion kind of infiltrates in many different ways. And this idea of religion is something very interesting too. Where you see little Teddy, who's been having trouble at Sunday school. And now his family is being called into the priest's office to talk about that. And so the revolution is starting at a very young age. And whether it's the church or whether it's the power structure in Atlantic City. You know, everybody is pushing against the borders and brisking against the conventions at the time.
