A CUT ABOVE

Season One is in the books and there's no need for a vote on this one...the show is a hit and finale was tremendous. Van Alden likened Atlantic city to Carthage and his time there to that of St. Augustine who was temped and bribed on a daily basis. The city has gotten the better of him and he has decided to leave. He claimed there is nothing for him in Atlantic City after Sebso "died of a heart attack." He told his wife he is going to leave the bureau and go into the feed business with his relative. Just what this guy needs to be around, farm animals. She urged him to stay with the FBI, probably terrified at having him at home otherwise. He told her he will consider it if only God gives him a sign. Well Lucy showing up preggers with his love child is no "Grilled Cheezus" but I think in Nelson's mind it will count.
I loved how his face went from smile to frown in an instant when he realized it was Lucy who had come to visit him and not Margaret. BTW...Lucy was lookin good son! Pregnancy really suits her, she was "glowing." "Are you a post man Nelson?" Because this bundle inside me is C.O.D. sucka! You "made" me pregnant. Won't it be weird when both the baby and Lucy are calling Nelson "daddy?" Flethcer's people try to buy off Chalky, but being the "savvy bitness man" that he is he pocketed their bribe then told Nucky he wanted ten thousand dollars, a new car (Packard I'm guessing) and an invite to the victory party at Babette's. Nucky has no problem shelling out the cash, he probably had that in his pocket. And another shiny car for Chalky no big deal either, but the third request? Interesting to see Nucky balk at this demand. He openly deals with Chalky in front of his associates so Nucky's reluctance didn't jive with me(no pun intended). I did love how it allowed for Chalky's moment of victory though as he stood at the bar with his Nubian queen amongst all the stuffy white folk, confidently giving her a wink as if to say "how you like me now?" Nucky let's the maid Mrs Pratt off the hook, yes the same Mrs. Pratt that killed Jerry. Shocker I know. The commodore shouldn't be too upset it looks like he is going to have Gillian there to keep him warm at night. Would love to know what she said to him when she was trying to get him to drink his milk. Loved Mrs. Pratt's answer as to why she chose to poison her boss. "Cause if I used the shotgun I'd a had to clean the mess up myself." Nucky was very concerned with the Black vote and I'm sure did not want to risk upsetting any chance of their support by having a black woman arrested and charged with attempted murder on the eve of the elections. He gives her a quick lesson on morality, "you can't go around poisoning people" and a few hundred bucks and tells her that her A.C. privileges have been revoked. Like Marcellus Wallace told Butch, "when you're gone, you stay gone, or you be gone." She complied, but not before warning him to be careful and handing him what looked like a bible. No doubt she has been keeping tabs on the Commodore. Whether or not it was at Nucky's behest we will have to wait and see, but I would not be surprised to still find out that Gillian and Nucky were in the know with regard to the Commodores poisoning. The fact that they noted that the poison was even found in his tooth paste says to me that this was a well thought out and crafted attempt to rid a number of peoples lives of an unwanted presence. Oz references: As Rothstein exits his town house with Lanskey and Lucky a kid runs buy dressed as a scarecrow. Lansky was the original Fansworth Bentley it seems and for good measure Lucky also helped keep the rain off his boss. Was nice symbology for their relationship and further illustrated when Lucky remarks how "the advice is free, you pay us because we get out hands dirty." Rothstein was all but content to run away to Scotland to avoid being brought in on the World Series charges. Lansky tried to gauge the seriousness of his intent by scoffing "Scotland in November?" A.R. countered saying he heard the golf is great, to which Lucky countered with a laugh of his own saying "in June maybe." Like the trick-or-treaters running by them, frantically trying to go house to house before the candy is gone, Lansky and Lucky saw their meal ticket packing up shop before their own eyes and they were panicked. There was a quick but poignant shot where Lansky flashes a look of "do something!" to Lucky as Rothstein was preparing to get in his car. Lucky brought up Nucky and the chance he might be able to clear A.R. of this mess in Chicago and get their business back on track. They appeal to his sense of logic and tell him they don't see any "percentage" in a war with Atlantic City. Let Nucky help him out, pay him whatever he wants, offer up the D'Allessio brothers as an olive branch and move on. Jimmy came home to find little Tommy acting all aloof. Jimmy asked him what he was supposed to be dressed up as. I was waiting for Tommy to look at him and say "A pirate Dad, Arrr you going to bend Mommy over the table again?" Angela told Jimmy she and Tommy are both scared of him because of his nightmares and subsequent violent sleep antics. Might also be due to the fact Tommy saw his dad beat a wannabe Frenchman within an inch of his life with a tripod, JS. Jimmy eluded to the horrors again that he saw in the trenches. He told Angela that he would think of her and imagine he could feel her hair on his face. He asked her if they could go back to the way things were. He got his answer when he came home the next day to find she had cut most of her hair off after receiving a post card from Paris making her look like Winona Rydered circa 2002. She made her choice and Jimmy was not happy. Interesting to note how when she was sitting on Jimmy's lap the room to the left was empty, but when Angela is later sitting at the same table with her now short hair there is a painting she made of a naked woman in bed. No doubt it was a rendering of her "kissing friend." It appeared she forgave and could not forget her. Margaret comes across the grave of Nucky's 6 day old son. "So you have that in common,' says Harding's psycho mistress Nan. Anyone check to see if that baby she is carrying around is breathing? Chick has got issues. Nucky tried on his mask as Margaret entered and she suggested he leave it on. Hahahaha. Priceless. Margaret felt like she had met Nucky for the first time after he opened up to her about his family. This shot of him putting on the mask in the mirror was interesting too. Staring back at him were four reflections of himself. He is a man who certainly wears a lot of hats and masks. Leaders of the three cities met at what looked like the same spot where Sebso offed the witness. Big scene for Capone. He reprimanded Lucky telling him to "grow up uh? with the stupid jokes," after Lucky had quipped that he heard Collisomo was shot in the back of the head. Jimmy also spoke out of turn and Nucky corrected him. You clearly could see the growth of Al and how he had sort of moved ahead of his two other contemporaries in attitude and maturity. Note the hat again he was wearing and also how long he held his stare down on Lucky even after Torrio started talking again. Fantastic stuff.

Nucky called a press conference and while the reporters spilled ink on themselves to take into account the breaking news about the roadside murders, Jimmy, Richard Harrow and Capone are spilled blood all over Philly.

Richard is cold blooded as usual. Capone still shows he has that kid inside him when he grabs the apple out of the dead brothers grocery bag, but Jimmy is dark as ever as he goes all Sweeney Todd on Vinny Delpino in the barber chair. Loved how he wiped off his knife as if to say "your blood got all over my blade!" The whole montage was spectacular and reminiscent of the Baptism by Fire sequence from The Godfather.
The election results were being tallied when Nucky tried to reassure Eli saying "almost home little brother." Nucky's little shout out to him during the press conference and his cut of the Rothstein money did little to heal Eli's damaged ego. Even when Nucky reinstated him as sheriff there was no grand thank you. Blood is thicker than water, but Eli was still none to psyched about it being his that had to be spilled. No amount of money can get his self respect back. Nucky took that from him when he made retarded Steve Sanders interim sheriff. Jimmy gets a not so warm hello from "good ole Patty Ryan." Patty mentioned that Nucky really helped him out in politics to which Jimmy said that Nucky must have pimped out his mother too. Interesting stand off between those two. I have a feeling Patty Ryan will be a big player next season.
Jimmy was over served but not out of line. I was glad to see him call Nucky out on acting as if he really cared about him or anyone else for that matter.

Commodore told Jimmy how he took the fall when Wilson came to town looking to make a name for himself. The truth started to flow and so did the brandy. The second pour of booze into the milk from Jimmy was much more generous. Great depiction of his attitude toward his father showing him slowly opening up to the guy. Then Eli rolled in and it all came together. We saw Eli staring at Jimmy and Nucky earlier when they were arguing. These three are going to become the axis of evil in Nucky's side. Closing montage we see Gillian vexed sitting alone smoking and drinking. She is either upset about her foiled attempt to off the commodore or nervous because she knows what is being discussed in the other room between her son, the Commodore and Eli. Or maybe she is just tying a big enough one on before she has to go upstairs and throw leg for the old man.

Last week Dirty Jerz fan and contributor, 'Chalky Dunne' made a great call after he noticed a duck statue in Nucky's office. Another bird with a lot of historic symbolism was featured in the finale. When Jimmy and the Commodore met we were shown that the Commodore had a pet owl in a cage. In the Celtic tradition, the owl represents wisdom, clairvoyance, stealth, initiation, change and detachment. Always aware of its surroundings, the owl uses intuition courageously, with insight into hidden truth. The Commodore is a real O.G. and knows exactly what the man behind the curtain is doing which will prove to be a serious weapon come next season.
It was also a very interesting choice of bird considering how we recently saw Nucky visiting the psychic and Gillian also has talked about her faith in clairvoyants. Adding to this theme were the apparent fortune telling properties of Margaret's Irish prize cake. She was none to thrilled to see that rag on her fork. That either meant that the Lysol has been working, or that she will end up destitute. She went right back to Nucky to lock up her well being so that the next time she finds a sheet in her cake it's going to be Egyptian 1500 Thread Count! Nucky and Margaret look like they never skipped a beat at the party when the bubbly was flowing. Not all is well though in Oz. He affectionately stared at her while hugging her from behind, but when they walked out of the club to face the new morning Nucky's expression changed to one of fear/concern and he no longer was embracing Margaret. He just stood next to her detatched. As the season closed out we saw Jimmy walking along the ocean much like Nucky does in the opening credits. The final shot showed Nucky gazing out over the boardwalk as the sun rose over Atlantic City. Could this represent the rise of a new sun/son as the Commodore and Eli look to bring Jimmy to power? We will have to see.

Notable Quotes:

Nucky Lackey: Hell Nuck you'll even get the spooks.
Chalky: The fuck you just say?
Lackey: What? I got my clerk coming the obituaries, he's writing down names.

Torrio: Noon tomorrow we'll pick a spot out by you. Nucky to butler: Ow god damnit. Torrio thinking he said "how": The train, how you think?

Rose Van Alden: Biscuit?
Nelson: The molasses hurts my filling!

Pretty Far From a Return to Normalcy

Season Finale recap will be out at some point today or tomorrow at the latest but thought I'd share my costume I put together for the party that capped off Movember where we had to grow moustaches for Prostate Cancer awareness and fundraising.

How Much Sin Can You Live With?

Ep. 12 Preview

TAKE ME TO THE WATER

I mean...
"So Jimmy's dad must have some serious pull whoever he is. We don't know who it is but my guess would be the Commodore. At least for now. If he is Jimmy might not have a dad for long, because that dude is dying ya'll. Was interesting how he noted that the dog was sick. Maybe there's something or someone in the house poisoning them."
All I have to say is we...

NAILED IT!
But it still remains to be seen if Gillian was acting alone in poisoning the commodore. One thing was for certain, the maid is in cahoots with her. Did you notice how she doubled back to take the cookies away when Jimmy came to visit? When the Commodore told her to leave them she had a look of panic on her face. I'm wondering though if Nucky is involved as well. He has to kick money to the Commodore each week and maybe he is tired of it and wants to send the old man on his way. I'm sure Nucky knows that the Commodore is not a big fan of his. Commodore went as far as to tell Jimmy that "the wrong man is running this town." Commodore gives Jimmy the Wikipedia upload on how he built Atlantic City up from a swamp and what an amazing man he was, and Jimmy just scoffs saying "you and your giant blue ox right?" He is no Paul Bunyan that's for sure, but he is a straight creep and molester. He had Nucky bring Gillian to him when she was only 13. The Commodore ranks right up there with the Colonel from Boogie Nights. "I'm what time and consequence made me." "You were 54 she was 13.
So the Commodore is crying over Fido in the box and I'm asking myself where did Jimmy get his cold blooded nature from. Answer: his mom Gillian. When Jimmy visits her and informs her that the Commodore made it through another night she is anything but elated. She goes as far as to say that she is surprised. Jimmy confronted her about the arsenic and she didn't exactly shout in protest at Jimmy's insinuations now did she. Her look said it all.
OK moving on...
So we finally met the "Great" Hardeen as he was suspended upside down trying to free himself from a straight jacket. Margaret asked Nucky, "Is it meant to take this long?" Made me think of Animal House when Mandy Pepperidge was giving Greg Marmalard the five knuckle shuffle in his car. "Anything?" "Maybe a little faster...ooh yeah." Couldn't find that clip but this one of him and Babs is just as good.

Nucky was probably wondering what was taking Margaret so long, to conceive his heir that is. We saw that he uncovered the her Lysol morning after cocktail. She doesn't want to have a child by Nucky or any man for that matter. Nucky basically wipes his ass with the suffrage movement when he fired back that it is not her right to decide whether or not to have a baby. Margaret doesn't want to bring a new baby into this life she is surrounded by much like Kay Adams Corleone from the Godfather didn't want to.
Margaret got a little ahead of herself this week I felt. Comments like "I'll do what is required of me," did not jive with Nucky or me. So what if Nucky had your husband killed Margaret? You were living in the 1920's equivalent of a Van Down By The River and the man you were sharing it with was beating you in front of your children. He murdered your unborn child and nearly killed you as well. You knew what kind of man Nucky was when you went to him for help.
Margaret, you live in a town house that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns, sometimes men with half a face. Who else is gonna do it? You? Madame Jeunet? Nucky has a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for your dead beat husband, and you curse the bootleggers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what Nucky knows. That your husband's death, while brutal, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at your Temperance League meetings, you want me running the show. Nucky has neither the time nor the inclination to explain himself to a woman whose children rise and sleep under the blanket of the very lifestyle that he provides, and then questions the manner in which he provides it. He and I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you grab a handful of the Commodore's cookies or stop shoving that Lysol up your cooch and start drinking it instead. Either way, Nucky should not give a damn about what you think you are entitled to.
Margaret should have taken notice of her friend Annabele and how fast your spot can get blown up like hers did when Harry got taken in the original Ponzi Scheme. "Every shell game needs a mark."
Eli finally stood up to Nucky and was spot on when he said that no one cares about Nucky, they only care about what they can get from him. "How do you know? How do you know anything? I got a bullet in my gut from what you don't know." He was again correct when he said Nucky thinks because he takes care of Margaret it absolves him from all the sins on his hands. Thats how Nucky thinks. Van Alden is like Nucky in this way. I think he felt the same way when he "baptized" Sebso. Van Alden is a sinner but by doing "gods work" he is cleansing himself of his sins. I feel bad for Eli, not because he is forced to relinquish his badge, but because we learned he has eight kids. EIGHT! Nucky will keep money coming his way, but that is a grip of screaming mouths. No wonder he has to take his wife out to the tool shed to get anything done. The inmates must be running the asylum at his house.
Nothing gets by Van Alden man. Let's forget about his antisemitic remarks all together. He had Sebso pegged for being on Nuck's payroll and called him out for his new wingtips. "Temptation knows no rank Agent Sebso." It's a good thing Van Alden wasn't working at Shawshank the night Andy Dufresne escaped. "Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guards simply didn't notice. Neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes?"
I'm sure it struck many as odd that the congregation of Baptists just sat idly by as Van Alden killed Sebso. Dave Chapelle touched on it once when he said "Well let me tell you something about those white guys. Those white guys are the most dangerous motherf**kers in them groups. It's true, man. There's no telling what kind of crazy s**t they've done to get them black dudes respect, but I'll tell you they've done some wild s**t." Van Alden didn't even have to take out his gun if you ask me. No one was going to say boo, especially the cat who just came into a pair of new wing tips.
Speaking of saying Boo, how scared must Angela have been when she got home after finding the Dietrichs gone to also find the letter she left for Jimmy on the bed missing? What an intense scene. For the sake of Tommy I don't think Jimmy will hurt her just yet. Instead he will let her live in fear. He isn't going to be an absent father like the Commodore was. He and Tommy going to keep all hours together some day, just the boys.
If the day comes where he needs to be rid of Angela I'm sure my man Richard Harrow will step up to the task. That scene with him and Jimmy talking about getting the D'Alessio brothers to pop their heads out was one of the gnarliest yet. Jimmy doesn't understand why he offers to go to Philly if the brothers are in hiding. "I would kill the mother, the sisters and the dentist." The dentist being the one brother who is not involved in the criminal dealings of his other brothers.

Before Sebso's demise, the Deacon remarked that "Every road leads to a reckoning." In the season finale, we will see this come to fruition as it looked as if it will be an hour chock full of retribution. Margaret has left Nucky, but I can't imagine for long. In the meantime he is lost as we gathered from him walking into the fortune teller's in the final scene of the week. Eli is not going to take his demotion well. A.R. is in deep with the Black Sox and his lawyer advised him to go to Chicago and call on anyone who might owe him some favors. Chicago will be afire when he comes to town with Torrio and Capone still running things.

Other notable quotes:

Gillian- No one deserves to die alone














Harry: I don't give a cun-ts hair u boob!
Annabelle: You're totally broke? You fat worthless fool!







Nucky: What happened to the tears?
Annabelle: Ride me like you used to and I'll soak the pillow through
Nucky: I'll keep that one in my pocket

Nucky: I thought she was your Friend.
Margaret: So you wouldn't fuck her?
That language does not become you.


Nucky: I didnt want to hurt her.
Eli: What the fuck are these for?

Sebso: I just bought these.

Loved Van Alden using both "mortal combat" and "micturate" in the same sentence while talking to Sebso.

THAT'S MOMMY'S KISSING FRIEND

After this week's episode I'm not sure if you can really call Atlantic City civilized. The Land of Oz seemed to be taken over by The Lord of the Flies and beat downs and murder ran amok. What a roller coaster of an episode for our man Jimmy Darmody. First we see the sensitive side of him as he compliments Angela talking about how in the trenches one would forget that there was anything beautiful in the civilized world. Then he goes all Sam Wheat on her. So Jimmy beat up the wrong person at Dittrich's photograph store. Minor technicality. The guy tried to be the meat in a bohemian sanwich with his and Jimmy's wife. He deserved every last lick of that tripod. How bout Jimmy justifying his boardwalk beat down to the onlookers by telling them this man had relations with his wife while he was away fighting in the war. Apparently that works, because no one said boo. "Hey man why you rearranging that guys face? Oh he buttered your wife's toast while you were in the trenches? Here let me hold him down for you."
Our other war hero Richard started us off this week in dream land as we saw him and Odette walking down the beach together. He was awakened by Margaret's daughter screaming at the site of his unmasked face, or lack there of. I guess she had herself a real "Harrowing" experience? Nucky in his usual dickhead tone chastises him for making an already tense situation worse, but then later justifies his presence to Margaret by calling him a war hero. You could "show Dick some respect," Nucky and tell Harrow the same thing next time.
Speaking of respect, if Al wants Torrio's he needs to start acting like a man. Anyone else wonder if Torrio's googily eyes is a shout out to Steve Buscemi's character from Mr. Deeds? Capone takes the sagely advice from the Jewish man at the Bar Mitzvah. He tells Al he should swap out his hat for a yarmulke because he is a man yet wears the hat of a boy. This is a pivotal moment for young Capone and it was summed up with an amazing quote from the old man, "All of us spend our manhood unlearning the follies of our youth." Al tells crazy eyes Torrio that he is going to help turn the brewery around and show him that he is ready to take responsibility for his actions. Torrio snapped on him earlier for the cigarette joke and in so many words told him "This shit's chess it ain't checkers!"

You get the feeling that this might be his last chance to make good, much like the situation Jimmy has been in and even our resident lunatic Agent Van Alden has landed himself in as well.
Supervisor Elliot buys Sebso's story about having to "make water" and killing the witness in self defense. He give him a week long vacation and sends him on his way. Van Alden is not so lucky and faces his supervisor's ire. He is told that one more slip up will land him down in the Everglades chasing moon shiners.
Nelson is coming apart at the seams. He makes one last desperate attempt to woo Margaret, but the whole "I can see into your soul and have come to save you from the fires of hell" routine isn't exactly getting her all hot and bothered. Maybe start off slow, like dinner and a movie my man. Just a thought.
Like many a rejected man, he takes himself to the professionals and ends up bedding Lucy. Loved how they showed his discomfort in simply ordering a whiskey at the bar and then the way it seemingly swept through him after he drank it. "AGAIN!" His hand was trembling as he lit Lucy's cigarette, but that was nothing compared to his Smeagol/Gollum impression after he finished her off.Some great camera work was used in this scene and I'm not talking about the POV shots. Before they tightened up on the twisting they started off with a wide angle shot of Van Alden's room and bookending the bed was a picture of his wife on the left and the Bible sitting on his desk on the right. Not sure what sent this guy over the edge but he snapped big time. I mean he basically went Elm St. on his own back just for thinking about Margaret. What is he going to do to cleanse himself of Lucy? Cut off a leg?
Lucy looked pretty good I have to admit. Hard to believe Nucky got tired of that, but we saw why it is he loves Margaret so much as she delivered her speech on behalf of Bader. Very interesting shot of her at the podium with the She felt dirty I think afterward when she saw Nucky and his cronies giggling at the table as they no doubt were discussing how much money Bader was going to bring them, but Margaret is becoming more like Nucky with each episode. Sipping champagne, playing politics, taking advantage of her power to get what she wants. She is straddling the morality fence and she knows it. That's why she looks at herself like she did in the mirror. Go back to when she apologized to Harold. She said she should not judge a man by what he looks like but rather by whats inside. Harold says he can't do that, so why should she feel bad for not being able to. Sometimes he forgets how he looks he says. He sees himself in the mirror and he has trouble seeing the man he used to be, just like Margaret has trouble looking at that picture of her from Ellis Island. (Which Van Alden kept btw) She isn't the same woman that came over on that boat.
I felt so bad for my man Harrow when her daughter screamed at him though. Later on while Margaret is reading to the children he sort of slinks into the room like the dog who had been yelled at for chewing on the couch, all sheepish like. She sees him hovering in the shadows and invites him in. I really like this guy. When he told the kids he was the Tin Woodsman and needed some oil I was beaming just like little Emily Schroeder.

Ok enough happy time, let's get to the REAL.
Mickey Doyle realizes he is going to get cut out of the deal between the D'Alessio brothers and AR and crew. So he turns coat again and confesses to Nucky and Jimmy what has been going on. Jimmy spitting in his drink and then dropping the glass on him was great. I also thought the scene when Nucky is choking Mickey and Jimmy has the gun to his head was a nice foreshadow of what was in store for the D'Alessio bros at the distillery later on.
A.R., Lucky and Lansky are some unit. Nucky, Jimmy and Chalky are probably the only crew who can match them I would say. Seeing these two crews go back and forth is like a great gridiron grudge match. Reminds me of the old days of Cowboys/Redskins or Steelers/Raiders. It's no secret A.R. is using the D'Alessio brothers as his pawns. The only way he is going to get his hands dirty is if he loses his napkin while enjoying his cake and milk. On the other side, Nucky uses Jimmy and Chalky to tie up his loose ends.
A.R. asked Mickey why he thought he was a good gambler. "Cause you're lucky."
"He's Lucky, I create my luck." It's the age of information and Rothstein is a successful gambler because he does his "due diligence," or dare I say...channel checks?
So Meyer Lansky first approached Chalky posing as Michael Lewis. Chalky notes this when he is speaking with him and the D'Alessio brothers at his distillery. Sort of a nod to the fact that he knows who Lansky really is and reminds him how he tried to dupe him once before. The fat brother Matteo tells Chalky if he plays his cards right he'll be able to buy himself a Packard for every day of the week. This ends up biting him in the ass but if you listen to Chris Rock he rationale was not too far off when you think about it.

Regardless of intent, that comment confirmed for Chalky, that it was they who lynched his friend in an earlier episode. He gets the drop on them and says say hello to My Buddies.

Lucien D'Alessio (the one with "dogshit" on his face) talked himself right into the business end of Jimmy's problem solver and Matteo opened his mouth one too many times as Chalky shut it for him once and for all. Chalky admitted to getting skimmed by Nucky back when he ran the diuce game at Chicken Bone Beach, but he knows he has a strong ally in him. Loved how when Jimmy shoots Lucien Nucky looks at him as if to say "was that really necessary?" and Jimmy just rolls his eyes at him. Jimmy is a Regulator. He knows he has to be handy with the steel if you know what I mean, earn his keep.

Couple quotes to mention:

Nucky: That's the South, they're not exactly known for their forward thinking down there."

Nucky: "Andrew was a tailor and he became president."
Margaret: "Wasn't he impeached?"

Jimmy asks Mickey how Lucky fits into everything and Mickey replies, "your mother didn't tell ya?" Guy has a lot of balls laughing at Jimmy when he says he slammed his hand in the ice box.

Nucky: "You're lucky to be alive you fukking Polack!"

A.R.: "Nothing Says I'm sorry like money."

Lansky: "How do you do?"

Nucky: "There's another dego running around with dogshit on his face?"

Great episode, so much to discuss. There is a war a brewin, and Al Capone remains the wild card that could come in on either side and sway the tide of battle. I think his allegiance still is with Jimmy, but we will have to wait and see.

Everyone In Paris Is Doing It

This week's episode was titled The Emerald City and appropriately so. We see Nucky reading The Road To Oz while at Margaret's house. Nucky didn't like Margaret asking and arguing about matters of the city. It ruined the whole artificial world he has created where he comes over and plays father and husband. Margaret bringing in outside real life issues ruins the illusion or pulls back the curtain to show that Nucky maybe isn't this grand wizard of Oz or AC but actually just a money hungry tyrant. Or as A.R. called him, "greedy and unreasonable." Nucky lives a charmed life in his very own bubble. A.R. lives in the real world so to speak.
The scene where AR played pool was very interesting and symbolic. The green felt is the Earth and with his delicate touch A.R. maneuvers his way around the table with grace and poise. Conversely we saw Lucky breaking and then trying a kind of aggressive bank shot which ultimately failed. A.R.'s style is more effective. It doesn't disturb the other balls until its their turn to disappear off the face of the earth/table and in the end he wins the money. He never loses his calm where as Nucky shows his temper often.
Interesting to note also that A.R. is the only one who Lucky allows to address him as "Charlie" we saw last episode when he corrected a man for addressing him otherwise. Well him and Jimmy's mom but that is over I have a feeling. Just a wild guess.
The scene with Gillian and Lucky and then Jimmy was epic. A few things to note.
-Gillian's hair looked amazing.
-Lucky lifting up the sheet to look at he Franken-dick with a sigh of relief.
-The shadow of Jimmy walking into the apartment to pay Lucky a visit was a nice shot.
- Jimmy throwing the coffee on Lucky then saying "I wasn't sure if you took cream?"
-Jimmy and his mom are very close, but how close. Anyone ever see the movie Taboo?

Speaking of things taboo, we learned that the photo store guy Robert was only giving Angela hopes of getting her art work evaluated by the dealer from NYC, in order to get her to join in a little three way action with him and his wife. He may not bite, but he definitely sucks. Jimmy returns home just in time and although she resists at first, Angela decided to take a break from the sea food buffet and eat some meat again.

After getting the drop on Lucky, Jimmy learned that A.R. had made a deal with the D'Alessio brothers, but was abrubtly interruped by Van Alden and his assistant in the hallway with their guns drawn. Loved how Jimmy got the slap in on Lucky just before the cuffed him.
Jimmy gets taken in and interrogated by Van Alden but he doesn't crack. It reminded me of the scene from Murder By Numbers when he was being interrogated for another crime he blatantly committed but showed the same ice cold resolve. He was so smooth when he surprised Nucky in his office. I like how when Nucky tried to get down to business Jimmy cut him off and made some demands, best of which was that Harrow get's to stay on board. He wanted to hear Nucky give the order to kill the D'Alessio brothers and when he asked, "even the kid?" Nuck's stare conveyed the message and Jimmy just sniffs and says he is going to go eat his steak. Jimmy is cold blooded ya'll.
Jimmy loses that composure though when he sees Billy the witness in the hallway. He once again finds himself asking Nucky to bail him out of trouble. He even asks if they should call his dad. Nucky scoffed saying "are you that nervous?" So Jimmy's dad must have some serious pull whoever he is. We don't know who it is but my guess would be the Commodore. At least for now.
If he is Jimmy might not have a dad for long, because that dude is dying ya'll. Was interesting how he noted that the dog was sick. Maybe there's something or someone in the house poisoning them. Maybe the maid who he treats so horribly. A couple episodes ago we saw him feed the rest of his dinner to the dog when he lost his appetite. Maybe that is why the dog is sick, if he is in the habit of feeding it from his own plate.
Eli might not be far behind the Commodore from the looks of things. I'm not a fan of Eli but I did laugh when after Nucky told him he needed to rest he asked "how do you rest your spleen?" Eli worried about the Italians spilling more blood. It's not blood Nucky's worried about, it's ink. The political angle of the show is really heating up.
I thought it was also great when the deputy was talking about the D'Alessio brothers and how they killed two customers and shot a waiter in the face while sticking up a restaurant. George the bag man then added, "that little bastard called me fat!"
Eli in disbelief at what was just said fired back with, "they're fuking killers George, sounds to me you got off easy." But Nucky's face was even more priceless.

Speaking of weird faces did anyone else notice the way Van Alden almost Gumped his pants when he was staring at Margaret's immigration photo.
He is so distracted that he doesn't see his man totally double crossing him. I think the agent killing the witness was on a direct order from the FBI boss, but he may be having his strings pulled by Nucky. Did you notice how when Van Alden called in to say they arrested Jimmy his boss was not visibly pleased but had to convey false enthusiasm to Van Alden over the phone.
When agent Sebso was driving the witness I was just waiting for Harrow's bullet to come crashing through the car window, but I liked the actual outcome even more.
How about Sebso playing Goldilocks and Three Bears while trying to select a rock to smash himself with. The first one was too big the second was too small but the third one was just right.
Margaret looked like a bit of alright in her blue dress that she got compliments of Madame Jeunet. I bet she never thought it would come back to bite her in the ass when she told Margaret that she did not realize how much power she had as Nucky's woman. "My daughter didn't help you Madame Jeunet... I did."

Wild ending to the episode as Nucky is almost assassinated by the D'Alessio's. Nuckys butler Eddie sure likes the ladies and seemed yet again distracted by the hostess at the club Babette's, but when the sh!t got real he was there to go all Kostner on them and save the day.

Some great quotes this week:

Jimmy: Lotta fellas still alive that shouldn't be.
A.R.: Reputation takes a lifetime to build but only seconds to destroy.
A.R.: You know what's nice about the Bronx Zoo Charlie? There's bars between you an the monkeys.
Nucky: If we only elected good men then we would never have leaders.

Can't wait until this week's episode. Until then be on your best behavior or face the wrath of Mambo the Zulu tribal chief from Africa!!!