Impressive, Most Impressive

Amazing call by our own Brownie Luciano this week on this Boardwalk look alike.

TO THE LOST

This week we saw the playing field begin to level out as the balance of power began to shift dramatically. In the tug-o-war match for control of Atlantic City, Jimmy who previously had wrestled the flag well over his side of the line of contention this week began to feel the burning in his hands and the rope began to slide through his fingers. He is holding on too tight, needs to turn in his wings. He's got Daddy McMumbles telling him to whip out his cock or get proper fukked up the skirt and Nucky saturating the market with Irish Whiskey "straight from the old girl's tit," as our man Sleater put it.
Did you notice the reaction of his crew when he lost his shit and kicked the crate of booze over in the warehouse. It was like the reaction the Hickory High team gave Coach Dale after he told them they were going to use Jimmy as a decoy and Merle was going to take the last shot. Even Richard looked down at the floor. But this time there was no Jimmy to step up and say "I'll make it." I was looking for Al to rise to the occasion and be like "I'll sell it," but he never did.
Lucky and Lansky are gonna be alright. "Fuk a recession!" They got the H train ready to leave the station, just so long as they don't start getting high on their own supply. We finally saw the tensions boil over between Jimmy and Luciano. Lucky dropping the side comment that "he says a lot of things" when Lansky asked about the coast guard and then more directly when he told Jimmy he should set his catchphrase "I'll take care of it," to music.
That was a slap in the face but nothing compared to the one little Teddy got for pretending he had polio like his sister.
Nucky did his best to give Margaret a much needed break and took the attention starved cur to NYC. You see the look Nucky gave the lawyer when he reached onto his drawer and pulled out another Ty Cobb ball like no big deal. Who does this guy think he is, Mr. Mertle from The Sandlot? "GEORGE?!"
Nucky learned real quick he is going to have to pay if he is to have any shot of beating this thing.
Margaret got a similar message from the local priest and the outcome was just as dire. Padre was like Lisa McDowell as he preyed on Margaret's desire to show her faith.
That gesture of faith was worthless just like Nucky's previous lawyer's efforts. "Oh you made calls? Worth every penny." Sounds like the guy would make a great research salesman.It's hard to find good help these days, especially when they go on strike. Who knew Purnsley was a "KARATE MAN?"

And Halloran looked like Kevin Bacon in Animal House as he got dropped by the strike busters.
Eli gets more and more cold blooded each week. Loved how after he basically told his deputy he got what was coming to him he made sure he knew how to best prepare the peas he brought him before leaving him to go on looking like an extra from a Marilyn Manson video. "Butter...salt...delicious."
Eli is on his own now having put his confidant out to pasture. In these uncertain times even the most savvy of leaders are turning to other for advice. Nucky bent Rothstein's ear in NYC and during the town hall meeting between Chalky and "young James" they both at one point looked to their counterpart for approval.

There was some nice nods to history with the newspaper headline about the Black Sox trial and the Sacco and Vanzetti quip by Nucky. We also learned about Nucky's sister who lost her life to the bottle. But what of little Teddy. He is a weird little guy is he not? The comment about seeing Nucky burn his dad's house down, looking at his father picture in his little box of treasures...there is something brewing in that kid's head.
While we wait for that story to develop we said goodbye to another with the untimely demise of Angela and her lover.
Manny told her the most important thing is your health, which Jimmy tried to take from him rather than pay the debt he owed. So when Angela offered him money he instead took her life, to deliver a message to Jimmy and in the end showed Angela "Who's the Boss." (Ouch! Too Soon?) It did appear to me that Manny pulled the trigger regretfully, but in order to stay true to the game his hand was forced. The final scene Angela and Jimmy shared was touching, even if we didn't really believe Jimmy would change, and we of course knew he was never going to be "the person" she wanted him to be. Not without a pair of sharp scissors, some implants and a whole lotta hormones. The shocking murder ranked up there with some of the most disturbing I've seen on TV. It was almost foreshadowed in the aforementioned scene at their house where Jimmy stood drinking while outside their his "dirty laundry" flapped on the clothes line. Angela prepared a vase of flowers as if arranging her own funeral.
I cannot imagine what this is going to do to Jimmy. Perhaps it will be a rallying point for Capone and the others and they will get behind their coach and run the picket fence on the entire East Coast.

"What Goes Around, Comes Back Around Again"

We gonna hit it down like this, y'all know the flav...I know Jimmy told Remus he is currently looking for an office, but that set up in his house on the beach was pretty picturesque. How'd you like to be Angela and come home to find a group of hardened criminals like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Al Capone going through your fridge for snacks? She's gotta feel like Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona when she had Gale and Evelle Snoats eating up all her corn flakes.

Jimmy still has to figure out what to do about Manny Horvitz. He didn't seem to appreciate Doyle's suggestion too much nor did Doyle seem to show any real respect for Jimmy's new authority when he skeptically called him the new puba.

As for Manny he is lucky nobody on this show can hit the broad side of a barn when it comes to shooting someone point blank. Our own Brownie Luciano had a great comment earlier in the week when we were discussing this anomaly. He didn't understand why the guy who was sent to kill Nucky didn't just wait until he was right in front of Nucky to shoot him. The guy drew his gun while he was still 10 yards away. Brownie genius likened it to a wide receiver running 50 yards with his hands in the air to catch a pass. Getting back to Manny it may have helped if the guy actually opened his eyes when he pulled the trigger.
The guy paid the price for being a moron. Speaking of morons, Deputy Halloran is a real beaut isn't he? Esther Randolph could only stare in disbelief at the stuff that was coming out of this guy's mouth.

On the subject of Esther, loved seeing her taking down her subordinate.
I liked that out man Chalky was back and enlisting the help of Dunn Purnsley and his gold tooth to stir up the locals and lead a workers strike. I previously thought the guys had killed him in the jail cell, but I guess they just beat him good. I wouldn't be too presumptuous in thinking the white merchants in Atlantic City will have no alternative if all the black workers go on strike. Purnsley asked his fellow kitchen workers what the boss men would do if they said they would no longer work for this slop. Three words my man...Mex-I-Co. Cheap labor is just across the border.

The scenes in Ireland were pretty intense and Owen was right in the thick of things. You could tell by the way he kept switching his gaze to and from the IRA brass that he knew what was coming.
I really like this Sleater fellow and even more so after we saw how upset he was as he read aloud the telegram about Emily to Nucky. While it is important to note that Margaret blamed herself for her daughter's sickness and thinks God is punishing her for her sins I can't even begin to get into that whole polio storyline. It's just too upsetting.


As the episode came two a close there were two other women who looked like they were going to get punished too, but in a totally different sense of the word. Jimmy and Richard picked up the local B's at the fight broadcast. Loved the how aggressive the one B was telling her friend she wanted first crack at the king. And yay for Richard, it looked like his B was sort of turned on by the phantom of the baordwalk look after being initially freaked out. Parlay up in here!




ONLY 3 EPISODES LEFT!!!

The Pups Have Grown Fangs

Oh man Jimmy, you really need to make sure the family is out the house when Uncle Alfonse calls. My heart dropped when you turned around and asked Angela how long she and cherub cheeks were standing there. It wasn't like when Mikey was talking to One Eyed Willie and turned around to find the Goonies standing behind him listening. This is gonna put you in the marital equivalent of the Lighthouse Lounge's basement where the Fratelli's had Sloth chained up.
The convo Jimmy and Ang had outside the house was so intense. I feel like intense sit downs was a theme this week. Angela has leverage now on Jimmy and played her card right away as she went digging for Clams with Louise from San Fran. Miss Louise is actually Louise Bryant. Her real life story is portrayed in the 1981 movie "REDS" with Warren Beatty as her husband. She was a communist and anarchist but apparently passed Angela's "sniff test."We met another historical figure in the stables when Rothstein introduced Meyer and Luciano to Max Hirsch who was one of the most successful trainers in Thoroughbred horse racing history, but i could not find any mention of foul play when it came to his track record.(Pun Intended of Course.)
Rothstein was back in a big way and thankfully so, because I had almost forgotten what a bad ass he was. He owned the screen each time he was on this week, from sniffing out the load of horseshit Meyer and Lucky were trying to shovel his way to his advice to Nucky about waiting until an opportunity presents itself and then betting it all. Otherwise you might have Julius Benedict telling you, "you moved too soon." Like Jules, Arnold Rothstein has no respect for those who have no respect for logic. He is always good for a quote too and this week it had to be "There are cheaper ways to get a tan than picking losers gentlemen." Loved Luciano's response, "my last horse is still runnin'."
Another member of the old school trio, Torrio, was oblivious to Capone's dealings with Jimmy, but why would he think a guy who has no clue who Romulus and Remus are would be capable of weaving his own web of criminal enterprise. Side note: I love the way Capone calls Jimmy "Princeton."Poor little Emily. The doctor is right, there is a bug going around and based on her listlessness and fever she either has TB, Polio or Scarlet Fever. In the scenes from next week we saw Margaret comforting her in what looked to be a hospital bed and Katie burning all her toys and clothes in the yard. Do what you want to the gangsters and thugs, but leave the kids alone. I can take the throat slitting and the head smashing, but hearing that poor little girl moaning in pain as the episode closed out was too much. Some other parts worth noting:
-Gillian:Success has many fathers dear...Failure is an orphan.

-Van Alden crumpling up the check and taking the free meal after all. (Where is he still getting all the cash from BTW? That's as good as money.)

-Nucky is THE worst crier I have ever heard, but I liked how they showed him looking at the baseball mitt earlier which eventually lead to being overcome with grief. The baseball glove was a reference to the story he once told Margaret about when an older boy stole his glove and his father made him fight for it. Eli was right, their father greatly shaped the men they grew up to be.

-Nucky asking Teddy to start calling him Daddy which he does and tells him it's his move. Nucky agrees and takes a spin but we all knew he was thinking about his strategy with Jimmy and his enemies.

-Jimmy wishing Nucky good luck and Nucky returning the gesture.

-How bad was Owen Sleater sweatin when Nucky and he were sat down for a drink and he was asked about his "Irish friend."

-Nucky is going to sell the surplus Tommy Guns to the IRA and get his swagger back.
And to finish a few of my favorite scenes depicted in pictures.

Ladies Men

The men of Boardwalk Empire are "doin' it."

"People thought I was your brother..."

Happy Belated Birthday to Gretchen Mol who turned 39 yesterday.

The Choice Is Yours

For me the best scenes came during the meeting Jimmy called with Capone, Harrow, Lansky, Lucky, Doyle and Eli. The exchanges were amazing highlighted by Capone and his back and forth with Luciano. Eli whacks one guy with a wrench like Col. Mustard in the library and now he's all gung ho about offing Nucky. The stress the decision weighed on Jimmy was evident, but Mama knows best. What a tremendous scene that was when Jimmy emerged from behind the fetching flapper and we saw the frightened look on Nucky's face. Nucky looked to his side, like Billy the Kid reached for his gun when confronted by Pat Garret,but as we know, his side arm Owen Sleater was a bit busy tending to matters at home.
Sleater is not be be trifled with, whether it's dealing with IRA traitor Del Grogan in the bathroom...

Or the boss's lady B in the bedroom.
I thought it rather comical that the first credit the come on screen following the scene where Sleater makes Margaret see the Holy Spirit was that dude Cox. Speaking of which it looked like Lucky was having a bit of an issue again rising to the occasion but after a little trash talking from Gillian he was able to climb back into the saddle. (Have we ever discussed if the reason she like sleeping with the young Luciano is possibly because he reminds her of Jimmy?)


This episode was the pay off we had been waiting for as several story lines came to a head. We also saw a couple new ones take shape, most notably Van Creepy being a single dad and working with the new federal prosecutor Esther Randolph. I think we have said goodbye to Lucy for awhile if not for good. The shit stained diaper on the record player was subtle. She really was glowing though wasn't she?
So much great stuff here. I could ramble on and on but I'd rather hear your thoughts. Hope you like the fan art from this week. I tried to capture the best moments of the episode and all the amazing dialogue.