Parent Trap

Episode 15:

Well even though the lack or comments on last week's recap had me thinking about throwing myself down the stairs like our girl Lucy, I took Nucky's words to Margaret to heart. "It's important to always have something to look forward to." So once again here we go.
Our aforementioned mom to be is being kept under lock and key like some "bitch" at a puppy mill. I felt pretty bad for her, but the record player from Van Alden gave me hope that he really does care for her in some dark twisted way. I'd love to see him live out that play Lucy was reading and actually marry his boardwalk bimbo. Tell Molly McTwistinthedark to take a hike.
Lucy was right when she added, "Say what you will about Nucky, at least he was fun." He saw that Margaret was upset and tried to cheer her up with a night on the town. Frankly I think getting sauced with the help could have been fun too. You know that Katie would have started shedding her uniform after a few more drinks.


Nucky apparently is invested to the limit with the land deal, but not showing signs of stressing out just yet. He did try to get Attorney General McGavin to help him out when he called in his favor, but the guy just got into office so he's no help.
He is a little insecure about being out of work so to speak. He thought Margaret gave him a look for still being in his pajamas so late in the day.

When Nucky finally decides to grab a shower and hit the town with Margaret he ran into Jimmy and the Commodore and set the stage for one of the most intense scenes to date. Before he ran over to the Commodore's table like Jack Candy in Summer Rental, Jimmy had a couple great lines like when he corrected Mr. McCoy on his Sunt Tzu quote and then his line about war and Atlantic City.

The eventual face off between Jimmy and Nucky was one of the most intense moments thus far. You could feel the rage pounding to get out of Jimmy.
People might not like the fact that the Commodore and Eli screwed over Nucky, but one guy who could care less was good Ole Al who paid his old buddy a visit after delivering the message to Nucky. What an amazing scene this was as well.


So many great lines..."I marry a mick you marry a nagel and we both got sons. Whats that about?"
Richard: How is Odette?
Capone: Who? She's a whore that's how she is.
The last scene though where Capone sadly watched Jimmy and his son talking about tying shoes had me near tears. Tough as he is, if his story about his father the barber was any indication, Capone is a family man and his son's handicap still tears him apart. It was almost too much for me to take.


I thought it was very well done to show Lucky and Meyer all sheepish in the presence of Rothstein and Joe Masseria.
The latter didn't mince words with Lucky when he asked him, "What are you doing with these Christ killers? Come with me I'll make you rich."
I thought Rothstein made his point well, but could have at least taken the 10% out of his half. Lucky and Meyer were like-

The end of this week laid the groundwork for an epic confrontation between our reigning champ Richard Harrow and the newcomer, Irishman Owen Sleater.

Sleater:My talents are being wasted behind the tap.
Nucky: What are your talents Mr Slater?
Sleater: Makin people stop.
Nucky: Stop what?
Sleater: Whatever it is you don't want them to be doin.

So much going down by the shore it's hard to comment on it all. I'll ;eave that top you all hopefully. We will have to see if Nucky makes good on his promise to Jimmy and his pops.

Thanks to "slippinghusband" for some of the gifs used above.

Nobody Wants To Be In School Forever

So I apologize for the delay in getting this recap out. Thanks to Google+ I had every picture on my list of blogs deleted from their posts. Luckily some of the GIF images were spared, but I am in the process of redoing all the posts on my sites from the last few years. After feeling pretty terrible yesterday I am back and ready to take on the world! We will rebuild! That being said I felt like I was wronged like my man Chalky was and am also thinking about getting my own "Jew lawyer down from Camden." Apparently they are the best, or at least Chalky seemed to think so. His wife asked if his lawyer was competent to which he replied, "He's a Hebrew gentleman." Nuff said I guess. I love the life he has made for himself. Beautiful wife and his own David Copperfield son.
Not sure how much longer Chalky and Nucky are going to be able to "go along get along." For the second week in a row Nucky seemed to have no issues with throwing stones from his glass house as he warned Chalky about "precarious" folks just like he did with Jimmy and his "duplicitous" daddy.I liked the subtle detail by the costume designers having both Nucky and Chalky dressed immaculately in jail but wearing striped suits. Sort of a fashionable nod to their incarceration.

Despite his impeccable taste in clothes, we were reminded a number of times of Chalky's origins and just how far he has manged to come despite his poor upbringing. Examples included his inability to read and his manner of speech which included phrases like "he couldn't lead a pig to mud with a bucket of apples."

Few of the main players though seem to have come from any kind of wealth or standing. Look at Capone, Jimmy, and even our NY boys Lucky and Meyer Lansky.

What a pissing match between Jimmy and Luciano with little Meyer trying to break them up. It had started earlier in Rothsteins office when Jimmy dismissed Lucky's attempt to make light of his own father's absence.
Jimmy asked "oh we're friends now?" To which Lucky brought up his past twists with Gillian, "she begged for it!" Yeah that was plenty of reason to drop the gloves.
Jimmy cleaned house at the poker game though and looked like he was going to get his roll stolen before he went on a berserk rage that would have impressed Eric Northman. Even after slicing and dicing the two hoods the kid has his head on a swivel looking for anyone else who might be lurking.
Eli tried to tell Nucky that nobody takes power, somebody has to give it to them. Well Jimmy and the NY boys must have ditched that class because they are all about taking it.

We got our first glimpse of another famous character this week who also went out and seized his power and fortune. Recall when Meyer sent the young guy "Benny" out on an errand but as he was leaving he squawked in Jimmy's face. Meyer apologized to Jimmy saying "he does funny things." Well if you call creating a desert oasis called Las Vegas funny then yeah he is a riot. Benny's full name we will learn is Benjamin Siegelbaum or as he later on was known, Bugsy Siegel.

Meyer was getting shaken down by the two thugs who apparently were associates of a "Mister Masseria."
On April 15, 1931, Masseria was gunned down at Nuova Villa Tammaro restaurant in Coney Island. Legend has it that Masseria dined with "Lucky" Luciano before his death. While they played cards, Luciano excused himself to go to the bathroom as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia and Joe Adonis rushed in and shot Masseria to death. Masseria's four bodyguards mysteriously disappeared.
If I was Nucky I don't think I'd be dining out anytime soon. Nucky is in trouble and his jokes aren't going to cut it anymore. Chalky still has his people as we saw in the jail cell.
but
Nucky, however, is looking more like the Commodore did last season, holed up at home in front of the fire with only Margaret to look after him. Huge props for her btw for getting the ledger. How about that Commodore and his Just for Men transformation? He got all kinds of looks but no one wanted to point out the obvious. Sort of like when your buddy's girl gets a new set of bolt ons but you do anything but just stare mutely.

That IRA stooge Sleater was definitely making eyes at her, but I think we'll see him straighten out the maid's carpet and mess up her drapes before long.
His boss McGarrigle (Whose name and looks reminded me of a Hogwarts professor) refused Margaret's lamb saying he does not dig on no "cloven hoof." He was referring to the divided hoof or foot of ruminants such as cattle, sheep, goats, antelopes, and deer. A similar foot ascribed to the Devil, was sometimes used as a symbol or mark of Satan. Loved our Irish Rose's sarcasm as she told Nucky there was plenty of lamb left.

There's plenty of drama left too this season. So many characters to feature I don't see this show slowing down one bit. So far I am loving every ounce of the show.

Season 2 Premiere: "21" The House Wins

At first glance not much had seemed to change down the shore. The Commodore worked on his thrust while Nucky did the same...in a manner of speaking. The song choice of "After You Get What You Want," was perfect as we saw Margaret wake up alone while Nucky was still out cavorting. While he has never been anything but upfront about their arrangement the line he dropped when he came home took some balls.

She did have a right to be a little jealous though, of the attention paid to Jimmy by Nucky, while her troubled son sat just down the hall.

Margaret got her wish though when Nucky took time to talk to Teddy about the matches. Did you see the tear in the little man's eye when Nucky handed him the money? The kid went from thinking he was going to get the belt to the equivalent of finding a Golden Ticket. And how about how long it took Nucky to find a small enough bill in his roll to hand Teddy?

While Nucky is teaching Teddy not to play with fire, Jimmy is taking Tommy to shoot seagulls much to Angela's chagrin. Aside from the obvious dangers involved, Ange probably also didn't want to be left along with Gillian. I was proud of her for calling Gillian out on the undercutting. Nothing could have prepared her or myself for the next series of lines though from Jimmy's "loving" mother.

I'm fine with Jimmy shooting gulls, but I was bummed to learn he had a hand in the Clan's attack on Chalky. I understand the power move, but I really felt for Chalky as we saw real fear on his face for the first time.

I was shocked at how public the clan was in this episode. Along with wasting good table cloths like Jimmy noted, they were usually a cowardice group who only emerged in the daytime under the cover of their hoods. In the funeral scene they are mixing with the general public and politicians alike. Nucky didn't seem to have a problem with it, he only seemed to take objection to Jimmy talking to the head hood. Great scene with him and Jimmy on the porch as he seemingly once again read Jimmy's mind. Did he warn Jimmy about his father because he was really concerned about or is he just jealous of the Commodore. Some nerve on Nuck to call someone else duplicitous after his dueling speeches to the black and white congregations.

Whatever his motivation, you know one thing for sure, money was part of it at some level. I thought it was interesting how they made a point of showing Nucky as he counted the money from the Irish paving guy and then logging it before stashing it away in his shoe drawer. On the other side of the spectrum, upon opening Nucky's wedding gift, Jimmy tossed aside the envelope full of money disinterested. Those two scenes showed the difference between the two characters. Nucky is obsessed with money despite having all he could ever want. Jimmy has more money than he could ever imagine too it seemed, but what he most wants now is respect. I think the statue showing the father and young son annoyed Jimmy because it was as if Nucky would always see Jimmy as that little boy he raised instead of the man he has become.
Capone carries a similar chip on his shoulder and we saw it again as he sat down with George Remus. Al didn't like being compared to a wash woman for Torrio and took Remus's habit of referring to himself in the third person as an insult.
George Remus was no dope, rather yet another cunning "businessman" of the day. Remus memorized the Volstead Act and found loopholes whereby he could buy distilleries and pharmacies to sell liquor to himself under government licenses for medicinal purposes. Remus then hijacked his own liquor so he could sell it illegally. As he mentioned to Torrio and Capone, Remus moved to Cincinnati where 80% of America's bonded whiskey was located, and bought up most of the whiskey manufacturers. In less than three years Remus made close to $40 million.
I'm not sure if Chalky made that much in his day, but it seemed he had enough judging by his house, to step away from the game. We all know though that such a move is easier said than done. The back and forth between him and Nucky was one of the episodes strongest moments. I'm a little worried though about Lenore and young Lester. I really liked the scene where the latter played Clair de Lune which I have been a huge fan of ever since it was featured at the end of Ocean's 11.
That song is so beautiful, it always gets me. Damn you Richard Harrow, you got me too this week, what with the envy in your eyes as you looked upon Jimmy and Angela and then when you asked Jimmy what it was like to have everything before we saw you and your scrap book. Did you guys notice the father in the picture he glued down had glasses and a moustache? Pretty much the image of Richard if he had his entire face. I also got the feeling that Richard has a thing for the under appreciated Angela. He was the only one to say thank you for breakfast and was so careful and gentle as he stacked her biscuits on his hand.

Lastly, Van Alden, I didn't forget about you. Loved his line, "I take almost no comfort in 'about to.'" I'll admit, I was shocked by Rose. I did not think for a moment she was going to let Van Alden hit her where the good lord split her, but I guess seeing her man in action was too much a turn on. Not enough though to warrant keeping the lights on. The scene with the headboard banging the wall was classic.
We know Van Alden is capable of some cold blooded shit, but I was shocked to see he had stolen government evidence to pay off Lucy...who BTW...is on BABY BUMP ALERT!!!
She is definitely preggers. As if the pictures weren't enough, the look on Van's face when Rose said maybe they shouldn't have any kids after all, was damning as well. Needless to say there's a lot going on as we saw Nucky get pinched. Jimmy is being set up to take over AC, but we still have guys like Arnold Rothstein who have yet to weigh in on the recent moves. At the end of the preview for next week you could see Arnold fighting to separate Jimmy and Lucky while he screamed that they are trying to run a business together. I'm sure that had to do something with Gillian but still Jimmy needs his and Rothstein's help to make a go of it. I could go on ad nauseum, but I'd rather hear your thoughts.

5 MORE DAYS!!!

PAZ SIX

The Other Mr. White

Really looking forward to seeing what's in store for Chalky this season.

Nucky Gives Back