A reformer is running for mayor in Atlantic City, vexing Nucky at a time when he doesn't need extra vexing. He's got Margaret in his ear after Madame Jeunet asks her to intercede on her behalf after the rent goes up on her place. After tackling the issue head-on only gets Nucky angry, Margaret takes the more, say, Lucy approach by appealing to Nucky's desire to see her in pretty dresses. And while she's at it, Margaret decides to strong-arm Jeunet into giving her some of those pretty dresses for free.
Meanwhile, Jimmy is back in town, and Nucky wants him to take care of the D'Alessios, at the same time that Rothstein is commissioning the D'Alessios to take care of Nucky for him. Jimmy decides to start by taking out Lucky Luciano (with an assist from Mom), but when Van Alden interrupts the hit, Jimmy's taken to jail, where he learns that Billy is the witness against him in the roadside shootout case. Fortunately for Jimmy, Agent Sebso is actually on Nucky's payroll, and he takes Billy out, in a very "take the cannolis" kind of scene.
Meanwhile, Angela's not exactly loving the fact that Jimmy's home, no matter how many Monopoly properties he promises to move them to (Ventnor Avenue! Marvin Gardens!). At the same time, her freaky bohemian three-way romance with the Dittrichs appears to be souring. But at least they don't want to have another baby like Jimmy does.
Nucky's still putting out municipal fires. Deputy Halloran wants to take over for Eli, while he's laid up with his injuries, and maybe on a more permanent basis, too. And the Commodore (who appears to be dying, not that it stops Dabney Coleman from delivering a pretty great performance) advises Nucky that he should just drop the empty shell of a mayor they've got now and placate the change-seeking masses by running a different (but no less bought and paid for) candidate.
Also weighing on Nucky's mind? When a D'Alessio assassination attempt misses him and hits an innocent woman. Is the Boardwalk no longer safe for racist displays of savage Africans?
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Previously: Eli got shot up during an Atlantic City casino robbery. Currently: he's positively identifying photos of the D'Alessio brothers as his attackers, including that little kid who helped rob O'Neill on the boardwalk. Deputy Halloran reads Nucky the brothers' criminal history. O'Neill is still smarting because "the little bastard called me fat." Eli looks at him like, "Yeah, you really had it rough." Nucky asks everyone to leave so he can speak to Eli privately. Not about the D'Alessios, though, but about this guy Fletcher, a reformer who's running for mayor. He apparently wrote some kind of op-ed trying to score points off of Eli being in an illegal casino so late in the first place. Eli's response is to "fuck 'em," but Nucky reminds him it's an election year. Eli doesn't seem too worried -- he'll get out there and "press the flesh." Nucky wonders how he'll do that while he's supposed to be resting his spleen. Eli wonders how one rests one's spleen anyway. Interesting how Eli seems to view getting elected to public office as no big thing, since his brother has so significantly paved that road before him. Not that Eli would ever give Nucky such credit.
Margaret and Nan are on the boardwalk, looking out at all the beach-goers, and Nan is still waxing poetic about Warren G. Harding. Margaret tries to inject a little humor, noting that Houdini's brother is named "Hardeen," and when she first heard about Harding, she thought it was Hardeen running for President. Nan barely gives that a cursory laugh, not out of bitchiness but out of an inability to stop thinking for one second about her precious Warren. She talks about her "sacrifice" for America by staying away, despite the fact that Warren clearly loves her and their child.
They pop into Madame Jeunet's shop, a place which I have been calling any number of silly French names -- I was going to go with "Frere Jacques" this week -- but since the title of this week's episode is the name of the shop, I suppose I should just play it straight. So Margaret and Nan enter the Belle Femme, and Madame Jeunet makes a big fuss over "Marguerite" because she's important now. Margaret's come to pick out some clothes for Nan, and Jeunet summons "Mariska," the new shopgirl who's pretty much like Margaret, if Margaret were a hunched-over, busty, Eastern European sort. Madame Jeunet might hate her more than she hated Margaret at first. Jeunet plays the "poor me" card because she can't afford anyone higher on the ethnic ladder than "Polish," leading Margaret to ask if business is slow. Not exactly, and here's where Jeunet gets to the point: the honorarium she pays to the city -- to Nucky specifically, has doubled, seemingly for everyone. For all Nucky's "election year" talk this season, it seems like an odd time for a rent hike, but okay. She says she can't afford to pay the increased fee all on her own, and she plays the "sisters are doing it for themselves" card, hoping that'll sell Margaret. Margaret, though, suggests she speak to her alderman. Jeunet has a better idea: intercede with Nucky on her behalf. "Tell him he's handsome, tell him how happy he makes you," she advises. "You have power you do not suspect." You know, Madame Jeunet may seem like an insincere gargoyle, but you get the sense that this is a woman who has learned to navigate the world of men. And now women, as she gently coaxes Margaret, saying if there's no Belle Femme, where will she get all the clothes that make her look so pretty? Well played, Mademoiselle.
Nucky's on his way back to his office, barking orders to Deputy Halloran. He finds Jimmy waiting in his office, and seeing this new Jimmy back in his old environs really puts the changes he's undergone into stark relief. It's not just the suit he's wearing, it's the way he's carrying himself like a big shot -- like the kind of man who doesn't have to ask Nucky permission to help himself to a cup of coffee. It's also the barely-veiled contempt with which he now views Nucky. This isn't simple anger at being done wrong. This is "you are beneath me, you war-dodging paper tiger, and you're lucky I'm on your side." Gotta give it up to Michael Pitt for the physical performance this week. So Jimmy has some demands if he's going to work for Nucky again, first among them being a job for Richard Harrow. Nucky asks him what's under the mask anyway, and Jimmy describes how half his jaw and cheekbone are gone. Halloran buffoonishly wonders how a man like that could keep on living. Speaking of people who are beneath Jimmy's contempt. Nucky starts to discuss the first order of business: the D'Alessio brothers, but Jimmy's second condition is that whatever they discuss is between them alone. HINT, Deputy Halloran. After he's gone, Nucky hands Jimmy the D'Alessio police records, and Jimmy notes that they're all named after popes. He asks Nucky what he's supposed to do when he finds them. "You need me to spell it out?" Nucky asks. In fact, he does. Or at least acknowledge his reluctance to do so. Again, Jimmy is positively reveling in this current power dynamic. Nucky's the one in charge, sure, but he's also the one who doesn't have the stomach to murder at will, like Jimmy does. Nucky thinks this makes him more civilized, cleaner somehow, but it only makes him weak. Weaker than Jimmy, at least. This all goes back to that "half a gangster" speech from the premiere that gave me so much hope for this show. Back then, I thought the dynamic was that the student (Jimmy) would corrupt the teacher (Nucky). Now, it seems like a more standard story of the New Ways (murder, aggression) paving over the old ways (being a smart people person). Nucky finally says "yes," he wants them murdered. Jimmy looks at the photos once more and asks, "Even the kid?" Nucky looks queasy, but he doesn't object.
In NYC, Arnold Rothstein is once again in his amazing billiard room when he's joined by the D'Alessio brothers and Mickey Doyle (along with Luciano and Meyer Lansky, though it's clear that the D'Alessios are the guests). As is Rothstein's wont, he proposes a deal to the D'Alessios through the guise of giving a lesson in social graces. (He also sinks three balls on one shot, which would be enough for me to fall in line behind the guy.) He says there are two ways of making money in the liquor business: one is to take cheap rotgut whiskey, dilute it, and sell it to the drooling masses. At this, Mickey Doyle squeaks that that's how he used to do it. Obviously, this is a method that Rothstein has no respect for. Obviously. Rothstein wants to meet the growing demand for good whiskey in the U.S., and he wants to import it from Europe. He figures it will become a status symbol among America's elite, and they can get rich off of that kind of high-end demand. He wants to contract the D'Alessios to move the whiskey from the boats offshore (the transfer takes place out in international waters, see) and into the country. Obviously, Atlantic City is the ideal location for this, but for the man in charge, who Rothstein finds "greedy and unreasonable." "Nothing a bullet in the eye won't fix," cracks Leo D'Alessio, drawing the wheezing chuckles of Mickey. Rothstein just smiles this comical smile at them -- like Nucky, he's not going to say "kill him" out loud. He then asks the brothers and Mickey to sign the life insurance policies he's taken out on them, a kind of guarantee that they'll fulfill their end of the bargain. It's quite the thing to have hanging over your partners' heads, but it's perfectly Rothstein. The brothers sign, then leave. After they're gone, Rothstein asks Luciano, "You know what the nice thing about the Bronx zoo is?" Lucky asks what. "There's bars between you and the monkeys." Good to see Rothstein back on the map this way.
Nucky's at home, fairly engrossed in reading Return to Oz -- y'all can work out the thematic resonance of that choice of literature yourselves. I'll be the one noticing that Margaret is once again wearing that purple drop-waisted dress she got from Madame Jeunet. They get to chatting about Harding, Margaret saying that what she now knows of him -- Nan and all -- might make it harder for her to vote for him. "If we only elected good men," Nucky says, "we'd never have leaders." There's a cynical statement of purpose if I ever heard one. Margaret then brings up Madame Jeunet's sad state of affairs, though she gets no sympathy from Nucky, who tries to brush this off as something Marie Antoinette over there should take up with her alderman. When it becomes clear that Margaret wants Nucky to intercede on her behalf, he gets prickly, saying that the cost of doing business on the Boardwalk is what it is, and if Jeunet can't afford it, then she shouldn't have a shop there. Margaret presses, which is when Nucky snaps that "This is not a suitable topic," and Margaret gets the message. He stomps off, making excuses about an early meeting.
Angela is showing off her art to Robert Dittrich, while Mary opens a bottle of wine. Robert's getting a bit liberal with his arms as he examines the piece, and he doesn't seem to notice Angela's discomfort with his handsiness. You'd think Mary would be getting jealous at this kind of interaction too, but surprise: Angela and Mary's Sapphic romance is actually a freaking bohemian threeway deal with Robert as well. Though it's clear that Angela's more interested in Mary. Angela asks about Robert's art-dealer friend, and he says he's in Paris at the moment, and the way he says it sure seems like he's been shining her on about these ambitions of hers. They start gulping wine straight from the bottle, then getting all three-way kissy-face with each other. Angela's uncomfortable still, but Robert assures her that everybody in Paris is doing it. Again with this Gallic peer pressure. If the French started having sex while lying on a bed of croissants, would you do that too, Angela? I guess we'll never know, because there's a knock at the door.
Jimmy's home! You can imagine how psyched Angela is to see him. Things get awkward pretty much immediately, and the Dittrichs gather their things and head out. Once they're gone, Angela tells Jimmy he should've let her know she was coming. He did, he says, then curses Western Union for apparently not delivering the telegram. He tries to kiss her and she recoils -- she's mad at him for never calling, sure, but she's also mad that he came home at all. He persists, she slaps him, and he persists some more. Like, severely so. Is it rape if he's her husband? [Or pseudo-husband even? -- Angel] If she eventually stops slapping at him and starts kissing him back as they do it on the kitchen table? I mean, whatever, I think that question is beside the point anyway. The point is -- these were husbands and wives back then, and it's ugly, which is why you're seeing it. Jimmy's come back a changed person, and you're seeing that too.
The day, at the Federal Bureau of Postage Stamps, Agent Sebso is greeted by an incensed Agent Van Alden (he slaps the cruller from his hand, the monster!). Van Alden just got a call from Western Union saying that the Darmodys called to complain about an undelivered telegram -- where is this telegram and why wasn't Van Alden told! Slobber! Bugged eyes! Yeah, so, here's the thing: Michael Shannon walks a thin tightrope when it comes to my enjoyment of him. He ain't never going to be subtle, but I appreciate that manic intensity when he's living within a role (Bug; The Runaways); it when he starts to play the performance rather than the character (Revolutionary Road) that he really detracts from me enjoying whatever movie he's slobbering in. This week, he's really setting up camp in that latter category. Sebso apologizes and at first plays like he forgot he even had the telegram, but when Val Alden continues to yell, Sebso snaps back that Supervisor Elliott has been saying that Van Alden is too focused on the Thompson/Darmody/Schroeder angles of their present assignment. He was trying to save Van Alden from himself, essentially. "You kill a snake by cutting off the head," Van Alden explains. "Darmody gives him up, this entire city -- this Sodom -- will be cleansed all at once." Oh, here we go with more of your Sodom-bashing.
At the Darmody shack, Jimmy is telling stories of Chicago and the vast land of opportunity those roads west lead to. Angela grouses that it's big talk to match their meager reality, but Jimmy thinks their futures are looking bright. Starting with this new position he's taken with Nucky. "We're out of this dump in no time flat," he promises. But where shall they move to in Atlantic City? "Marvin Gardens. Those beach houses on Ventnor." I'd suggest finding a nice house on Park Place, but the luxury tax is so high. Jimmy gets a phone call from his Ma, then sits down with Tommy for a breakfast of eggs (or as Tommy enthuses, "Mush!"). Angela rather noticeably doesn't sit to eat with them, and Jimmy certainly feels the cold shoulder. Which is why this is the perfect time for him to suggest that they have another baby. Tommy certainly thinks it's a great idea. And if TV has taught me anything, it's that nothing saves a marriage faster than another baby!
Across town, Gillian and Lucky lie naked in bed. She's certainly willing to sex him up still, but when she turns away from him, her face shows it's taken an emotional toll. She offers to get him some coffee, but -- like some nightmare mirror-version of those old Folger's ads -- she comes back to the bedroom with her just-returned son in tow. Jimmy tosses a cup of hot coffee onto Lucky, who reaches for his gun, but Gillian's got that taken care of. He calls her a "fucking twat," which leads Jimmy to draw his own gun. This gets Lucky to apologize. Gillian explains that she and her son are rather close. ...Yeah, about that Bonnie & Clyde vibe I'm getting right now. Whatever, no time to think of that now. Jimmy references their mutual acquaintance, Capone, and says Al would like nothing better than to have Jimmy blow Lucky's brains in. Lucky, more calmly than I could muster, says he'd consider it a kindness if Jimmy didn't. Jimmy's not going to do it here, of course. They're gonna take a ride, "someplace they won't find you." Gillian looks away from Lucky, the slightest hint of regret in her eyes. Not enough to change the course of events here, of course.
As Jimmy walks Lucky down the stairs at gunpoint, Lucky starts trying to bargain. He says to tell Nucky he'll "call off the D'Alessios" and cut Nucky in on whatever deal he's got going on. Before Jimmy can ask what this all is about, they turn a corner and run straight into Van Alden and Sebso. Timing! The G-Men draw their guns, getting Jimmy to drop his, and Van Alden makes his arrest. Luciano is laughing his ass off at this rather miraculous turn of events.
Back in Nucky's office, the Mayor is whining about this Fletcher guy and how he's got posters up all over in July. Nucky tells Halloran to scour the city for Fletcher's placards and order them taken down. "Can we do that?" Halloran asks. Nucky snaps that they can do whatever they want! The Mayor asks when Eli is coming back, and Halloran notes that his stitches opened up again, so it could be another month -- "He leaves a big void," he notes. Nucky is irked that he's talking about Eli like he's dead, but this isn't just Halloran being a doofy moron. This is Halloran angling to be made sheriff. Nucky's like, "Fine, you're sheriff," which Halloran takes far more solemnly than Nucky does. "I want you to know," he says, "that I'm here for you now and in November." Nucky wants to know what that means, so Halloran basically says that with Eli laid up and in no condition to run, he might stand the best chance at getting elected. Nucky looks weary that he's going to have to make such a call.
Jimmy's being interrogated, and his story for Van Alden is that he was at the picture show the night of the robbery. Van Alden asks specific questions about the movie to get Jimmy to trip up, but Jimmy stonewalls. So what if Jimmy's saying he spent four hours at a 78-minute film? Jimmy just fell asleep, is all. Van Alden also tries to get Jimmy off-balance by asking about his "out of wedlock" child and whether Angela is somehow unfit to marry. It's maybe working, because Jimmy's getting huffy. But Van Alden abandons that line of question for another: specifically whether or not Margaret Schroeder is Nucky Thompson's girlfriend. Oh go invent Us Weekly, won't you please? So Jimmy continues to stonewall -- about Capone, about the murders, and about whether Nucky killed Hans Schroeder so he could be with his lady. He tells Van Alden to charge him if he likes, but he's got no evidence. "Don't I?" Van Alden replies cryptically.
We see what Van Alden's talking about -- and Jimmy does too, more importantly -- when Sebso marches Jimmy to a cell and they cross paths with Billy the driver. Billy starts yelling that they were gonna send him up the river, and Jimmy keeps yelling back "What did you say to them?!" So, yeah, now Jimmy is perhaps concerned.
Nucky and Margaret are in bed, post-coital and discussing that most common of pillow-talk topics: electioneering. He's fretting about this reform candidate, so much so that he presses Margaret to spread the word to her lady friends -- the Temperance League, whoever -- to vote Republican. Margaret demurs that she's not much of an orator, but Nucky reminds her of the time she talked a circle around Senator Edge. So he once again asks her to address the League on his behalf. She's considering it, but then she starts talking about Madame Jeunet again. Only this time, she's learned her lesson. She's not taking this from a civic fairness angle. She simply tells Nucky, "You want me to dress beautifully, right? Well, Madame Jeunet is the only person in town who can do that for me. I want to look pretty for you; help me help you help Madame Jeunet to keep me in couture for as long as I'm with you." You wonder if Margaret realizes she's basically decided to take the Lucy approach to matters. Especially when Nucky's reaction is all gross condescension. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" he asks. Margaret smirks like she's pulled something off, but I'm saying: it's a Lucy move.
Nucky shows up at Jimmy's jail cell and is let in by Agent Sebso, who -- given Nucky conspiratorial thanks -- appears to be on Nucky's payroll. Who knew?? Jimmy tells Nucky what Luciano told him, that he and Rothstein are backing the D'Alessios. He then asks Nucky to bail him out, but Nucky tells him there's no kinda bail for five counts of murder. Jimmy then asks for a lawyer, which Nucky doesn't think will do much good. Nucky's either pretty sure he's going to get Jimmy out of this through his own methods or else he's maybe enjoying Jimmy cut down to size like this. He's nervous enough to ask Nucky to call his father. Jimmy thinks he has reason to be, with Billy's testimony and all. Nucky assures him he's going to be fine -- it just won't be through the legal system that he gets free.
Van Alden calls up Supervisor Elliott, positively giddy with the news of Jimmy's arrest. Even Elliott is pleased, offering his congratulations on a job well done. After he hangs up, Van Alden even has some kind words for Sebso about the help he provided. Abashed, Sebso apologizes about the telegram. Van Alden is magnanimous, if creepily religiously so. Sebso then inquires about Billy Winslow, and whether it's safe to keep him in A.C. Why not move him to Manhattan to keep him safe? Ohhh, clever man, Nucky Thompson. Clever.
Nucky pays the Commodore a visit, and as bad shape as the 'Dore was in last time we saw him (projectile vomiting into a chamber pot), he's much worse now. Like, on death's door. And plenty resentful about it, too. Nucky tells him he looks like shit, while the Commodore bemoans the reformers and Democrats and shot-up sheriffs that are the bane of Nucky's current existence. "At least you can still find joy," Nucky snarks. Commodore says he spent five years in jail, can you blame him? So we get a smidge more background about that whole thing -- Nucky says one of them had to go, 'Dore says he had no choice, and Nucky says he didn't either, which is why they struck a deal. So, you know, add that in to your explanation matrix. Nucky is here to find a solution to the Mayor Bacharach problem -- he's weak and losing ground. And they can't find anything on Fletcher, who is a clean and seemingly forthright reformer. So the Commodore's solution: run a reformer (or "reformer") of his own. "People want change, give it to 'em. Or pretend to give it to 'em." And what about Eli? "Replace him too." Nucky looks like he can't fathom the possibility. "I'm dying," Commodore notes. "It's no time to be sentimental."
At La Belle Femme, Nan is trying on dresses and intermittently talking about Warren. She thinks she needs something really fancy to wear to the inaugural. Margaret smiles and puts up with her foolishness. Nan eyes an exquisite pale blue dress, but the price Jeunet quotes is too extravagant. Jeunet and Margaret then step away to talk lady business. Well, I mean ... not like that, obviously. Jeunet kisses Margaret once on each cheek and thanks her for saving her business. That's nice. But then she pushes it, saying that the first time Margaret came into the shop, she said, "This is a lady of taste and judgment." Which is funny, because Margaret remembers her saying she smelled and needed to bathe. "I was as useless as the Polish girl," she says, over Jeunet's protests. "Until now." Margaret doesn't seem overly angry about this, more amused. But when Jeunet hands her a gift: an intricate lace dress and an ivory hairbrush for her daughter, Margaret gets prickly. "My daughter didn't help you," she says. "I did." Nan comes out wearing the blue dress, saying she just had to try it on. "It is beautiful," Margaret says, as pointedly as she can muster.
Meanwhile, Sebso is driving Billy out to the prison in Manhattan. Which looks strangely like an abandoned dune overlooking the water. Sebso lets Billy out so he can relieve himself; Billy takes a look out on the ocean. When he turns around, Sebso tells him he shouldn't have done that. Done ... what? "Lunged for my gun," Sebso lies. "That's why I killed you." At which point that's exactly what Sebso does, right in the heart. Poor dead Billy. Sebso then shows he's maybe been around Nelson Van Alden too long, because he picks up a heavy stone and smacks it right into his forehead, drawing a strong trickle of blood. That oughta help him sell his story, at least. He then leaves the gun, takes the cannolis, and loads Billy back into the car.
Angela's at the Dittrichs' photo shop, where Robert is letting her down (semi-) gently about how his art dealer friend from Greenwich Village isn't interested in her work. It certainly seems like now that Jimmy is back in the picture, the Dittrichs are backing off of Angela. Or shunning her! Mary seems more sympathetic, but she just stands there while Robert runs down Angela's style as a "cheap imitation." You know, if Gillian were here, she'd have a good chuckle at the fair-weather-ness of Angela's friends here.
That night, at Babbette's, Nucky tries to woo a prospective mayoral candidate, while Sophie Tucker performs onstage. (Tucker is played by Kathy Brier, formerly of One Life to Live.) While Tucker tells bawdy jokes, Nucky butters up Edward Bader, his candidate-to-be (incidentally, the actor who plays Bader also spent some time on One Life to Live ... as a corrupt mayor). And by the by, we see Margaret is wearing a certain exquisite, beautiful, expensive blue dress. Somebody's learned to harness her inner Nucky as well as her inner Lucy. Bader makes a joke of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Tucker begins to sing "Some of These Days," and Nucky suggests Margaret take Mrs. Bader up for a better view. Now alone with Bader, Nucky makes the pitch that he run for mayor. Bader realizes he won't have any real power, but Nucky convinces him it will at least be good for his construction business. Nucky's not just selling corruption, though. Between roads and jobs and a convention center -- even a ballfield -- they can do great things together. Obviously, Bader's sold, even if he makes the usual "I'll have to discuss it with my wife" deferment. He turns to Tucker onstage and says, "1920. The world belongs to the young." Nucky smirks that they'll just let them think it does. Nucky gets up to leave, pulling Eddie away from his flirting-with-Babbette time.
Nucky and Margaret (flanked by Eddie) take to the Boardwalk, where the carnival barker is busy hyping his new, WILDLY racist attraction, Mombo, a savage from deepest, darkest Africa. I'd be much more shocked by this if it didn't immediately remind me that Vince McMahon and the WWF had pretty much the same attraction in the mid-'80s. ...And early '90s. Wow, it is no fun to realize how racist you didn't realize things were when you were eleven. Anyhoo, Nucky and Margaret head towards the Ambassador, when some skinny punk calls out Nucky's name and starts approaching him for a handshake. Perhaps recalling McKinley's assassination, Nucky is immediately wary. But he doesn't realize this guy is a diversion. Eddie spots the real gunman coming up behind Nucky. He dives at the guy, pushing his arm enough that the shot doesn't hit Nucky. Just an innocent bystander lady, clean through the back of her right shoulder. The blood spatters on Margaret's nice new dress, and the woman tumbles onto both her and Nucky. Everybody on the Boardwalk scatters, including the decoy. Eddie manages to shoot the fleeing gunman in the leg as he escapes.
Nucky's shaken by this turn of events. Margaret is horrified. Looks like the Boardwalk's not safe for man nor woman not premature babies in window displays anymore.
Joe R is kind of dreading this upcoming Van Alden/Lucy meet-up, which promises more tics than a deer standing in tall grass. He can be reached for lavish praise and nothing but at joseph.reid21@gmail.com, and you can listen to him yammer on to his heart's content on the Extra Hot Great podcast.