Gillian really ramps up her recent trend of cozying up to the Commodore for Jimmy's benefit, but her Diana-the-woodland-nymph burlesque routine ends up giving the old man a stroke. So with the 'Dore out of commission, Gillian, Eli, and Jimmy have a contentious meeting about what they're going to do without him greasing the wheels, politically. They're going to need to expand their customer base to outside of Atlantic City. This leads Jimmy, Harrow, and Mickey Doyle to Philadelphia, where they make a deal with a friendly/scary Jewish butcher there who's eager to buy his booze from anyone but that damned Waxy Gordon.
Meanwhile, Nucky is still boxed in from shipping anything in or out of Atlantic City, so he makes a deal with Arnold Rothstein to use Philadelphia as an import point, under a partnership with, yes, Waxy Gordon. You can see where this is going. And we're one step closer to a Waxy sighting!
At a skanky birthday party at the Ritz for Mayor Bader, the whores/dominatricies on hand make mention that they were shipped in from Philly last November in order to trump up Republican votes. This gives Nucky's lawyer an idea, and soon enough, Fleming brings the whores to Solomon Bishop, where they swear to the crime. How is this good for Nucky? Well, transporting prostitutes across state lines for the purpose of committing a crime is a federal charge, which means Nucky's whole case will now fall under the purview of the Attorney General, who Nucky feels confident will sway things his way.
At the Bureau, Van Alden's underlings have noticed his weirdness, and Agent Clarkson in particular caught him in cahoots with Mickey Doyle. Clarkson and Sawicky think Van Alden's gone dirty, so they head out one night to check out Mickey's warehouse and make a bust. Unfortunately, they go on the same night that Owen Slater, at Nucky's instruction, has planted a bomb at the warehouse. The explosion sets Clarkson ablaze, and even though Sawicky is able to stop-drop-and-roll his ass, Clarkson's still pretty well burned.
Speaking of deforming injuries, Angela and Harrow make awkward, sad conversation while Jimmy is away, and she decides to draw him, with his face-plate removed. It's sweet and sad and if you think Boardwalk Empire is boring it probably drove you crazy.
Chalky White is going through some internal shit. After getting vociferous grief from the widows of the men killed in the warehouse massacre, Chalky goes to Nucky to demand that vengeance be served to the Klan. Nucky once again puts Chalky off, as his position in town is too tenuous at this point. Though he does promise to throw some money at the problem. Chalky knows this won't help, and it contributes to his ambivalence over his own wealth and privilege and how it runs counter to his country upbringing. This all boils over at a family dinner where Chalky makes a scene in front of his daughter's new boyfriend.
Margaret takes it upon herself to cut the wages of the house staff, despite Nucky giving her bonus money, because apparently the whole Lobster Thermidore Affair last week at Babbette's turned her into a stone cold bitch of an employer.
And finally, with the Commodore now helpless and useless to her cause, Gillian finally lets her decades-long resentment of the man who stole her youth bubble over. After feeding him his mush, she recollects the night he plied her with wine and forced himself upon her. Now all he can do is whimper wordlessly while Gillian slaps the shit out of him.
At Mickey Doyle's distillery, Jimmy is checking on their vast stash of booze. Just crates and crates of the stuff; they're running out of space in the warehouse. Mickey's impressed, in his wheezy, unsettling way. summer, Jimmy tells him, the plan is to be the biggest distributor in the whole northeast. He gets his payment from Mickey, and then leaves with Harrow.
Elsewhere, the HBO portion of the evening kicks in, with Gillian dancing for the Commodore. Her breasts only halfway covered, she's performing one of her burlesque routines for the old coot. She is Diana, daughter of Jupiter, and no man may look upon her nakedness as she bathes, et cetera. Once Commodore is allowed to peek at her, he likes what he sees. But he says he never liked the idea of her dancing for others. She tells him he should have married her, then, but he says he had a city to run. Gillian: "I understand. I always have." Still dancing, as she brings up Jimmy, and how happy she is that he's under the Commodore's wing, after all this time. "You're going to take care of him, aren't you?" she says. Shimmy, shimmy. Pretty clear the game she's running here, though Commodore is likely too preoccupied to notice. "Get your ass over here," he says gleefully, and Gillian strips down fully. She grabs her bow and arrow prop at bounces an arrow off of the Commodore's chest. It's all very PG-13 smutty, and then the Commodore starts shaking. He's not responding. Gillian calls to him, but no response. "Louis? LOUIS!" Yeah, well, that's the danger when you're sexing up old millionaires. They could always stroke out.
Nucky and Margaret are home with the kids. He says he won't be home for dinner tonight, as its Ed Bader's birthday. Just a small little celebration at the Ritz. Owen Sleater shows up, eagerly greeted by Katy. Not sure whether it's Katy being smitten with the guy that turns Margaret off or if it's how much he reminds her of Ireland (and all that attendant business), but she's incredibly cold to the both of them. "Top o' the mornin'," Nucky says. "Isn't that what you people say?" Sleater smiles and says, "We also fix your shoes if you leave them out at night." Katy laughs (it's a pretty adorable joke), but Margaret is totally unimpressed. After he leaves, Margaret grouses to Nucky that the guy's a little "cheeky," though she has to explain to Nucky what "cheeky" means. He tells Margaret that Sleater serves a purpose, though he declines to elaborate. He then hands Margaret a stack of cash for the weekly expenses, plus a little extra for the staff. Margaret, whose opinion on the staff has taken a serious nosedive since she was caught boozing with them last week, is all, "What the hell for, man?" Nucky's like, um, for appreciation? And also because they make just above nothing? Margaret says they shouldn't be frivolous with money. Nucky says it's a pittance for them but a windfall for the servants. Margaret: "You do know they steal from us. It's what servants do." She'd know, I guess. Nucky says yes, and they pretend not to notice, and life goes on. This isn't sitting well with Margaret, who grumbles, "No one ever gave ME a bonus."
We're at home with Chalky White, an idyllic scene, but there are cracks aplenty. His youngest asks Chalky to look at her homework, and his son, Lester, is like, "You're asking Dad??" Awkward moment! Mom checks the homework, for reasons Chalky passes off as "I'm too strict." Lester sees through it and is at the age where he's looking to puncture some of the bubbles that surround his parents, but his mom tells him to quit "teasing" his father. "He knows who bring home the bacon!" Chalky says, saving face. His older daughter, Maybelle, wants her new boyfriends to come over for dinner, which Lenore thinks is only appropriate. "If a young lady is being courted, it needs to be in a respectable manner." This crew isn't even fancy by African-American standards at the time; they're just plain fancy. Anyway, Maybelle's like, "He's going to study medicine," which causes Chalky to declare the boy and "educated buck." There's always a low-level dread beneath everything Chalky does, because he's a coiled wire of pure rage at all other time, but today especially seems ripe for an explosion of something awful. Chalky acquiesces to dinner "with all the fixings." After all he's been craving Hoppin' John "since the moon was blue." Lenore and Maybelle look down at their plates at this. Guess they were hoping for something in the foie gras family.
At the Darmodys' seaside cottage of secret longing, Angela is hanging up drawings when Richard arrives. Jimmy's not there -- he left after a phone call from Gillian last night and hasn't been back. Angela thought he'd be with Richard, but guess not. "He doesn't tell me anything," she says, not with anger but with resignation. She worries about "this business with Nucky," and says she saw Nucky on the Boardwalk and he wouldn't even look at her. Harrow looks over Angela's drawings and proclaims them, "very bold." He talks about coming across an artist in France, and she surmises from what he says that it was de Chirico. She asks him if he's ever posed for an artist. No. He used to draw when he was a child and found it relaxing. She says it can be, or it can be maddening.
Commodore is in his bed, surrounded by Gillian, Jimmy, Eli, and his doctor. Doc says its apoplexy -- a stroke. Commodore can't speak, and his right side is paralyzed. He asks if the Commodore was agitated or overexcited before it happened, and Gillian lies that she found him like this. She insists, at Eli's questioning, that he be cared for at home. (It's unspoken, but the fewer people outside the house who know of his condition the better. Jeez, Eli, figure it out.) The Commodore struggles to say something so Eli comes close. The old man croaks out two words: "COCK!" and "FUCK!" Useful, albeit in very limited circumstances.
In the foyer, Eli is freaking out. "He's a fucking vegetable!" he yells, and Gillian has to snap at him to keep it down. Jimmy quietly wonders what to do now, while Eli and Gillian have an animated argument. Once again, Eli's insecurities come to the fore, as he frets that the Gillian/Jimmy/Commodore family unit are going to box him out. "None of that's normal," he says of their familial bond. "It never was!" Gillian reminds Eli that it all suited him pretty well up until today. So what to do without the Dore's connections? Gillian says they'll be fine. Louis will recover, and in the meantime, Jimmy will handle things. Eli is, shall we say, dubious. They've moved into the Big Game room, and all Jimmy's done so far is pet the stuffed leopard, so maybe Eli's got a point. They're into the Commodore's cronies for 70 grand, which seems to be the biggest problem. Jimmy says they'll get that money once they unload the liquor. Which... can't be now, because the town is flush. They've flooded their market. Eli says Jimmy's going to have to look out of market -- New York, Philadelphia, somewhere. Jimmy's like, we have no buyers in any of those places, you want me to go door-to-door? Eli pouts that these two seem to have it all figured out, so why bother even making suggestions? After he leaves, Jimmy wonders if it wasn't a mistake letting Eli see the debilitated Commodore. Gillian apologizes for getting heated kisses Jimmy on the lips. Sigh. It's not normal and it never was.
At the Ritz, Nucky is instructing Eddie on party planning for Bader's birthday. Eddie is taking his job very seriously. Meanwhile, Nucky wants Arnold Rothstein on the phone.
Rothstein's at home when he gets the call. Mrs. Rothstein tells him it's Nucky and then asks after Arnold's upset stomach, sweetly wondering if he should be eating so much apple bread. He says it has a binding effect, and "sound elimination is the basis of good health." He'd probably get along with Van Alden. At least until the whole Jew thing came up. His wife gives him a smile that is both charmed and accustomed to Arnold's particulars. I bet they have a really great marriage, you guys. Let's not assume that everyone in the '20s was a violent, philandering chauvinist! Before he picks up the receiver, Rothstein practices his "Mr. Thompson" greeting, which is just such a great touch. So much of Rothstein's business image is meticulously practiced. Nucky says he needs a port, since he's walled in by the coast guard in AC. Rothstein suggests Long Island, but it's too far. Nucky suggests Philadelphia, though AR would have to cut in Waxey Gordon in that case. Nucky doesn't look thrilled by this -- especially by the 20% to AR and 20% to Waxey he'll be giving up -- but he's in a pinch. Rothstein says his 20% brings with it protection, in the form of Luciano. Nucky is again not thrilled but what's he gonna do? They have a deal.
Chalky is at what looks like a church, holding court for the black community. There are maybe 15 people in the room, and half of them are there to air small-time grievances. There's so much deference for Chalky, especially at first, for showing up to hear their concerns. Chalky is folksy, charming, and frankly Nucky-ish with his constituents. He placates an old lady who's angry about her neighbors playing rag music too loud, and then a kitchen worker at the Ritz who talks of the terrible working conditions there. Then, when it seems that everybody's concerns have been heard, a woman stands up and asks, "What about my husband? Got his throat cut while unloading YOUR illegal liquor." Chalky promises it's being looked into, but the first woman is soon joined by another wife, and then a few mothers. There are a lot of dead men in Chalky's community right now, and it doesn't make for a placid constituency. The two presiding men -- one a flunky, the other a judge -- try to insulate Chalky from these malcontented women, but to no avail. They're standing, hands on hips, not being pacified. The first woman speaks again: "Ain't nobody put you in charge. You walk around, taking a bit off of everyone else's plate. Don't give nothing back 'cept a summer clambake and a Christmas turkey." This seems to hit Chalky where he lives.
At the post office, Agents Sawicky and Clarkson are totaling up seized moneys, but when Clarkson offers to process the cash, Van Alden elbows him out, making me think he's planning on skimming more Lucy money. When Van Alden heads to the loo, Clarkson starts grumbling about him, and about how he thinks he's gone dirty. Sawicky isn't sold, but Clarkson saw him a few weeks back, driving with a suspicious person. He tailed him to a bar; a bootlegging operation. Clarkson wants to tell world, but Sawicky tells him he has to be sure. Van Alden returns, furious that somebody scribbled "Van Asshole" on the bathroom wall. That could have literally been anybody. That could have been me.
Margaret addresses the staff at home about their payment. Only she totally lies and says that due to cutbacks in their finances, the maids will be taking a pay cut. COLD, lady! Further, she tells them that just for this week, she and Nucky will be giving them a two-dollar bonus. So she gets to stick it to the help for no good reason AND try to look magnanimous with the bonus? Mags, love you, but: Bitch. The maids are all silent but expectant. At Margaret's insistence, Katy finally says that they were actually expecting a raise. Nucky had told them it would be forthcoming one night, possibly while drunk. Margaret, unmoved, says, "It's a special kind of fool to believe the promises of a drunkard," and leaves them to their tasks.
In Philadelphia, Jimmy, Mickey, and Harrow (a motley crew indeed), enter the butcher shop of one Manny Horvitz, who is busy slicing up a liver. Manny already knows Mickey, and he remarks that Jimmy looks like a baby. But Jimmy quickly wins him over with his attempts at Yiddish. Then Manny looks at Harrow: "This fella looks interesting." I'd say! "I put my nose where it didn't belong," Harrow says, by way of explanation, and again, Manny is charmed. He introduces Herman, his right hand man, who is much less humorous than his gregarious boss. It doesn't take long for Manny to start complaining about that cocksucking piece of shit Waxey Gordon, whose hands have been in his pockets for years. Herman gets to it: he hears Jimmy and them are flush with Hooch. They want to make a deal and cut Waxey out of the action. As Manny sharpens his cleavers, he proposes that Jimmy supply the 30-40 speaks he's got over in Jewtown. (You guys, I'm taking a week's vacation in Jewtown. I won't be checking my messages.) Start with a hundred cases a week, build from there, and ultimately "stick it up Waxey's tuchus." Jimmy insists that the money has to be in advance. Five grand. Manny says that's a lotta green, and Jimmy, friendly but firm, says he could always say no. Manny says he has a deal. But, "My icebox is filled with pieces of fellas who tried to fuck me over." Jimmy plays it cool, saying, "I just got creamsicles in mine." And so now both Jimmy and Nucky are putting Philly into play, with each of them on opposite sides of the Waxey Gordon divide. Should be fun!
Back in Atlantic City, Jack Dempsey moves through a sea of autograph-seekers, into the Ritz. Upstairs, it's a sight to see. A sight made for HBO, where they'd rather that men not stray from their programming if it gets too talky or slow, so they make sure to throw in naked whores on a near-constant basis... oh, I mean, "Look at the period detail! Real 1920s dominatrix prostitutes! Authentic prohibition-era bush! Nice research work, Boardwalk Empire team!" So there are hookers in leather with whips, moving around the room, cavorting on Nucky's lawyer's lap, probably making Eddie Kessler (who is currently singing happy German songs) very nervous about messing up the room, and most specifically, walking Mayor Edward Bader like a dog and whipping him on the ass. Historical realism -- learn stuff! Eddie puts it perfectly, shouting "Oink oink oink oink!" at Bader. Dempsey shows up with Senator Hague, from Jersey City, in tow. Nucky introduces Dempsey to the room, and Hague does some JC promoting, but Fleming and Dempsey josh him about the smell of the sewage plants there. Nucky offers to train Dempsey in AC. They've got fresh sea air, not to mention their native whore population! The lead whore says they ain't local but from Philly; they've been here since November when they were brought in to help sway votes in the election. Nucky's lawyer twigs to this particular topic and quickly pulls Nucky aside. In room, he says he just figured a way to get the case dismissed. See, moving whores across state lines is a FEDERAL crime. Um... sounds better already!
Van Alden gets a call from the wife. She's worried sick after calling the boarding house which said he no longer lived there. Well, sure, he had to vacate so the Muellers could move in. She was so worried! VA assures her he'll get to the bottom of this (shades of Chalky) Tells him there are mice in the attic; will set traps time I'm home. Soon. Very busy. She says she's lonely. Doesn't like the way he sounds. He has important business! "Take care and God bless."
Nucky meets with Chalky, who is once again agitated about the KKK attack. Nucky assures him he's making slow but sure progress. Chalky says that's not good enough. Nucky says the families will be will compensated. It's not about money for Chalky, though. It's about revenge on "those ghost-ridin' motherfuckers." Nucky says to sit tight, but Chalky's "been sittin' so tight [his] ass is sore." Nucky retorts that "those silk cushions oughta help." Chalky is annoyed that Nucky keeps making this about money." Nucky says this, like everything, IS about money, like the money he put up to bail Chalky out of jail. "You could thank me by being a good boy." Well! There it is, then. He tells Chalky to save his strength, enjoy his family, and trust that Nucky will make it right. Eventually. Chalky doesn't know how he's supposed to enjoy anything with four other families looking to him for justice. Nucky's got nothing for him. "You're not the only one looking to settle scores."
At the office of State's Attorney Solomon Bishop, Fleming has brought three dominatrices from the party to declare that they were in fact imported from Pennsylvania for the purposes of swaying votes. Or, as Fleming puts it to them, "You fucked people for their votes." The lead whore is like "You bet!" Bishop has typed up an account, and they're like "Sure, I suppose." Bishop, to Fleming, says, "And the charges keep piling up!" He's giddy at the idea of this feather in his cap. Which means he is totally not seeing how this case is about to be ripped from his hands. Fleming manages to play the part of Nucky turncoat well, remarking that "it's not like he doesn't have this coming."
A close-up on Harrow's good eye takes us back to Angela's Sad Shack By the Sea. Angela is drawing Richard, which makes sense. He's a good subject for it. I have a feeling if he's not around people, he just sits still for hours anyway. He looks at Jimmy and Angela's wedding photo and says, "He loves you." Angela says, "There's love and there's everything else." She asks Richard if he's ever been in love. "Not the way you mean," he says. He then talks of his twin sister, Emma, back in Wisconsin. They grew up on the farm, inseparable.
"Whatever love is, that's what I felt for Emma." But after the war, as she nursed him back to health, suddenly he felt different. Felt nothing. Lost his ability to love. When his wounds healed, he moved to Chicago to get lost and hasn't spoken to her since. Yet he's sentimental enough to ask Al Capone how Odette the whore is doing. Angela is swooning, but in a sad way. She stops drawing, and when she does, Richard voluntarily removes his mask and slowly turns to her. She doesn't flinch, just grabs a new sheet and begins to draw.Nucky and Fleming meet with Owen Sleater in a shady basement area somewhere. Seems Sleater's IRA experience is going to come in handy for Nucky after all, as he's aces at building bombs. Oh, nice stereotyping, HBO. I bet he drinks and writes poetry too! (Actually, probably, yeah.) He says back in Ireland he executed a bombing a week "to send a message to the crown." Fleming is super nervous around the bundled sticks, which makes Sleater laugh a bit. He verrrry gingerly hands the blasting caps to Sleater, who attaches them to the explosives. He places an old-timey clock on it (they really don't make bombs the way they used to anymore) and quips, "somebody's going out of business." "Mickey Doyle," says Nuck. ...Eh, no great loss.
New York. Lansky and Luciano's Lower East Side gambling parlor. Lucky is assessing his suitcases full of watches, which annoys Lansky, since he thinks it makes them look like cheap street-corner hucksters. Benny comes in and says Rothstein's here, and they think he's fucking with them. But no, Lansky spots him out by the card tables and is like, for God's sake, bring him in before he cleans us out. Lansky and Luciano hurriedly sweep aside all evidence of side businesses as AR walks in and makes small, self-deprecating talk about the gamblers out there. He's come to discuss the deal with Nucky, Philly, and Waxey. The route to Atlantic City will be his responsibility, and while Lansky thinks he wants them to recruit the muscle, in reality he wants them to be the muscle. Neither Lansky nor Lucky likes the sound of that. They've got business going in NYC that they don't want to abandon. They dither, they flatter, they reason as businessmen, but they clearly don't want to do this. AR says he recently had lunch with Masseria, who, he strongly implies, is only not killing Meyer and Lucky because of Rothstein's intervention. But Lucky upset he broke bread with him at all. AR: "We were served a native dish of tripe. Which I cannot abide. But I ate it anyway, to keep the peace. Some things, Charlie, you just have to swallow." So, that's that. After Rothstein leaves, Lucky is so angry, he knocks the watches off the desk.
On to the most uncomfortable dinner ever! So Chalky and the family sit down to eat with Maybelle's boyfriend, Samuel, as their guest. Chalky is clearly upset from the earlier town hall and subsequent meeting with Nucky, so he is both fuming and seriously conflicted about his role in the socio-economic food chain of Atlantic City. Also, he's getting pretty drunk. Samuel, light skinned and posh as you please, is sitting to Chalky's right. Lenore invites Samuel to say grace, but Chalky interrupts sourly, to ask if Lenore's serving duck like he sees on the table. Didn't he ask for Hoppin' John? She brushes him off, but he wants his Hoppin' John. "You know that's not proper food for a guest, Albert," she tells him. But Chalky keeps interrupting grace to grouse about his Hoppin' John. Samuel acknowledges and says, good-naturedly, that he always has liked "that type of food." Chalky picks right up on THAT, but Samuel says he means like his grandma used to make. Chalky, feeling suuuuper defensive about class right now, accuses Samuel of laughing at him. He's not. Lenore can't believe all this fuss over Hoppin' John. Chalky: "I been eating rice and beans my whole life! Tell me it's not good enough!" Dude, those biscuits are getting cold, and they look good enough, so come on. Lenore: "You'll have to forgive my husband's country ways." Oh, lady. Not helping. "It's my house!" Chalky shouts. "And my country ways put food on this GODDAMN TABLE!" Lenore snaps at "Albert." He's drunk. Maybelle starts to cry. Samuel apologizes and starts to leave, but Chalky tells him to stay right where he is. "Inside the house. Pretty clear who the field nigger is." Lenore is furious, frightened, and upset. Chalky storms out.
Angela finishes her sketch, and Richard, who's been sitting patiently this whole time with his mask off, finally takes a look at it. "This is what I look like?" He asks if it's expensive, but Angela gives it to him gratis. Jimmy returns and carries Tommy off to bed. While he does so, Richard puts his mask back on, and Angela thanks him. Notably, Jimmy fails to tell her about the Commodore and the stroke. He tells Richard they're going to Philly tomorrow. After he leaves, Jimmy is incredulous with Angela that Richard sat for her. "I never know what's going on inside of him," he says. Angela looks at Jimmy like, "No shit?"
At Nucky's place, Margaret stares at the headline in the newspaper: "Prosecutor: Thompson Provided Prostitutes for Republican Voters." Nucky explains to Margaret why this idea -- which he attributes to "Icky," which I guess is the lawyer's name, which is hilarious -- is such a good one. Bringing whores over state lines for the purpose of breaking the law puts him in violation of the Mann Act, a federal law, which means his entire case is now a federal one rather than a state one. Margaret, in her best "You know it's me and not Lucy, right?" voice says that this means Nucky can lean on the Attorney General for help this time. It IS a good plan, provided the AG actually does help. From what we saw last week, I'm not 100% sure that jurisdictional propriety was the only thing keeping him from using his power to save Nucky. Either way, the headline's a winner. Who wouldn't consider voting Republican if they thought it had Nucky-provided whores in it for them? Anyway, Margaret's not thrilled with the idea that Nucky's whoring is splashed all over the front page. "It's a means to an end," he says. He assures her that he had no relations with these women, and she says she believes him. But she also needs $100 for clothes for the children. He hands her the money, and she heads off to bed.
Agents Clarkson and Sawicky drive up to the place where Clarkson saw Van Alden meet with that shady bootlegger: Mickey's warehouse. Oh dear. Sawicky still has cold feet about this whole thing, but Clarkson is gung-ho to barge in and make an arrest. Sawicky worries how Van Alden could react negatively. "Then we'll arrest him too," Clarkson reasons. They split up and approach the warehouse. When they're about 10 feet from the place, the building explodes into a giant fireball. Clarkson starts screaming immediately, likely because most of him is now on fire. Sawicky, fortunately not on fire, runs to his partner's aid, throws his coat over him, and tries to extinguish the flames. It takes a discomfortingly long time. Sawicky turns him over to see Clarkson's right side is all sorts of burned. I guess this is the TV season for half of people's faces to be maimed, huh? Sawicky picks him up and carries him to the car. Poor prohie.
At home, Margaret stashes away the $100 into a big envelope of money she's keeping in her jewelry box. Call it her Go Bag.
At the White home, Lester plays piano for his assembled family (and Samuel), while outside, in the garage, Chalky whittles his rage away. ...Well, "away" might be pushing it.
Gillian is feeding the Commodore pureed grossness as the poor bastard lies paralyzed on his right side, unable to communicate. And now Gillian doesn't seem to be speaking to him in those placating tones anymore. Once again, the old man is useless to her when it comes to benefitting Jimmy (and by extension herself). You can already see the flecks of rage in her when she sees that, once again, this old man has fucked her over. He couldn't even keep his body together long enough to lay that golden egg for her. She starts to talk to him about the old days, though her tone is so far different from the beginning of this episode she's almost a different person. She reminisces about the day they met. "How you plied me with wine." She obviously had never imbibed wine before and she describes it as "quite the sensation." He carried her to the bedroom. Just earlier that day, she was a girl out on the beach. Suddenly, she was in this man's bed, with his crushing weight on top of her, his breath smelling of whiskey and tobacco, one hand covering her mouth, the other groping at her. All the Commodore can do is wordlessly, helplessly flap his mouth around, making gurgling sounds. Not sure he'd sound any different if he could fully speak anyway. Oh, he'd use his words, but how would they sound to Gillian? So much gurgling uselessness. His paralysis has the added benefit of making him look frightened, which must seem gratifying to her. At last, frightened as she was. She tells him it sometimes wakes her in the night. She asks again: "Do you remember that night?" Not sure what's worse, if he does or he doesn't. We may never know, and it doesn't really matter. She slaps him across the face. Taunting him now: "I asked you a question." Slaps again. And again. The left side of his face, so he can feel it. Again and again. He's crying like she is. Not sure if she notices.
Joe R has some big expectations for Waxey Gordon. 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.
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