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Things happen in Chicago -- including Van Alden becoming an actual animated cartoon and laying waste to his equally cartoonish tormenters -- but as always, let's try to think as little of that as possible.
Margaret gets another visit from Mrs. Scherer at the women's clinic, and she wants Margaret to procure a diaphragm for her, so that her husband will stop impregnating her and requiring her to drink spoiled milk for on-purpose miscarriages. Margaret goes around Sister Mary Euphemis to Dr. Mason and requests a pair of diaphragms, actually: one for Mrs. Scherer and one for her, as she's decided to continue shtupping Owen Sleater.
Word gets to Nucky that "Jimmy Darmody" has perished in a tragic bathtub accident, so he goes to the Maison Derriere to find out what the fuck, and he ends up in a passive-aggressive standoff with Gillian that turns into aggressive-aggressive when she throws a drink in his face and blames him for her son's death. She sets out to cut all ties between herself and Nucky, including Lucky Luciano. Later, Gillian reaches out to Gyp Rosetti and not-at-all-casually drops that she knows where Nucky and Rothstein will be meeting later tonight: Babbette's.
Meantime, Nucky and Esther and Means convene to plan Harry Daugherty's downfall, which requires Nucky to sneak into a social club under false pretenses and meet with Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, which he does. He offers Mellon the deal: arrest George Remus and thus place your hated rival Daugherty at your complete mercy, and in return Nucky will run Mellon's now-defunct distillery at a nice, quiet profit. Mellon at first throws Nucky out on his ear, but eventually he calls him up and accepts the offer.
Billie Kent screen-tests for a Hollywood movie and does pretty well. So well that she and her roommate and her co-star decide to get drunk back at her apartment, and when Nucky arrives, this young pup of a co-star is a little too friendly will Billie for his taste, so of course he beats the shit out of him. Nucky and Billie have a huge fight about what they do and don't want from the relationship. The morning, she dyes her hair blonde and he sets her up on an allowance with now strings attached, which is a mixed message that won't ever need to be parsed, because that night, as Nucky and Rothstein and Luciano suffer the hot-aired bloviations of George Baxter on the boardwalk, Billie heads into Babbette's ahead of them ... and is blown sky high when the entire building erupts in a fireball.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Gillian, Richard, and Leander are gathered around a pine box that is masquerading as the final resting place of James Darmody. Gillian's wearing a black veil and talking all this bullshit to the undertaker about "I thought I had my son back, then he would reach for the needle..." to the undertaker, who confirms to her that they got the cause of death changed to "accidental drowning" on the death certificate. Behind her, Leander is rolling his eyes like crazy. Gillian asks Richard to say a few words on behalf of his friend, and Richard, inscrutable as ever with that mask, says simply, "Jimmy deserved better than this." Gillian seems like she has more to say, but Leander says that's been quite enough. I don't think this charade has impressed him much. The coffin is led into the incinerator, and Roger Not James the Love Machine is no more.
In Chicago (God damn it), Dean O'Banion and a cohort are finishing up installing a still in Van Alden's kitchen. Seems that after O'Banion helped Van Alden dispose of that unfortunate prohie's body, Van Alden's been conscripted into the Irish bootlegging service. And while before it seemed like O'Banion might be taking a shine to Van Alden, his dickish nature appears to have won the day, as he's so condescending and flippant, he might as well be smacking gum. After he walks through the steps, Van Alden wonders if the smell will cause suspicion, but O'Banion says the neighborhood already smells like shit, plus half his neighbors are likely doing the same thing. Though they're probably getting paid (Van Alden is still working off that debt). Sigrid sits at the kitchen table with the kids and observes it all, while her husband just absorbs the attitude from his new boss. O'Banion expects Van Alden to produce two cases a week, despite Van Alden's protests about his day job. Plus join him for a meeting tomorrow. As he walks out, O'Banion scoffs to his compadre that this poor sap sells irons. So is the Humiliation of Nelson Van Alden complete yet?
Nucky's in his office, on the phone making travel arrangements to head to New York tomorrow. Eli asks if it's to meet with Rothstein or his "other girlfriend." Neither, says Nucky. Meantime, Sleater asks him about "the pony." Eli, who may be back on the team but is far from the inner circle, thinks they're talking horseracing. No, Nucky just wants to buy Emily a pony, seemingly as a "sorry you got polio and can't walk unassisted" present. Sleater has some expertise in ponies, probably because he's Irish (oh, go with me on this), and when Eli cautions against a certain breed because one bit his kid's pinky one time, Nucky brushes him off. Old habits die hard, I guess. Eddie Kessler enters with terrible news: "James Darmody is dead." He shows Nucky the newspaper account of "Jimmy" dying of a "mishap while bathing at the home of his mother." Nucky, Sleater, and Eli all WTF at each other for a while. Eddie: "I'm terribly sorry for your loss." "Don't be an idiot!" Nucky yells at him. Thus ends Eddie Kessler's monthly visit to the show.
In Chicago, Johnny Torrio is back from Italy, and from the way he's waxing poetic about the place, he probably wishes he never had to leave. The people and the food -- most importantly, he fell in love with the pace of life over there. Free and easy, not like the rat-race happening outside the window of his little social club, where he's meeting with Al Capone and Fat Jake. He also can't get over what he saw in Pompeii, with the ruins of Vesuvius and all. But now he's back, and there's already a crisis. Jake takes the hint and leaves, as Al explains to Torrio about the situation with Joe Miller, and how there isn't a Joe Miller anymore. Al, of course, says he had no choice but to kill the guy, despite the fact that Torrio left instructions to not cause any trouble. Torrio asks how O'Banion has responded, and Al says there's a meeting tomorrow. Torrio kind of sighs and pats Al on the hand for doing what he thought was right. If there's anyone who's getting too old for this shit, it's Johnny Torrio.
At the Maison Derriere, Leander is lecturing Gillian about the matter of obtaining Tommy's guardianship, which won't be easy when he's living in a whorehouse. Gillian's butler interrupts to introduce Nucky's arrival. Gillian steels herself as she turns to face the man who killed her son, and Nucky asks Leander to give them the room. "You're working towards something, remember that," Leander sighs wearily as he exits. What follows in an exchange built on make-believe and brinksmanship: Nucky offers his condolences for Jimmy's untimely bathtub demise; Gillian accepts and laments her son's troubles with narcotics. Neither one of them is giving in inch. Nucky finally raises a glass "to James," and Gillian is the first one to crack. She throws her drink in Nucky's face -- a really solid in-the-eyes splash too. "Shall we stop now," she hisses, "with all this nonsense?" Gillian flat-out accuses Nucky of killing her son, and he flat-out denies it. She starts to get emotional when it comes to the "promises" Nucky made, to Jimmy and to her, which is when I get on her side a little bit. What a betrayal, to have the man who promised to protect your little boy turn out to be his killer. Of course, in between those two things was the part where your little boy tried to murder his protector, at your Lady Macbeth-ian urging. So: a tie, I guess? Nucky says that whatever she's trying to pull with this corpse-swap sleight-of-hand, he wants her to remember that she exists in this town because he allows her to, which he feels is ... "very generous of you?" Gillian finishes what has become something of a catch phrase for Nucky. For the record, as crazypants as Gillian has been all season, Nucky's the one who's fucking up here. The smart call is to let Gillian have her lie and collect her money and stew in her suspicions. Keep a wary eye on her, but stay away. It's Nucky's guilty conscience that's provoking this confrontation, that and -- despite what he said to Gyp Rosetti several weeks ago about not taking anything personally -- his inability to stomach the cadre of ingrates who tried to do him in last season. Killing Jimmy, sending Eli to prison -- those should have cleared the ledger. But Nucky's a more sensitive soul than most. "You'd be wise to say that like you mean it," Nucky sneers at Gillian, then stomps off.
At the St. Theresa's women's clinic, Sister Mary Euphemism is cautioning Margaret and Dr. Mason about the upcoming section of the curriculum: the part where they talk about "the act itself." Margaret assures her that she will keep Dr. Mason "on the path." After Sister Euphemism exits, Mason makes a joke about how she's constantly flirting with him, causing Margaret to laugh. I like Dr. Mason. It will be very sad when some gangster or another beats him to death in the season finale. Anyway, who should show up after hours but our friend Mrs. Scherer, who requests to speak to Margaret alone. I guess she's been coming to the classes, per Margaret, so that's progress. But her more pressing concern, she tells Margaret, is that her husband won't keep off her. He did for a while, after the miscarriage, but now ... Margaret looks concerned, as Mrs. Scherer explains that she doesn't want to have any more children, ever. Margaret sees where this is going and says they're not allowed to speak of that here. "It's what every woman who comes in here wants to know," Mrs. Scherer says. Stuck between her mission and her mandate, Margaret offers to give her a pamphlet (presumably what she received from the Margaret Sanger people?), but Mrs. Scherer doesn't need a pamphlet, or man to tell her what she already knows. Ah, so she's not quite the dumb Dora she seemed at first. She tells Margaret about the day they met, her miscarriage. "I stored the milk ... I waited ... it wasn't an accident," she says. "You understand?" Margaret does. We do. Somebody at HBO wasn't so sure, though, because we get a blaringly obvious ADR line about how "I drank it on purpose to lose the baby." GOT IT. Anyway, she wants a diaphragm, but she doesn't know how to get one. She doesn't believe Dr. Mason will give it to her -- doctors don't listen to women like her. They listen to women like Margaret. She begs her to intervene on her behalf.
At home with the Van Aldens, the drip-drip-drip of the still in the kitchen is keeping Nelson awake. Well, that, and probably the fact that he's betraying all his long-held principles to be a stooge for some two-bit bootlegger. Sigrid tries to reassure him, "It is okay, husband," but he's not calmed. He just stares intensely forward. And, not for nothing, but the last thing this lunatic needs is a sleeping problem.
Nucky and Esther Randolph are sitting quietly in Jimmy James's New York office, making semi-awkward conversation. He offers her box seats to "Dizzy Izzy" on Broadway (is THAT the new title for The Naughty Virgin? Eeesh), but Esther would rather the freebies be kept to a minimum. He asks what she does for fun, then. "I run naked through the pages of the federal tax code," she says with the barest hint of a smirk. Look, I really like Esther Randolph, but if this show is leading up to her and Nucky in bed, I am out. Means arrives for their meeting and says that arrangements are in place. He asks Esther if she would rather not hear the details of the plan, but she says if she's in for a penny, she's in for a pound. So apparently the plan involves Nucky making a pitch to Andrew Mellon, who you will recall is both Treasury Secretary and James Cromwell. Means says Mellon will be having lunch at the exclusive Union Club in midtown, and he's arranged for Nucky to masquerade as Mr. Charles Rickson of Missouri. "You have prospered mightily in beef," Means grins at Nucky. He really seems to enjoy this double-dealing. Randolph delivers some unnecessary pointers to Nucky that are really just nuggets of exposition for us. Mellon is the Treasury Secretary, of course, and as such, he's in charge of enforcing Prohibition and collecting income tax, neither of which he's too keen on, per Means. And he despises Harry, whom he regards as a "common thief." Nucky asks if this is all enough to get him to arrest Remus. Oh, there's more! Mellon is also the majority shareholder in a distillery in Pennsylvania. This is news to Randolph, though Means assures her it's a "pointless possession in this day and age." But, he says, "it's remarkable how large small irritations can loom in the minds of great men. He doesn't really fit in as well in this universe, but Gaston Means would have made a superb Deadwood character. Nucky raises an eyebrow and asks if that's it. "The rest will be a tribute to your resourcefulness," Means replies. At this, Esther decides she in fact does not want to hear everything, and she makes her exit.
I wish I knew more about the layout of Chicago so I could tell you what part of town we're looking at, but wherever we are, it's slaughterhouses as far as the eye can see. It looks bad, and I can't imagine how awful it smells. Good news for Fat Jake, I guess. Capone asks him if Torrio mentioned anything about the Miller kill when he wasn't around; he seems paranoid that Torrio is angrier than he lets on. By all indications, though, he genuinely seems chill about it. He arrives, and O'Banion and the Irish soon after. O'Banion's joined by Van Alden (Torrio makes note of the new muscle) and some guy named Hymie Weiss. They have a joke about Van Alden carrying a case full of irons, and Capone asks him where he's from, so we can all be worried for the millionth time that someone will recognize Van Alden. Like, what's he even hiding from anymore? Murder charges for killing Agent Sebso? Who even REMEMBERS him? Anyway, O'Banion starts off with a head of steam about Joe Miller and how he cooled his heels about it until Torrio came home, like he deserves a medal for it. Torrio just wants to talk about Naples, man. About how it's a different way of life over there, because they realize that life is short. O'Banion's used to this way of life over here, though, so he interprets that as a threat, and things devolve into a shouting match between him and Capone. Torrio shuts that down, though, with a story about Pompeii. "You heard of it?" he asks, and Van Alden pipes up that it was buried in 79 A.D. Torrio talks about this town full of people who had no idea that had set up their lives to a volcano, and one day, outta nowhere, they're buried in lava. One guy, Torrio saw, with a hammer still in his hand. The point he's getting at is that these people were so concentrated on the workaday drudgery of their lives that they never noticed how short those lives would be. He seems like he doesn't have the time for it anymore. O'Banion takes NONE of this in and brings up Joe Miller, but Torrio tells him to settle with Al. O'Banion protests that he came to talk to Torrio, but Torrio just sort of smiles at him and is like "Nope! Al's your guy!" Al smirks at O'Banion and makes an offer of putting the past in the past. O'Banion has that same smug look on his face he always does but seems resigned to making a deal with this a-hole.
Back in Jersey, Owen Sleater is taking a look at a pony for sale, while Margaret is looking on like anybody would when faced with a wicked sexy guy being sweet with a pony. It's nice out, but there's thunder rumbling in the distance, as talk of the pony leads Margaret and Owen down Irish memory lane. They talk of horse fairs and their respective fathers -- hers a disappointing drunk; his a man of humble means who managed to evince something of a grand air -- and their preferred way to blow a shilling on sweets. Margaret begins to talk of her brother Eamonn, and she gets a huge smile on her face when she does. The pony-seller asks them if they want to take the horse they're looking at -- Kip -- for a trot around, but Owen says the lady would like a little time to make her decision. And make the afternoon last a bit longer, I'd think.
It's time for Billie Kent's Hollywood screen test. She's sitting under bright lights while a director and some producers talk to her -- give her kind of a hard time, in fact -- about her ambitions, why she wants to be an actress, that kind of thing. She's good under pressure, though. Saying the right things (she likes the movies because you can sit in the dark and "forget who you are for a while") and generally presenting the best, most beguiling version of herself. She's introduced to her costar Gil Lonacre (played by Adam Campbell, who will always be from Harper's Island to me), and they prepare for their test scene. "Don't look at the lens, keep your lips closed when we kiss," he says, and she's like, "wait, kiss??" They improvise through a scene where he plays a scoundrel on the run while she's a showgirl -- "not the lead but the funny one in the chorus." "The pony," Billie says, offering the industry term. Immediately, we see she's got her character nailed. She gets direction all the way through, she's clearly nervous, but her energy is on point, and she's got screwball star quality. What's not to like? She even gets the room cracking up when she delivers a well-timed comedic slap. Everything's coming up Billie!
Nucky's successfully made it into the Union Club, with so many rich, white dudes, something-something Mitt Romney. Nucky finds Mellon and approaches him semi-awkwardly, but wastes no time in mentioning that they have an enemy in common, Harry Daugherty. Mellon goes from paying like 15% attention to Nucky all the way up to 55% or so, and he immediately realizes Nucky's not a member of the club. Nucky doesn't deny it, and Mellon has to wave off the butler guy. Nucky gets right to it -- he and Harry Daugherty have had dealings, the nature of which were circumvention of the Volstead Act. Nucky's pitch is simple: he's just a regular old crook, but Harry Daugherty's institutional corruption just isn't right for the country. Mellon sees through this patriotic pose, but it allows Nucky to commiserate with him on how un-American both Prohibition and the income tax are. Nucky suggests Mellon could take a stab back at the government he seems to loathe with one simple action: arrest George Remus, the biggest bootlegger in the country, and one with direct ties to Daugherty and his underlings. This would force Harry to show his hand. Mellon hardly things Daugherty will indict himself, but Nucky says that just means Mellon will have something to hold over his head. And in exchange, Nucky says, he will agree to begin running the abandoned distillery in Pennsylvania. "It would stick in my craw to have the government tell me what I could and couldn't do with my own property," Nucky says. Again, this runs counter to what he told Rosetti -- down to the "sticking in craw" verbiage -- but in this case I think he's just saying what he thinks Mellon wants to hear. And it is. Nucky promises Mellon would have no direct involvement in the place beyond collecting the profits. And there will be profits. Mellon takes this all in and chuckles to himself. Nucky hopes that's a yes, or even a perhaps, but what it means is that Mellon's about to call that concierge on over and have Nucky escorted out of the building for interloping. So ... not a "perhaps"?
It seems that gathering storm in New Jersey has arrived, and Margaret and Owen make a run for it to the car. Inside, Margaret frets about this and that -- is it right to get Emily a pony if she can't ride it, et cetera -- and he seems to have a good answer for all her worries, which just bothers her more. "Would you teach me to drive?" she asks him. He's all, "Now?" But no, she doesn't mean now. She means "...after." Well, if she insists. They kiss and then the camera cuts away before things get interesting.
And now is the time where I try to spend as little time as possible lingering on my least favorite scene of the night. These have been happening with depressing regularity lately. So it's Van Alden in Cicero, at the world's worst workplace with his uniformly awful and monstrous co-workers. And they're doing practice house-calls and everybody's being obnoxious because apparently that's how the door-to-door sales business was back then -- just unrelenting obnoxiousness. And Van Alden's been on no sleep lately, so everything's got him on edge even more than it usually does. Oh, and for these practice demonstrations, they're plugging in the irons and demonstrating them hot. Can you pretty much write the rest of the scene yourselves by now? I know I could. So Van Alden is called upon to present to Phil, and Phil is an unrelenting asshole as he affects a lady voice and gives Van Alden a hard time, all to the braying laughter of the mules they work with. The camerawork has gone positively Lynchian by this point, with manic closeups, and combined with Michael Shannon's let's-say-unsubtle acting style, it's like we're watching a completely different show. Anyway, Phil's insults finally go too far, and Van Alden attacks him with the iron to his face. He screams and his flesh smokes and everybody else goes batshit crazy. And if that's not enough, Van Alden then starts raging, overturning desks, throwing stacks of paper around, while everybody else cowers in the room. He's like the mighty King broken free of his chains. This is a goddamn cartoon, and if it's the extent of the ideas this show has left for Van Alden, they'd be better off just having him drop dead of a stroke right now.
I'm also not crazy about this scene, but whatever. Billie and her roommate are drunk and giddy and dancing the Charleston in their apartment, I guess on occasion of Billie knocking her screen test out of the park. Eventually, handsome Gil the actor man comes out from behind the curtains dressed like an Arab sheik, and the three of them laugh and make fart jokes, and fart jokes in period settings will never not seem weird to me, with the exception that proves the rule of Blazing Saddles and anyway ... obviously as soon as Billie and Gil are laughing and in a heap together, Nucky shows up at the door. Again, do you feel like writing the rest of this scene? Because you could. He's peevish as he introduces himself to Gil, who is full of himself but generally well-meaning, but he calls Nucky "sir," which is only the polite thing to when you're a young man and you're faced with a withered old crone, but Nucky takes offense (ah, the Gyp Rosetti trifecta this week) and ends up being the shit out of the guy. In doing so, he calls Gil an "interloper," so you can assume Mellon's dismissal of him earlier is playing its part in Nucky's atypical reaction here. Billie's screaming at "Gus" (a pet name for Nucky that I didn't realize until this week that she uses exclusively) to stop it, and she finally pulls him off. Vi helps Gil out to a taxi, leaving Billie to WTF all over Nucky. To his meager credit, Nucky gets right to the point of his problem: he doesn't like the "don't ask, don't tell" arrangement he and Billie have. She reminds him that it suits him fine when she doesn't ask him about the other parts of his life, but Nucky's tired of pretending he's not jealous, is what it boils down to.
Of course, Phase II of the argument begins when Nucky pledges to take care of her, and she thinks he's saying that because he doesn't have any faith that she'll succeed. He rationalizes that it's an unreliable industry and there's always someone knew around the corner. He starts lecturing her, but she cuts him down quick: "I have a father," she says. "He lives in Newburgh. He thinks a fist is a good way to end an argument, and I don't live there anymore." Nucky is wounded that that's how she sees him, but she simply says that's how he's acting. So if she's not in this relationship for the daddy issues, and if she's not in it for the security ... are we left to believe that Billie is in this for the red-hot charms of Nucky Thompson? I know cable dramas are really invested in the idea that ugly antiheroes can score with basically any chick they want to, but this might be pushing it. So it's a little instructive when Nucky finally asks what she wants from him. "I just want you to be my gangster," she replies. I mean ... I guess? Anyway, Nucky pulls her in for an angry kiss, and they proceed to make rough love on her bed. Out.
In Cicero, Van Alden comes home late at night and begins packing his suitcases. When Sigrid wakes up (it really seemed like he was intending to leave alone under cover of night), he explains, in a rambly, babbling way, that they need to pack up and move on very quickly, on account of what he did to a "bad person" today, and also the "other thing," where, you know, they killed a Federal agent. He says they can go anywhere, except for New Jersey, New York, and now Illinois. She's ultimately able to make him cool his jets, and we cut to them in the kitchen and her handing him a glass of whiskey to calm down. It turns out, she's been going like gangbusters on that still during the days. Twelve bottles for O'Bannion already, plus three for themselves. Van Alden thinks she means to drink, but it turns out, she's made three bottles of "Aquavit" to sell in the Norwegian part of town. If they keep things going that way, they won't have to worry about him losing his job. And look, bravo for Sigrid, but I think the concern here is that Van Alden's going to get arrested for burning a man's face off, and probably have his murders come to light after that. Still, Van Alden reacts like she just presented the solution to all their problems.
Maison Derriere. Gillian wakes Lucky up and tells him she needs the room back, as the roofers will be inspecting. He reminds her he's not paying for that, but she says she got a loan. She asks what he's even doing in Atlantic City, and he says he's got a meeting with Rothstein. "And Nucky Thompson?" she asks, then inquires as to where and when this meeting is taking place (tonight at Babbette's). Then, she lays into Lucky for belittling her business and breaking bread with her enemies. He's totally dismissive of her, offering her a "nice hard fuck" to set her right, but instead she kicks him out. And buys him out of the business, pulling the check from her girdle, like a lady with some flair. He wonders what he's going to do with a check, and she's all, "Stick it up your ass, for all I care." Or better yet, have Nucky do it for you." BURN! She throws his clothes out the window.
Margaret Shanghais Dr. Mason outside the hospital and says she has a delicate matter that needs discussing. Getting right to the point, she says she needs to obtain a diaphragm. He's surprised but not scandalized by the request. He confirms that this is what Mrs. Scherer came to talk about. Margaret then amends her request to two diaphragms: one for Mrs. Scherer and one for her.
At the Maison Derriere, Gillian is entertaining Gyp Rosetti and a flunky with the story of the day she gave birth to Jimmy. Don't you get the feeling she's told everybody in her life this story, at one time or another? She asks Rosetti if he has children, and he says yes, two girls. "Both of them pretty as their mother," his flunky says, drawing a stinkeye from Rosetti, because haha, remember how his wife and daughters are all trolls? Gillian says all she has left in this world is her grandson, and -- after she introduces her two guests to Richard Harrow -- she gets to what now appears to be the point. She "casually" wonders whether Rosetti knows of Babbette's supper club. He does, of course, having gone their with Nucky "before [their] falling out." "Have you had a falling out?" Gillian deadpans. She further informs Rosetti that Nucky will be dining there tonight with Arnold Rothstein. Rosetti takes this in but wonders why Gillian is telling him this. "I thought perhaps you'd like to surprise him," she says.
Eddie Kessler announces to Nucky that he's got a phone call -- the man wouldn't identify himself but he said Nucky "would be relieved to hear his voice." Nucky, in a sour mood from everything else that's happened this week, is incredibly impatient with the unidentified man on the phone, until that man reveals himself to be Andrew Mellon. Then Nucky's mood changes REAL quick. Mellon informs Nucky that in a few days, federal agents will arrest George Remus for multiple violations of the Volstead Act, including bribing a prominent Justice department official (who Mellon doesn't outright name, but it's Jess Smith). In exchange, says Mellon, he expects the Overholt Distillery to be operational in one month and profitable the month after. Nucky assures him that will be the case. Mellon says the two of them will have no further contact after this phone call. Seems like a good setup to me, and at least one thing has gone right for Nucky today.
It seems after their night of making up, Nucky brought Billie back to Atlantic City with him, as she's in the bathroom searching for a lost earring. She's dyed her hair blonde now -- just felt like being a different person, she says. She's even given her new persona a name: Nadine Beckenbauer. She and Nucky have a bit of flirty fun "introducing" themselves. Then Nucky hands Billie an envelope, a "single premium annuity," a.k.a. guaranteed income, the first of each month, for the rest of her life. Billie doesn't know what this is supposed to mean, and she once again says she doesn't need anybody's help. Nucky basically tells her it's freedom -- it's no strings to anyone anymore. She asks if this means he's saying goodbye, but in fact, he says, he's saying hello to Nadine Beckenbauer. New beginnings, I guess is the idea. New beginnings with a new dynamic between them. Billie tears up a bit and they kiss. She goes to look for a different pair of earrings before they go out.
In the Norwegian part of Chicago, Sigrid's plan to sell hooch to the Scandinavians proves wise and lucrative. "Unlike steam irons," Van Alden says admiringly, "aquavit sells itself."
Up in Johnny Torrio's office, he's hanging up a painting of Pompeii, listening to opera, and pouring himself a glass of whiskey. Trying to maintain that easy Naples living. Capone shows up with a stack of cash from Greektown, which he says is short, but he's got a guy on it. Torrio tells him to take it easy, that their guy in Greektown is good for it. Al asks if that's everything, kind of expecting more business talk or marching orders or something. But Torrio just says that Al has everything under control and to send his love to Mae and the boy. He's got his feet up on the desk and everything. In his mind, he's gone to Carolina, so to speak. Al looks at him for a billion years, obviously comprehending that the old man is checking out of the business and leaving it in his hands. Here's hoping he's smart enough to realize that this is a good situation for him and not fuck it up like he always does.
It's night on the Boardwalk, and Billie walks a few paces behind Nucky, Rothstein, and Luciano, like a good little mistress. Lucky's in the middle of presenting a business plan for heroin distribution when they're accosted by George Baxter, who we haven't seen since Season 1. He's still as garrulous and obnoxious as ever, and he barrels over Nucky and asks to be introduced to his companions. Nucky does, begrudgingly, but then pulls Billie aside and tells her she can run ahead -- no reason for them both to suffer. Similarly, Rothstein and Luciano walk in the opposite direction, anything to get away from this braying glad-hander. Nucky's left to suffer Baxter alone, though he mostly ignores his ramblings, looking over at Billie, all angelic in the doorway of Babbette's. The music and the camera and the editing get incredibly still now, so you know something awful is about to happen. And Nucky seems to anticipate it a half second before it does. With his eyes fixed on his beloved showgirl, the building around her erupts into a giant fireball. The explosion is big enough to knock Nucky, Rothstein, and Luciano to the ground and cover them in debris. Nothing in the immediate vicinity of Babbette's could have survived it. Everybody is screaming. Nucky's ears are ringing. Luciano is helping Rothstein to his feet. Nucky raises his head to look for signs of life where Billie once stood. There's nothing. He falls back down to the boardwalk.
Joe R is sad about Billie, but if Babbette died too, this whole show is going down. He can be reached for lavish praise and nothing but at joseph.reid21@gmail.com.