Margaret returns, having been contacted by Nucky to meet at the train station on his way back down to Tampa. She's vague about what she's doing and where she lives, but is clear about the boundaries with Nucky, which are, essentially: Leave me alone. Nucky thought she'd want to know about Eddie, and while Margaret's saddened to hear of his death, she still can't believe Nucky dragged her all the way out to Pennsylvania Station for it. But Nucky did it as much for himself, because he's feeling guilty/sorry for himself over Eddie's death, for not knowing about the person who, per Margaret, knew best how to take care of him. Not to mention wondering if whatever prompted Eddie's suicide poses any danger to Nucky personally. Anyway, thanks for coming, Margaret. Sorry about Nucky's incredibly poor choice of words when, after giving Margaret a birthday gift for Teddy that she's worried is a pet, he says, "I wouldn't put something living in a box."
Eddie's death ripples out over Knox and Eli too; Hoover wants to pull the plug on Knox's operation, wanting to focus more on the "anarchists" and "agitators" like Emma Goldman and Marcus Garvey. Knox convinces Hoover to let him try again, but first he's got to figure out if Eddie blew Knox's cover. He feels out Eli, who — feeling much more immediate grief over Eddie, especially when he finds out Eddie had kids too — weaves Knox a little closer into confidence, taking advantage of Knox's law-enforcement position to get the safe-deposit box in Eddie's name out of the bank. But when Eli has a good little cry over Eddie (and his own paternal worries, especially for Willie, whose roommate is apparently in little trouble up at school), Knox hands him a handkerchief with a monogram that has initials that don't match up to any name Eli knows for Knox.
Things don't go great in Tampa either, with Nucky not being aware that Tucker has, er, gone missing. Some of the local thugs seem sure that McCoy knows more than he's letting on, but McCoy has found another investor, a "Pierce," who is in reality Vincenzo Petrocelli. Petrocelli, as it turns out, is Joe Masseria's cousin, which is a problem for Luciano, down in Tampa with Nucky, who's worried that Joe's going to find out Luciano's going behind his back on something. Lucky wants to whack Petrocelli but Meyer won't let him. And Meyer's not backing out of the deal either, which means they're not partnering on this. Meyer's going to cover Charlie's part, though, and the deal's going ahead — Sally Wheet will watch over things on Nucky's behalf, an arrangement arrived at after Nucky have a drunken fistfight (really) and then sex.
Speaking of violence leading to sex: Chalky's simmering anger at Daughter (really directed at Narcisse) boils over after he chews her out over a downbeat performance that he thinks won't have people opening up their wallets. They argue, and then start making out. At least Daughter doesn't give Chalky a black eye like Sally did Nucky.
Paul Sagorsky, who unsurprisingly turns out to have cirrhosis of the liver, bumps into Richard Harrow, and manages to make Richard feel better and set a reunion with Julia in motion by telling a story about shooting a 13-year-old Filipina in the face. Much like Richard's sister, Julia's a little gun-shy (no pun intended) about welcoming Richard back into the fold, but she does. Follow the North Star* home, Richard. (*Well, the Hercules constellation. Tommy's really into astronomy now.)
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. Eli's crying. Hide your hanky, Warren. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.
Nucky's in a train station in New York, wondering about the ripples in his coffee, that a hovering waiter helpfully tells him are due to the trains rumbling along underneath them, and not, as I hoped, due to a Tyrannosaurus rex stomping around somewhere nearby. Nucky's never noticed them before, but no, he doesn't need a refill on his Kessler au lait thank you very much.
And then — nearly midway through the season! — there's Margaret, coming to see him. It's as completely uncomfortable as you can imagine, with Nucky asking questions about where it was she came from, and Margaret evades being specific about where she's living or working. Margaret remarks on how he's going to Florida, and Nucky says, "But I'm supposed to tell you?" like what a big goddamn baby he is, and Margaret points out that Nucky himself told her that, when he called and said there was something he thought she'd want to know. Nucky's all, oh right! And he tells her that Eddie Kessler's gone. But Margaret doesn't get it at first, thinking that Eddie isn't working for Nucky anymore. I mean, he isn't, but… Nucky changes the subject, to the package he brought for Teddy, but Margaret realizes something's happened with Eddie, and Nucky, without actually saying it, lets her know that Eddie's dead, even if he doesn't manage to admit that Eddie took a swan dive out the window.
So Margaret says she's got a good job, and the kids are doing well -- but she can't keep up the façade of normalcy for long, and says whatever happened to Nucky's friend, he can't turn up to tell her things about his business like this. "I work, I pay my brother rent, a picture at the Loew's Kings if I stay awake. I'm trying to get on with it," she explains, asking if he understands. Rather than saying he does, Nucky asks if she'll give the package to Teddy. Wearily, she asks if it's some sort of creature; they haven't the room. "I wouldn't put something alive in a box," says Nucky, which has to be in the running for most unfortunate choice of words in history. Although, in Nucky's defense, it's highly unlikely that Owen was alive when he was stuffed in a box. Somehow, I don't think that would carry a lot of weight with Margaret, who gives Nucky a sharp look. After eventually agreeing to take the package to Teddy, Margaret checks her watch and tells Nucky she's got to get back to work. They both stand up, and Margaret says she's genuinely sorry: "No one knew how to look after you like Mr. Kessler." Nucky takes every inch of that pointed comment, and sits back down after Margaret leaves.
In Washington, D.C., the extra-special under-the-table cam shows us Agent Knox's restless leg while Director Hoover (who calls him "Jim") grills him on the death of Eddie Kessler, who either jumped or was pushed. Knox says he's working under the assumption Kessler jumped, but Hoover asks what if Eddie talked to Nucky beforehand. "The operation is compromised," says Hoover, who pays lip service to Knox's noble cause, even though, as Knox makes him admit, he was never on board with it (and doesn't actually believe this supposed network of organized crime even exists). Hoover's more interested in Cyril Briggs, Marcus Garvey, Emma Goldman: The "anarchists" and "political activists" are where the Bureau should be putting its resources, says Hoover. Knox wants one more chance, to see how the Thompsons react if he pokes his head up one more time. "And if they blow it off your shoulders?" asks Hoover. Well, we should all go out in such a blaze of glory. But Knox says at least Hoover will have the satisfaction of knowing he was right.
With the sound of a buoy and gulls in the distance -- the Albatross has some nice ambiance, no? -- Eli walks into Eddie's room, looking around, and tells a nervous Mickey Doyle that nothing's going to bite him. Mickey comes in, tentatively, and is not impressed with the spartan décor: "If this was my room, I'd kill myself." He apparently didn't mean to make such a tasteless joke, and then realizes it doesn't matter, since Eddie can't hear him anyway.
The two of them start going through Eddie's stuff. Mickey asks what they're looking for, which is a conversation you'd think they'd already have had, but Eli reminds him they're looking for a safe-deposit key. Mickey's skeptical that anything would even be in the suit, or else why would he take a header out the window? Eli tells him to check Eddie's suit, and Mickey is a big baby about it. Eli prods him, and Mickey finds a receipt: "Business dinner with R. Capone." I wonder how many pints of beer are itemized on that receipt? I mean, it appears to be a single page. Eli finds the picture of Eddie's kids on his desk -- the news that Eddie was a father coming as a surprise to him -- and then the note Eddie wrote right before he leapt. Eddie asks Mickey if he speaks German, and Mickey takes the note and helpfully reads: "Dear everybody: I stole the money and jumped out the window. I am bad. Also, $1.09 for stationery," says Mickey. Ha ha! Eli doesn't find that nearly as amusing as I do, and he gets back to looking, pulling the cover off the birdcage. It's in the can of birdseed that Eli finds the key he's looking for.
Over at the Onyx Club, Chalky's son Lester is sitting in on the piano with the house pianist, and Daughter Maitland glides up to express fake surprise at Chalky letting his son sit in with "the help." Chalky says he "thought you-all slept through the afternoon," and Daughter explains she's working on something new with her accompanist. This comes as news to Chalky. "The people come expecting one thing," he says, and she replies that she gives it to them, but maybe she's bored. She asks Chalky if he's ever felt bored. "If I do, I keep it to myself," he says, and Daughter purrs that it doesn't stop him from feeling it. She strolls up onto the stage and requests "Malinda Brown," and Lester offers to play it. He does, and she sings: "There's a little dusky lady," she begins, and then turns to stare at Chalky as she continues, "In the land of Ol' Black Joe." Chalky turns and stiffly walks away.
Cut to a close-up of someone's eye, and then a doctor telling Paul Sagorsky that his eyes are a little jaundiced. He examines Sagorsky's hands, and says the spots are erythema, which Paul says is from working in the yard. The doctor asks if he's feeling tired, bruising easily, has itchy skin. Paul's all, "all of the above," and the doctor asks how much he's drinking. Paul reluctantly talks about a promise he made to his daughter, and the doctor matter-of-factly just wants to know the truth. Paul says he's managed to stick to nothing before dinner for the past eight months, "on account of the boy." Before that? asks the doctor, and if you can't be honest with your doctor instead of saying, "I'm no saint," then you're probably in trouble. We learn Sagorsky started drinking when he was fourteen -- which to this Canadian doesn't sound too bad -- but he's going to stop now. But he insists to his silent doctor -- who also shoos away an incoming nurse with a "now is not a good time look -- that the erythema is from working. Once Sagorsky's done making promises and excuses, the doctor says, "All right, I'm going to tell you the things that can be done, and the thing you should be preparing yourself for."
Cut to Sagorsky slowly walking out of the doctor's office into a hall -- I'm guessing this is some sort of VA hospital -- looking grim, moving slowly. He looks down the hall one way, and then the other way -- and spots none other than Richard Harrow at the end, his hand bandaged. Sagorsky calls Richard's name, and Richard flees out the door at the end of the hall and down the stairs. Sagorsky chases him, bumping into other patients along the way, yelling that he needs to talk to Richard. Urgent, but not angry. Sagorsky gets to the stairs and starts racing down, but he slips -- it's almost comical -- and lands on his back, and blacks out. Not for long, though, because we get a POV of Richard standing over him, asking if he's all right. "I'm dying," says Sagorsky. With impeccable comic timing, Richard asks, "Right now?" Heh. And then Sagorsky, who still hasn't gotten up, has to admit that he doesn't know.
Over to the bank, where a smiling Eli Thompson is posing as Eddie Kessler, thanks to the non-photo driver's license he has presented to the helpful … let's call him the accounts manager. He'll be back straightaway, he says, smilingly, but I can't imagine that he thinks for one second that's a 5'4", 158-pound 56-year-old man with grey hair sitting in front of his desk. While he waits, Eli goes through Eddie's accordion-wallet thing, pulling out a newspaper clipping advertising a classical music concert, and a business card from the Artemis Club. Eddie, you old hound! Eli contemplates this, and then the bank manager comes in. In hindsight, Eli probably should have considered that posing as someone else might be difficult at a bank where you're on a first-name basis with the manager. The manager wants to know what's going on -- curious, not accusatory -- and Eli explains that his brother's man Eddie Kessler passed away suddenly a few days ago, and Nucky gave him some important documents to put in the safe-deposit box.
John, the manager, says Eli needs a death certificate -- no problem, says Eli -- but also some legal authority permitting him access to the box. Such as? A last will and testament naming Eli, for example. "It was sudden. Like I said," says Eli, and you can just hear the growing irritation in his voice as he realizes that this isn't going to be as simple as he hoped it would be. The manager suggests a letter or a court order, and Eli's all, "I got the key right here!" John's not swayed by Eli's compelling "cut the crap" logic, and explains that he's got a "fiduciary duty." I was sheriff for nine goddamn years, points out Eli, and John's all, yeah, we could both go to jail over this, and asks if Eli really wants to go through that again. Pissed, Eli sticks Eddie's wallet back in his jacket pocket.
Dinner at the Chalky household, where Lester is raving about the Onyx's piano player, who's "about the best there is" at stride piano, which he enthusiastically explains is a lot more complicated than it seems. Lenore's not convinced, saying it sounds like a lot of banging to her. Chalky is sullenly unswept-up by Lester's enthusiasm too, only allowing that the pianist "keep[s] the rhythm goin'." Maybelle suggests they have him playing at the wedding -- Samuel's over for supper too -- but Lenore figures the setting will be "unusual" enough without getting too "primitive." Oh, those kids and their character-destroying jazz music! Addy wants Lester to play some right now, so they ask to be excused -- "It's your mama's table," says Chalky -- and head for the piano. With the kids gone, Lenore fixes Chalky with a disapproving look and says she wishes he hadn't taken Lester to the club. Chalky fails to see the problem, and Lenore says, while the piano strikes up in the room, "It puts ideas in his head," and she asks if that's what Chalky wants. Chalky looks up for the first time. "What it matter what I want?" he says. He wipes his mouth, puts the napkin on the table, and walks out, leaving a surprised Lenore sitting there by herself.
In some speakeasy, Richard and Sagorsky are sitting at a table, with Sagorsky knocking back a drink. Either quitting's way harder than he thought it would be, or the news the doctor gave him suggested there's no point in quitting now. He prompts the silent Richard to say something, and Richard says he couldn't face any of them. Let's set aside the "well, Richard can't actually face anybody" jokes, shall we? Sagorsky says he and Julia both know what happened. "I killed those men, Paul. Every one of them," says Richard, and Sagorsky tells Richard he also got Tommy out of the house, which makes him a hero. But I've done other things, protests Richard, and when Sagorsky asks him how many, Richard says he's stopped counting.
So Sagorsky tells a tale of a time when he was in the Philippines, and he stopped a girl -- thirteen years old, tops -- walking down the road with a tarsier (like a monkey crossed with a mouse) on her shoulder. Sagorsky asked where she was going -- to her village -- and some identification, as per orders that came straight from the top, he tells Richard, and the girl said, "'I am who I am. Who else could I be?'" Half-surprised not to see a little on-screen graphic pop up to tell us that this is this season's theme. But the story's not done: "I put a bullet through her face," says Sagorsky. Jesus, Sagorsky, all right: you win.
Then he came home, met his wife, had two kids. He takes Richard's drink and drains it, since Richard's not having it. Yep, looks like you got over the horrors of war just fine! He tells Richard he's got cirrhosis. "A year from now, I'll be gone. You'll still be here," he says, adding that Richard knows why he came home, and the rest is bullshit. "Buy me another round," says Sagorsky, who might have to adjust that year timeline downwards if he's going to keep on like this.
Eli's tossing and turning in bed, rousing his sleepy wife, so he volunteers to go sleep downstairs. He swings his legs over the side of the bed, and then sits there long enough that a groggy June is all "…what?" He says maybe he should drive up to Philadelphia and check in on Will. "This business with his roommate…" says Eli. June protests that it's the middle of the night. He doesn't mean now, June, but she's not in favor of it at all. "He'll think you're prying," she says, waking up a little. He's my son, protests Eli, and she says Will will talk when he wants to talk. Eli's silent for a moment, probably wondering if that's true, given his insistence on Will spending every free moment studying instead of wasting time on frivolous matters like "wanting to be happy." Then he asks June if she knows anybody who speaks German. What's German for "Honey, I really think this can wait until morning"?
We're in Tampa. We know because Nucky's at a table at Sally's place with the palm fronds outside and with McCoy sitting there fanning himself with a hat. We also know because TAMPA is in big letters on the screen, like why not just go all Fringe with it? McCoy says he's sorry to hear about Eli, and a surprised Nucky tells him it was Eddie, and McCoy's basically, "…who?" but recovers enough to offer a "tough break" to an irritated Nucky.
Anyway, McCoy's got something he needs to tell Nucky before Nucky's partners show up. It's not a big deal, and he doesn't want Nucky to worry, says McCoy, which is not really an appropriate preamble for informing someone that his business partner wound up with a machete in his head, whether you put it there or someone else did. But before McCoy gets a chance to say anything, a group of cowboy-hat wearing good ol' boys -- led by a bearded fellow named Cal -- walk up to the table, Cal wanting to know what's up with Augie Tucker. McCoy assures Cal that no one is more concerned than he is, and this is how Nucky learns that Tucker is "missing." McCoy says he doesn't know what happened -- they had a deal, and Tucker apparently took off a few weeks ago. "And he ain't been seen since," says Cal, clearly suspecting McCoy of having something to do with the disappearance. The bodyguards on the McCoy-Thompson side of things reach for the guns, Cal warning them off by pointing out they have a lot more on their side. What's a good speakeasy bartender without a rifle behind the bar? "I can make it two less," says Sally, leveling her gun at Cal.
After the hillbillies clear out, Nucky unloads two barrels of his own on McCoy: "What the hell!" he says, pointing out he wouldn't even be here if it weren't for… but McCoy interrupts him to say it's a blessing in disguise, and he's already got another investor named Pierce lined up. Gold-plated, cash in hand, and plenty of it. "He's from up north. Very discreet, connections in Havana. He's got a vision for what this could all be," says McCoy, turning on the hard sell. If that's the case, asks Nucky, why didn't McCoy go to him first? Valid question. McCoy says you don't go to this guy; you have to wait for him to come to you. Nucky agrees to meet him -- and that's all he's agreeing to at the moment. Considering the way things are starting off, it's not going to be a huge surprise when everything goes to shit later, now, will it?
Sally comes over to clear the table and engage in a little low-grade flirting with Nucky, who apologizes for the disturbance. She calls that "as good as a box of chocolates," and he promises to send her one if she'd like. "They'll just melt," she says. Before these two can steam up the barroom mirror any more, Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano come in. "I'll do the explaining," Nucky tells McCoy, which really should just be the default for any of their business dealings.
Over at the distillery, a visibly nervous Agent Knox is escorted to the office, Eli surprised -- and not in a good way -- to see him. Mickey Doyle's there too. "I was wondering if something is wrong," says Knox. Mickey and Eli just stare at him, Eli asking why he was wondering that. "Awfully quiet today," says Knox. "What's it to you?" asks Eli. Not getting anywhere with Eli, Knox turns his attention to Mickey, who just so happens to have Eddie's cane. Knox asks if he hurt his leg, and Mickey says he's going to use it club rats. Knox, practically going "gulp!" asks if they have a problem with those, and is likely quite relieved when it sounds like Mickey is in fact talking about literal rats.
Anyhoo, says Knox, if there is a problem, he just wants to make sure he doesn't get in the way, poking around where he doesn't belong. "It wouldn't be smart," he says, and Eli chuckles, thinking Knox is shaking them down. "Jesus, you prohees. Hands always out," he says. Knox, going from fearful to cocky fairly quickly, says that wasn't what he was asking for, and reminds them that he's a part of this too, and no one wants to get caught. But now that you mention it, it has been a month. Eli disputes how long it's been ("I keep track," insists Knox) but nevertheless counts out a few bills and leaves them on the desk for Knox to pick up, which he does -- and then jumps about a foot when Mickey slams the cane on the floor. "I thought I saw something scurry," says Mickey. This time, he's not talking about an actual rat, and Knox looks anxious again as he makes to go, but still, he wants to know: "Closed for inventory?" Death in the family, says Eli. Knox asks if it was sudden. "Just the last few feet," says Mickey, grinning. Knox offers a perfunctory "Well, if there's anything I can do…" and Eli tells him it's all being taken care of.
And then he calls Knox back, just as the agent is almost home free. "Give me your badge," says Eli. Knox hesitates, and then takes it out for him. "There is something you can do," Eli says…
…and we're unsurprisingly going over to the bank now, where a much more confident Knox flashes that badge for the bank manager, explaining that the government has reason to believe Eddie Kessler had ties to a group of local anarchists. The manager's skeptical. "Remember the Palmer Raids?" asks Knox. The manager sure does, which is great, since they didn't have Wikipedia back then like I do. So let's just say I remember the Palmer Raids too, as long as you have no follow-up questions. "The threat of foreign agitation hasn't gone away," says Knox, who says there are documents in the box that may be germane to their investigation. Gotta hand it to the manager, who still says he needs some legal authority, but is cut off at the knees by Knox: "Are you attempting to obstruct a federal investigation into anti-American activities? Whose side are you on?" The "America, fuck yeah" argument either defeats the manager or wins him over; either way, he tells Knox to follow him to the vault.
At the Sagorsky household, Julia tidies up after her snoring father -- it's bright daylight outside -- and sighs when she can't rouse him. She knows this is more the passed-out kind of sleeping instead of the so-tired kind of sleeping.
Then she hears Tommy talking downstairs, babbling outside the front door about the constellation Big Bear, speaking to someone the perplexed Julia can't see as she comes down the stairs. "Follow straight up, and there's the north star. That means you can never get lost," he says.
Julia has finally made her way to the door, which she opens fully, and sees Richard crouching there. Richard straightens up. "He is in Wisconstin [sic]," says Tommy. Julia looks hard at Richard. She does not smile.
Hey, what's a trip to Tampa without an alligator fight? Nucky and his partners, as well as Sally, are in a shack lit by strings of hanging lightbulbs, crammed with people cheering on the reptiles thrashing in a pool of water. Nasty sons of bitches, says Lucky, and Sally explains that the alligators are starved and then jacked-up good with a hypo and a little taste of blood -- just enough to get the juices flowing, she says, looking at Nucky -- and then they throw in the tank and get the hell out of the way. Sounds quite like the Gyp Rosetti formula from last season if you ask me.
Nucky notes how much Sally appears to be enjoying herself, and she gives him another sex-stare and says, "I'm just getting warmed up." The raw animal magnetism of Nucky Thompson strikes again!
Time for business, now: McCoy introduces Nucky to this Pierce fellow, who wears a white suit and has an Italian accent that suggests "Pierce" is not his original name. "Welcome to the land of possibilities," he says. He points to the gang of alligator wranglers, which turns out to be Cal and his crew of goons, and says they hunt some of the meanest 'gators the Glades have to offer. "They're pretty mean themselves," says Nucky, and Pierce says you just have to get to know them.
Nucky motions for Meyer and Lucky to come over, and introduces them. "Ah, Siciliano!" says Pierce to Lucky, after getting it straight which one's Lansky and which one's Luciano. "New York," says a guarded Lucky, and Pierce says he's thinking of someone else. By which we know he knows exactly who he's thinking of. A little prodding from Nucky gets "Pierce" to admit that his name is actually Petrucelli, but good luck getting the slack-jawed yokels to pronounce it. Besides, Tampa is about starting yourself over again, no?
Turns out McCoy was actually as good as his word this time, because Petrucelli is fully on board with the deal: "August Tucker was loud. I prefer to be quiet," he says. Nucky wants to make sure Petrucelli's other concerns don't become his concerns, but Petrucelli's in for $500,000, making him twice the partner Tucker would have been, he points out. Nucky says they'll give it some thought. In the meantime, there's a ruckus in the alligator tank -- the fight is over, and money starts changing hands, including Sally's, who has to fish her money out of her dress. Looks like she lost.
Petrucelli tells Nucky to ask around -- he stands on his reputation. For now, they'll enjoy the gator spectacle.
But Petrucelli does pull Lucky aside -- calling him Salvatore -- and asking him, in Italian, what he's doing so far from home. Luciano doesn't have time to think of a plausible reason before Petrucelli pleasantly says it's nice Joe lets him come down here to do business on his own, and he gets the bright idea to call Joe and invite him to come down with Lucky time so they can all make money together. Lucky looks like he thinks that's a decidedly terrible idea.
Over to the Onyx Club, where Daughter Maitland takes the stage, opening the song with a little downbeat patter about someone with a secret she can't tell, dawn to dusk. "Life: ain't nothing' at all," she concludes, and then slides right into Saint Louis Blues (er, the song, not the hockey team). From the back, Chalky watches, riveted, as Daughter destroys it, radiating sex. That man got a heart like a rock cast in the sea.
Eli's back in Eddie Kessler's room, checking on the birds, when Knox is escorted in by one of Thompson's men. Eli's looking at the birdcage, talking about how no one's been looking after them, and they have no idea what's going on. Good grief, what are they, budgies? The disposable goldfish of the bird world? Save your tears, Eli.
Knox hands over the contents of the safe deposit box, and Eli's impressed to hear Knox threatened the bank manager with extortion. "You got some hidden corners," says Eli, but Knox says he was sweating the whole time. Eli flicks through the documents and money, and is surprised to find everything there. He figured Eddie had stolen the money, otherwise why off yourself? So Knox at least knows that Eddie wasn't murdered. After a moment, Eli hands Knox a bankbook and tells him there are other accounts in there, all in Eddie's name, which is how Nucky wanted it. "So we'll keep doing this, all right?" Knox says he appreciates Eli's trust, and turns to go, but is called back once again. Poor guy's going to start getting a complex! Eli asks if he speaks any German, and Knox slowly says he took a year of it in high school. Good enough for Eli, who gives Knox Eddie's letter and asks him to translate.
"'My dearest son, this afternoon I got the happy message that I am a grandfather. I cannot express the joy.'" Eli tells him to go on, but that's all there is. But wait, there's more! Eli also wants Knox to look at the picture of Eddie's sons and guess which one he thinks provided the grandchild. Jesus, Eli, get a hold of yourself! Knox looks at the picture. "The taller one, I guess?" Eli asks if he has kids. Knox doesn't -- that is to say, he says he doesn't -- and Eli tells him about his own near-baseball team of a brood. "You worry, you know? You're always worried," he says, his back to Knox. "And the thought that I could just leave 'em…" Aaaaand now Eli is crying. Knox pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket and passes it over. Eli daubs his eyes, and then notices the JTM monogram. Not a W or K in there. He stares at it for a moment, and then looks like he's biting his hand to suppress a reaction.
Back in Tampa, Lucky's pacing around his and Meyer's hotel room, anxious that Petrucelli went right to the phone to call Joe, who it turns out is Petrucelli's cousin. Meyer thinks he's overreacting, because Petrucelli won't walk away from the opportunity, so they'll just cut Masseria in. But Lucky says he's already gone behind Joe's back. "I saw him take a Gladstone full of cash from Nucky Thompson a couple months ago," says Meyer. Yeah, Lucky saw it too, and he's still freaking out, because even after that Joe was talking about the day he'll blow Thompson's head off. "He never forgets. He'll wait forever. That's how he is," says Lucky. So Meyer suggests letting Joe chase him down here. "I'm not living in fucking Florida," says Lucky. Hear that, Florida? How bad is it when a murderous gangster doesn't want to live in you? "If this pans out, we can live wherever we want," says Meyer, and Lucky's all, I already do! So he decides he'll just "take care" of it; he's going to take out Petrucelli and end it there. Great thinking: I'm worried about incurring Joe's rage, so I'll murder his cousin. I mean, I get the hope would be Masseria doesn't find out, but… Anyway, now Meyer starts to freak out, and Lucky is the one who's unconcerned, saying they'll just find another investor for the deal. It's either that or they back out of the deal, and get something else going closer to home. But Meyer won't hear of that: "You do what you want, but I'm in. I'm staying." Lucky points out they're partners. Not on this, not anymore, says Lansky. Lucky doesn't think Lansky's got the money for it, but Meyer's all, "You don't know what I have." Luciano calls him a "sly little sheeny," which is an epithet that today's anti-Semites don't go to as often, I don't think. Meyer's all, "That's right, Charlie, let's hear what you really think." Lucky tells him to dig his own fuckin' grave, and stomps out, Meyer yelling after him not to touch Petrucelli. But given Luciano's "fuck you" response, I'd say the matter is far from settled.
At Sally's a very drunk Nucky is flirting with alcohol poison already, but Sally's refilling his glass. He takes a whiff and asks Sally if she squeezed it out of an alligator. "I'm not saying no," says Sally, who has poured herself a belt of whatever it is, and they clink glasses (despite Nucky's half-hearted protest that he's tight enough already) and drink. Nucky now appears to be dying, and asks what it is -- she says it's poitín, but he disputes that, calling it battery acid. She pours herself some more -- you probably would for what's about to come -- while he's still working on his original glass.
Nucky's not too drunk to try to pump her (heh) for information about Petrucelli. "You are one hell of a sweet-talker," she says, and asks if he hasn't already made up his mind. Nucky says he doesn't know: "I'm not feeling very certain of things lately." That's right, folks! It's time for another round of Nucky Feeling Sorry For Himself! While Sally looks decidedly unimpressed with his kvetching, and lights a cigarette, Nucky starts going on about how he's trying to build something, and he gets wound up, and he lost a friend who lived for him. "And all I can think is, what don't I know about him? What he was up to? Do I need to be worried? What kind of person does that make me?" he says. Sally is just full-on rolling her eyes at this point, like GO SALLY, but it gets even better, because while Nucky's windbagging it about how the first time he came down here it was just for money, but now it's about something else, Sally just PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE.
And Nucky goes down, and he's all, "What the hell?" and Sally cheerfully tells him to get up. "I don't know what that was about," she says genially as she helps him to his feet. He tells her to "lay off that turpentine," and then she punches him in the face again, having apparently remembered why she did that: "I just hate a goddamn whiner." Nucky manages to stay on his feet this time, and he draws back a fist, before saying he's not going to hit a woman, which in this case seems more like a convenient excuse as to why he's getting his ass kicked. Sally says she'll knock his ass into a hat, so he does punch her in the face, and gives her a sorry/not sorry because he warned her, and she flies at him and they clinch, knocking against the walls, and then of course they're kissing while the thunder crashes outside. She reaches for his junk and he sits her up on a counter and hikes up her skirt. "Let's go, Sparky. I'll give you something to cry about," she says, and Nucky gives her the Thompson while the storm rages outside, blowing the curtains through the open windows, lightning illuminating the creepy coupling with blue-white flashes.
Tommy's on a pier, looking up at the stars with a spyglass, Julia and Richard off to the side. Julia tells Richard Tommy's been interested in the stars for a couple of months now: "He's gotten very concerned about navigating his way back from places," she says, and if case anyone misses the point, Julia says to Richard, "Not so easy, is it?" He asks if she's seen Gillian. She has, in court, plus there was the business a few days ago where Gillian came to the school. "That was … peculiar," she says. In response to Richard asking her, Julia says she doesn't know -- and doesn't want to know -- how Gillian's living. But she's selling the house, or trying to, anyway. As for Tommy, there's a hearing month, and then the judge will decide, but Julia says it's difficult because they can't really talk about what happened. "To protect you," she tells a confused Richard. Oh, that's why! Richard says they don't need to worry about that. "You killed those men, and you ran away," she points out. Richard asks if she'd have wanted him to stay, which I guess depends on whether Julia needed any man-killin' done at her place. Julia acknowledges she didn't tell him she wanted him to stay.
She asks what happened to his hand. "Something I deserved," he says. Well, that settles that! Julia tells Richard that he brought Tommy to them, and then disappeared, and they can't let Tommy go back. Richard offers to give them money for Tommy (by which I assume he means some form of child support, and not that he's suggesting some sort of buy-back program), and of course that's not what Julia's concerned about. "I don't want to do all this by myself. But how can I trust you?" Richard doesn't have an answer for that, and then Tommy happily points out that the constellation Hercules is right over their house. Julia suggests they follow it home, and that sounds directed at Richard too, but given she just expressed doubts over her ability to trust him, I'm not surprised he stays rooted to the spot while Tommy and Julia walk up the pier. Tommy stops to ask if Richard's coming, and Julia waits a moment before saying -- not stopping or looking back -- "He's coming."
Daylight now, and Nucky enters Sally's, where his black eye gives Meyer and McCoy a jolt. Nucky chalks it up to a "rogue possum," and when Sally calls out that he should watch out because they could pounce any time, and Nucky gives her a look, I'm half-surprised neither Lanksy nor McCoy says, "Oh, you had creepy, violent sex." Anyway, Meyer has to break the news to Nucky -- who insists they start operating on first names -- that Charlie's out. "When it comes down to it, he just couldn't see the angle," says Lansky, who says he'll be covering Charlie's part. This is probably the least terrible complication that's happened to this deal so far, so Nucky takes it pretty much in stride: it's him, Petrucelli and Meyer, with a finder's fee for McCoy. Hey, another Gladstone full of cash on the table! Bill grabs for it, but Nucky holds it back to say "Miss Wheet" has his instructions to complete the transactions. She'll watch over his part of it down here. A surprised McCoy plasters on a fake smile and says it's a good idea. Meyer seems a little more genuine when he turns to Sally to tell her he's delighted to have her on board.
Nucky orders up "a snort for the road," and Sally obliges -- getting to pour herself a glass this time -- and then Meyer offers Nucky his condolences. Nucky has already forgotten what he could possibly have to need condolences for, and Meyer is all "Your man Eddie," and then Nucky is a dick and says that all happened somewhere else. Well, I guess this means Meyer will now take over from Eddie as the most likeable character on the show.
Back over to the Onyx Club, where Chalky is drinking alone in his sitting room. Daughter comes in, apparently because he wanted to see her. He says he wanted her last night, but she says she didn't get the message. "You run out the back like you robbing a pawnshop," he says. She swans over to the window to look down on the dining room. "You think you Ma Rainey," says Chalky. Probably drunk. It's also probably telling that during this scene I keep typing "Nucky" instead of "Chalky" and keep having to delete and retype. "I want her, I hire her," he continues, and reminds Daughter that she comes on after the tap boys and before the fan number, and that's it. She says she wasn't in the mood, a reason that Chalky unreservedly accepts! Ha ha, he gets mad at her some more. "Standing there, telling them life ain't worth living," he mutters. Daughter's all, "It made 'em listen!" and Chalky only cares if they're drinking and spending money, but ten of them up and left because she "wasn't in the mood." Pissed, Daughter heads for the door, says she's going to her room, and then back to New York. Chalky stops her, reminding her she's under contract, and when she protests that he doesn't like what she does, he says she'll do what he likes. And Narcisse? Acting like he's doing Chalky a Libyan brotherhood favor by bringing her here? "He ain't nothing but a nigger with a dictionary," he says. Just because the fucker's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda, hey?
She says he should take that up with Narcisse, and that she'd like to go -- she sounds actually a little fearful -- and starts to move past Chalky. "You too fine for this," he says. "You don't know anything about me," she says. His sweet talk includes telling her that no princess ever came out of a barrelhouse, and she tells him she saw him watching her last night, and she knows who he is. She starts to go, and he grabs her arm and pulls her back, and roughly kisses her. It's impossible to tell where her resistance ends and she starts reciprocating, but we head to credits on our second instance of anger transforming into lust. At least this time no one got punched in the face.
< p>Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. That reminds him. He's all out of monogrammed handkerchiefs. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.