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"You ever wake up, have a vague feeling of unease? Like something's wrong but you can't put your finger on it?" Nucky in a nutshell. The people and circumstances surrounding him are swirling, spiraling in on him a little tighter each week; Eli relays his concerns about Agent Knox (real name: Jim Tolliver) and the peculiarly monogrammed handkerchief. Eli's not that worried about it, until he learns that Agent Elliot has supposedly left the Bureau without a trace. He asks Gaston Means to check into Agent Knox again, and gets nada in return, but we learn that Means knows is much better acquainted with Knox (and knows his actual name) than he's letting on. And Nucky has a fight with Eli, after preventing his brother from killing Willie for dropping out of Temple. Eli would probably understood if he knew his son killed Henry, and that his class material and conversations are incredibly relevant to his situation.
The "Libyan" community is getting restless about the growing presence and effects of heroin in their midst, but this charming Dr. Narcisse seems to have a few thoughts on how they can strengthen the community again. Deacon Cuffy knows who's really responsible for the heroin, which is why Purnsley winds up stabbing him in the church, which I can't imagine will go over well with everyone.
And sure enough, Daughter is in thrall to Narcisse, but much more creepily than we might have thought; her mother was a prostitute, and Narcisse was the john who killed her, and then raised Daughter. She's reporting back to him on Chalky, too.
Gillian is busy kicking heroin, which gives Roy Phillips some kind of rehabilitation boner. Loyalty is so important to this guy that the day after he met Gillian, he began divorce proceedings against his wife.
And Al Capone is on a bit of a rampage after his brother's death. He figures O'Banion is responsible, but Johnny Torrio won't let him act on that because of the business O'Banion and Torrio have together. That goes out the window when a suspiciously timely police raid puts Torrio in a spot of legal trouble. Good god, imagine Al Capone when his boss isn't cramping his style?
Oh, and Margaret works for a brokerage firm, whose clients now include Arnold Rothstein, er, "Abe Redstone." Rothstein and Margaret agree to keep each other's secret, for now. These things have a way of coming to light sooner or later. God willing.
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. Pro tip: Don't get too close to the guy you're threatening to expose for his heroin dealing when there are no witnesses around. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We open with one of those old time-y pinhole fade-in effects, letting us see the headline about Leopold and Loeb being grilled in a child murder case. The full view shows us that a policeman on the street is reading the Chicago American, right before Al Capone strides up and, without a word, shoots him in the face, setting bystanders screaming, and then hops into a getaway vehicle and speeds off. The crowd gathers around the dead policeman. They appear to be motivated more by curiosity than concern. Did 911 exist back then? I don't think anyone's calling it anyway.
Eli has gone to see Nucky to show him Agent Knox's handkerchief with the JMT monogram (the large middle T being a last name, making more sense than the JTM that I read last week). Nucky's not too worried about it. Eli's not sure it's a big deal and either just says it's weird. "Who carries around another man's handkerchief?" he asks, and Nucky points out that apparently Eli has been doing just that himself. Eli says Knox just gave it to him to blow his nose, and Nucky, again rather logically –- albeit, erroneously -- says maybe someone gave it to Knox so he could blow his. Oh, for a time when men would loan each other their fabrics sodden with human excreta! At any rate, Eli wants to get Knox's boss on the horn, for peace of mind.
So Nucky bellows for "Sid," who is the new Eddie, only if Eddie were overweight and stupid. It takes some doing for Nucky to get his message across that he wants Sid to get Agent Elliot on the phone, and the brothers Thompson roll their eyes at each other while poor Sid lumbers off. He's doing his best, guys! Eddie's a tough act to follow!
Eli asks what the word is from Tampa, and Eli says they get the first shipment in a few days. Eli heard about the black eye, too, and is not buying Nucky's "I walked into a door" excuse, and I wonder if it has ever happened in real life that someone has blackened an eye walking into a door. I feel bad for whoever does that, because no one will ever believe it. Not even Eli, who hasn't seen that excuse used on television a thousand times! And it turns out that no one in Florida did believe Nucky's "rogue possum" excuse, because Eli talked to McCoy, and hears that Sally is a real pistol. Nucky calls McCoy a fucking idiot, adding "I banged a door." "After you banged her," says Eli, and Nucky appears to realize it's pointless to continue denying it.
Anyway, Sid comes back in to say he couldn't get a hold of Agent Elliot —and he couldn't leave a message because the proxy he talked to said Elliot doesn't work there anymore. This troubles Nucky, while Eli looks at him all, "You see? You see?"
Speaking of JMT handkerchiefs, there's Knox sneezing into one now, sitting at a table in a Bureau office with Hoover and… hey, it's Esther Randolph! I forgot all about her! I do like her so much. At the other end of the table, some dude is served a breakfast of sausage and eggs. Esther asks what's wrong, and the guy says, "Remus wanted hotcakes." Oh, it's third person referential George Remus! Jesus, speaking of people I'd forgotten about. Hoover snaps that he is a federal prisoner, and Remus says, "Remus is also a cooperating witness." Esther promises they'll stop at the Mayflower later, and Remus flicks the plate away from him in disgust.
Down to business: Knox reminds Remus that when they spoke in January, Remus said Enoch Thompson was the linchpin of the network of organized crime and Remus says, "That's what you said." Apparently it was Remus's opinion that Nucky is a piece of dog shit. I mean, both could be true. Knox ratchets up the severity of his tone and says he'd like Remus to confirm that for Hoover, and reluctantly, Remus does: "Remus confirms it."
Esther asks Remus if Nucky did business with him in Cincinnati. "Remus rues the day," says Remus, and Hoover has had it so up to here with the third-person that he orders Remus to stop it under threat of being transferred to Leavenworth. The agents quiz him on what's up with Nucky and Tampa, but Remus genuinely seems to know nothing about it. Knox dismisses him, but even after he leaves, Hoover's not convinced since every time Remus talks he gets out of jail for the day with hot meals and a cushy hotel room. Esther points out Remus gave them Harry Daugherty, but Hoover says that was just one guy.
"I haven't even been sworn in yet, and you're asking me to commit tens of thousands more into building a conspiracy case." Esther asks him to think of the headlines twelve arrests in one fell swoop would bring, and Hoover's more worried about the headlines if he fails: "New Bureau Chief Lays An Egg." I would be happy for them to sit around coming up with quaint headlines for at least five minutes, but Hoover reminds Knox he was promised a week link in Nucky's organization. Knox says he's working on it, at which point another agent comes in to say there's a phone call for Agent Tolliver. So, that's one mystery solved. Once Knox/Tolliver leaves, Esther says it might behoove Hoover to go along with the plan, because the new attorney general thinks it's a good one. Hoover looks like he does think that's a good reason.
Over in Cicero, Al -- clearly hopped up on coke, which we can tell thanks to the sniffing and the generally manic actions -- comes in to Torrio's office. Torrio points at a headline about a police officer slain in a curbside execution and wants to know if it was Al. Al plays dumb (not exactly convincingly) and then starts ranting about wanting to take down O'Banion for Frank's sake, even though Torrio says Al's got nothing to put O'Banion in it. Just a dozen mick cops who wouldn't even let Frank get his hands up. "They hit nobody but Frank! A whole crowd of people?" Al figures they were after him, even though it wouldn't have been difficult to get Al too if that's what they wanted.
Torrio chalks it up to Chicago police being Chicago police, and if Al really wants to go up against them, they'll send the army down. "We're not starting a war," says Torrio flatly, who adds he's got business with O'Banion that Al is not to impede. It's the most forceful we've seen Torrio in a while -- ever? -- and he's so worked up that when Al's goon brings Torrio the steak that the coked-up Al ordered for him, Torrio throws it against the wall. Hey, don't take it out on the steak! It's not the steak's fault! A furious Al kicks the wall as he leaves. Sure hope Torrio's not renting!
Then we spend a good thirty seconds watching a couple of suits in New York discussing an investment in something called Anaconda Realty. Just when you're really starting to doubt your own memory (were these guys obliquely referred to midway through Season 2 and we're supposed to remember them?) Margaret comes in the door to let her boss, Mr. Bennett, know that he's got that meeting with the Cunard people. She's on her way out the door when Bennett calls "Mrs. Rowan" back to ask if he didn't put her husband in Anaconda, and Margaret embarrassingly has to tell Bennett that he did advise her husband (huh?) to do so, but they've got "four wee ones" (huh??) and it was a risk, so she talked him out of it. "Oh, you didn't," says Bennett. It's a fortune down the drain, apparently. "It's a woman's place to tend to the home. It's a man's place to tend to the future," says Margaret. Oh no! Where's feminist Margaret?! She's dismissed, and the other guy in the room's all, "So, Anaconda Realty, huh?" Ahhhh, now I see what's going on here.
In a restaurant, Frankie Yale (good god, this episode is lousy with minor characters reappearing after a long absence) is increasingly impatient waiting for forty minutes for someone with Joe Masseria and another guy I don't recognize. They're waiting for Lucky Luciano, who is somewhat surprised to see anyone other than Joe there when he shows up. Joe tells him to sit, and then he and the other gangsters start in with the "You look good, got some color in your face" and "Been out in the sun?" banter. Lucky tells them all to cut the shit as they clearly all know he was down to Tampa on business with Meyer and Nucky Thompson…right?
Lucky protests that Joe buried things with Nucky, and the guy who I'm trying to figure out is all, "You forgive that easily? Good to know!" We know Lucky is already aware Joe is still talking about revenge against Nucky, despite the payoff. Anyway, Lucky suggests crossing him and finding out. Just how quickly he forgives. It's no great shock that Petrucelli called Joe, and Lucky tells Joe he turned down the deal. Joe knows that, too. (I love Lucky's look of "Well, why's everyone breaking balls?" here). They've got a different deal in mind: Petrucelli's the biggest importer of heroin in the southeast since he slit some other guy's throat during Mardi Gras or something. It doesn't matter. They want Lucky to go back to Tampa, and talk to Petrucelli. "Those trucks he sends up here with the rum? Maybe they carry something for us too," says Masseria, and Lucky looks a little unsure about the whole thing.
Over to Temple University, where things between Willie and Doris have progressed to the point that they're lying around naked in bed where Willie is smoking, blowing it out an open window. Doris reading a story in the Anvil Times about how Leopold and Loeb were reading Nietzsche and thought they were supermen who could get away with murder. Doris shares Willie's cigarette and breezily talks about the "God is Dead nonsense" in Thus Spake Zarathustra, and they lie back down on the bed. "You believe in God, don't you?" she asks Willie, who snaps that of course he does, and wonders why she would even ask that. She says she didn't mean anything by it, and snuggles in, but he gets up and starts getting dressed, and she's much nicer to him about staying versus going than he deserves. He's kind of a dick about whether she wants him to or not, and she playfully pulls him back to the bed, only to talk about how they should use his room time. They talk about Clayton, and how Clayton's parents gave everything to the Salvation Army. He gets up and continues getting dressed, and he won't be lying back down. "First those boys back in Chicago, now Clayton. When'd you get so morbid?" he asks. She assures she was just making conversation. "Why don't you make it with someone else?" he says. Double meaning! He stomps out, saying he'll see her tomorrow, leaving her staring, mouth agape at the door. Doris, the only other Temple students I'm familiar with here are either dead or in jail, but I'm fairly certain you can do better.
Back to Margaret's workplace, where Margaret's chatting with one of the other women in the… is this a "steno pool"? Is that what this is? Anyway, Bennett comes over to praise the way Margaret reeled in Buddy back in his office for $5,000 in Anaconda. Margaret -- rather naively for someone who helped with a bit of a con job -- asks if the guy will make money. Bennett's all "meh" and says it's a real estate trust with a lot of stocks, most of them dogs, some with less fleas than others. He's not saying the guy won't make money. As for Margaret, he smoothly talks about an "immediate fiscal gain" and presses a ten dollar bill into her palm and strolls off. "And to think I considered waitressing," says Margaret, putting the money in her purse.
We leave The New Adventures Of Old Mrs. Rowan for O'Banion's greenhouse, where he's meeting with Johnny Torrio. O'Banion complains that Al's not listening to reason. "He's grieving," Torrio points out, adding that Al suspects O'Banion, who swears he had nothing to do with it. Torrio says he believes Dean, and they move on to other matters, like Torrio reluctantly taking a brewery off O'Banion's hands. O'Banion also wants some of Greektown, which Johnny says he can't do. O'Banion points out that he helped him take Cicero, and now Torrio can't give him a "few lousy blocks" that border his own territory? Torrio's opinion is that his payoff is half a million for the brewery that he needs like a hole in the head. O'Banion's all, "If you think that squares us, then fine," and Torrio's mad because O'Banion obviously doesn't think so. Think on it some more, he snaps, and stomps out of the greenhouse.
Gillian's going through withdrawal, groaning and crying, Roy sitting by the bed, offering a little water (maybe?) when needed, a bucket to vomit in, too. When things calm down somewhat, she tells him that she dreamed she died. "I'm sorry," she says, in a brief reprieve before the pain starts again.
At the Onyx, Daughter's on stage with the fan dancers, singing a decidedly more up-tempo and upbeat song than last week: "Ain't Nobody Wants My Baby But Me." Or maybe it's "My Baby Don't Want Nobody But Me", which probably makes more sense for a song. Upstairs, Gaston Means watches, and praises her "impressive set of pipes," which is apparently some new slang that "the youngsters" are using. Nucky's not paying attention, as he's preoccupied with a thin file of info that Gaston Means has on Knox. There's not much there, apart from the time Knox got the mumps. Well, you never know when that information might come in handy! Nucky's not impressed with: a) the lack of information, and b) Gaston joking about it. Means also doesn't have anything to offer on the JMT, other than the John Muerr Trail, which, as lovely a Sierra Nevada hiking trail as I'm sure it is, is unlikely to be monogrammed on a handkerchief.
As for Elliot, all Means has been able to find out is that he retired from the Bureau and sold his home without so much as a forwarding address. Nucky points out that he didn't even say goodbye. "You ever wake up, have a vague feeling of unease? Like something's wrong but you can't put your finger on it yet," says Nucky. Gaston says that when that happens, he goes back to sleep. Well, that's clearly not so much an option in this instance. And we go back down to the floor, where, as usual Chalky is staring at Daughter the entire time she performs.
Back over to the brokerage now, where Margaret's returning to her desk, where her co-worker tells her Bennett just buzzed and she's on. Margaret retrieves a wedding ring from her desk and slips it on before heading into Bennett's office.
It's in there that she delivers the same message about Mr. Bennett needing to get ready for his meeting with the Cunard people. This time, however, the mark has his back to us and didn't even look around when Margaret came in, which is conspicuous enough so that we already know we're going to know this person is when he eventually does turn around, which he does when Bennett introduces him as "Abe Redstone.' It's Arnold Rothstein, and Margaret visibly falters at the sight of him, and can't even finish saying it's a pleasure to make his acquaintance. He maintains his composure much better, even playing along, all "Mrs.… Rowan, was it?" He's much more adept at the improvisation and as he gets up, takes her hand and says he has the distinct impression that they've met. She couldn't look more obviously lying as she says she's sure he's mistaken. Then he comes up with something: gloves! "You attended to me at Best and Company. Finer men's accessories?" Again, Margaret fails to oblige him and says she's never worked there, so he gives up and says, "My mistake."
So Bennett attempts to get the Anaconda con back on track, and explains he was just telling "Redstone" that he advised her husband to get into Anaconda, except now Margaret has lost her ability to follow a script too, especially when Rothstein is asking questions like, "And what does your husband do? (Answer: sells railroad equipment). Margaret's all, "Yeah, hubby bought in", and Bennett tries to steer things back to the "Didn't you talk him out of it?" routine. Margaret lamely is all, "Oh yeah, we lost everything thanks to not buying into Anaconda" and then excuses herself, saying she's not feeling well. The men watch her leave, and Rothstein turns to Bennett after she's gone. "Nervous type," he says.
At the Onyx Club, Chalky meets with Narcisse to give the good doctor his cut, which is envelope full of a good chunk of change. It's been a good week, says Chalky, which Narcisse interprets to mean Daughter Maitland has been a success. "She all right," says Chalky, noncommittally, and Purnsley says from behind Chalky that she's putting asses in the seats. Before Purnsley can completely destroy his bargaining position, Chalky figures he'd better get to it, and says he wants to extend Daughter's run. Narcisse says it's impossible, because she's committed to appear in Louisville weekend. Chalky suggests Louisville find someone else, so the bargaining begins. Narcisse isn't overly enamored of Chalky's initial offering, which is the whisky he already offered, and counters with the permission to open a chapter of his negro improvement club on the North Side. What with its lofty goals and congenial-sounding activities like the "free exchange of ideas," Chalky's hard-pressed to come up with a reason to say no, and he even looks to Purnsley, who kind of shrugs. "The good people of Louisville will do without her another month," says Narcisse.
Over at Temple, Willie is looking awfully uncomfortable in a class with a professor who has apparently just read all of Edgar Allen Poe's story "William Wilson," about a man who kills his own mysterious double. The professor teases out analysis from the class, about how admiration can turn to murder, and how William Wilson murdered a rival, which the professor deems "another form of murder." He asks Willie -- and needs several attempts just to get his attention -- what the murder represents. Willie can't answer, so the professor does it for him: "His own suicide." And it's only a few moments later that Willie, to the consternation of the professor and his classmates, suddenly gathers his books and hurriedly leaves the class. So it's not looking good for Willie's participation mark for this class.
Margaret's at her desk, staring forlornly, and Bennett comes over, wanting to know what the hell that was all about. She says she doesn't know what came over her. "You girls and your delicate constitutions," mutters Bennett. Margaret says it won't happen again and fortunately for her, "Redstone" still invested $150,000 in Anaconda. Bennett slides a hundred dollar bill over to her. "From him, not me," he says.
The moment he walks away, the phone on Margaret's desk rings. She sounds apprehensive as she answers (the firm's name is "Connors & Gould"), and for good reason. It is, of course, Arnold Rothstein, addressing her as "Mrs. Thompson" and asking if she got his gift. She says she did, and thanks him. She may be frightened, but that's no excuse for bad manners! Rothstein's calling from a booth in a pharmacy. He explains that as lovely as it was to see her, he'll thank her in advance for her discretion. "I'm assuming a reciprocal arrangement would be to your advantage, as well?" he says. "It would", she says. "Then, until time", he says, hanging up. Margaret hangs up too, and looks pensively at the stuffed reptile that Nucky gave her to give to Teddy, which she has evidently yet to do.
We're over at Gillian's place now, where she's reclining on a fainting couch. Roy brings her some water, and Gillian is, as usual, most concerned with how she looks, which she assumes is awful. But given she's not currently retching and screaming in pain, she should realize she looks relatively fantastic. Roy about as much tells her so. "A gentleman in my boudoir, and me like this, no less," she says. (Like, RELAX, Gillian, you have literally sold your body to buy heroin).
Roy says they all carry their burdens. She asks what his are, and he says ambition, which is like when you have a job interview and you give one of those bullshit answers like, "My biggest weakness? Well, I don't know when to stop. I refuse to go home until the job is done right." She asks him what's wrong with that. "The expense of family, of love," he says, and starts rambling about getting to know her the last little while, and how none of it means anything without someone you care about. For example: he never would have been able to stand the blowhard from the A&P if she hadn't been with him. Looking concerned, she apologizes if tending to her caused his affairs to suffer. He assures her that she's important to him. "Everything else can go hang," he says. And then he kisses her, and they don't even move from the fainting couch to the loveseat. What will the neighbors think?
O'Banion cracks open a bottle of beer in the distillery he's selling Johnny Torrio, while Torrio looks over the paperwork. Dean opened the bottle so Torrio could see what he's buying, but Torrio's not interested and makes O'Banion give it to one of his goons. There's some discussion of the way the Irish like their beer warm, but Torrio's impatient to just get the job done, and a handbag full of cash is handed over. Torrio signs the papers, sounding pissed about the whole thing, and his mood does not improve when a couple dozen police officers raid the joint and arrest the lot of them. Torrio is even less impressed when O'Banion makes a big show of letting the cops know that this isn't his distillery anymore. But they're both in back of caps cars right now!
There are plenty of people looking out for the Libyan community already, and they're in Shiloh Baptist Church, where normally they'd be filing their grievances with Chalky, but Chalky's not there, and at any rate, some of the grievances (like the horrid jazz music playing) involve him. Instead, Purnsley's fielding the complaints, and Narcisse is sitting in the front row, as is Deacon Cuffy. Purnsley's making excuses for Chalky missing his third meeting in a row, saying he's "indisposed," but a man shouts that's because Chalky's on the boardwalk disposin' himself with the white folk. Way to set that guy up, Purnsley! He's probably had that line locked and loaded since the walk to the church.
There's a lot of murmuring going on, and then Deacon Cuffy silences everyone when he stands up and points out that there have been two heroin overdoses in the past month. Purnsley promises they're looking into it. That's not good enough for Cuffy, who says that if things continue, he's going to have to talk to Chalky White. Narcisse decides it's time to intervene and introduces himself. "Though I am not from here, I am of here, just as I am of anywhere the Libyan makes his home," he says, adding that their community is plagued by the scourges and heroin. But the real problem is apathy on the part of their leader. Narcisses doesn't throw Chalky -- who Narcisse says he knows better than Chalky himself realizes -- completely under the bus. "He's a good man, but a man whose true purpose has been clouded by misguided ambition," says Narcisse, who adds that with Chalky's permission and Purnsley's assistance, he has come to help breathe new life into the community. The agreements and "Amen"s get louder as Narcisse says that with Deacon Cuffy, they will restore the community to its "full and glorious potential." While the rest of the crowd applauds, it's worth noting that Deacon Cuffy looks rather grim, and Purnsley is giving him a total death stare.
At the Thompson house, Eli is getting good-natured grief from his oldest daughter for saying that a girl doesn't need college the way a boy does. "There are plenty of girls at Willie's school, isn't that right?" says Kathleen to Willie, who is sitting sullenly in the room. Eli says all girls need to know is cooking, cleaning and maybe typing, and Kathleen is aghast, wondering what if she wants to learn. Eli gives Nucky a "Can you believe this?" look. Meanwhile, June is puttering around refilling everyone's tea.
Willie says she can take his spot, and Eli wants to know what the hell that means, and Nucky looks a little curious, too. Willie says he's leaving school, which he then upgrades to having already dropped out today. Eli, as you can imagine, can't believe what he's hearing. He tries to tell Kathleen to go do the dishes, but she of course wants to hear this. Willie offers up the defense that Uncle Nucky never needed college, and the fact that Willie thinks that will help his case here is the best proof possible that he's got a lot of learning left to do. "Things get tough, so you just quit? What kinda man are you?" asks Eli. June tries to point out the business with Willie's roommate (I really can't wait for Eli to find out what really happened there) and Eli says, "People die, and that's life, and people go on." "Listen to your father, Will," says Nucky, which pisses Eli off. too, snapping that he doesn't need Nucky to tell Willie to listen to his father.
Willie defiantly says he was the one who made money for the family when Eli was in jail, and Kathleen's surprised "Jail?" response indicates this is news to her. But her speaking up only reminds her parents that she's still there, so they send her to her room. Eli finally gets out of his chair to say he'll talk to the dean, and Willie will enroll again. Willie's not interested though, and Nucky stands up to try to cool Eli off and suggest they talk about it tomorrow, with clearer heads. Eli says his head is clear now, and he puts his hand on Willie's shoulder and says he'll do as Eli says. "Get your hand off me," says Willie. So, this is going to end ugly. Eli makes him repeat himself, and then Eli smacks Willie across the face and they tumble to the floor. Nucky has to pull Eli off his son, and Willie heads for the door. "You leave school, you leave this house!" yells Eli, and Willie yells back that he's leaving the house anyway. He stomps out, leaving his mother sobbing against a door frame and Eli pacing in the sitting room, Willie's younger brothers watching sadly from the stairs. Jesus, Thanksgiving is going to be rough this year.
Now we're over to Daughter Maitland, who is riding Chalky White like the 4:15 to Pittsburgh. With things taken care of, she disembarks and has some water while he lights a cigarette. Chalky tells her she "Ain't packin' no bags just yet." She's happy with that, and says she wishes she wasn't packing them ever again. She starts tracing patterns on his chest. Chalky asks what Narcisse is like. "He's smart", she says, "Lots of people look up to him." He asks if he treats her good. "Not as good as you," she says. Chalky asks if he's "kin or something?", a question that cools Daughter's ardor. She stops playing with Chalky's chest hair and turns her back on him to go to sleep.
That's when she launches into her back story. Her mother was a prostitute, who always put her in the closet when she had business, and told her not to peek. "Sometimes I did," she explains, adding that the ladies always had a jar of lye they kept under the bed, in case the john got rough or "acted a fool." One time she saw her mom swing the jar, and the man reacted like he got lit on fire. "She didn't take no mess," says Chalky. "Nope, she did not", says Daughter. But it cost her mother. "That man choked her 'til she didn't move no more," she says. Chalky asks if the guy was caught, and we're told everything we need to know when Daughter doesn't answer that but says Dr. Narcisse found her and put his wings around her ever since. Naturally, Chalky wants to know if she and Narcisse ever had sex, and she assures him they didn't. "He's a decent man," she explains, and Chalky takes a little exception to that. "So what that make me?" he says, indignantly. "That make you my man," says Daughter. Got a heart like a rock cast in the sea!
She asks about a year-long engagement at The Onyx, and Chalky sits up. Hey, he's enjoying the sex and all, but he's gotta think about that. "Pharoah can make all things pass," she says. Chalky points out that Pharaoh "ain't had no partners.' So Nucky Thompson might have a problem with it, but Chalky says Nucky is the good kind of partner: the solid kind.
So Daughter gets up -- revealing an ass made by someone very close to God -- to get dressed and go rehearse, to show Chalky why he can't live without her. She asks if he shouldn't be getting home. Home is wherever she is, he tells her (don't come on too strong or anything, Chalky) and she smiles.
Now over to a banquet hosted by the attorney general, attended by Agent Knox, Esther Randolph and Treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, who upon being buttered up by the AG jokes if that's an attempt to stick his department with the bill, he can forget it. And Hoover's there too, introduced by the AG as one of President Coolidge's key appointments of his administration "whose integrity, zeal and sense of morality knows no bounds." And on a clear day, his ears can pick up KCRW from Los Angeles!
Hoover stands up amidst the applause, thanks the AG and kisses up to Mellon, and then starts rambling about how he's known many of them for years. And heck, he and Jim Tolliver went to law school together! Anyway, those who know him know he won't stand for corruption, and those who don't will soon find out. He says the administration was "lax, shall we say" on corruption. Oh, poor Warren G. Harding! What did he do to deserve…hang on while I look something up on Wikipedia. … ohhhhhhh. Carry on, J. Edgar.
"I stand before you vowing that will change," he says, and then he starts pontificating about how his recent personal extensive investigative work has revealed a vast criminal organization at work in the country. Agent Knox (can't decide if I should start calling him Tolliver or not) starts frowning, and Esther Randolph has an "Oh no he didn't" look on his face. Knox stomps out while Hoover explains his plans to dismantle said organization. (Dude, it's $5 a plate! A lot of money back then).
Gillian has recovered to the point that she's now bringing Roy food in bed. It seems important to note that Roy's shirtless. He tells her she's going to spoil him, and she warmly says he has no idea. Time for some more kissing! He asks why she's smiling, and she says it's a secret. "It's the secrets that undo us", he says, so she invites him to tell her one of his. (Roy, keep any circle-jerk stories to yourself!) "You remember when we first met, I told you I was married?" he says. Gillian says yes, looking like she's suddenly regretting asking for a secret. "The day after I met you, I began divorce proceedings." Gillian's face creases a little bit. She may be a junky kicking a debilitating habit while searching for someone to love, but even that sounds a little extreme. But it's her turn to share a secret: why was she smiling? "I was smiling because you make me feel something I haven't felt in a very long time," she says, and he asks what that is. "Happiness", she says, and then they're kissing again.
Now we get to enjoy the hypocrisy of a Prohibition agent getting drunk in a speakeasy. Well, at least it's a classy, upscale place where an agent can get a drink. Knox is clearly drunk, and he's muttering about Hoover's gall to talk about how he just came to the realization. The camera zooms in over the shoulder of Knox's drinking companion. Again, this person's back is conspicuously all we can see, meaning we're going to get a bit of a reveal here. "I'm the one who sold him on the whole conspiracy angle," says Knox, who essentially added, "Who's got two thumbs and is running a huge undercover operation? This guy!"
And now we see that his drinking companion is Gaston Means, which did surprise me. Gaston's all, "Yeah, speaking of undercover work, genius, maybe you should leave the handkerchiefs monogrammed WITH YOUR REAL INITIALS at home?" "Don't tell me what to do, Means," slurs Knox, adding he's the only one standing between Means and a jail cell. So that's going on. Knox also says he shouldn't be surprised, since Hoover was the same way in law school. Always taking credit for others' extensive undercover criminal investigation? Means notes the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
This casts an even more serious pall over the scene, which kicks off with a drunk, angry Eli stumbling up the sidewalk to his house carrying an open bottle of liquor, where he finds Nucky waiting on the deck. Before Eli even goes up the steps, he says Nucky can lay claim to Atlantic City, and that's fine. "This house? This family? This is mine," says Eli, staggering up the steps, muttering darkly about Nucky putting his hands on him in his own home. "Was I supposed to let you kill the kid?" asks Nucky. Eli settles onto the porch loveseat and asks what the fuck Nucky knows about kids. "Nothing ever came from you. You never had a family," he says. (Shea Whigham does drunk really well). "Mabel died trying to give Nucky a son", Eli points out and you can imagine how well that goes over with Nucky, but he chalks the whole thing up to "whisky and bad timing." He leaves, parting by telling Eli that Willie's a good kid, but like his father, sometimes acts without thinking. "My family, Nucky. My goddamn family!" yells Eli, but Nucky's already gone.
Over in Cicero, Al Capone welcomes Johnny Torrio back, with Ralph apparently having secured Johnny's bond. That is a lot more useful than what Al has been doing, which it seems is a lot of coke and hookers. Johnny starts griping about spending the day in jail, while Al and Ralph let him know that O'Banion had his charges dropped an hour after the raid. Also damning is that the cops knew exactly when and where to be, just like with Frank, and O'Banion gets away scot-free. Just like with Frank. Anyway, Johnny Torrio's tired and heading for bed. Al asks if there's anything he needs, and Torrio says he's fine. Oh, except for this: "Kill that Irish fuck." Al looks like, "Boss, I was thinking maybe a steak, but okay!"
And who's sitting on the steps of the Albatross when Nucky's car comes rolling up? Willie Thompson. When Nucky gets out, Willie apologizes, but Nucky's mad, especially because Willie didn't call him first. "If you're trying to impress me, you're off to a very poor start," he says, adding that he needs men around him who he can trust, who can keep their wits. "I will. I can. I will," says Willie, rather nervously. Nucky tells him to go home and get some rest, but Willie protests his dad will be there -- drunk -- and it would just upset his mother. Nucky can't really argue with that, so he tells Willie to stay at the Albatross tonight, and they'll talk in the morning.
Back to the church now, darkened at night, with Deacon Cuffy confronted by Purnsley, who tells him he found out who's been "runnin' that poison round here." Nice try, Purnsely, but Deacon Cuffy already knows who it is, and he's on his way to tell Mr. White right now. He just had to cut through the atmospheric and thematically significant church, I guess. Purnsley talks a little bit about seeing the error of his ways, and Cuffy says a guilty man will say anything to save his own skin. "Pray with me, Deacon," says Purnsley, who reaches out a hand to Cuffy. I guess Cuffy wants to believe Purnsely means it? Because I can't see any other reason not to run away from the man you've just threatened to rat out for dealing heroin, especially when he's got one hand behind his back. Cuffy, of course, takes Purnsley's one hand, and Purnsley's other hand stabs him to death and leaves him lying on the floor of the church.
Finally, we're in Daughter Maitland's dressing room, where she's quoting scripture to Narcisse, who's sitting, head bowed in a chair, as Daughter brings over a wash basin to him. She unbuttons his shirt so we can see the scars on his chest, and she tells him that Chalky -- Narcisse corrects her to say "Mr. White" -- doesn't seem pleased to have to answer to Nucky Thompson. She's wiping his chest with a washcloth, by the way. Narciss asks if Chalky is pleased with her. "I believe he is," she says, and then they chat to let us know that Narcisse was the john burned by Daughter's mother; that's what the scars are. "It burned for but an instant. Her pain is everlasting," says Narcisse, while daughter runs her hand over his scars. He touches her face and says these hands set her free, and put Daughter on her path. "You'll sing for me now," he says, and Daughter kisses his hand, and goes to the door, and moments later we hear the Onyx's emcee introduce her. Narcisse buttons up his shirt and closes his eyes as we listen to Daughter sing about how there is someone for everyone out there. Even crazy bible-quoting, hooker-killing, heroin dealers, it seems.
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. Do Baptists do confession? Because that's a lot of Hail Marys that Purnsley's going to have to say. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.