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Nucky Thompson wants out, but that was never going to happen. To think what fun Nucky and Sally’s Cuban Vacation could have been in Season 5. So it’s not that surprising that this episode would be a little less of a season-capping resolution that ties up most loose ends. It’s a little more open-ended than that…at least, for some.
So, the body count, then: Agent Knox (Jim Tolliver), Maybelle White, Richard Harrow.
Knox: killed by an enraged Eli Thompson in a fight that makes the Purnsley-Chalky Brawl look like a pillow fight. Eli used a fucking saw, for god’s sake. Knox -- feeling squeezed by Hoover and pissed that the meeting Eli was supposed to set up didn’t happen -- shows up at the Thompson house and threatens Eli with Willie being raped in prison. Eli has to go into hiding (in Chicago, escorted by former crazy lawman Van Alden). Willie’s in charge of the family (and a little less naïve about the family business) given that he walked in on his Uncle Nucky holding a gun to the forehead of his kneeling father. Willie’s appearance is what stays Nucky’s hand (also partly because Eli reveals he knows about the murder Willie committed) and shatters whatever illusion Willie has about his uncle. I suppose the rest of the family is wondering if Eli’s insurance policy is voided when he murders the man who sold it to him.
Maybelle White: collateral damage in the showdown (although not final, as both men lived to the end of Season 4) between Chalky and Narcisse. Chalky begins the episode getting to Nucky, who convinces Chalky of his honorable intentions. Chalky confronts Narcisse at the Onyx Club, which is where we learn for certain that Narcisse had captured Maybelle. Chalky didn’t know that. He didn’t even know Maybelle’s wedding was off, having assumed that his future son-in-law’s family was always fully on board with their son marrying the daughter of a gangster who fled town after being wounded in a shootout with a heroin dealer.
You know who else didn’t know Narcisse had Maybelle? Richard Harrow, perched up high in the Onyx, his rifle pressed back into service to take out Narcisse. But he hesitates (no more killing for Richard, right?) and that hesitation puts the bullet through the skull of Maybelle, who happened to step in the line of fire at the last second. Chalky’s men -- Oscar Boneau’s old crew -- manage to haul him out of there just as federal agents raid the place, arresting Narcisse, and in a final indignity to Knox’s work and ambition, Hoover cuts a deal with Narcisse to have him inform on Marcus Garvey instead.
Richard doesn’t have to live with what he’s done very long. Wounded when Narcisse’s men opened return fire at the Onyx, he stumbles along under the boardwalk. After some intervening scenes, we see him traveling home, a bookend to the season premiere. Only instead of the cold stark winter of his last return, the family home is bathed in a golden glow enveloping his sister and her child on the porch, as well as the Sagorskys, with Tommy. If that’s not enough to tell you what’s going on, we see Richard look at the home, his face un-ruined by war, and while Daughter sings the blues in a dingy club somewhere, Richard dies under the boardwalk.
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. Here’s hoping Paul F. Tompkins continues to get work, even with Richard Harrow gone. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Lightning flashes in the distance, wind rustles the grass, and men guard the Albatross, while Nucky and Sarah are, as usual, flirting over the phone. Only I guess the men aren’t doing such a hot job guarding the place, as they seem to have been overtaken by some other men, who make them lie face down on the sand. While Sid is led, hands up at gunpoint into the Albatross, Nucky and Sally are speaking Spanish to each other. Sally’s is much better than Nucky’s, so he says he thinks he’ll let Sally do the talking "down there." She asks what he plans to do, and he says after today -- the last business he needs to take care of -- he doesn’t want to make any plans. That’s when Sid meekly calls to him from the doorway, and after an annoyed rebuke from Nucky doesn’t send Sid scurrying, Nucky turns in time to see Chalky marching him at gunpoint into the room, where he makes Sid lie down on the floor.
Nucky tells Sally he’ll call her back and hangs up ("Sorry, honey, but a former business partner hell-bent on revenge is here") and tries to tell Chalky that he looked all over for him. "You find me?" asks Chalky. Don’t answer, Nucky. It’s rhetorical! Nucky tries to explain, but Chalky’s in no mood, because "Narcisse" is the answer to two questions: "Who’s sitting in my club?" and “Who you cutting’ deals with?" Nucky admits it looks bad. "So he your nigger now, that right?” asks Chalky, and Nucky says, "Not right." (He thankfully doesn’t follow up with "You still my nigger.") But Chalky thinks he likes the idea of Nucky being Narcisse’s nigger even better, and gets angrier as Nucky tries to explain, because he’s wearing another man’s clothes and skulking around his house, unable to go in and see his family.
Nucky says Chalky has to trust him. "I don’t have to do nothing you ask, no how, nowhere," says Chalky. Nucky asks what he wants. "Narcisse", says Chalky. "You gotta believe me, Chalky. We want the same thing," says Nucky, and Chalky seems to be of the opinion that Nucky wants Narcisse now mainly because Chalky’s got a gun in his face.
In Washington, Director Hoover -- barely paying attention to Knox nipping at his heels -- tells the agent he can have his regular team plus eight additional agents. However, unlike the classic television show, eight isn’t enough for Knox, who points out that the men he’s going after are dangerous: Four of them, each with at least one armed guard. Knox also bristles when Hoover seems surprised he’s actually pulled this off. "Organized crime? I’m merely exhibiting healthy skepticism," says Hoover.
But Knox says he thinks it’s more than that, and that ever since the first week of law school, Hoover’s been rooting for him to fail. Hoover looks inscrutably at Knox for a moment before an aide tells him the U.S. attorney has arrived. Hoover explains to Knox that they’re ruling on Marcus Garvey’s appeal within the month. "Congratulations, Edgar," says Knox, and he appears to mean it. Hoover signs the order for the eight additional agents. I imagine he’s just standing firm on the eight additional agents, but the tone kind of makes it sound like he’s agree to eight more. Well, at least until Hoover starts to walk away, and then adds one more screw you to Knox: "I think it’s time, considering the respect the position deserves, you start referring to me as 'Director Hoover'."
I don’t know how much time there’s been between the last episode and this one, but there’s been enough for Gillian to now be on trial for murder. Richard Harrow is on the stand, being questioned about when he came to the opinion that the body he found in the bathtub was not in fact Jimmy Darmody. He says it wasn’t an opinion, noting, "I fought beside him. You don’t forget that. Ever." That concludes the persecution's questions, and then Gillian’s defense attorney starts muttering excuses about how he apparently received the particulars of this case only recently, and then starts asking about Richard’s glasses. I guess he’s trying to cast some doubt on the whether Richard actually saw well enough to identify the body, and the gallery gasps when Richard explains he just needs the glasses to keep his face on. Julia, sitting in the audience, looks perturbed, and I think the defense attorney realizes that he didn’t exactly score a knockout punch there. But he presses on, asking if they’re supposed to believe the vision of his remaining eye is better than that of Jimmy’s actual mother.
Richard knows what he saw, and it’s kind of a dumb point for the defense to try to make, given -- as the prosecutor leaps up to argue -- that the trial isn’t about the veracity of the death certificate but whether Gillian killed a man. While the lawyers bicker, Gillian starts saying softly, "There’s no body." Then she says it loud enough to draw the ire of the judge (and a warning from her own lawyer), while she stands and starts yelling about (literally) Habeas Corpus. When that doesn’t work, she starts yelling about how she was in love and she was tricked. Glaring at Richard as she’s led from the courtroom, she yells, "Why does a man get to do anything he wants?" That draws applause from the crowd and shouts from reporters, which appears to have come straight from watching professional wrestling.
In a hotel room, Eli gazes out the window while Knox and Selby go over the plan with him. It's to get everyone talking about anything: alcohol importation, a heist. Eli’s not really playing close attention, though. They and the other agents will be in the room, listening, and when he hears the radio come on, that’s his cue to excuse himself and go to the washroom, because what comes could be a little messy. All he has to do is remain calm, says Knox, and neither Nucky nor the others will ever know he was involved.
Eli stares at Knox (or, "whatever the fuck his name is", as Eli puts it) and asks if he has a brother or any kind of family. Knox tells him it’s none of his business. "Fuck you," says Eli, who turns to Selby to throw a little invective his way too. Selby is looking a little "What’d I do?" Knox says he has a brother is an admiralty lawyer in Washington, and Eli asks if Knox ever fucked him over. "He’s not a criminal, Eli," says Knox, who adds that Eli is doing this for his son. Yeah, speaking of that. Eli wants a guarantee from Knox that everything to do with his son -- which Eli says he still doesn’t think is true, although he says it like a man who knows it is -- goes away. "Get your brother, Masseria and the others in a room, and Will’s got nothing to worry about", says Knox. "Will? Do me a favor and stop talking like you know him," snaps Eli, getting up.
Over in Chicago, Al and Ralph Capone are discussing the hit on the hotel, and with these two geniuses puzzling it out, they’ll have it solved in no time. They figure it was "that Jewish prick" Hymie Weiss who placed the phone call, and Van Alden -- pouring them more whisky -- corrects them. Hymie Weiss is Catholic, and was actually born "Wojciechowski." They invite Van Alden to sit and have a drink. He points out he doesn’t drink, and Al pushes a glass across the table to him and tells him to start , which he does. As for his opinion on who did the shooting, Van Alden says it was someone who felt comfortable enough to venture into their territory.
Which is when Torrio strolls in, cracking wise about the "board meeting" going on, and offering gratitude to the shutters that saved their lives. Al asks Torrio who thinks it was. He figures it was Weiss, with Bugs Moran and "the other one," a name Torrio can’t quite place. "Schemer Drucci", supplies Ralph. "After the O’Banion thing, who else could it be?", asks Torrio, who came in just to leave again, apparently. "Yeah, I’m sure you’re right," says Al, not sounding like he believes it. Al, I should note, is now drinking straight from the bottle, after he gallantly gave his glass to Van Alden. Torrio pauses a half-second at Al’s tone, but doesn’t turn around.
The Thompson brothers arrive at the distillery in the pouring rain, getting a light envelope and a litany of excuses from Mickey Doyle. But Nucky’s already aware that the Narcisse thing is making it harder for them to move their alcohol. Nucky’s not so focused on the whisky that he misses the "Ex-Showgirl Denies Charges" headline in the paper, above a picture that barely looks like Gillian, while Eli wants to know what they’re going to do about this "bible-thumping coon." Nucky just tells him it’s being handled, but answers "I don’t know" when Eli asks how. Eli also asks if he’s heard anything from Chalky, at which point Nucky finally turns to give Eli his full attention, and asks if the meeting is being set. Eli says it’s tomorrow night in Blenheim. "Masseria, Lansky and Petrucelli", he adds. "Make sure they…" says Nucky, who stops when behind him he sees that Richard Harrow has arrived, and he beckons him into the office.
Richard says he looked for Nucky in the Onyx Club, which Nucky notes isn’t the safest place in the world for him these days. (Well, at least your gift for dry understatement isn’t afraid!) Richard says he needs to ask a favor, and Nucky guardedly says he already gave Richard a job. Richard doesn’t reply, so Nucky sends Doyle and Eli out of the room. Once they’re gone, Richard says he needs to know where Jimmy Darmody is. Surprised, Nucky says he was cremated after overdosing in his mother’s bathtub. "You and I both know that isn’t true," says Richard. Nucky shows Richard the newspaper article and facetiously says he only knows what he reads in the paper. Richard says if the court believes Jimmy died in the tub, then Gillian will come back for the boy to spite him. I mean, she’ll also be coming for the boy because she loves her grandson, Richard, but continue. "My wife and I could not bear that," he says.
Nucky thinks a moment, and asks what Richard might do for an anonymous source who would disclose to the authorities where Jimmy’s body is buried. "I would do whatever you asked," he says. Well, you might start by saying "the anonymous source" instead of "you," Richard, if this is really going to work.
And then we’re taken to an overhead shot of a field where a group of men are either digging up a skeleton, reporting on it for various newspapers or serving the Greek chorus function of crowds on this show. The lead digger-upper announces "six screws in the right femur," which confirms it is Jimmy, and the crowd goes nuts. "If that’s Darmody, then who’s the other one?" yells someone, just to make sure we all understand, and then the reporters all rush out to make their deadlines for the afternoon edition.
Ed Bader’s office. Narcisse and Nucky sit in chairs facing the mayor, who clearly relishes this because he thinks that he has some kind of power. He’s blabbing about kicking off the little summit here when Nucky tells him to get the fuck out of the room. He puts up a protest, pointing out that it’s his office, and Nucky says he’ll change that if it’s the last thing he does, making Bader grovel that he just did what he had to do, and even Narcisse is like, "Dude, you need to get out of here like right now." (I’m paraphrasing).
Once he’s gone, Narcisse gets right to it: "You’ve seen him." Nucky’s all, "I didn’t say that, but Narcisse is certain Nucky has at least heard from Chalky, or else his time here is wasted." "He wants this to end," says Nucky, and Narcisse says "endings have been attempted, from all sides." Nucky plays the family card, saying Chalky wants to be at his daughter’s wedding, and wants safe passage in or out. Narcisse wants to know what Chalky’s offering in exchange, but Nucky pleads ignorance, saying he’s just the middleman. Narcisse is all, "But you’re buds, right?" and Nucky says he doesn’t have friends, just partners. It’s why his slumber parties are so sad! "But you tried to save his life", says Narcisse. "I bet on a horse to win. It didn’t even place," says Nucky, adding that "today is a different day." Narcisse wants to know who Nucky plans to wager on tomorrow, and Nucky confesses he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Narcisse’s beliefs or tragic history. "The only thing your people and mine have in common, we both know a dollar’s worth. And if we can’t make it one way, we’ll make it another," he says.
Nucky -- trying to make Narcisse think his racism is a business virtue -- says he has a lot at stake in this town, and if Narcisse tries to take it from him, they’ve got a problem. But he doesn’t care which "of you coloreds" runs the club or the North Side, as long as they’re run. His percentage and the mayor can be discussed later, but this needs to be over. "Over how?", asks Narcisse, and Nucky says that’s for him to arrange. Narcisse wants him to be explicit. "I don’t ever want to worry about that spook coming at me in the dark again," says Nucky.
Narcisse starts to think about this, and Nucky asks if they understand each other. "We do. At long last," says Narcisse, nodding, and Nucky says he’ll let Chalky know he’s willing to talk. Nucky goes to the door, and stops, saying there was one more thing Chalky wanted to relay that Narcisse would be interested in. "That singer -- he says he knows where she is," says Nucky. Narcisse turns his head to look at Nucky, who says nothing further and leaves.
Here’s Johnny Torrio leaving his house and arguing with his wife because she doesn’t want to pay the 22 cents a pound for the artichokes that Torrio wants her to get. Then he complains about the state of the plants, and about the bug-eaten state of the plants outside his door. You don’t have to have watched a very many mob shows to know someone’s about to take him out. Sure enough, there are running feet, a raised gun, and a gangster shoots Torrio’s driver in his head. He then empties his pistol into a terrified Johnny, leaving his wife screaming as he falls. Let this be a lesson to married couples everywhere: Never let an argument prevent you from saying "goodbye" and "I love you," lest you want your last words to the love of your life to be an argument about artichokes.
Over at Hotel Takedown, the Bureau’s room and the adjoining room where the meeting is supposed to take place are swarming with agents, testing the listening device (the main component of which looks like a phonograph pressed up against the wall). Knox tells Selby he wants four agents stationed in the lobby, and two at either end of the hall. Selby tells him that seems excessive, which means he mistakenly thought Knox gives a shit what he thinks. Then Knox busts the chops of the agent listening in on the conversation in the other room. Selby didn’t learn his lesson, because he tells Knox to "relax." Knox snaps that it’s only his career, Harold, so he’ll relax when that’s over, which, if you’re like me, made you start thinking that Knox isn’t going to see Season 5.
Over at the Albatross, Nucky’s packing, with Sid on the phone to Narcisse’s man, and then Sid calls over to Nucky that Narcisse will be there at nine o’clock. Nucky sighs…
…and places a call to Chez Thompson, where Eli steels himself before picking up the phone. Nucky says he wants Eli to come pick him up for the meeting, and they’ll drive over together. Eli, thinking quickly, asks if it wouldn’t be easier just to meet there. Nucky’s story is that they should walk in together and present a united front. "Plus", says Nucky, "he’s on Eli’s way anyway". He is? I haven’t seen any shots of the Albatross that didn’t make it look like it’s on the outskirts of everything. Eli agrees, and says he’ll see him in a bit. By this point, Willie has started hanging around, and after his father hangs up asks what Uncle Nucky wanted. A little taken aback, Eli asks how that’s any of his concern. Willie says he was just curious, but Eli doesn’t answer the question, and says to tell his mother he’ll be late. He puts on his hat and leaves, with Willie looking pensive.
Over at the train station, Richard gives the Sagorskys two tickets for sleepers, with extra vouchers for the dining car. Wasn’t train travel grand? (I’m imagining the 1920's Louis CK’s routine where he reams out people for complaining about minor inconveniences in train travel). Sounds like Richard’s sending the Sagorskys off to stay with his sister and brother-in-law for a few days. He gives Tommy a long hug and says, "I love you." After Paul takes Tommy away to get a few "chuckles" for the ride, Julia gives him grief for what sounded like "goodbye" to her. She makes him promise he’s coming, because she’s never even spoken to his sister, so it’ll be pretty goddamn awkward if Richard doesn’t show. Richard’s counterargument is to plant a big kiss on her cry hole. After they unclench, he says he’ll see her in three days, and she says if she doesn’t, she’ll hunt him down and drag him to Wisconsin. He promises, but she doesn’t look completely reassured when he walks away.
Speaking of looking uneasy, Eli arrives at the Albatross to pick up Nucky, and is a little unsettled by the fact there are no men guarding the place. He even un-holsters his gun as he walks up the steps of the darkened hotel, and slowly makes his way through the empty rooms. He calls out "Hello?" and "Nuck?" but there’s no answer. At least, not until he walks into a sitting room where he hears Nucky tell him to put his gun away before someone gets hurt. Eli asks his brother where everyone is, and Nucky says he’s closing the place up. This appears to raise more questions than answers for Eli, and Nucky again asks him to put his gun away, which he does, slowly. "I’m leaving town. Heading to Cuba with Sally," Nucky explains, as soon as he finishes what he needs to do. Eli’s all, "But the meeting!" Nucky says there is no meeting, just some names on three empty hotel rooms, and Eli and Nucky. Sid comes in, gun raised, to disarm Eli.
After a moment, Eli starts to speak, but a furious Nucky draws his own gun and points it at Eli, preempting an apology. Defeated, Eli asks if it even matters what he says. "You have a lot to lose," says Nucky, but Eli sadly says he has nothing. "Sooner or later you wind up taking it all. Can’t help it," he says. He even takes a step towards Nucky’s gun, and says he’s ready. "Are you?" he asks. Nucky presses the gun to his brother’s forehead and angles it, prompting Eli to kneel. But Nucky’s shaking as he does so, and as he says, "It’s what you deserve."
Then Willie shows up, and the whole thing goes to hell. Willie yells and Sid grabs him, while Eli yells at Sid and lunges. Willie wails that Nucky’s going to kill him. "No, he’s not!" Eli tells his son, even as Nucky’s still got a gun on him. Sid lets Willie go, and Nucky lowers the gun (he’s still got it pointed at Eli, though) and orders Eli to tell Willie what’s going on.
Eli lays it all out: Knox knows about Willie’s murder charge that Nucky got squashed. Willie and Nucky both look stunned, but they’re more surprised to learn that Eli knows about it. And that Knox is the one who wants the meeting. "That’s the price to keep him out of jail," Eli says. Willie starts to speak, but a wounded Eli asks, "You go to him? Over your father?" "I’m the one who can fix it", Nucky points out but it’s more than that for Eli. "He was supposed to amount to something," he says. Nucky – with Willie looking crushed as a son whose dad is disappointed tends to look -- says he’s still going to. Eli asks, "What? A man in an empty hotel pointing a gun at his brother?" Point: Eli. Nucky says he did it for the family, and -- not for the first time this season -- Eli tells him he doesn’t have a family. "I do. Now you want that, too," says Eli, adding that nothing will fill the hole he’s got inside. But Nucky gets the last word: "This is your mess, Eli. Drown in it." Nucky and Sid stomp out of the room, leaving Willie and Eli. Eli takes a step towards his son, who bolts out the door.
And, oh, what a lonely party it is over in Knox’s hotel room, with Selby trying to get him to face the fact that no one’s coming to the meeting and he’s been duped. "You’d love that, wouldn’t you?" snaps Knox. Selby asks the other agents to give them a minute, and the other agents -- who must hate it when Mom and Dad fight -- are more than happy to oblige.
Once they’re gone, Selby tries to calm Knox, which works about as well as pouring gasoline on a campfire. Knox accuses him of, like Hoover, thinking this is all a joke and was never on board. "I have put everything on the line!" Knox yells. Selby stands up and calmly says Knox should surrender his firearm. Do I need to tell you what Knox thinks of this suggestion? Selby says Knox isn’t "keeping on an even keel." Knox steps towards him, and says if "Harold" wants his gun, he can take it. Harold (hee hee, "Harold") looks a little frightened, and makes no such move, and Knox storms out of the room.
Over at a Catholic hospital, the Capones and crew, including Van Alden, wait silently outside of Torrio’s room, until Torrio’s wife comes over to tell Al, "He’s asking for you." Jesus, he survived? Al goes in, closing the door behind him, and approaches Torrio’s bed, asking him how he’s doing. "I’m OK," says Torrio, which Al jokes is not something he’s ever heard him say before. Torrio indicates the morphine drip that’s getting him right. While Johnny has a coughing fit, Al tells him that they’ve got round-the-clock guards and nurses, too, and he’ll be out of here in no time. "And then we’ll get those sons of bitches," says Al, but Torrio just shakes his head. "This is a young man’s game", he rasps. He’s not going to fight. "It’s yours, Al. Take it," he says. The whole operation. Al almost amusingly doesn’t even argue but asks if he’s sure. "You win, kid. It’s Europe for me," wheezes Torrio. Al picks up Torrio’s hand and kisses it solemnly.
Eli arrives back at his house to find an agitated June already wanting to know what’s going on. Eli ignores her request to tell her what’s going on to ask if Willie’s here. Now here comes Knox, menacingly asking if Eli forgot they had an appointment. "No," says Eli, looking surprised. He tells June he needs to speak to this man . "He does, ma’am," adds Knox, super-unhelpfully, but June wants to know where Willie is. "That’s an excellent question, actually", adds Knox, who really isn’t too committed to his insurance salesman cover here. Then Kathleen is on the stairs to tell her that Anne’s crying, but June still won’t leave until Eli fires off a "goddammit" at her.
She goes upstairs, and Eli and Knox’s death stare head into the living room, where Eli starts to explain that Nucky knows. But Knox is not in the mood for any explanations. "Your son is going to jail," he says. Eli looks stricken, but Knox isn’t done yet. He tells Eli a story about a boy named "Ellis something," a real boy scout-type who Knox arrested on a stolen vehicle thing, earning him four years in a federal prison. "Last I heard, he was very popular with the other inmates," says Knox. "I will fucking kill you, you son of a –" says Eli, not able to finish the sentence, because Knox has drawn his gun. Eli’s got the barrel of a gun on his forehead for the second time tonight. "Are you threatening a federal agent?" asks Knox. He sounds calm, but the shaky gun says otherwise. He orders Eli to given him his wrists, which Eli does, and Knox pulls Eli’s arms around behind his back to handcuff him. But before he does, he starts blathering about how Selby thinks he’s crazy, and he’s distracted enough for Eli to turn around and slug him, and then it’s time for the two of them to battle.
And my god, you thought Purnsley/Chalky was hard to watch? This is a brutal knock-around that had me covering my eyes, and it seemed to go on forever (fortunately, no wooden shards stabbing through cheeks, though). There’s Eli getting a vase in the head, and there’s him whipping a saw and slicing Knox’s cheek (like, WHY DOES ELI HAVE A SAW IN THE LIVING ROOM?) Then there’s Eli getting in close with the saw on Knox’s shoulder, and Knox manages to jam his thumb into Eli’s eye socket, and now Eli is kneeing him in the gut while Knox punches him.
June comes running down the stairs, wondering just what in the hell kind of insurance pitch this is, and now the kids are screaming, and Knox sends Eli through the glass door of a China hutch. Eli is ignoring the cries of “Daddy! Daddy!" in the background that soon disappears as, I assume, June hustled everyone upstairs away from the trauma, so that the scarring can begin.
"My son! My fucking son!" croaks Eli as he chokes Knox, and just when you’re thinking it’s over, Knox grabs a … something, and clocks Eli across the head with it, freeing himself. He scrambles across the floor to reach for a gun, but Eli’s on top of him again, punching him in the back of the head, bouncing his head off the floor, and then pulling Knox’s tie tight, choking him from behind. By the time Eli rolls Knox over onto his back to resume punching him, Knox seems to be unconscious. But Eli, bloodied and enraged, keeps punching … and punching … and punching … and it’s clear that his last few blows land on a corpse. But that doesn’t stop him from picking up the glass vase and bringing it down with both hands on Knox’s head, before he rolls off, panting, the sound of children crying in the background.
The party’s in full swing at the Onyx, Narcisse sitting alone at a table, scribbling notes (I kind of like to think he’s working on a crossword puzzle), a bodyguard preventing anyone from disturbing him. Then the bodyguard gestures towards Chalky, getting frisked and getting led over to Narcisse’s table, leaving Winston and Levi behind, ordering them not to make any fuss.
Chalky approaches the table but doesn’t sit down. "Tell me your terms," says Narcisse. Chalky spreads his hands and says, "You get everything." Narcisse points out he already has that. "So why are we talking?" asks Chalky. "I want, and you want," says Narcisse, and he motions for Chalky to sit, which he does. First up: Narcisse asks where "she" is.
"Where she is and you ain’t," says Chalky. Narcisse offers safe passage to Maybelle’s wedding, which is interesting in a dick move kind of way, and Chalky makes a non-committal response to that. "Daughter for a daughter", says Narcisse. Chalky points out that the daughter Narcisse is interested in isn’t his blood. And that particular daughter? Chalky "rocked ‘er fine," he says. "Pics or it didn’t happen", says Narcisse. There is also a reference to that "sweet jelly" and then Chalky callously refers to Daughter’s face being all fucked up, and he doesn’t need to be looking at it no more. It doesn’t get Narcisse’s goat quite as much as you’d think it would, but he mutters about the "noble savage" and Chalky is all, "That's me." Bankroll in one pocket, pistol in another.
Narcisse asks Chalky if he knows what Nucky asked him to do. "Kick a bullet in my head," says Chalky, who’s pretty confident that that won’t happen tonight, not here in the civilized Onyx. Narcisse says none of them will make it past the alley, and Chalky counters by pointing out that Narcisse will never see her alive. He then starts talking about the "half and half" who choked her mama, but Narcisse doesn’t rise to the bait. Chalky does bring up his daughter’s wedding, however, and now Narcisse is straight with him: There is no wedding. Chalky’s a little taken aback, but Narcisse says he knows what Maybelle told him, and then he invites Chalky to hear it from for himself. And there’s Maybelle, beyond a door with one of Narcisse’s men. "A nod from me and she’s gone", says Narcisse to a stunned Chalky.
Chalky glances upstairs to the second floor, where we can see Richard Harrow, tucked away, raising his rifle scope to his good eye and sighting Narcisse in the crosshairs. But Richard, trembling, hesitates, and flexes his trigger hand, while Chalky waits for the bullet that only comes once Narcisse’s man has brought Maybelle over, and a shadow crosses the scope as Richard fires. The sound cuts out, and Narcisse wipes blood from his face, and Chalky and Richard look on, horrified, at Maybelle’s lifeless body collapsed on the table. Narcisse dives for cover while his men return fire upstairs at a freaked-out Richard, whose gut shot but manages to stumble across the balcony (civilians taking bullets meant for him), and Boneau’s men drag a grief-stricken Chalky away.
A hysterical crowd heads for the exits just as be-hatted Bureau of Investigation agents storm in, firing shots into the ceiling and yelling that they’re looking for Eli Thompson. A wounded Richard makes his way past some of those very same agents backstage as he heads for the exit. Then there’s Narcisse -- being led out with his men, hands behind his back -- by the agents. Richard staggers along under the boardwalk, surf crashing and boardwalk barkers barking.
Over at the train station, Nucky finds his way impeded by a couple of federal agents, and then there’s Selby, flashing his badge and asking about the whereabouts of his brother. A rather blasé Nucky asks if Selby intends on charging Eli with canceling a meeting. "No. With the murder of a federal agent," says Selby, at which point Nucky realizes this is pretty goddamn serious, and he heads for the exit with Selby.
Let’s visit Narcisse in jail, being visited already by J. Edgar Hoover, who is already well-versed in how Narcisse entered the U.S. through the port of New Orleans in 1898. Narcisse asks who Hoover is but doesn’t get a response beyond "I’m the one asking questions" and confirms that yes, he entered the U.S. then. "But you’re not a citizen", points out Hoover. "Why would you go on living in a country you don’t wish to belong to? " Hoover then asks.
"The exile does not choose his Babylon," says Narcisse. Funny you should mention it! Hoover then points out that Narcisse’s "compatriot" Garvey thinks that they should all return to Africa. "That would be an oversimplification of his philosophy," says Narcisse, so Hoover wants to know what he’s missing. Narcisse says he doubts he could make Hoover understand. There is a little back and forth between the two over what the truth is, with Narcisse saying that the truth is essentially whatever those in power say it is.
Speaking of those in power deciding what the truth is, Hoover lays out a scenario in which Agent Knox was killed by a colored man while investigating the seditious activities of Marcus Garvey, but Dr. Narcisse helped apprehend the subject. "He further agreed, in a private conversation with director Hoover to provide ongoing secret intelligence regarding Mr. Garvey, with particular concern to his radical agenda and his ties to foreign powers," he says.
Once Hoover is done, Narcisse asks why he would do that. "To demonstrate his commitment to the values of his adopted land", says Hoover. Narcisse calls "Brother Garvey" a hero that is devoted to the liberation of a great people. "But you are not", says Hoover. "You are just a peddler and a pimp, sitting in a jail cell." Narcisse calls himself a businessman and a follower of Christ, and Hoover says if he cooperates he can go on pretending to be anything he likes. But if he doesn’t, Hoover will make sure he never sees daylight in America again. My closed captioning just says "[Mutters]" but Narcisse actually whispers, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," which comes from the sermon on the mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Hoover’s all, "I can’t hear you!" but not in a cool rock band way. Narcisse turns from the sunlight shining on his face back to the shadowy Hoover and says, "I said 'yes'." It's not good enough for Hoover, who says, "Yes, what?" "Yes … sir," says Narcisse, chewing on it enough to make me wonder if Boardwalk Empire would futz with history enough to let Narcisse to kill Hoover, because there’s murder in those eyes.
At the Thompson house, Willie brings a suitcase out to Nucky’s waiting car. "Everything Ma asked for", he says, and Nucky says Tom will bring it up to Brigantine later. Unless Willie wants to. Time for an Uncle Nucky lecture, where he explains to Willie that his family’s counting on him. "You’re in charge now. You understand?" he asks.
Willie says he’ll drive up tonight, and asks what he’s supposed to tell them. "That your father is safe with friends out west, but its best they don’t know where," he tells him. Willie’s eyes bore a hole in Nucky’s head as he asks, "Is he?" He means safe, and Nucky tells him to speak his mind. Willie asks what Nucky would have done if he hadn’t shown up. Nucky takes out a cigarette case and lies to his nephew. "He’s your father. My brother. And I’m not the kind of you think I am," he says. Well, I guess he didn’t lie, technically, except by implication. Nucky’s cigarette case is empty, though, so Willie gives his over for Nucky to take one. See? You’re already following in your father’s footsteps by paying up to Nucky! Nucky tells Willie to come by the Albatross later, and they’ll head up together. "It gets easier. You’ll see," he assures. Willie nods and steps back, and Nucky’s car rattles off down the street.
A montage of scenes, set to Daughter singing a song about being "wild about your Daddy, wild about him all the time." Eli stands alone, with a suitcase in hand, waiting for a car that picks him up (and reminding me, oddly, of Walter White or Jesse Pinkman doing something similar 90 years later). And who’s driving the car taking him into hiding? Van Alden.
A jail cell, where Gillian -- looking like she needs to be on suicide watch -- listens to a guard or something giving her instructions or news that makes her start to cry. Maybe, "Yes, that’s right, ma’am. The toilet is right here in your cell."
Arnold Rothstein dangling some keys for Margaret with her kids and showing her into the lovely ground floor apartment in a spiffy neighborhood.
A pissed-looking Sally Wheet pouring herself a drink while the lushes at the bar get soused, lightning flashing outside.
Havre de Grace, Scrapper and Levi on the porch, Chalky sitting in a rocking chair, drinking.
"Fare you well, Daddy, someday you’ll hear bad news," sings Daughter, face healed but plain, in a tiny little club, accompanied by just a blues guitar, smiling sadly at the smattering of applause from the audience.
The music cuts out, and we fade up on Richard on a train, looking out the window into the night. Fade out.
Back up on Richard now walking down train tracks in bright sunlight, birds chirping. Cut to black, and then there’s Richard, approaching his house like he did in the season premiere, only it’s bathed in sunlight. Everyone’s on the porch waiting for him, including his sister and brother-in-law (and the wee baby Seamus!), as well as the Sagorskys with Tommy. Julia steps down off the porch and comes towards him… and then we see Richard’s face. His whole, unmarked face, which should have clued anyone not yet getting that Richard is still under the boardwalk, face mask in the sand, lying against a concrete piling while the surf crashes on the beach. A heartbreaking ending.
Thanks for reading, everyone! See you year for Chalky vs. Narcisse II!
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. No more old time-y gangsters for a year? Boooo! He’ll show himself out. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.