Boardwalk Empire on HBO

[Poppy Fields]

Wow, tonight's episode flew by, action-packed. I was surprised that Mickey is still Jimmy's lackey. Manny now knows the truth about his "boychik." Jimmy is in no way prepared for the position of power he's taken on. Nucky has every reason to doubt Owen's loyalty, now that he saw how Owen handled the situation with the Irish boss's betrayal. It was sweet how distraught Nucky was upon finding out about Emily. He's really embraced those kids as his own. And how about Esther in bed with her assistant?! I thought she was too by-the-book for that.

Jimmy is really in it, way over his head! I did not expect him to survive the episode and now he has painted a big fat bulls-eye on his back for Manny (who reminds me of Attila the Hun).

Owen's not exactly an open book, is he?

Poor Emily - and poor Margaret. Her sneaking in to cuddle with Emily and whispering "Forgive me for bringing this upon you" made me actually cry. Oh, and the bonfire! What a chore for a grieving mother to have to perform. And what of Teddy (budding pyromaniac) watching from the window?

And now we know that even in bed, Esther is a micromanager. The toenail comment made me gag a little.

I spent a lot of time backing up and turning on the closed caption!

Good thinking, Shay. I did the same for my 2nd viewing last night and found I could read the note passed to Jimmy. "Watching You Closely." Although they didn't deny sending it, I doubt it came from one of the floosies.

Who was killed as they were pulling away from the Irish place?

That was McGarrigle, Owen's sanctimonious boss in Sinn Fein (the one who had dinner at Nucky's house and didn't eat the lamb).

And the strike has struck! Chalky White is asserting his power. Can't wait to see what happens next.

ETA: I missed Van Alden this week, but he was referred to:

After some post-coital canoodling, Esther reads one of her many Nucky files and asks Lathrop if he comes across as a murderer.

"You might as well be reading the latest 'Black Mask'..." he says.
"He's [Van Alden] got Thompson ordering 12 homicides with no proof..."

Black Mask was a pulp magazine launched in 1920 offering, according to the magazine, "the best stories available of adventure, the best mystery and detective stories, the best romances, the best love stories, and the best stories of the occult."

After seeing this cover, I had to post it. Who does the coverboy look like?

[AlwaysVeg]

Looks like Van Alden to me! I missed him last night, too. I keep feeling like somehow his daughter is going to wind up in Margaret's care. You catch so many subtleties, Poppy Fields. I enjoy reading your takes on the show. I didn't even think of pyromaniac Teddy when the bonfire was going on. Didn't know about Black Mask magazine, either. I thought the guy who helped Chalky start the strike was long dead from the beatdown in jail! Also felt the note passed to Jimmy was NOT from the girls. He is SO over his head ... might have to come crawling back to Nucky for help before this is over. In real life, Nucky went to jail due to the charges against him, didn't he?

[Poppy Fields]

Nucky (Johnson) went to jail in 1941 and was paroled in 1945, but not for election rigging. Here's a nice Wiki entry on his life and times.

Enoch L. Johnson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lucy's daughter winding up with Margaret never occurred to me, but I think that could be a good call. There are so many parallel needs that arrangement would meet.

[prhoshay]

It looked like Van Alden to me, too! He was on last night, but just barely. I liked it when the baby nurse shamed him into kissing his daughter good-bye before he left the house. He totally ignored the baby and the nurse when he came home, though; he went straight to his room and shut the door without so much as one word. I think Lucy will be back when she runs out of money....but not because of love for the baby. I smell a blackmailer.

And I don't know why Nucky would have an issue with Sleater knowing about McGarrickle being killed. That's the mob way. When somebody sees an opportunity to move up, and you are standing in the way of money.....eliminate! Nothing personal; strictly business.

[AlwaysVeg]

It looked like Van Alden to me, too! He was on last night, but just barely. I liked it when the baby nurse shamed him into kissing his daughter good-bye before he left the house. He totally ignored the baby and the nurse when he came home, though; he went straight to his room and shut the door without so much as one word. I think Lucy will be back when she runs out of money....but not because of love for the baby. I smell a blackmailer.

And I don't know why Nucky would have an issue with Sleater knowing about McGarrickle being killed. That's the mob way. When somebody sees an opportunity to move up, and you are standing in the way of money.....eliminate! Nothing personal; strictly business.

I had the feeling Nucky is concerned about Slater's loyalty to a boss. He asked Slater how long he had known McGarrigle, and Slater replied since he was 17. Just seemed Nucky might be thinking Slater has been with him for much less time than that, and if Slater didn't care that McGarrigle got whacked for financial gain, he might similarly look the other way if he knew about a plan to whack Nucky for "business reasons." Nucky told him he doesn't like "secrets" (which could pertain to Margaret as well as to the plan to kill McGarrigle.) Slater is supposed to be protecting him, so if I were Nucky, I might be somewhat worried at this point.

[AlwaysVeg]

Nucky (Johnson) went to jail in 1941 and was paroled in 1945, but not for election rigging. Here's a nice Wiki entry on his life and times.

Enoch L. Johnson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lucy's daughter winding up with Margaret never occurred to me, but I think that could be a good call. There are so many parallel needs that arrangement would meet.

Thanks for the Wiki link! Seems the real Nucky didn't go to prison until many years later for different charges. Interesting he was engaged to a former showgirl, so either Margaret is out of the picture, or she's a totally fabricated character for the show.

[Poppy Fields]

From another Wiki page:

Margaret Schroeder: This character appears in the Boardwalk Empire book’s prologue, and in the footnotes it’s revealed to be Mary Ill, who was involved with local women’s groups and charities. Mary Ill was interviewed extensively for the book and those interviews were the main source of building Nucky’s character.

List of Boardwalk Empire characters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[prhoshay]

I had the feeling Nucky is concerned about Slater's loyalty to a boss. He asked Slater how long he had known McGarrigle, and Slater replied since he was 17. Just seemed Nucky might be thinking Slater has been with him for much less time than that, and if Slater didn't care that McGarrigle got whacked for financial gain, he might similarly look the other way if he knew about a plan to whack Nucky for "business reasons." Nucky told him he doesn't like "secrets" (which could pertain to Margaret as well as to the plan to kill McGarrigle.) Slater is supposed to be protecting him, so if I were Nucky, I might be somewhat worried at this point.

You would think that Nucky would know the nuances of the game that he is playing. Can't help but wonder if Sleater's actions aren't making him think of Jimmy. People in this country were whacked just like McGarrigle, with regularity. It's one of those things I learned from watching 'Mobsters' every week.

[Poppy Fields]

You would think that Nucky would know the nuances of the game that he is playing. Can't help but wonder if Sleater's actions aren't making him think of Jimmy. People in this country were whacked just like McGarrigle, with regularity. It's one of those things I learned from watching 'Mobsters' every week.

Coupled with Sleater's secretive and self-servving behavior, I think that's insightful. Being betrayed by Jimmy (and possibly suspecting that Jimmy tried to have him killed) has to be influencing Nucky's thinking now.

I watched this eipsode again last night and fianlly got all the Ireland scenes. Sleater knowing McGarrigle since he was a boy, and being brought along in the Cause by him makes Sleater one cold character. He didn't even try to prevent McGarrigle's murder. He said it would have been pointless.

It really does take 3 times for me to absorb each epi.

[prhoshay]

And did you notice when Nucky was questioning Sleater about what he knew about what was going to happen to McGarrigle, and Sleater responding in the matter-of-fact way that he did....Nucky had a bewildered look on his face. It just said to me that Nuck was thinking of Jimmy and it was dawning on him (Nucky) what he may not have ever even slighly considered about Jimmy, whom he obviously had grown to see as, somewhat, of a son as he was growing up.....like McGarricle had probably grown to see Sleater.

Cold world out there, huh, Nucky?? But, to a certain extend, I think that Jimmy has more feelings for Nucky.