Smallscreen News

Margaret's Irish up, Jimmy's down, Nucky's odd man out on Boardwalk Empire, some thoughts

By April MacIntyre Nov 29, 2010, 4:35 GMT

While all this is going on, an unraveled Agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon) happens upon a black Baptist revival by the river, on some diverting distillery leads fed from Nucky to help out a spooked Agent Sebso, who knows Van Alden thinks he\'s lying about the dead prisoner, the witness against Darmody.

The original Bernie Madoff, Charles Ponzi of Boston is referenced in tonight's outstanding episode of "Boardwalk Empire." Harry Prince (Michael Badalucco) Belle's sugar daddy is ruined by Ponzi, who suckered him for his entire net worth. 

Belle is out of the concubine apartments, and hits up Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) first, then Nucky (Steve Buscemi) for dough. Bad timing for her as Margaret walks in on Nucky touching Belle in a familiar way that enrages her to the point of an eventual abandoning of Nucky, more on that later.

Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) is la la la-ing to his lawyer, accused of being too sangfroid in light of the allegations about his doings with the "Black Sox" scandal. 

The episode “Paris Green” reveals why Nucky is so accommodating to Gillian (Gretchen Moll) and Darmody (Michael Pitt), pure guilt!  As an up-and-coming sheriff, Nucky pimped a 13 year-old Gillian to the pedophile Commodore (Dabney Coleman), then 54-years-old.

Jimmy knew who his absentee dad was all along, and now that Gillian is nursing his allegedly dying father (who is being poisoned with Arsenic) the old man makes amends as best he can and tells Jimmy the wrong man is running the show.  Nucky is more a father figure to him than the Commodore, and this weighs on Darmody who is also strategizing with Harrow (Jack Huston) on how to flush out the D'Allesio brothers, currently in hiding.

While all this is going on, an unraveled Agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon) happens upon a black Baptist revival by the river, on some diverting distillery leads fed from Nucky to help out a spooked Agent Sebso, who knows Van Alden thinks he's lying about the dead prisoner, the witness against Darmody.

Another visit to the preacher in the river nets a Holy Roller Van Alden, who drags a stunned Jewish Sebso into the river to repent and claim Christ as his savior. In the process, Nelson becomes judge, jury and executioner as he drowns Sebso in a lake while trying to get him to confess.  He then walks Christ-like, arms extended with a gun in one hand and his badge in the other while the frightened congregation looks on. Powerful scene.

Okay, back to Margaret and the boiling Irish dinner that spilleth over in the love shack of Nucky.  She and Nucky have it out over Belle, her dead husband, being a pawn spokesperson for political favor; she knows everything and is angry he is using her.

Nucky is furious for her stepping into the domain of the whore in the Madonna/whore complex he obviously has. In her anger she utters the F-bomb, and he has discovered she douches with Lysol which fully enrages him. Their row is tense, harsh and he tells her "you won't be needing that anymore" as he smashes the Lysol against a mirror. Margaret assumes by that action that he has broken it off with her and later packs the kids and leaves, under Harrow's nose.

In turn, Eli loses it with Nucky and says Margaret is a dangerous wild card now and has endangered their political stronghold and financial futures.  Nucky spits venom at Eli saying that Hardeen would be nothing without his more famous brother Houdini, hearkening the opening club scene where Hardeen on stage tries to escape a straight jacket and nearly bumbles it.  Eli is officially out as sheriff.

Back to Darmody. Angela (Aleksa Palladino) is off to Paris with the boy and a suitcase, only to find she was duped yet again by the Photographer and his wife Mary.   Instead of rushing back to her flat to rip up her goodbye note to Jimmy, she lolly gags on the boardwalk and gets home late, and of course, he has read it and now knows his wife prefers ladies.

The finale will be full of cliffhanger possibilities, which do you think will be the biggest one they leave us with?

Margaret and Nucky, will they make up? The Commodore, will he fund Jimmy? Angela and Jimmy, will he take Tommy from her like Al Pacino did with his kids in the Godfather? The D'Alessio's, will they get picked off or will Harrow buy the bus ticket to the hereafter?

Sad to see this great series end for the season.