After the impressive opener, the prohibition drama reveals more of the violent city that Nucky Thompson keeps in his back pocket
SPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those who are watching Boardwalk Empire on Sky Atlantic. Don't read on if you haven't seen the second episode ? and if you've seen more of the series, please be aware that other readers may not have done so ?
Kathy Sweeney's episode one blog
"There isn't a single business he doesn't get a piece of, nor a public employee who doesn't pay for the right to hold his job." Agent Van Alden
As the snow falls in Chicago, the crowds gather for the lavish funeral of Chicago mobster Big Jim Colosimo, last seen having his brains cinematically blown out at his restaurant. Nucky Thompson has sent a wreath, with the words, "Sleep with the Angels". A Chicago Tribune reporter unwittingly tells one of Torrio's men, Al Capone, that he plans to run with a story connecting his boss to the crime and asks for a statement; a move he may live ? or not ? to regret. As he stamps on the reporter's face, Capone, played very convincingly by Stephen Graham, proclaims: "I'm making a statement."
Back in Atlantic City, Agent Van Alden barges his way into Nucky's office enquiring into the massacre in the woods the previous week. Nucky offers him a shoe shine, coffee or "something stronger maybe?" It is clear that he has the entire city in his back pocket; everything operates under his watchful eye, and Van Alden knows it. Nucky tries to buy him off with the promise of girls and theatre tickets, to no avail: "Tell me, what you do like?" he asks wearily.
Van Alden persuades his bosses at the FBI to switch their focus from Arnold Rothstein to Nucky in Atlantic City ?. "He's the county treasurer but he lives like a pharaoh." There something rather creepy about Agent Van Alden's fastidious demeanour and piercing gaze. He is a man so repressed that his letters to his wife include instructions to remember to run the tap regularly so that the pipes don't crack. Charmed, I'm sure. In other gangster dramas, we're supposed to root for the Eliot Ness-like figure; here it seems we're meant to think of him as the bad guy ?
Rothstein himself is similarly disquieting. In order to intimidate a henchman into a confession, he delivers a chilling cautionary tale before asking: "If I caused a stranger to choke to death for my own amusement, what do you think I'll do to you if you don't tell me who ordered you to kill Colosimo?" ? delivering the line so archly, he might as well have been stroking a white cat.
"What do you want from me?" Margaret Schroeder
Perhaps a more interesting question would be what does Margaret want from Nucky? She was clearly disappointed to see Mr Thompson the sheriff arrive at her bedside, rather than his brother. (The pair appear to have a more complicated relationship than it might first have appeared). The purpose of Elias's visit is to persuade Margaret that her husband was involved in the smuggling of alcohol, and probably the murders. She's not convinced but he gives her money as a token of appreciation for corroborating this information ? she later pays a late night visit to Nucky to return this money and clear her conscience.
Meanwhile, feeling flush after his heist-turned-bloodbath, Jimmy surprises his wife and child with late Christmas presents including a state-of-the-art upright vacuum cleaner (how times have changed ? don't try this at home). And there's more. He then presents a half-naked burlesque showgirl with a necklace; his mistress, we presume, from the way she wraps her legs around him and covers him with kisses. In fact it's a rather strange reunion with his bizarrely young mother, played by Gretchen Mol. Will there be some age-related explanation?
"I'd say that our relationship has changed rather significantly in the past few days. Wouldn't you agree?"
Later, Jimmy visits Nucky. "You killed four guys!" Nucky exclaims. "Five ..." Jimmy corrects. "Actually there were four, but let's not quibble over that little detail shall we?" Nucky decides to cut him loose, telling him "If you wanna be a gangster in my town, you pay for the privilege." And the asking price is $3,000. Jimmy is forced to return the necklace he bought for his mother, and hand the money over to Nucky, who, in a brilliant scene, instantly gambles (and loses) the $3,000. "The world turns," he shrugs dismissively in front of the dumbstruck Jimmy, adding that it's "not my night". Has any screen gangster been so thoroughly and publicly humiliated?
But while $3,000 might be disposable to Nucky, the $100,000 Rothstein is demanding due to the missing alcohol delivery is another matter. Nucky's response carries palpable threat. "You wanna see how I do business? Show your face again in Atlantic City." Hopefully, it is a warning that will not be heeded.
The episode ends with George Baxter, an associate of Nucky's who has lured a 19-year-old girl with him to Atlantic City under the assumption that she is "that kind of girl". To his annoyance she isn't, so the furious old pervert drives her back to Baltimore. As they pass the same Hammonton, NJ sign from the first episode, a man comes stumbling out of the woods, Night of the Living Dead-style. It looks like we've found our "fifth body".
Verdict
An impressive episode, but one that perhaps lacked some of the extravagance of the first. It wasn't the near absence of violence, more likely the absence of Martin Scorsese's stylistic flourishes. It obviously remains far too early to say if Boardwalk Empire will live up to its hype as the new The Sopranos, The Wire or Breaking Bad, but where do we think it sits on the costume drama hierarchy? One thing's for sure, Merchant Ivory it ain't.
Notes
? The "fifth body" staggering out of the woods was eerily reminiscent of the Russian out in the Pine Barrens from the Sopranos.
? Baxter refers to "The Knife & Fork." The Knife & Fork Inn is a legendary Atlantic City steak and seafood restaurant, still in operation today.
? Note the KKK man handing out fliers. The Klan's resurgence in the 20s partially stemmed from the temperance movement.
? Margaret is seen reading Henry James's The Ivory Tower in hospital, which explains this episode's title. It was an unfinished novel by the author, about two dying millionaires and their corrupting influence on the people around them. It was described by the Guardian as "late, piercing, morally incisive look at the unscrupulous rich" ? a recurring theme in the series?
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