Yeah it definitely was pretty lame. Does that actress have any range? Does she have the ability to make any other face besides this? Maybe it was Nucky on the phone when she was in his office testing her loyalty? Who knows. And as far as the rest of the episode, it was decent. Van Alden definitely took me by surprise with sending the money back to the Jimmys wife. Cant wait for next week for (hopefully) a war to begin.
I think it was more about her discovering the scope of his criminal enterprise firsthand. Surely she knew that he had at least some involvement in alcohol and that not all of his money came from legitimate sources. I think we were supposed to read the scene as her actually finding confirmation about how organized and big his operations are, something that she couldn't grasp before because she had only seen what Nucky wanted her to see. She knows now that she's in a relationship with a full fledged gangster and bootlegger, which sets up a moral conundrum for her character since she and her kids are living lavishly on bootleg money. That said I don't really care to see the eventual Margaret/Nucky confrontation that will occur later in the season, but there needed to be a scene where she finally has hard evidence that her man is indeed a criminal. Not sure about the phone call though. She could of thought it was Nucky or someone trying to reach him with news of his brother. I do have a problem with her varying levels of naivety though but I guess having a horrible abusive alcoholic husband could kind of fuck with someone's ability to reason and get out of being in denial.
Ok, so Nucky's now had an attempt on his life, his brother shot, a kid with his supplier killed, and one of his collector's robbed. Is he going to do anything? They're making him out to be a pussy, his retaliation better be something amazing. Also, what's the deal with Jimmy's mom? Does she fuck all jimmy's enemies just to sabatoge them? I thought she was just a slut, but apparently she's a slut with strategy. I saw Van Alden's lackey killing that witness a mile away. Van Alden better start getting suspicious after the telegram and that, or he's just a fool.
I think the story arch and Nucky's portrayal is very realistic. He runs Atlantic City and has had everyone under his thumb financially. If it wasn't for Jimmy screwing with Rothstein's booze shipment things would probably still be status quo down there. This is the first time Nucky has run up against an adversary that turns to violence to get things accomplished. Good thing Nuck has Jimmy around because his assistant/butler was slow as fuck on the uptake. There's no way Nucky backs down in his own town and Rothstein doesn't know how to lose so this will escalate and escalate making for a good show imo. I love that Rothstein takes out insurance policies on his thugs. Genius and quite a payday when they take the dirt nap.
I thought the butler was remarkably effective, considering the fact he normally can't even keep people in the waiting room. I'm curious how long the conflict between Nucky and Rothstein will last. It seems like the type of power struggle that could run through the whole series.
What do you expect him to do? Run out into the streets, a gun in each hand, firing off rounds, shouting "you don't fuck with Irish Nucky Thompson!!!"? He's up against an experienced gang of killers who are hiding out somewhere on the outskirts of Atlantic City. His entire "military" force, at that moment, amounted to a single fatass, half-competent, opportunist deputy and a few bumbling fools under him. That doesn't make him a "pussy", but a sane, rational human being. Focus- That was probably one of the two or three best episodes of the entire series. I liked the resolution to the relationship between Luciano and Jimmy's mother, and Van Alden's insane, meandering interrogation was wonderful. Even Jimmy's baby mother's ridiculous lesbian relationship yielded a couple of good scenes. (With the "Paris" line being the same one Jimmy used to "convince" her to try oral on him) Honestly, the fact that Agent Sebso was corrupt should have been obvious from Episode 3, when Van Alden learned about Jimmy from the dying fat man, and Nucky instantly learned about back in Atlantic City. Still, Van Alden's charitable "victory acknowledgment" and utter obliviousness to the true emotions of either his boss and partner were highly amusing. Good stuff, and I'm looking forward to the next episode more than I have been in a while.
He knows who's behind it, hell he's got one kid going after them. Not really a suitable retaliation. Rothstein's going to wipe the floor with him unless he figures out a better gameplan than ordering Jimmy on them.
Jimmy, The Phantom of The Opera Sniper, and it looks like Al Capone is coming back. That's enough muscle to deal with things. Especially since Jimmy is much much smarter than the average thug. Jimmy was the one who came up with the plan to take out the Irish in Chicago and that worked out pretty well.
I don't think Nucky is used to this type of violent crime. He is a politician used to payoffs and handshakes, he had Hans Schroder killed but he knew that would never come back on him. He recruited Jimmy (immediately after he heard of Eli) and if you recall offered him a very lucrative deal, 5% is a great deal of money back then. I don't think he looks like or is acting like a pussy, I think he underestimated how bad Rothstien wants him out of the picture. I doubt he will make that mistake again. I don't think Rothstien will "mop the floor with him" simply because Nucky will stay in AC. If he went to New York he would be at a huge disadvantage but he will stay put and hire some muscle. We all know that Jimmy is going to eventually pick off a couple of the D'Alesio brothers. I was kind of hoping the witness was going to get shot by the sniper again, I love that guy. Quick question/observation. KImaster had brought up that he was curious why AR would send Luciano to kill Jimmy as opposed to some hired goon. I thought it was a good point, but maybe figured Rothstien wanted it done correctly by someone competent, however on that same line of thinking why did AR have to meet the D'Alesio brothers?? I know it was a different time and there was no such thing as RICO and wire taps and all of that but I just felt like he could have had one of his associates handle all of that and not be the one who made the order.
I kind of like the fact that Nucky is retaliating on every little thing. Its more interesting when its drawn out a bit. The scene were Jimmy wanted Nucky to admit hes a murder was the best in the entire episode.
Jimmy is a trained killer and Rothstein likely wanted it done correctly by another "professional". Rothstein likes the little people he controls to know he's the one in control. His whole manner of dealing with the brothers was to make sure they understood what HE wanted from them and how much smarter he was than them. After he explained what he wanted he had his assistant run them through the signatures and show them out. He didn't even shake hands with them. The series is picking up speed though kind of like the Wire at the end of the first season. I like it.
I agree with this, except for the bolded section. Remember how pissed off Nucky was when he found out Rothstein's guys got killed? He fucking knew it was going to be a problem, because Rothstein and Nucky are the same in one regard: they both take their time and think things through. Nucky didn't underestimate Rothstein, but waited for him to make a move. Like the whole bit with Nucky and Senator Edge, which was fantastic. Nucky waited to fuck him, then fucked him hard. Agreed, and I'm finally coming around to liking Jimmy's character. Haha, yeah, me too. My take on it is Rothstein likes to intimidate people and wants to be involved in things. I get the feeling he was picked on as a kid and has decided he wants everyone to know what a badass he is now. Great character.
I see Jimmy wiping out the D'Alesio brothers in grand fashion. It seems like a pretty weak move on Rothsteins part to hire such boobs. There has to be a reason why he'd go into business with them when they are obviously low level punks. He had them insured but even if they did manage to take out Nucky do you really think they could handle running the liquor for all of AC? I think they were strictly hired to kill Nucky. As for Jimmy's informant's death I was sitting there thinking "Sniper bullet through the window, sniper bullet through the window, damn just a corrupt fed. " Edit: Anyone else feel that Jimmy is falling into the Ms. Schroeder trap of being as intelligent as the scene needs? Ive loved seeing him turn from a wet behind the ears whiner to a more calculated badass, him calling out Nucky and nabbing Luciano were two of the best scenes of his yet, but he turned right back into the clueless guy when Nucky came to visit him in jail. He's a semi educated calculated enforcer but gets in over his head and can't figure his way out? Still he's not as boring as watching Schroeder play mind games for dresses.
Was it the brothers or Rothstein's men who killed Chalky's employee? I don't know if it was ever revealed, or I overlooked it.
The brothers, because there was the scene where it was revealed that they killed the wrong guy, cause they just went for the black dude driving a Packard, which happened to be Chalky's employee at the time. More of their incompetence. Rothstein wouldn't let one of his men make such a dumb mistake.
"What are you gonna shoot me for mouthing off now?" "I wasn't planning on it but you kinda talked me into it."
I could be mistaken, but I think he kind of shrugged at Nucky after he did it too, which made it even more amazing. Second most amazing, Chalky channeling his inner badass when he turned around with double pistols after the Packard comment. I am doing my best to try to distance him from Omar, but I absolutely yelled "Omar's coming!" after that scene. Was it ever revealed that Lucy was an actual whore, not just a slut? I just find it hard to believe that if she was not a lady of the night she would go from Nucky "I run AC" Thompson to a creepy ass dude who lives in a boarding house. Also, kudos to Michael Shannon cause I absolutely despise Van Alden and the fact that he is creepy as a motherfucker. Also, Rothstein continues to rule, that is all.
I thought that clip was kind of dumb. Really unbelievable Omar was Chalky strangling a man to death, one-upping Jimmy's badassery in what might be the most holy-fuck-is-that-what-just-happened moment of the show yet. The show continues to impress me as it progresses. I'm also still loving every scene with Harrow (the phantom of the opera).