Episode Title: “Home”
Writers: Tim Van Patten and Paul Sims
Director: Alan Coulter
Previously on "Boardwalk Empire"
Nucky wrongly fingered “Lucky” Luciano (Vincent Piazza) as the thug who stole his money on the boardwalk, while over in Chicago, his protégé Jimmy Darmody told Torrio (Greg Antonacci) to toughen up and forget about a truce with Sheridan. Instead, Jimmy orchestrated a meeting-turned-mass execution to take out the competition and gain control of Greek Town. Torrio took a shine to Jimmy after the crew successfully handles Sheridan. This didn’t sit well with Jimmy’s diminutive partner in crime, Al Capone (Stephen Graham). The two traded seemingly playful jibes in front of the gang, with Jimmy getting the best of Al. Later, Capone paid Jimmy a visit, offering up a Chicago steak and his sore feelings over the incident. The hardened gangster also showed his tender side, telling Jimmy about his son’s hearing impairment and his struggle to deal with it.
Back on the boardwalk, Margaret settled into life as a kept woman, courtesy of Nucky. After Lucy (Paz de la Huerta) paid her yet another unpleasant visit at La Belle Femme. This time Margaret stood up to Lucy’s humiliation and quit the dress shop. But she may have spoken too soon, as she discovered that her new digs are nothing more than a high-end whorehouse. What’s worse, unbeknownst to her, Agent Van Alden’s fixation on the young Irish woman has become so intense, he beats off to her photo (if you will) with a leather belt.
Story:
The hour opens with a crooked cop dropping a dime on the Sheridan thug who slashed Pearl, finally giving Jimmy a chance to exact revenge. Nucky's insufferable father takes a bad fall thanks to the feline infestation of his rundown home. Nucky and Eli have the old man hospitalized and contemplate selling the house.
Jimmy, suffering from a dull ache in his war leg takes a trip to the local infirmary, where he encounters a fellow vet, whose horrific facial injuries draw a clear parallel to the late Pearl. Meanwhile, Meyer Lanksy pays Chalky a visit under a false name and offers to cut Nucky out of their bootlegging arrangement. Chalky, suspecting the offer is a test from Nucky, rebuffs Lanksy.
As for the ladies, Lucy starts to come undone, crashing Nucky's meeting with his friend, Damian Flemming (Victor Verhaeghe), demanding to know what Margaret's got over her. As for Margaret, acting on some bad advice, she dismisses Nucky's struggle to understand his father's cruelty, when the two pay a visit to the old house. After Lansky's attempt to sway Chalky fails, he and Luciano strike a deal with the D'Alessio brothers to rob one of Nucky's casinos in order to finance their bootlegging operation. On the other end of the law, Van Alden gets closer to cornering Jimmy Dormody when a young man facing jail time for a botched jewelry store robbery spills on what he saw that fateful night in the woods.
Back the hospital Jimmy comes to realize the psychological test he and his new half-faced friend, Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) have agreed to has more to do with building a better army than helping disabled vets. Jimmy hatches a better plan for the pair, taking Harrow, who's admittedly a virgin, to a whorehouse, to honor his sacrifice in the war. As for Jimmy's wife, she's apparently had a serious change of heart in his absence, as she and her lesbian lover contemplate their future together - in bed.
Margaret and Nucky enjoy a pleasant family dinner at home, where she apologizes for being insensitive regarding his troubled childhood. Nucky takes her son to see his father's house, which he had remodeled for Damian Flemming's family. But some trashed childhood mementos and some harsh words from his father cause Nucky to burn the place down and give Flemming a wad of cash for "a better place."
Meanwhile, Jimmy finally catches up with Sheridan's thug in a diner. He sits across from the frightened thug and recalls a war story about a German soldier he shot and wounded, caught on barbed wire and struggling for days to free himself. The soldier, pleading for his mother, refused to take Jimmy's offer to put him out of his misery. Jimmy leaves the thug on that note. Moments later, Richard Harrow puts his sniper skills to good use, shooting the Sheridan soldier from a window across the street.
Breakdown:
With so many characters doing so much wheeling and dealing, “Boardwalk Empire,” for all its fantastic direction and attention to historical detail, has felt a bit thin thus far. We've met a lot of potentially interesting characters but haven't had occasion to sit and have a drink with them. "Home" marked a welcome change of pace for the series. For the first time this season, it feels like we're beginning to understand what makes Jimmy, Nucky and the rest of the major players the people they are.
In particular, Jimmy's storyline, which was moving too fast early on, hit its stride this week. His encounter with Richard Harrow showed us in one broad stroke that Jimmy is a guy with heart, who's also pragmatic. He takes Harrow, who reveals himself to be the Rainman of snipers, under his wing and puts his talent to good work, exacting a very poetic revenge on the man who tore his love's face apart,
However, the Phantom of the Opera/Jekyll and Hyde bit when Harrow is revealed as the sniper was a wee bit Tarantino for a Scorsese production. One aspect of “Boardwalk Empire” that's worked for the show so well thus far is that the writers haven't been heavy handed with big reveals. We all know Meyer Lansky and Al Capone are mob legends, but the writers treat them like the up and comers they were at the time. No wink, winks, which is very much appreciated.
It's been hard at times to sympathize with our anti-hero Nucky Thompson, but "Home" gave us a look at the rotten, worn away bricks the man and his empire are built upon. And Margaret attempting to find her way and determine the kind of woman she can be, versus wants to be, for Nucky is also fascinating to watch, much like that other mob wife, Kay Adams and her made man, Michael Corelone.
Thus far, “Boardwalk Empire” has been about setting up the places and players it's concerned with. This week, the pieces are finally in place, giving us a chance to get to know and care about this story of corruption, lost love and the human condition in this far off time and place. Finally, we’re “Home.”
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
