Episode Title: 'Two Boats and a Lifeguard'
Writer: Terence Winter
Director: Tim Van Patten
Previously on "Boardwalk Empire":
After getting cornered by Nucky and Lucy, Van Alden handed Randolph a massive file on AC's treasurer/number one bootlegger. Margaret gave into her feelings for Owen as the two took part in a little afternoon delight. Jimmy reluctantly placed a hit on Nucky, which was botched when one of Randolph's agents took out Capone's hired gun, leaving Nucky with a wounded hand.
Story:
After awaking from a bizarre dream, Nucky (Steve Buscemi) has his hand looked at by the doctor. Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) also has the medicine man look at her daughter, Emily, who has come down with a fever.
Eli (Shea Whigham) is issued a subpoena from Randolph's office, causing his father to have a heart attack. Capone (Stephen Graham) finally returned Jimmy's calls after the botched hit on Nucky. Afterwards, Torrio (Greg Antonacci) warns Capone about his side business in AC.
Randolph (Julianne Nicholson) questions Nucky and his lawyer about his illicit activities and lifestyle. Meanwhile, Angela Darmody (Aleksa Palladino) makes a new friend on the beach. Later, she questions Jimmy (Michael Pitt) about his line of work and the hit on Nucky. Jimmy is surprisingly forthcoming.
Nucky meets with Torrio and Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) and learns that Jimmy, Meyer and Lucky placed the hit on him, with help from Capone. Rothstein advises Nucky to do nothing.
Angela goes to a party with her new friend, Louise and the two share a kiss. Elsewhere, Nucky attends his father's wake where he encounters Eli. After trying to appeal to his brother, Eli storms off. Alone, Nucky attempts to tie his father's shoes and breaks down in tears.
Later, Nucky meet with Jimmy, the Commodore (Dabney Coleman), Gillian (Gretchen Mol) and Leander Whitlock (Dominic Chianese). He tells them of his plans to step down as treasurer and abandon his business interests.
After arriving home from work, Van Alden (Michael Shannon) ignores his daughter and new nanny and shuts himself in his bedroom, where he hides a wade of money in the wall. Meanwhile, Nucky meets with Chalky (Michael Kenneth Williams) and encourages him to call for a strike, right before publicly announcing his resignation.
At Babette's, Jimmy and his partners celebrate their coup. At home, Nucky questions Owen (Charlie Cox) about his whereabouts the day of the shooting. After Owen fesses up to his meeting with the Irishman, Nucky suggests he's unable to give up "the cause." He asks Owen to arrange a meeting between him and his former boss, John McGarrigle in Belfast. At Babette's Eli warns Jimmy about Nucky's cunning but he scoffs at the notion. Angered by Mickey Doyle's (Paul Sparks) insistence he respect Manny, Jimmy throws Doyle over the railing, crashing down onto a table.
Nucky wakes up again from the same strange dream to find Margaret holding Emily, suffering from a fever, once again.
Breakdown:
"Boardwalk Empire" fell back into its old habits a bit with 'Two Boats and a Lifeguard' which the title of this week's hour foreshadowed. The show's reliance on anecdotal storytelling, heavy handed symbolism and metaphor was evident in this hour, but tolerably minimal.
Opening on a textbook Freudian dream sequence, the episode moved into Nucky's parable of the drowning man, Manny's cautionary tale of trophy venison and poor Emily suffering from an inexplicable fever recurring along with Nucky's own fever dream. There's meaning to be found in all of this but its this dry approach to character and plot development that's held "Boardwalk Empire" back.
That said, there was some great movement on a number of fronts, particularly with the sidelined Angela Darmody and Chalky White. Jimmy's wife has found a new set of boho friends and returned to her Sapphic ways. After nearly leaving her husband last season, Angela's complacency was beginning to feel hard to believe. As one of "Boardwalk's" more dynamic characters, I'm glad to see a return to her storyline and AC's eclectic artist crowd.
And speaking of dynamic characters, Nucky had some great scenes in this episode. As I've said many times before, the time spent with "Boardwalk's" main man is often the least interesting but this week Nucky opened up a bit, breaking down at his father's wake and stepping into the role of "Dad" with Margaret's children. I'm still not in love with this character but at least he's wooing me a bit.
My interest in "Boardwalk's" criminal conspiracies was also heightened this week, with Nucky taking Rothstein's advice and stepping down as treasurer. Also pushing Chalky to call for a strike was a brilliant play. Meanwhile, "Prince" Jimmy Darmody, feeling his oats, shoves Mickey Doyle over the railing. An unexpected move but a huge, rather public statement from AC's new ruling power.
A few other observations on "Two Boats and a Lifeguard:"
- Gotta love Rothstein calling out Lucky and Meyer on their horse sh*t in the stable
- Did Owen really think Nucky was talking about Margaret when he asked about his Irish friend? It seemed fairly obvious Nucky was referring to Owen's brutal beating of a fellow countryman in a bathroom, last week.
- And what exactly is Nucky planning with the Irish? And how will Margaret react?
- "Father of the Year" award goes to Van Alden. Fatherhood was a definite theme in this hour, a concept Van Alden is struggling with.
- Jimmy's frank discussion with Angela was one of the episode's best scenes. I'm interested to see where their relationship is at by the season finale.
- Could Eli be anymore dislikable? I love hating this guy.
- Dominic Chianese's facial hair is undeniably awesome.
"Two Boats and a Lifeguard" may have faltered at moments but "Boardwalk Empire" really seems to have found itself in the second half of its sophomore season. Despite a bit of plodding, there's been enough bold strokes and big moves to keep things interesting. And this hour was a prime example.
Crave Online Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
