Episode Title: ‘A Dangerous Maid’
Writer: Itamar Moses
Director: Susanna White
Previously on “Boardwalk Empire”:
Nucky got out of jail, while Chalky remained inside where he was antagonized by a cellmate. Jimmy met with Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano as he and the Commodore plotted their take over of Nucky’s hold on AC’s alcohol trade. Margaret infiltrated Nucky’s office, now occupied by the Deputy Attorney and took back his ledger, a crucial piece of evidence, which she later burned.
Story:
An extremely pregnant Lucy Danzinger (Paz de la Huerta) remains holed up in Van Alden’s apartment. She tells Van Alden (Michael Shannon) staying cooped up inside is making her crazy but he insists she remain in captivity until the baby is born.
Nucky (Steve Buscemi) reaches out to the Attorney General to call in a favor regarding his election fraud predicament. However, he tells an angry Nucky his hands are tied in the matter.
To make things worse, Al Capone (Stephen Graham) drops by to let Nucky know that Torrio won’t be needing his booze anymore. Meanwhile, the Commodore (Dabney Coleman) dries up Nucky’s liquor supply with a call to the coastguard. Jimmy (Michael Pitt), now working closely with his father to take Nucky down, is still conflicted about his decision to turn on him.
Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) receives news from the Pinkerton Detective Agency that her family is living in Brooklyn. She has her maid, Katie, place a call to her relatives but gets the disturbing news that “Peggy Rowan” is dead. After crying alone in her room, Margaret has a drink with the help in their quarters, insisting they drop the formalities. However, Nucky soon arrives and tells her he’s taking her out to dinner.
Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) arranges a meeting between Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza), Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef) and Joe Masseria, who’s upset over Lucky and Meyer running a card game on his turf, as well as the murder of two of his men. Rothstein brokers a deal strongly favoring Masseria by taking a huge cut out of Lucky and Meyer’s profits.
After Jimmy Cantor pays her a visit, Lucy tells Van Alden she wants to audition for a show. However, he won’t hear it, bringing her to tears. Later, on the verge of throwing herself down the stairs, Lucy gets a surprise delivery, a record player, from Van Alden.
Nucky takes Margaret, Mayor Bader and his wife to Babette’s. There, he spots Jimmy and the Commodore dining with the Governor. He tries to contain himself but loses his temper and rushes over to their table where he throws the Commodore’s lobster on the floor. He issues a stern warning to Jimmy that he’ll “ruin him” and reminds him of how the Commodore treated Jimmy’s mother.
Katie greats Nucky and Margaret when they arrive home. Now feeling more at ease around the lady of the house, she asks Margaret if she is, indeed, “Peggy Rowan.” However, Margaret coldly ignores the question and heads upstairs.
Now working as hired muscle for Nucky, Owen Slater intercepts the Commodore’s alcohol shipment, taking out two of his men. Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) pulls a gun on Slater, who returns the favor. Harrow stands down and Slater stops the delivery.
At home, Jimmy, once again, is distraught over the situation with Nucky and the Commodore. When Angela (Aleksa Palladino) asks him about dinner with his father, he replies, “which one?”
Breakdown:
I’ve acknowledged before that “Boardwalk Empire” takes place in a time where criminal enterprise, not aided by modern technology, moves a bit slower than we’re used to. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be frustrated with its sluggish pacing and Lazy Susan-like storytelling rotation.
The fact that we’re three episodes into the second season and Jimmy Darmody is still agonizing over his Nucky/Commodore dilemma, Van Alden’s still player hating on Nucky, Margaret’s still not sure if she’s a poor immigrant girl from Kerry or Nucky’s high-society arm candy is disappointing. “Boardwalk Empire” frustrates me in that it’s brilliant at moments (Van Alden’s “baptism” scene from last season) and then dullsville for miles (Jimmy’s endless indecision, now possibly followed-up with Lucky’s indecision of his own).
There’s so much promise here, particularly with Margaret, Van Alden and Jimmy and yet all three remain at the precipice of some major plot point. Not to mention an over-crowded ensemble cast that runs the length of the boardwalk, including but not limited to Chalky White, Richard Harrow, Jimmy’s wife, Angela, Lucy Dazinger, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, Eli Thompson and the Commodore. It’s not only a historically intriguing list of characters but they’re also played by a great cast of actors. Unfortunately, “Boardwalk Empire” is only one hour long. With each episode, we see most of them tread water, but not enough to keep a compelling story afloat.
Maybe “Boardwalk Empire’s” simply too ambitious for it’s own good. Heck, maybe “Boardwalk Empire” is too good for its own good. There’ so much great stuff here, everything from the acting to the direction to the set design and costumes. But really, it comes down to story. And “Boardwalk Empire” is trying to tell too many of them, at once.
Crave Online Rating: 7 out of 10.
