Episode Title: “William Wilson”
Writers: David Matthews and Terence Winter
Director: Jeremy Podeswa
Previously on “Boardwalk Empire:”
“William Wilson” (a reference to the Edgar Allan Poe short story Willie Thompson’s class is discussing in this episode) introduces several interesting twists and takes a couple of sharp turns, at the same time.
For a few characters, the episode is all about trying to escape a past that continues to bleed into the present. In New York, Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) excels at her job as a secretary at an investment firm. Her new life appears to be a humble, yet honorable existence until we see her engaging in some role play to help her boss dupe potential investors into handing over their money. Shady as it is, it’s still a far cry from the life she left behind in Atlantic City, where her dead lover showed up at her husband’s door in a box.
Margaret happily pockets a commission from her boss, Mr. Bennett and she is called into his office, once again, to entice another client to invest when she sees Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg), who is introduced as “Abe Redstone.” Rothstein insists he’s met Margaret before, but she denies ever meeting him and excuses herself shortly after, claiming she doesn’t feel well. Later, Rothstein calls Margaret and asks that she not reveal his true identity to her boss and in turn he will use the same discretion regarding her past. Margaret agrees, but she is clearly shaken by the reminder of her past life. As for Rothstein, after Nucky humiliated him in a poker game and cut him out of the Tampa deal, he may try to use his encounter with Margaret to get back at his former business partner .
In Philadelphia, Willie Thompson (Ben Rosenfield) is also having a hard time moving past Henry’s death and his roommate, Clayton’s arrest. It doesn’t help when Doris starts asking Willie about God and Clayton. He hits his breaking point in class, during a discussion of Poe’s “William Wilson,” a story about a schoolboy who kills his doppelganger. Willie storms out of the classroom and goes home to tell his family he’s dropped out of school. Eli (Shea Whigham) becomes enraged and Nucky (Steve Buscemi) tries to calm him down, which only brings up Eli’s own issues with Nucky always trying to take control of what’s not his, in this case Eli’s family.
At this stage, we have to wonder if Willie will end up becoming the next “Jimmy Darmody” or merely just serve as a pawn in another power struggle between Nucky and Eli. “Boardwalk Empire” likes to take its time with its storytelling, but with so many stories to tell, certain threads can start to feel tedious. However, Willie’s story has moved at a fairy swift pace and if he does end up staying in AC, it would be easy to integrate his character into the larger story. Willie’s relationship with Nucky also has some paternal elements, which are interesting, considering what he lost with Margaret and his current, rather lonely, situation.
The episode also takes time to stop in Chicago, where Al Capone (Stephen Graham) blames Dean O’Banion for the death of his brother and is ready to deliver payback to the Irish gangster. Torrio (Greg Antonacci) warns Capone to leave the police alone, whom Capone believes were on O’Banion’s payroll, and not start a war with O’Banion. But when Torrio, himself gets pinched minutes after buying a brewery from O’Banion, he orders Capone to go forward with the hit. It’s not an especially interesting turn of events, but Capone’s war with O’Banion could present some challenges for Van Alden, who was sadly absent from this episode.
Back in AC, Daughter Maitland (Margot Bingham) and Chalky (Michael Kenneth Williams) continue their affair. Chalky makes a deal with Dr. Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) to keep Daughter on for another month at The Onyx in exchange for allowing Narcisse to open a chapter of his organization in the North End. When Chalky asks Daughter about her relationship with Narcisse, she tells him he saved her after her prostitute mother was murdered. The story fits with Narcisse’s image as a community leader and activist. But of course, we know he’s peddling heroin to the very same community he claims to want to save.
Therefore, it’s not terribly surprising to learn that Narcisse was the man that Daughter’s mother attacked with a bottle of lye, as evidenced by the scars on his chest. This also means that Narcisse is the man who killed her mother. With both Daughter and Dunn Purnsley (Erik LaRay) doing his bidding, Narcisse is proving to be a formidable new player in the New York/Atlantic City organized crime scene. On his behalf, Dunn kills a deacon in the episode just as he’s about to go to Chalky White about the heroin problem in the community.
As far as keeping up with “Boardwalk’s” hefty roster of characters, this episode is particularly ambitious, even checking in on Gillian (Gretchen Mol), whom Roy (Ron Livingston) is taking care of as she goes through heroin withdrawal. Each time we see these two, their relationship appears stronger and stronger, although it’s still unclear where it’s going, which makes it hard to care about.
On the bright side, with so many characters scattered across the country, there’s a little something for everyone on “Boardwalk Empire.” This episode sets up new conflicts while intensifying existing ones in an hour that repeatedly jumps from state to state and character to character. It’s a little dizzying at times and it’s hard not to get impatient, wanting it to all come together and add up to something meaningful. Hopefully, the remainder of the season does just that.
