“Senator, the only chance you have of entering the White House is on a guided f—ing tour.” – Nucky
Boardwalk Empire is a Wikipedia addict’s dream. While the fictional elements are outstanding, it is the true historical elements that give the show its color. Based on earlier episodes, I found myself reading more into the stories of Anna Anderson (fraud) and Theodore Hardeen (just as good as Houdini). This week, I found myself pouring through the online encyclopedia to learn more about Nan Britton. Britton was one of Warren Harding’s “concubines” and a potential closet skeleton on his road to the presidency. Of course, Harding wasn’t exactly thought of as a shoe-in candidate anyway, but he has two allies that will eventually get him to the White House: campaign manager Harry Daughtery and Nucky Thompson.
Politics in general was a major theme of “Hold Me in Paradise” as Nucky (Steve Buscemi) traveled to Chicago to attend the Republican National Convention. He actually holds quite a bit of sway over the New Jersey delegates so Daughtery approaches Nucky to gain support for his dark horse candidate, Harding. Initially, Nucky is unsure of Harding’s chances, but two things eventually cause him to promote Harding to his fellow delegates. The first is the acquired knowledge that Daughtery (Christopher McDonald) is extremely confident and willing to back the old scratch when need be. The second is the desire to screw over Veep hopeful Senator Edge for providing road funding to Jersey City instead of Atlantic City. The Commodore was concerned in “Home” that Nucky was becoming too big for his britches. Well, now he’s helping sway presidential elections. The question is, though, do the britches actually fit him too well?
While the political side of things were Nucky’s main business in Chicago, a disaster in Atlantic City forces him to seek the help of an old friend. Eli (Shea Whigham) temporarily handles all of Nucky’s business while he is out of town and one of his “acts” is to give one of Nucky’s money collectors a day off. He splits up the duties and even offers to collect from Nucky’s casino himself. But bad timing is bad timing and he shows up just as the D’Alessio brothers are robbing it (at the advice of Lucky Luciano). He gets shot in the back, and while he survives, Nucky approaches Jimmy (Michael Pitt) about returning to A.C. to handle the enforcer duties that had previously belonged to Eli. Jimmy initially debates if this is a good idea or not, but let’s face facts, he’s coming back. In a way, that’s kind of a shame, though, because his storyline in Chicago was excellent on every level. Nonetheless, with an apparent war heating up back in Jersey, it’s going to be getting a whole lot more exciting there, too.
You have to wonder how Angela (Aleksa Palladino) will greet him upon his return. While his absence has hurt her financially (though, to be fair, this isn’t Jimmy’s fault as I’ll get to soon), it’s also freed her a bit to pursue other forms of happiness, such as her art and her affair with Mary. But the bills are piling up and Jimmy is set to have a decent-sized stake in Nucky’s bootlegging business when he returns.
Of course, Angela does finally receive Jimmy’s money near the end of the episode, though not directly. Agent Van Alden (Michael Shannon) had been intercepting Jimmy’s letters home (his office is set up at a post office after all) and briefly considers using the money to pay for an operation which might help cure his wife’s inability to have children. Instead, he sends the money along to the rightful owner, even though she’s the wife of the man he’s trying to pin several murders on. Paired with the cold letter he sends his wife where he tells her to “trust in God,” Van Alden has quite the conflicted characterization in this episode. No wonder he spends many evenings alone with a whip.
Finally, there’s Margaret (Kelly Macdonald), who has basically accepted both the pros and cons of her life as Nucky’s mistress. When Lucy drunkenly approaches and berates her during a tea date with Anabelle, Margaret stands up for herself with a satisfying slap. Yet, it’s hard to say she feels the same self-worth she thought she would when her relationship with Nucky first began. Sure, he turned to her to keep his records safe because she was the only person with whom he could trust with them in Atlantic City, but she didn’t seem too pleased to find how extensive his operation turned out to be. There’s a rebellious nature to Margaret and if it comes out in opposition to Nucky, she has a lot of dirt. Will it though? Or are the pros of her life too much for the cons?
Lingering thoughts on “Hold Me in Paradise”:
* Richard Harrow only makes a short appearance this week, introducing himself to Nucky, but his presence in strong even in its brevity.
* So did Gillian (Gretchen Mol) begin a romantic relationship with Luciano simply to gain more insight into his interest in her son? And was Jimmy aware from the beginning? It sure seemed like it.
* Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) implies that White Sox players smell. As a die-hard Cubs fan (despite being from the South Side of Chicago), I have to agree.
* Somebody calls Nucky’s office phone while Margaret is hiding Nucky’s financial records but doesn’t speak. Who do we think it is?
* “I buy a nickel joke book at the five and dime, I’ll be the toast of the town myself.'” – Eli
* “I, on the other hand, am a magnificent tipper.” – Nucky
* “Americans don’t whisper” – Lucy
* “I prefer to make my living honestly.” – Rothstein
* “Who do you think lit that fire?” – Johnny Torrio
Some stats and info about Boardwalk Empire, “Hold Me in Paradise”
TV SHOW – Boardwalk Empire
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1 Episode 8
AIRED ON – November 7th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – HBO/Max
GENRE – Drama, Crime Dramas, Period Show
CREATED BY – Terence Winter
CAST – Steve Buscemi,Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham,Stephen Graham, Vince Piazza, Michael Kenneth Williams, Paul Sparks, Grechen Mol, Michael Stuhlbarg, Anthony Laciura, Jack Huston, Anatol Yusef
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.