“So I wait, plan, marshal my resources – and when I finally see an opportunity, and there is a bet to make, I bet it all.” – Arnold Rothstein
There is something so hauntingly powerful about Nucky Thompson, Arnold Rothstein, and Johnny Torrio meeting in a room in the back of the Atlantic City Armory. Maybe it’s the several thousand overstock weapons from the war just lingering outside, or the eerie mimesis of the conversation Jimmy, Capone, Eli, and Luciano held just last week – the obvious weight of the scene is invariably present, despite, or perhaps complemented by, the rest of the episode’s events.
As Eli reminds Jimmy at his celebration party, “Nucky is smarter than you.” So before you start hedging your bets and jump ship, perhaps a little bit of discretion. Nucky apparently yields to the failed attempt on his life, informing Jimmy that he is resigning as treasurer to live with Margaret and help raise her children – he’s even got them calling him “Dad” instead of “Uncle Nucky.”
But even before he holds his official press conference to break the news, he meets with Chalky White to discuss his next move. Nucky advises Chalky to use the power that he once threatened Nucky with, and excite the black community into striking, holding up most of Atlantic City’s labor in the middle of tourist season. Nucky also confronts Owen Slater about his absence during the shooting; though Owen is clearly worried that Nucky has clued into his affair with Margaret, it is his continued affiliation with the IRA that interests the former treasurer.
Nucky’s resignation, his meeting with Misters Rothstein and Torrio, and his impending departure for Belfast are all underpinned by his father’s death. When the Assistant Attorney General’s office sends an agent to serve Eli with a subpoena, it triggers a heart-attack in his old-man. Though Eli and Nucky are ever bordering on reconciliation, Nucky is too stubbornly proud to accept his brother’s apologies and forgive him. Nucky puts on an endearing facade for his brother, though in reality he is as seemingly shaken.
Manny Horwitz’s appearances are becoming more and more unsolicited, according to Jimmy’s standards. Jimmy owes him money, sure, but Mickey Doyle just keeps inviting him everywhere. Admit it, Mickey had his two-storey table-flop coming. He’ll be all right. While Jimmy is adjusting to the apparently unbridled power that he now has, his wife is rediscovering her own sort of power. While enjoying a day at the beach with her son, Angie meets a woman from San Francisco who is almost arrested for showing too much skin above the knee (beaches in the twenties were like high school today, apparently). Louise is a “novelist,” and she invites Angie to a party to show her what “novel” ideals she has. I had almost forgotten about Angela’s lesbian affair from last season; she seems to be an entirely different woman since then. Whether or not her lifestyle choices can continue might have a lot to do with how Jimmy composes himself in his new role.
Some stats and info about Boardwalk Empire, “Two Boats and a Lifeguard”
TV SHOW – Boardwalk Empire
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2 Episode 8
AIRED ON – November13th, 2011
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.