Boardwalk Empire: What Does the Bee Do Recap

Boardwalk Empire Season Two Episode 16

A Christina Rossetti children’s poem supplies the title for this installment of Boardwalk Empire – although a little paraphrasing might be in order as to what the mother does with the money.

Gawd, is there anything they can do with Margaret to redeem her in our eyes? Every week we like her less and less. Whether she even notices that Nucky does not ask for her input, we don’t know — but she is bound and determined to give it anyway. Didn’t you just love how she told him the servants steal from them? “That’s what they do,” she says. Bet she has first-hand experience with that knowledge. Then she whines that she never got a bonus when she was in service when he tells her to give each servant a $2 bonus. She’s even snotty to Katy because the maid likes the charming Owen Sleater and she tells Nucky that he’s a bit too cheeky.

We’ve noticed a lot of people think Gillian’s attack on the paralyzed Commodore was justice long-delayed. Not to be contrary, but it does say something about Gillian. For all her wily ways, she has never been able to devise a plan of revenge until the Commodore is completely helpless? Or, perhaps she loses it, equating his helplessness with her own at 13 years old, after he plied her with wine and raped her. But, we think she had something planned in the beginning with the Diana the Huntress strip-tease. “Prepare for the righteous punishment of the gods.” Who would have guessed the Commodore would have a stroke just when she shot her fake arrow at him. Whatever, we found her dialogue quite amusing in retrospect. “No one can care for him like his family.” Indeed, and when she was feeding him, “You need nourishment.” Yes, so she can beat the living daylights out of you.

We won’t even venture to guess what the Commodore was trying to tell Eli — it sounded so obscene — but the whole thing gave Eli the chance to cry about his excess of offspring again: “I’ve got 8 kids, Gillian!” Someone needs to tell him — whose fault is that, dummkopf?

All Roads Lead to Philly:
Jimmy now has to find a way to unload the booze and that leads him to pay a visit to Manny Horvitz (William Forsythe) at his Philadelphia butcher shop along with Harrow and Mickey Doyle. If you were bugged by a little deja-vu feeling like we were, we looked it up – he played Sammy Gravano in Gotti (1996) and he also played Al Capone in the 1993 TV Series “The Untouchable.”

Nucky has to enlist the help of Arnold Rothstein to find a place to unload his illegal liquor. They decide on some pretty steep terms, but that is par for the course whenever these two do business. (Remember the D’Alessio brothers?). Their plan includes Horvitz’ archenemy, Waxey Gordon. Rothstein delegates the gruntwork to a disgruntled Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, but Rothstein tells them to suck it up, like he had to eat that tripe Joe Masseria cooked up for him recently.

Out of Business
Owen Sleater is building a bomb to blow up Mickey Doyle’s stash. Now Team Nucky has their very own terrorist. At the post office, Van Alden is telling Agents Ziwicki and Clarkson that “heads will roll” after he discovers someone scribbled “Van A$shole” in the water closet. Clarkson confides to Ziwicki that he thinks Van Alden is on the take because he saw him with a guy with a derby hat (Mickey Doyle) and followed them to a barn where it reeked of alcohol. Against Ziwicki’s better judgment, they check into it with Clarkson saying, if necessary, they will arrest Van Alden. The barn blows up as they approach, setting a screaming Clarkson on fire. Ziwicki manages to put the flames out but not before Clarkson is severely burned.

Only the Lonely
Richard Harrow goes looking for Jimmy, who isn’t home. Angela is hanging a painting and they begin to talk about art. He agrees to pose for her and noticing a picture of Jimmy and Angela, says that Jimmy loves her. Angela is drawing more than his likeness — she tenderly draws him out, asking if he has ever been in love. He reveals his childhood on a Wisconsin farm with his twin sister, Emma. His childhood feelings for his twin sister were the closest he can say he came to feeling real love for anyone. After he was injured, she nursed him and treated him the same way as before, but he had lost his feelings. When he healed, he went to Chicago to get lost and now … as he bares his soul, he takes off his mask and reveals his broken visage. Angela begins a new sketch. Richard wants to buy it, but she gives it to him gratis. Jimmy comes home. Harrow doesn’t show him the portrait but walks away holding it.