1897 Nucky: Marc Pickering Makes First Appearance in King of Norway on Boardwalk Empire

Nolan Lyons played young Nucky Thompson in the 1884 flashback segments of the first four episodes of Season 5 of Boardwalk Empire. In “King of Norway”, Marc Pickering took over the role of a 20-something Nucky who is now the Deputy Sheriff.

And whoa! Yes, we know, prosthetic teeth and blue contacts — but the young Steve Buscemi resemblance is so remarkable that they fooled many into thinking it was grown up Nucky looking at the dead body in the preview.

The flashbacks open with Deputy Sheriff Thompson responding to a call from a woman who saw something strange under the boardwalk while she was crabbing in 1897 Atlantic City. She believes it’s a dead body because there are “all manner of dark doings afoot.”

Deputy Sheriff Nucky inspects the cadaver and informs her that it is neither misfortune or mayhem. It’s a dead hog. He reports the matter to Sheriff Lindsay who says the old woman has been driving him nuts for the past 20 years. “Next time it will be the Jersey Devil,” Deputy Sheriff Nucky cracks. (a New Jersey legend and the state demon, a kangaroo-like creature with the face of a horse, the head of a dog, bat-like wings, horns and a tail that prowls the Southern New Jersey marshes).

Sheriff Lindsay brings up Mabel, the girl that Nucky has planned to marry since a little boy and says he and his wife approve. Alas, Mabel’s father does not. “I’ll vouch for your character,” Lindsay tells him. “And your salary.” Nucky says he is obliged to sort it out himself and confides his plan to take Mabel and her father out for a fancy feast at the Oyster House, apparently in an effort to get Mr. Jeffries to stop treating him like a beggar boy.

Just then, Pat Halligan comes out of the Commodore’s office and asks Lindsay if he caught the Rolling Chair Robber yet. (He is the man who lost his hat with the $50 bill in it in Episode 1). “We’re hot on his trail,” Lindsay says. Halligan calls Nucky little “Ragged Dick” and asks him how the hat game is going these days. “Sailing right along, sir,” Nucky says. Halligan calls him a slick one.

Nucky and Lindsay join Leander Whitlock in the Commodore’s office and Kaestner complains that Halligan is trying to pull off “a squeeze from New York”. He won’t stand for it, but Lindsay reminds him that Halligan has friends. Deputy Sheriff Nucky suggests deputizing about 20 men around the town’s entry points, ferries, train stations, and refusing entry to anyone they don’t like the looks of. “Just enforcing the vagrancy laws,” Whitlock observes. “Nothing criminal about it”, Nucky says. The Commodore begrudges it as one order of business and makes Sheriff Lindsay send Nucky outside.

Through the door, Nucky overhears Kaestner question Lindsay about him. The Sheriff says he’s a good boy, works hard and keeps his mouth shut. The Commodore thinks Nucky is a bit of a “mooncalf.” (a term listed in Merriam-Webster’s Top 10 Rare and Amusing Insults).

At the Oyster House, Nucky and Mabel spar with her father over dinner. Mr. Jeffries would rather she teach first grade in Camden, not Atlantic City. Nucky says Atlantic City is on the rise and a great place to stake your claim. Mabel’s father points Nucky to the Klondike, an idea Mabel finds absurd and would not allow.

“From bellboy to deputy sheriff,” Mr. Jeffries comments and sends Mabel to buy him some Turkish cigarettes called Fatimas. Mabel knows her father wants to talk privately to her suitor and whispers “Be steadfast” in Nucky’s ear.

The Commodore may find Nucky to be a mooncalf, but Mr. Jeffries thinks he’s more a combination of opportunist and cold reader. He has some good qualities and talks “a bold line” but has a nose for figuring out what people want to hear.

Nucky was not expecting him to give up without a fight and calmly points out that their disparate aims will result in one of them losing, but he still intends to marry Mabel and provide for her and the family they will raise.

Deputy Sheriff Nucky pays a late night visit to Sheriff Lindsay to start working on his goal right away. He wants to be more involved in important matters, including more business with The Commodore. “That’s not how it works,” Lindsay says and sends him home.

The flashbacks end with Nucky back checking on another report from the crab lady. This time it’s not a dead hog. It’s Pat Halligan, as dead as the hog was.

The Flashback Cast:
Marc Pickering – Deputy Sheriff Enoch Thompson
John Ellison Conlee – Commodore Louis Kaestner
Jordan Lage – Leander Whitlock
Boris McGiver – Sheriff Lindsay
Blair Sams – Mrs. Lindsay
Danny McCarthy – Pat Halligan
Maya Kazan – Mabel Jeffries
Burke Moses – Mr. Jeffries
Crab Woman – Joyce Van Patten

Season 5 Fatalities: Boardwalk Empire