All In Recap: Boardwalk Empire

“All In” had 4 main storylines going on, Nucky Thompson looking for a partner in the Tampa land deal; Will Thompson seeking payback against a college student who embarrassed him; George Mueller between a rock and a hard place with the Capones and O’Banion; and Eddie Kessler reveling in his new status.

The Aquavit could cinch the deal:

After practical joker, Dean O’Banion, rigs a gun so it backfires dirt in a driver’s face (a joke only he and Hymie Weiss think is funny), they get an order for flowers to be delivered to the hospital where Capone’s guy, Jake Guzik is lying ill, after his “bad ticker” acted up during collections. O’Banion tells George Mueller (We think the Nelson Van Alden to George Mueller transition is complete enough to just call him Mueller now) to throw some day old daisies together and deliver them to the hospital. Al Capone and brother Frank are insulted, but for some reason, both like Mueller, who was with them when they were “busting heads” in Cicero. They take him along to complete Guzik’s collection and throw a guy out a window, which doesn’t seem to bother Mueller as much as “the always jocular” O’Banion’s jokes. Frank Capone offers Mueller the Aquavit business in Cicero if he throws in with the Capones, and Mueller is dragged along as they hijack one of O’Banion’s bread trucks. As Capone snorts cocaine, Mueller tells Capone there’s a time and a place for jokes. “I do have a sense of humor,” he deadpans. (Priceless!) A commotion in the back of the truck reveals O’ Banion’s driver of the practical joke, who fell asleep. He recognizes Mueller and the Capone boys give Mueller a gun to prevent the driver from squealing to O’Banion. The gun jams after a couple of wild shots. Al Capone finishes the driver off with his Tommy gun. The Capones drop Mueller off at his make-it-yourself home that he did a horrible job putting together. Poor Sigrid!

We’ve all got to learn how to lose, and some should learn to keep their mouths shut.

Nucky sends Eddie to make a pick-up from Ralph “Bottles” Capone. Then he and Eli meet with Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky to outline the real reason Nucky wants in on Tampa land. Hauling the best rum in the world back to the states from Cuba, then selling whiskey to the islands. Arnold Rothstein is intrigued by the plan, but wants to mull it over a poker game and wants Nucky to play, the better to get to know him. He doesn’t trust Nucky after that Overholt Distillery deal, and Eli isn’t sure they should trust Rothstein. Nucky points out they don’t know anyone else with half a million buckaroos. Rothstein loses big in the poker game (over $200K just to Nucky!), all the while being heckled by an anti-Semitic player, annoyed with the betting repartee. Meyer Lansky is annoyed with the heckler. Rothstein becomes obsessed with chasing his losses, and Lansky prevails upon Nucky to cut off his credit. A disgusted Nucky tells Lansky the Tampa deal is no longer open to Rothstein. Lansky wants in with his partner, Luciano. Nucky accepts and Lansky finds the heckler and beats him to death.

Eddie Kessler parties with the FBI on his tail

Warren Knox (aka Jim) gives the Big Bootlegging Picture to J. Edgar Hoover and a team of agents in Washington, D.C. He believes bringing Nucky Thompson down will somehow crack this “conspiracy.” He vows to find the weakest link in Thompson’s chain and break it.

Eddie delivers $10,000 to “Mr. Brown” who is really Ralph “Bottles” Capone, also looking for a decent place to eat so he doesn’t get “the trots.” After a bit of hesitation, Eddie takes him to the Knife & Fork where they talk about the war in Atlantic City last year. Eddie admits he “took some lead,” and talks about his deceased wife and 2 grown sons, who still live in Germany, one is the assistant for the burgermeister (German equivalent of a mayor), which Bottles thinks is a chef; the other son is a dental surgeon. Ralph tells Eddie to call him by his nickname, Bottles, which comes from the bottling company he runs. Their friendship extends to a local bar that Eddie obviously frequented before. He has a lot of German friends there and has complained to them often about shining Nucky’s shoes. Now he brags about his promotion but doesn’t go into his specific duties. Instead he breaks into a German song, O du wunderschöner deutscher Rhein (lyrics here), and Ralph Capone loves it, trying to join in. Eddie laughingly says maybe he should just hum it as they part company in the morning. Agent Knox and another FBI guy stop Eddie on his way to the Packard and haul him in for questioning.

Castor oil’s too mild:

At school, Willie Thompson and roommate, Clayton, are figuring out how to extend the remnants of the case of hooch for the next party. Will says they can cut it but one bottle is going to spiked just for Henry, the kid who embarrassed him at the last party. Clayton says if he wasn’t “zozzled,” he wouldn’t have let Henry pull that stunt. The idea is to mix up a concoction similar to milk of magnesia that will give Henry a severe case of “the squirts,” another diarrhea nickname turning up in the episode.

At the party, Will gives Doris the cold shoulder when she comes over to flirt, believing she set him up, so she goes over and begins to dance with Henry. Here is Will’s chance to spike Henry’s drink, and Henry might have thought Doris set him up, too, but unfortunately, he does not survive. The concoction Will spiked the drink with proves to be fatal and the students find Henry dead on the bathroom floor in the morning with blood all over the place.

A Harlem Duppy:

Dunn Purnsley visits Dr. Valentin Narcisse in Harlem after telling Chalky he needs two days off to see his sick mother in Baltimore. Narcisse is pissed off that Dunn would show his Senegambian face in the office of Marcus Garvey with the payoff from the heroin he supplied Purnsley with to sell in Atlantic City and throws him out. But Dunn hangs around outside. As they walk to Narcisse’s next destination, the Dr. tells him that Chalky White’s time is over, he sees Chalky as a white man’s puppet, his Northside might as well be a Mississippi plantation, and he doesn’t want anyone like that working for him. Narcisse points out a guy hanging on the steps of a building, apparently keeping lookout for something going on inside, and says this is the type of Negro that has to go, a duppy – a vampire that lays his own people low. Dunn obliges by stomping the man, presumably to death, while Narcisse, after a quick  look of distaste at the violence, just goes inside.

Random Scenes:

Chalky stops to watch Daughter Maitland practice singing. The chanteuse has not been blind to the way he looks at her and asks him how he likes the show so far. Chalky plays it cool, pretending he’s been admiring the piano player. Daughter Maitland is a bit peeved.

Eli thinks that if the land deal goes through, Nucky will move to Tampa but Nucky decides to send Eli to down for 4 days with the money.

Quotes from All In

Supporting Cast