Boardwalk Empire: Ourselves Alone Recap

Boardwalk Empire Season Two Episode 14

The title of the second episode of Boardwalk Empire Season 2 was either a reference to Margaret Schroeder’s rusty Gaelic, since the title of the political party “Sinn Féin” really means “We Ourselves,” or else it means that it’s Margaret and Nucky against the world, which is at least what she would like Nucky to think.

Some  new faces in this episode: Charlie Cox as Owen Sleater; Ted Rooney
as John McGarrigle; and Erik LaRay Harvey as Dunn Purnsley

Margaret finds out from the help that Nucky is in jail, but that doesn’t ruffle her opportunistic feathers.  She seizes the moment to appear at Nucky’s offices looking like Mary Poppins with a pillow (to appear pregnant) instead of an umbrella. As we see later, not that we didn’t suspect she was there to get that money Nucky tucked away in “21,” there’s a method to her madness.

Nucky is in jail with Chalky trying to explain how precarious the situation is and why he’s getting out of jail and Nucky’s not. He gets sprung and Chalky gets a visit later from his wife, Lenore (Natalie Wachen) who brings him Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield.” We find out two things about Chalky we didn’t know. Chalky’s real name is Albert and Albert can’t read. Not too sure how that was supposed to make us feel … OMG! He got all that power and he can’t even read? All we could think was well — you would think his wife at least would already know! Chalky is sent to share the cell with Dunn Purnsley, who doesn’t know when to quit, and other fellows who know what to do with people who bother Chalky! But we must say that Chalky let this situation escalate because he should have put a stop to it the second time Dunn made remarks about Lenore.

Nucky deals with the press after his release and then heads to City Hall to find his office so he can round up the ward bosses, the sheriff and the mayor. All he gets is Ed Bader, the mayor, since the ward bosses, Neary, O’Neill and Fleming, and Sheriff Eli Thompson, are busy conspiring with the Commodore.

Jimmy, in the meantime, is trying to schmooze Arnold Rothstein in New York, while Lucky Luciano looks on. Jimmy is looking to do business with Rothstein. Rothstein wants to know in a round-about way what brought about this change when last year Darmody was nothing but a brigand in the woods and what about Jimmy’s Nucky connection. Luciano later invites Jimmy to a poker game with Meyer Lansky and afterwards, Jimmy kills a couple of Masseria hoods who made the mistake of trying to ambush him.

At Margaret’s where preparations are under way for an important dinner guest, Owen Sleater, a charming roguish advance man  for Irish nationalist, John McGarrigle, shows up and mistakes Margaret for the maid. Margaret has just taken a hammer away from her son Teddy who was in the process of building a bird house. Nucky goes back to his suite and looks for his hidden stash only to find everything gone. Ward boss Fleming, who isn’t too thrilled with the Commodore’s plan of action, comes by to give Nucky the scoop on the other ward bosses and Eli calls on the phone to taunt Nucky. Nucky gives him the chance to extract himself from the Commodore’s net, but as the Commodore puts it, “It feels good to twist the knife.” Later Eli gets his first glimpse of the men who built Atlantic City and we get our first look at Dominic Chianese as Leander Whitlock.

Margaret is entertaining John McGarrigle as best she can despite the fact that he doesn’t like lamb, Atlantic City or anything for that matter, except his cause. Nucky shows up and takes over. McGarrigle wants money for weapons, preferably cash, which Nucky is a little low on at the moment. He gets a check.

Margaret later reveals to Nucky that she rescued his ledger and the money. Nucky is apparently too stunned to even ask her how she pulled that off.

Margaret and Nucky: Need or True Love?