Boardwalk Empire: Peg of Old Review

Boardwalk Empire Season Two Episode 19

Against the backdrop of Jack Dempsey (Devin Harjes) training in Atlantic City for his July 2nd fight with Georges Carpentier, a plot to kill Nucky unfolds; a new prosecutor arrives to make sure that Nucky’s federal trial results in a jail sentence; and Van Alden must contend with blackmail and his baby.

As Nucky talks with Jack Dempsey about promoting the fight at Babette’s later in the week, Nelson Van Alden comes home to find his baby mama, Lucy, having a smoke in the kitchen. She tells him the baby is sleeping after crying for 5 hours. “Did you feed her?” he asks. Lucy says of course she did: “What do you think iyam?” Van Alden says he’s sorry and reports that his wife has gone to her aunt’s in Milwaukee and won’t talk to him on the phone or answer his letters. He says he and his wife are being tested and so is Lucy — in her own fashion. Lucy is not interested in tests. She wants to know where her $3 grand is. That was the deal — he would cough up $3 grand for the baby. Alas, he does not have it but points out that she has the Victrola. Lucy is enraged to think he was conning her. Well, he probably was going to get that money off whatever crooked deal he made with Mickey Doyle but that went up in flames. After he leaves, Lucy takes matters into her own hands and pays Nucky a visit to hit him up for some dough in return for the information that Van Alden is her daughter’s father.

Jimmy Darmody and Richard Harrow are meeting with new business partners at the Commodore’s. As they talk to Al Capone, Mickey Doyle, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, Gillian escorts Sheriff Eli Thompson in. Jimmy continues his pitch on how they can take over if they join together and says Nucky Thompson will go to jail. Capone still favors having Nucky popped but Jimmy is against it. Suddenly Eli pipes up “”Jesus Christ, just kill him.” The gangsters are all for it, but Harrow says to Eli: “You would kill your brother?” Eli says no, he won’t do it, “Someone else will.” They plan to get someone to come in from Chicago to make the hit. (Aside: notice everyone but Al Capone calls Lucky Luciano “Charlie.” Capone calls him by his given name “Salvatore.” It’s an Italian thing.)

Over at the Post Office, Van Alden discovers that his desk has been commandeered by assistant U.S. Attorney, Esther Randolph (Julianne Nicholson — last seen, by us anyway, as Detective Megan Wheeler on Law & Order: CI). She has been assigned to Nucky’s case and Van Alden’s desk. Van Alden tells them they are going to be “eaten alive” by Nucky Thompson. “The scales of justice are weighted down with graft.” Esther can barely contain her amusement. “My, that is shocking.” He picks up a Jim Crow ashtray (also, look up Tobacciana) that was put with his things and sourly informs another agent that it doesn’t belong to him. Then he tries to eavesdrop on Ward Boss Neary’s testimony. Van Alden gets a phone call and quickly leaves. He’s just found out that Nucky knows he’s the father of Lucy’s child.

Nucky offers Van Alden a drink as he prepares to take advantage of the knowledge he just gained. “If there was ever a time,” he says, clearly enjoying himself. Van Alden stands stiffly and turns it down. “Fair enough,” Nucky says but pours one for himself and makes a toast: “First and foremost, here’s to you. It is, after all, a blessed event in the life of any man.” These are the moments when you thoroughly appreciate Steve Buscemi’s way with a line. After playing with the Agent a little more, Nucky gets down to brass tacks. He wants information on Esther Randolph — “I want to know everything — who she talks to, what they say, what’s on every scrap of paper that comes across her desk. If she renews her subscription to Vogue magazine, I want to know about it.” Van Alden wants to know what he’s going to get. Nucky says all his budget problems will disappear. Nucky then suggests he pick a name for the baby out of the bible. “You can’t go wrong.” say Enoch Thompson, suppressing his mirth as best as he can. (His own name comes from Genesis, Chapter 5). Van Alden is pissed when Nucky reveals he gave Lucy money “no strings attached.” He thinks that Lucy will abscond with the baby. He’s half right, anyway.

Later, Van Alden arrives home calling Lucy frantically as he opens the door. He begins to hear singing and tentatively smiles, thinking she’s in there the baby. But it’s the neighbor lady, Frieda, who says Lucy went off to buy formula about 20 minutes ago. Van Alden notices a funny smell when he goes in the other room and it’s coming from the Victrola, which is on. He opens it to find the title page of the “Dangerous Maid” script Eddie Cantor gave Lucy pinned to a soiled diaper! Was this Lucy’s way of saying Van Alden is a piece of shit? Will we ever hear from Lucy again? Probably, if she’s goes broke again.

Van Alden takes Nucky up on finding the baby a name in the bible. “Deborah, Hannah, Abigail,” he says. The baby lets out a little noise on Abigail and Van Alden smiles as he and his daughter take a good look at each other. We have to say besides being beyond incredibly beautiful, the baby is perfectly cast as Van Alden’s daughter. She even narrowed her right eye a little when she looked at him, the same way he does sometimes. It was great!

The next day, at the post office, Van Alden goes to see Esther Randolph. “Mrs. Randolph,” he begins.. “Miss,” she corrects him. “May we speak privately?” he asks. After everyone else leaves, he says: “I am a married man.” Miss Randolph can’t help herself (she’s the female Nucky):. “There goes my dream,” she deadpans, but it goes right over Van Alden’s head and he confesses to having a child born out of wedlock. Randolph suggests he go see a minister. But he is trying to establish his bona fides: “I bear my soul not for forgiveness nor introspection. I admit to these sins so that you know that I am, in my heart, honest,” he pronounces and then gives her the file he has been keeping on Nucky for the past 16 months, a file that “runs the gamut from bootlegging, gambling, vice, extortion up to and including murder.” A mystified Randolph wants to know why he’s been sitting on all this information, and he blames it on his supervisor. Randolph wants to know if he’s willing to testify to the contents and he is. Randolph allows that it could prove useful and Van Alden says that’s all that matters to him. She gives him some parting advice that his domestic situation will sort itself out, so he should not blab about it to everyone.

Jimmy tries to discuss Nucky’s upcoming encounter with a bullet with his partially clad mother, who tells him to avert his eyes. Jimmy wonders where her newfound modesty came from and Gillian says it’s not that — the light is unflattering. Gillian could give less of a shit about Nucky’s anticipated demise. She’s on her way to meet some girls from the Beaux-Arts and wants to make sure she’s wrinkle-free. She just has a few words to offer her son (who everyone thought was her brother on the beach back in the day). She leans in close and whispers, “Make me proud of you.” Then sallies off to take up with Lucky Luciano.

Owen Slater is at a bar when he spots a fellow he thinks he knows or pretends he knows him. It’s Del Grogan from Ireland, and he attempts to strike up a conversation with him, saying he’s Sean’s cousin from Dunmore. “That pimple on the arse of the Lord,” Grogan says. Owen laughs and says it’s quite a town on a Saturday night. “Every other night of the week as well,” Grogan adds and asks him if he’s from the Halligans’ side. It sounded like Owen said, no, he was from the Cavanaughs’ side. “Desi’s boys?” Grogan asks and Owen says “God rest his soul.” Grogan says it was bad luck and Owen says it was the Black and Tans. “There’s a fight that’ll never end,” and notes that they are free and clear in America. “Stars and stripes forever,” Grogan toasts. Owen offers to buy him another drink, which Grogan refuses but accepts a whiskey when pressed a bit. Then he goes to the bathroom. He wraps a cord around Grogan’s neck as they fight but Grogan manages to slip his fingers under it, which only results in his fingers popping off in the urinal when Owen strangles him all the same. “Leading me on a merry chase these last five months,” he says as he spits on Grogan’s corpse, “You traitorous fu&k.”

At Babette’s, Dempsey delivers his speech to an appreciative audience except for a flapper looking lady who keeps flashing an appreciative smile at Nucky. While Nucky tries to decipher those signals, Jimmy Darmody walks up to him and leans in to say: “It doesn’t make a difference if you’re right or wrong, you just have to make a decision.” Nucky’s manservant begins to follow Jimmy to see what he’s up to, when a man emerges from the crowd and shoots at Nucky who puts his hand up and that’s where he gets shot. A federal agent, sent to tail Nucky by Esther Randolph, identifies himself and kills the gunman.

And that’s not all, folks … click here for The Rohan Clan (the Margaret storyline).