Milkmaid’s Lot Recap: Boardwalk Empire (S3 E9)

“That milkmaid’s lot is better than mine, and her life merrier” is a quote attributed to Queen Elizabeth I, and it seems that Margaret has come to a decision that she will be better off without all that money and power she has come by as the wife of the most powerful man in Atlantic City. There’s no tellling what the resourceful Mrs. Thompson has spirited away throughout 1922,  but will you ever forget the cake that predicted she would end up destitute? Probably — that was way back in Season 1 on All Hallow’s Eve, but that’s why we’re here to refresh your memory with a link to when that happened in “Return to Normalcy.”

In the wake of the explosion at Babette’s, Nucky Thompson is suffering from a concussion and tinnitus, which Dr. Surran says will cause him to wander in and out of a lucid state of mind and it certainly does. He can’t even keep people’s names straight, thinks Chalky White is a shoeshine boy and doesn’t recognize his own brother momentarily. It was most striking how the people in his circle were reacting to these lapses. We’re sure some viewers related on some level — like mothers who sometimes mix up their children’s name as well as the children being called by the wrong name. Hey, it happens but Nucky has a concussion and these folks were acting like all they had to say was “snap out of it,” and everything would be jake. Nucky is also having flashbacks of Billie Kent’s face as the bomb went off, but in his condition, he has not even acknowledged her death, let alone been able to deal with any grief.

Margaret and her kinder, Teddy and Emily, have been moved to the Ritz-Carlton for their own safety, along with that dog Gyp gave Margaret in Resolution. Margaret’s nose is out of joint over the inconvenience. Why, oh, why did she get herself in this mess and how can she get out of it? Oh, look, Owen, the mercenary, wants to take her away from it all. He’s planning on walking away from the whole thing in a year or two, but all Margaret has to do is say the word, and he’ll do it right now. In his office, Nucky announces to Mayor Bader, Chalky, Eli and Owen that he is going to kill Gyp Rosetti and Joe Masseria. Owen is back to giving out advice, it seems, for he warns Nucky that Masseria has an army. Later on, Nucky does point out to Margaret that it’s kill or be killed. Somehow, she’s blinded to Owen’s possible involvement in any brutal doings (but probably not for long).

Emily’s birthday party goes forward, sadly without the pony, although Nucky can barely understand why. Then he forgets about the party altogether, calls Margaret by his first wife’s name “Mabel,” and scares the dickens out of little Emily by giving her a much bigger birthday smooch than she wanted. He cuts the whole top off her cake and dumps it in front of her, and promptly passes out!

While that was all playing out, Gyp Rosetti was back in Tabor Heights to set Sheriff Ramsey straight on who he’s working for, pay off the townfolk to cooperate to the tune of $200 a family, and he even found time to call Nucky up on the phone and taunt him about Billie Kent’s untimely demise.

Nucky gets confused about Margaret again. He either thinks she’s Billie, or he thinks she’s the one he gave the earrings that got lost, and he temporarily forgets they are married, calling her Margaret Schroeder. Despite these snafus, she rallies him to action and he insists she stay for a meeting with Owen and Eli. It makes you wonder who he thinks Owen and Eli are at this point. Owen advises that all gangsters Nucky called to a meeting have confirmed except Chicago’s Johnny Torrio. That means Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Waxey Gordon and he’s even called in Frankie Yale, Peg Leg Lonergan and Wild Bill Lovett. Owen and Eli try to express that in his condition, the gangsters may not be supportive of his goals, and they are skating around with their language, so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of Mrs. Thompson. Nucky has no such grip on his sensibilities and says: “They’re going to sit down. When the meeting’s over, Joe Masseria will be a dead man. Gyp Rosetti won’t have anyone to protect him and I’ll wear that bleeping dago’s guts like a necktie.” Margaret sits there stunned at this brutal revelation, while Owen shifts about uncomfortably. “Was I slurring my words,” Nucky says. Eli assures him he was heard loud and clear. Well, for heaven’s sake, Owen did tell Margaret that Gyp Rosetti blew up Babette’s. She surely must realize that Gyp intended to kill Nucky so why should she be horrified that he now wants to kills Gyp? Why is this woman such a moron?

Masseria has come to Tabor Heights to take stock of Gyp’s activities. He’s not impressed and thinks Gyp has made more problems. He tells Gyp that whatever problems come out of his poor planning will be Gyp’s, not his, and Gyp needs to see it through. Gyp swears on his mother’s soul that he will. Masseria shows him a smooth stone on the beach and explains how it took time for it to get to be so smooth. Probably a wasted effort to instruct Gyp not to be so impulsive. Joe the Boss (not yet King) says maybe one day Gyp will make a good general. This has hilarious consequences as Gyp goes back into town where they have a likeness of Mad Anthony Wayne on display. He steals the hat off right off the General and later shows up on the beach. The workers look at him in bewilderment but know better than to laugh.

After Nucky finds Billie’s earring and mistakenly gives it to Margaret, he realizes Billie is dead. He says it’s his fault. He tells Margaret that he has no choice in these matters. “There’s no walking away. It doesn’t work like that.” When Margaret asks about the gangsters waiting to see him, Nucky explains: “Either they’re with me and we go to war, or they’ll smile, shake my hand and walk away. I’ll be alone and that’s as good as dead.” Margaret evidently makes up her mind at this point that Nucky probably is as good as dead but rallies him to TCB. Let’s hope that when the gangster don’t kill him, she doesn’t try to. She escorts her husband to the meeting where she informs Owen on the sly that they’ll go “as soon as we’re able.” Nucky manages to pull himself together and delivers quite a respectable speech as to why they should side with him, but these guys are not willing to play ball. Rothstein, who suffered a bit from the explosion himself, says they only showed up out of respect for past dealings but Rothstein has advised everyone that business with Nucky is more trouble than it’s worth. So they wish him luck and leave, while Nucky vows he will not forget this. But Rothstein and company keep on trucking.

Things Are Looking Down for Remus
George Remus, in his bathrobe, leads the prohibition agents on a merry chase around his home. To his utter disbelief, they have come to place him under arrest. He finally slips and lands on his ass just when Clifford Lathrop, the agent that was sleeping with Esther Randolph in Season 2 (and also the one that Van Alden shot in the leg when he made his escape), appears. Randolph is right behind him.

Things are looking up for Harrow
Harrow goes on a date to a dance with Julia Sagorsky where the other vets see a chance to make fun of him. But he and Julia take it all in stride and good form, as Harrow shows her how to strut her stuff on the dance floor. He is rewarded with a kiss that Julia says will really give them something to talk about.

Unfortunately, back at the brothel, Harrow’s absence and Gillian’s negligence combine to put Tommy in an awful situation. He goes off in search of the friendly hooker, Josephine, who happens to be turning a trick. A spiteful whore in the hall tells little Tommy what room Josephine is in and the child is traumatized. His doting grandmother sedates him with some rum and milk and lights into Harrow when he gets home. Didn’t you want to just smack both the slut and Gillian? When Harrow looks in on Tommy, the little feller stirs and says he wants to go home. Maybe Harrow, Julia and Tommy can all get on that train that the rhino was waiting for.

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