Those D’Alessio Brothers Move Fast – Boardwalk Empire

“Belle Femme” Season 1 Episode 9

As “Belle Femme” opens Nucky is in Eli’s hospital room getting positive confirmation that the D’Alessio brothers were responsible for shooting Eli. Ward Boss O’Neill identifies the kid who spit in his face when he was out collecting: “The little bastard called me fat,” he gripes. Nucky looks at him sideways like he’s nuts while Eli says: They’re f–king killers, George, sounds to me like you got off easy.” When they are alone, Eli tells Nucky: “these f–king guineas, they’re desperadoes, Nuck, we gotta track ‘em down and squash ‘em before they spill more blood.” Nucky says it’s not just blood he’s worried about. “It’s ink.” Fletcher, a reformer running for mayor, is raising the question of corruption in the Sheriff’s Dept. in the newspapers. Later at a meeting with Mayor Bacharach and Halloran, Nucky goes along with Halloran’s suggestion to make him acting Sheriff. You get the feeling that will turn out worse for Halloran than Nucky.

Little Intrigues: Margaret’s come a long way, baby. From asking Nucky to help her husband get a job, to becoming Nucky’s mistress and wearing some pretty pricey high couture.

Big Intrigues

Jimmy and Nucky meet to discuss the demise of the D’Alessio brothers while the D’Alessio brothers meet with Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) where the discussion turns from selling the best scotch from Britain to the demise of Nucky Thompson to life insurance. Video here.

Rothstein has them sign half a million dollar policies as his assurance that they won’t “chisel” him. The D’Alessio brothers are too dense to see their lives flash before their eyes so they sign. After they leave, Arnold Rothstein tells Lucky Luciano: “You know what the nice thing is about the Bronx Zoo, Charlie? There are bars between you and the monkeys.”

Speaking of monkeys, Van Alden goes bananas when he finds out Jimmy Darmody is back in town and Agent Sebso knew it and didn’t tell him. Once he gets his hands on Jimmy Darmody, Van Alden is sure he can get the goods on Nucky and “this Sodom will be cleansed all at once.” According to him, Nucky Thompson is the snake responsible for the city’s corruption and you kill a snake by cutting off its head.

Gillian’s with Lucky Luciano who asks for some post-coital coffee. He lights up a smoke when Jimmy splashes the liquid all over him (Luciano didn’t act like it was hot) and Jimmy tells him to get dressed “We’re gonna take a ride.” You’re wondering if this is going to turn into the ride where Luciano gets beaten within an inch of his life and sliced in the face (even though Jimmy has a gun), when Van Alden shows up and arrests Jimmy! Lucky Luciano is giggling at this very “lucky” turn of events for him, Jimmy slaps him and Sebso asks what he’s smiling about. He grins: “Fellas, youse are a sight for sore eyes.”

Nelson Van Alden interrogates a handcuffed Jimmy who insists he was at a moving picture show when the murders in the woods took place. He denies knowing Al Capone, Margaret Schroeder or her deceased husband, Hans. He admits knowing Lucy Danzinger, “a dancer at the Ziegfeld Follies” Jimmy picks up on Van Alden’s preoccupation with Nucky’s sleeping partners and tells the prohibition agent: “If you want to know who Nucky Thompson’s f–king, why don’t you ask him?” Jimmy isn’t the least bit worried that Van Alden has anything on him until they take him to a cell and he passes Billy Winslow on the way. Jimmy gets rattled but all Billy can say is, “They’re gonna send me up the river, Jimmy, f–king Rahway.” Nucky gets a call that Jimmy’s in jail (from Agent Sebso we later find out). Nucky tells Jimmy he’s going to take care of this but he can’t bail him out. There’s no bail on 5 counts of murder.

Agent Sebso is transporting Billy up north “out of Thompson’s reach.” They don’t go too far when Sebso stops for a bathroom break. “I’ll stretch my legs,” an unhappy Billy says and also gets out of the car to gaze at the ocean. Sebso says he has to kill Billy because he tried to commandeer his gun. Here’s where we can process that Sebso’s on Nucky’s payroll, but Billy can’t — he’s dead and to make the tale even more believable, Sebso takes a big rock and hits himself in the forehead hard. Nucky must be paying well.

Nucky visits with his mentor, the ailing Commodore (even the f–cking dog is sick!) and a little of their backstory comes out, how the Commodore had to do 5 years in jail. “One of us had to go, you knew that” Nucky says. “I had no choice,” the Commodore responds and Nucky says “Neither did I, which is why we made a deal. So let’s put it to bed where it belongs.” The Commodore advises Nucky to get someone else to run against Fletcher, the “f–king boy scout.” “What about Eli,” Nucky asks. “Replace him too,” is the reply, “You son of a bitch, I’m dying –there’s no time to be sentimental.”

The Big Finale

At the dinner, Nucky is buttering up Edward Bader so he’ll run for mayor against Fletcher. “With you as boss, I’d have more authority as street sweeper,” Bader says, but he still has to ask his wife. He tries out his name with the preface Mayor and Nucky suggests he roll that around on his tongue a few times, but be decisive quickly. Nucky and Margaret leave and as they walk down the boardwalk, the “little prick” who called George fat calls out to Nucky. Another guy comes out of nowhere with a gun drawn but Nucky’s manservant Kessler sees him and pushes him, causing his aim to shift just as the gun goes off. The shot hits an innocent female on the boardwalk. Kessler shoots the gunman in the leg.

The woman who was shot falls into a visibly shaken Margaret’s arms, spattering her blood all over the $480 dress she got off Madame Jeunet in the other part of this recap: Little Intrigues.

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