Boardwalk Empire 109

Episode 9 - Belle Femme


In an episode centered on allegiances, this weeks' episode solidifies Nucky's place as a self-centered, yet amazing, political beast.

There are two main story-lines in "Belle Femme":

1. The turf war between Nucky and the D'Alissio gang.
   
2. The pursuit for political sway in the election campaign.

In terms of the the turf war:

• Jimmy returns to Atlantic City and reunites with Nucky. Tension is high with his wife, Angela, and their relationship is definitely icy (Don't worry, they still make room for "bedtime"). He tries to catch Lucky Luciano, right-hand-man to Arnold Rothstein, and tied to the D'Alissio brothers for the hit on Elie, but winds up being caught by Nelson, and is sent to jail.
• Nelson's assistant, Agent Sebso, show his allegiance by "taking out" the main witness against Jimmy - Billy Winslow. Nelson's gonna be steaming, to say the least.
  
• Arnold Rothstein forms an allegiance with the D'Alissio gang, to import whiskey from England, and to join the fight against Nucky.
• The show ends with a failed attempt on Nucky by the D'Alissio brothers.

In terms of the political campaign:

• The two main issues that bother Nucky on the upcoming elections are the candidacy for Mayor and Sheriff. The Democratic reformist candidate, Derwood Fletcher, leads the polls. In response, Nucky makes a deal with Edward Baydor to replace the current Mayor Backrack. The old commodore even suggests that Nucky replace his brother as sheriff, as per his widely publicized corruption.
  
• Nucky and Margaret make a deal - he helps her save the dress shop of Madame Jeunet, and she'll help him get the female vote with her strong ties to the Women's Temperance League.
  

What I liked:

• Jimmy's insistence on bringing the 'Man with Half a Face' - WWI hero Richard Harrow. First, it shows Jimmy has some class left in him. Second, to still be able to sharp-shoot with half a face is pretty, pretty, pretty good (To quote Larry David).
• Jimmy's insistence on Nucky to flat out state that he should kill the D'Alissio brothers. In doing so, he makes Nucky acknowledge that he's more than a politician - he's a murderer.
  
• Nelson flaring up on not being informed of the intercepted Post Office wire of Jimmy returning to town. Once again, we get a true sense of his dedication to his job ("Man needs to have courage for his convictions").
• Margaret talking back to Madame Jeunet. "You treated me just like the Pollock". You go girl!
  

What I didn't like:

• Agent Sebso siding with the superintendent over Nelson. Who knows, perhaps he was even sold out? After all, he was the one who knowingly let Nucky into the jail to talk with Jimmy.
• No Al Capone again ? Not even a single scene?! Come on !

Food for Thought:

• Now that we know that Nucky truly is the politicians' politician, will he sell out his brother for personal gain? Will he give away his candidacy for Sheriff for the sake of his own (and the Republican's) political muscle?
• How will Johnny Torrio and Al Capone respond to Jimmy's departure? Better yet, will they send in support to Atlantic City to help Nucky in his fight?

Episode Rating:
8 (quality TV) - a bunch of parts of the episode made me pause and actually say "wo" outloud.

Episode's Best Line:
"It's not just blood I'm worried about ... it's ink" - Nucky (talking to Elie on the public awareness of his corruption).

Worthy mention:
"If we only elected good men, we'd never have leaders" - Nucky (On Warren Harding and his presidency campaign)