Recap
Nucky is finally in Tampa, Florida and he's here on business. (When is he not?) His friend Bill wants Nucky to meet with a guy named August Tucker to make a deal to buy land there so they can import liquor. Before Nucky meets with Tucker however, Nucky befriends a land salesman who tells him that Tampa is developing houses, making Tampa a terrible place to discretely import booze. Nucky tells Tucker that he isn't interested and it is later revealed that Bill owes Tucker money. Later that night a discontent August Tucker shows up at Bill's apartment to attack him. Meanwhile Nucky goes to visit "Sally's", the bar where he met with August Tucker. There he talks with the proprietor, Sally, and unveils that he hasn't seen Margaret's kids in months. It's almost Teddy's birthday and Nucky is considering getting him a gift but figures the best thing to do would to just let Teddy forget about him. Sally points out that Nucky is just talking the easy way out and choosing the option that requires the least effort from himself. Before Nucky leaves to return to Atlantic City he gets a package from Sally: a dead baby alligator. (I know the difference between alligators and crocodiles.)
Over in Harlem we have our new villain, Dr. Narcisse teaching fellow black males, or "Lybians" as he calls them about education. This is right before a meeting with Arnold Rothstein about purchasing heroin from him. The deal is made and and the men shake hands, but hopefully I'm not the only one who noticed Narcisse wipe his hands after shaking hands with Rothstein. (Rude.) Dr. Narcisse has a plan and he travels down to AC to meet with Chalky White at the club he now owns 10% of with a new act, Daughter. Chalky instantly feels drawn to her as she performs at his nightclub. During this time Chalky is still being a dick to Dunn Pursely. Dr. Narcisse approaches Dunn with the option to leave Chalky White and go with him to deal heroin. Meanwhile Gillian is still rolling with Roy, the businessman from out of town. He awkwardly asks her to pretend to be his wife on a double date with a man he's doing business with and his wife. She agrees and they go to Chalky's club. After the club Gillian and Roy go to grab ice cream together. Things are looking good for Gillian but then things go sour. Remember that kid from season 3 who looked like Jimmy that Gillian picked up at the boardwalk, fucked and then drowned? Well one of his friends recognizes Gillian and confronts her. Her past is catching up with her as she is trying to move forward. Gillian decides to head to the ladies room and do some more heroin. (Classic Gillian!)
Nucky's nephew, Willy, is a just an average college student. He just wants to fuck the baddest bitch at Temple. (Funny how Nucky got Jimmy into Princeton but didn't do the same for his nephew.) Problem is the girls want to part with guys who have booze. But wait! His uncle distributes booze, and Willy knows where to get it. So he goes to the warehouse with his buddy to get some drinks. Thank God, almighty because we have a Mickey Doyle scene. I love Mickey Doyle! Willy tries to take some hooch from the warehouse and Mickey straight slaps the shit out of him and threatens to tell his dad, Eli. But then he has a change of heart and lets Willy go and gives him the liquor. With liquor in hand Willy throws the party I never got to and all the people there love him, including that one broad he was trying to stick. They go to the library and get it one but then Willy gets embarrassed when a crowd of kids from the party come to rain on his parade.
Out to the middle of nowhere, Richard Harrow is still hanging out at his sister's farm. Her man is at her house talking about who knows what. Like Emma he also lost somebody. His family, being concerned for Emma wants her to move into town with them. Emma is a pregnant widow living by herself, who wouldn't be concerned. When her new man leaves Richard Harrow pulls out a fat wad of cash for her to pay her back taxes. But wait, she already paid them off she tells him. Something's up because he got a phone call from the county. (We all know it was just Carl Billings.) Harrow also buries his pistol. He no longer wants to murder and wants to leave his past behind. But while he's working on the farm he gets a visit from his past in the form of Carl Billing and his associate. Carl is upset that Harrow didn't kill the man he was hired to kill. In self defense Harrow stabs Carl's associate but Carl has a gun, so it's not looking good for the masked hero. All of a sudden a shot is fired and Carl's head bursts like a watermelon. The pregnant Harrow has once again pulled the trigger and another man goes down. (The Harrow's kill tally keeps adding up.) Richard is leaving town again and has a heartfelt goodbye with his sister ending this chapter in his ballad. The episode concludes with Nucky calling his friend Bill to tell him that he changed his mind and wants to do business with August. A camera zoom out reveals that Bill killed August with a machete making August an unappealing business partner.
Power Rankings
1. Arnold Rothstein
Arnold's heroin business has found a new market in Dr. Narcisse. He currently has no feuds going on in New York and it doesn't look like he'll be declining anytime soon.
2. Nucky Thompson
It's probably a bad move going for Tampa property, and that's even without Bill killing their business partner. I doubt it will work out but if it somehow does it'll make Nucky some money.
3. Dean O' Banion
Didn't get to see Dean O' Banion but at this point in history he's about to get into war with Al Capone. If you know anything about anything you know how it turns out.
4. Al Capone
Al Capone is still rising up at this time and hasn't taken over all of Chicago. This season will probably show some of that rise to power but for now he's just doing okay.
5. Lucky Luciano
We haven't seen Lucky since the first episode. He's left Arnold Rothstein to work with Joe Masseria and we've yet to see the last of him.
Final Thoughts
Looks like we'll have to deal with Margaret Schroeder soon. The mention of Teddy's birthday revealed that we aren't done with her just yet. I'm not feeling Nucky's decision to buy land in Tampa. I don't think it's going to work out for him. Is it just me or is Dr. Narcisse a black version of Arnold Rothstein without the sense of superiority? He's very calculating and intelligent which is a complete 180 from last season's villain, Gyp Rosetti. (We miss you Gyp!) Dude who played Gyp, Bobby Cannavale, won an Emmy so that was really well deserved. Back to Narcisse, I feel like his presence in this season will add a lot of racial themes to this show. It'll be interesting to see where his story arc takes us. A story arc I'm not so sure about is Willy's. I think he's a cool kid. It was fun to see these college kids have a blast. It was even better to see Mickey. I'm just not sure how his story will tie in with the rest of the show. He isn't Richard Harrow so a plot line that's disconnected from the rest of this world would feel unfair. Gillian's story is just taking off and I have high hopes for Roy Phillips for some reason. Next episode we are headed back to Chicago so I'm really looking forward to that. One more thing before I call it a night, but I really want to head back to Esther Randolph and Harry Daugherty. I really think we had unfinished business there. We'll see if they head back there.
Ok, that's my time. I'm looking at the clock and it's currently Tuesday so I'm sorry about my lateness. I'll do better next week. How do you guys like the new format on the Power Rankings? I'll revisit them next week and see if I want to keep using it or switch back. Maybe somebody else will have an idea. Feel free to leave a comment in the section below. Follow me on Twitter @ELGUAPO3 and Instagram at CAPTAINCRUNCHTIME. I'm also on Tumblr at sirelguapo.tumblr.com. Check out my main blog Infinite Wisdom From El Guapo's Brain and any of my previous Boardwalk Empire recaps. Have a great week and stay Guapo out there!
