After the first episode of Boardwalk Empire I wasn’t sure about Margaret. After having seen the first five episodes, though, I have to say that she may be my favorite part of the show. She was the main focus of this week’s episode, which ended with the moment that many of us have been anticipating: Margaret and Nucky hooked up.
I really wasn’t sure where things were headed during this episode. it was clear that the shine was beginning to wear off Nucky in Margaret’s eyes. She began to see through his polite exterior, realizing that his caring attitude may be nothing more than a show. She is certainly a clever woman, showing it when she set Nucky up for a lie with the soda bread after being spurned at breakfast. Between the beer incident (and Nucky’s lack of action) and the drinking at Nucky’s birthday party, Margaret knows that Thompson is disingenuous at best when it comes to enforcing prohibition.
It wasn’t terribly shocking that she took her complaints to Van Alden. The intriguingly bizarre agent was all too happy to bust one of Nucky’s henchmen and embarrass the whole crew. I still think Van Alden is one of the more interesting characters on the show. He is clearly off his rocker, and oddly driven in his job. I want to see more of him and his motivations.
With all that went down I just wasn’t sure what Nucky was going to do when he showed up at Margaret’s door step in the middle of the night. There was definitely some chemistry between the widow and the politician, but after the raid, I almost expected Nucky to chew out Margaret. Instead, it was a passionate kiss. I’m very curious to see where this relationship is going. I can’t see it really going anywhere. Nucky seems generally happy with Lucy; at the very least, she is fulfilling his needs, even if she is creepy. At the same time, Margaret seems to be growing less and less infatuated with the gangster. Can a relationship really work here? I’m excited to find out.
We got a little more insight into Eli tonight as well. It’s clear that he has not been elegantly living in Nucky’s shadow. We also saw that he is in Nucky’s shadow for a reason. Nucky has once and again proved to be a smart, resourceful man who knows how to “play the game.” Eli tried tonight and failed, nearly starting a riot at the Celtic dinner when he so pathetically attempted a speech. It’s hard not to feel for the guy.
Finally, there was Jimmy who seems to continue spreading pain and misery wherever he goes. Frankly, I was at least a little impressed that he had stayed to take care of Pearl, even if it did end … poorly. Of course, he did take up with a prostitute the minute he said goodbye to his family in New Jersey. So much for being a family man. I have to say that even as he remains a fairly despicable man, I have found the character of Jimmy to be far less annoying since he has left Atlantic City. Let’s hope that continues.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Oct 17, 2010 @ 22:10 EST5EDT
Bob, you say less and less infatuated? No way. She loves him. She orchestrated a giant hair ball for him to deal with to get his attention. It was brilliant. It was hot. I was truly impressed. When he showed up at the door, I knew exactly how it would play out. Brava Margaret!!!!!!!!
Will life get any easier for her? Nope.
Bob, Margaret purposefully set Nucky up so he would pay attention to her. She is smart enough not to play jealous over Lucy, even after seeing the scratches on his chest. She played him wonderfully.
I don’t dislike Jimmy as much as you do. He cheated on his “wife” after figuring out she cheated on him. Which she quite obviously did, as she went directly to the photographer’s shop after leaving her son with Jimmy’s mom. I think she is having an affair with the man’s wife.