Boardwalk Empire Recap: “Blue Bell Boy”

The following recap contains spoilers

by Veronique Medrano:

Boardwalk Empire Recap: “Blue Bell Boy”
Original Air Date (HBO): Sunday October 7, 2012
Season 2 Episode 4

Oh jeez Louise! Every time I think that the action was gonna blow out, it turns into a big bust. I will say there were some highlights to this episode, but dangnabbit I just wanted to see some more heat than I did, but I’ll quit my complainin’ and start  the review.Just a friendly reminder: This recap covers the characters you should pay attention to, and while other recaps give you the rundown of the episode from start to finish, I want to cut the fluff and take you to the milky caramel center. So before we enter let me remind everyone, just so ya won’t forget, that the following recap contains spoilers (i.e: info about the episode that you may not want to know before watching).

The star of this week’s episode was Al Capone. Even though the plot for this episode was slow,again, the character development for Capone was the shining gem in the dark abyss of  the series’ current season. Al Capone’s three appearances throughout the episode show how different he is from showrunner Nucky Thompson. We first happen on Capone as he comes home to see his son laying on the floor, and not at school. Turns out some bully beat up his son the day prior, then he tries to teach his son how to fist fight only to frighten him and he immediately scoops his son in his arms. Later on in the day he meets up with one of his associates, and partaking in some light banter. Capone’s associate, Jake Guzik, gets beat up at a bar and comes back to Capone telling him why he was beat up. (some guy was making fun of him for how he smelled, and then just beat him bloody). Capone is seriously tired of hearing about people around him getting beat up and bullied. So he lets out his anger and beats the bastard to a bloody heap on the floor, throwing money on his body to cover the cost for a funeral.

Christ, Capone is a perfect foil for Nucky! While Nuck is set to run things in a cold and calculated manner, he tends to ignore his family and pretty much use people until they are no longer needed and whacks ’em. On the other hand, Capone, as we see this episode, is a mixture of tender and brutal that balances itself out in such a weird way ’cause it has you root for him even while he beats a man to death, and then has you letting out a sigh of content and you see him sing his son a lullaby.

Speaking of Nucky, he finally returns to the world after burying himself deep in the whoo-haaa of Billie Kent, and then gets pushed back into obscurity once more from the eyes and ears of everyone he NEEDS to be keeping in touch with. As of late, it seems that Nuck is just running into a slew of bad situations and it seems to me that after his most recent mental lapse, due to his puppy dog adoration of Billie, he is not looking to good on the authoritative figure  aspect. This is most evident when Mickey, after hearing an order from Nucky, turns to Owen Sleater for confirmation. This really pushes Nucky’s patience level down a couple pegs. Who could really blame anyone for turning to Owen instead of Nucky at this point in the game, seeing as he’s not all right in the membrane.

Soon after this incident, Owen and Nucky go on a wild -goose chase to find Roland Smith, the young lad who was supposed to get killed episode 1. Roland Smith is an interesting character, to say the least, and he has so many qualities similar to the late Jimmy Darmody the boy doesn’t endear himself enough to stay alive, and the first death of the night was surprisingly not Eli Thompson, but instead Roland Smith. Owen Sleater was under the impression Nucky was going to keep the kid alive to work, yet it seems pretty clear that if someone steals from you why would you have them get closer to your operations and hurt you worse later on down the down. He starts and end his interaction with Roland Smith with a cigarette, shooting Roland in the back of the head allows him to reassert his power, and show Owen who really calls the shots in the business.

This of course does not put Nucky in the clear. After stressing the importance of the shipment with Rothstein, and furthermore ignoring his brother Eli’s warnings on the way things are being run by Mickey it seems that the last blow had to come from a double cross. Mickey sends the runners to Tabor Heights under the assumption that they are protected, but instead they are gunned down by Rossetti’s men and paid policeman under his payroll. It is one big mess of bodies and free booze, that will allow Rossetti to ship straight to Rothstein and cut Nucky out of all the profit.

By the end of the episode, when Nucky finally returns, he is met up with Eli where we assume that he is being caught up on the situation at hand. This feels like a foreshadowing of them joining forces once again, but as it has been rumored the relationships Nucky had held in the past will have large effect on the future. Especially with the possible return of Waxy Gordon, the shooting in front of the hideout that he was trapped in wasn’t an indication of that then I don’t know what is. With so much turmoil in the Jersey Shore, we will probably see the return of Chaulky White, Richard Harrow, and Eli Thompson. They will all be key players in the clean up of this very large mess.

Sidenote: After writing this review I realized two things. One I am extremely frustrated with Margaret Schroeder’s character development and involvement in the show so far. This whole Women’s Clinic bit, while historically plausible, is getting on my last nerve. I haven’t written much about her since the series began because there really is no depth to her character this season. I really do hope that changes ’cause the woman is an amazing actress and the character deserves better than to be a ploy/filler of historical continuity.

Secondly, Mickey just needs to be whacked. I liked his character, but at this point he is more of a hindrance than a help in the overall plot for the story. I know…I know the show has already been recorded, but if I have to listen to his ridiculous laugh one more time I’m gonna strangle a fly!