Boardwalk Empire Recap: “Ging Gang Goolie”

The following recap contains spoilers

by Veronique Medrano:

Boardwalk Empire Recap: “Ging Gang Goolie”
Original Air Date (HBO): Sunday October 21, 2012
Season 2 Episode 6

Nope…no more! Every time I’m expecting something bombastic I get a complete waste of excitement. I don’t like this rollercoaster that plays with my emotions dangitt! 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).

Teddy Thompson, Margaret Schroeder’s son, may have been implicated/caused the fire in the greenhouse, but damn to I wish they had just set fire to this whole damn episode. After such an astounding buildup last week, this episode is by all means a filler. While many may argue that the important characters this week were Nucky, Margaret, and Gillian; I feel differently. The characters to watch for this episode was Gaston Means, Owen Sleater, and Richard Harrow .

Gaston Means is one sneaky little snake in the grass, and that is a compliment. So far Means has been the middleman being paid by Nucky to make sure that Attorney General Harry Daugherty. Nucky tries to pay Means the required payment for safety, but finds out he has paced his bags and left, which tips him off to something nasty headed his way.  We eventually find Means at a Boys Scouts of America conference having to do some damage control as Daugherty’s aide Jess Smith starts to breakdown; guilty over their theft and corruption.  Means is later told by Daughterty that he needs to teach Nucky, who left him after a harsh heart to heart, a lesson in civics.

Nucky, soon after that conversation, just so happens to get arrested by a pair of Justice Department agents who are careful to mention that Daugherty sent them, and he is arrested for the minor Volstead Act violation.  Means returns again, in voice only, during a phone call made to Billie’s apartment, where he states that he will put Nucky in touch with someone who can aid him against Daugherty in exchange for the protection money Nucky had been paying Daugherty. Nucky invites Means to Atlantic City. After hanging up Means, Nucky tells Billie that the phonecall was nothing to worry her pretty little head about. (sound familiar) It hasn’t been quite unclear who’s side Means is on, but we can assume there has to be an ulterior motive for his actions. Could he be setting Nucky up to fail or will he become a much needed ally with Gylk (Gyp+Hulk) on the loose?

Owen Sleater has been quite the box of mystery! Ever since we’ve been introduced to him, he’s seemed to be inching his way into the space that Nucky has left behind due to his other ‘engagements’.  Sleater was quickly at the scene of the fire, and after some snooping around deduces (supposedly) that the fire was caused by a vagrant who was trying to keep warm, so mystery solved and all is well again. Margaret doesn’t seem to convinced on the matter, but she has some bigger fish to fry (i.e her marriage with Nucky) but after a phone call from Nucky in which he said he was “detained in Washington,” (how true) and she tells him they need to talk when he gets home because “Things can’t go on like this, every which way.”

Margaret is up in her room and hears a noise. She goes to the window and sees a light in the greenhouse. Her first instinct is to call Owen, but Kate says he isn’t there. She then loads a shotgun and goes to investigate, but  finds Owen in the greenhouse who tells her that Nucky was worried so he asked him to come over.Margaret again questions the idea that a vagrant was in her greenhouse trying to ‘stay warm’ believing her son to be the one who started the fire, but she gets caught up in a burst of hormones, asks some stupid ‘Gone With Wind’ questions and has sex with Owen Sleater once more. (eye roll)

Finally we end our character overview with, Richard Harrow. While he has gotten the short end of the stick this season, in my honest opinion, this episode he shines. Harrow chills at a Veterans bar, and witnesses a bar fight between to ornery vets. He waits with the older Veteran who lost the fight, and after he is picked up by his daughter he realizes that the vet left his jacket and medal behind. Harrow, then goes to the man’s house  and returns the items.  Harrow meets the vet’s daughter at the door,and speaks briefly with her. She tells him that the medal is actually her dad’s brother’s who died just before the end of the war. Her father can’t get over the loss. She asks if he has family and after he tells her that he has a sister he is close with, she tells him that the sister is lucky to have him back. Sadly this young woman would give anything to have her brother back in any shape, while Harrow’s sister can’t stand to look at him and his disfigurement. This really adds a layer to Harrow, that makes him more human such as the story of Harrow and Angela Darmody last season.

My final thoughts on this episode:

While it may seem ridiculous that I was angry over the speed of this episode, I would have you remember the misleading trailer and overall ‘filler’ feel of this episode. I hope that next week’s episode is not more Chit Chatting and a little more Bang Banging. Just sayin’. Leave your comments on this week’s episode in the comment box below!