Nucky and Margaret are out on another double date with Harry and Annabelle. This time they’re at a show for Hardeen, Houdini’s brother who we’ve heard so much about. Apparently he’s not quite as adept at the escape arts as his brother, since he’s been working on extricating himself for a strait jacket for six and a half minutes. Even the assistant has lost all pretense of enthusiasm as she stands and gestures in front of the sign that actually says, “Houdini’s Brother!” I imagine expectations for entertainment were different than they were today, but something about this reminds me of what it must be like to see Gallagher’s brother’s routine. Hardeen finally escapes and the audience gives him a tepid ovation. Margaret starts to stand but sits back down when she realizes that she was the only person to be rooting for the guy.
Jimmy and Angela sit silently at the table. Jimmy wants to know what’s on Angela’s mind, but she replies that she’s not sure if she was even thinking. I guess that’s code for, “Thinking of taking the kid to Paris with my girlfriend.” Jimmy goes to answer the phone. His end of the conversation consists of indifference and “What do you want me to do about it?” He informs Angela that that was Gillian informing him that his father is dying. Ah, finally, we can surmise the identity of Jimmy’s father: the Commodore.
Van Alden is sitting silently across from Sebso at a Chinese restaurant. He’s still irritated about Sebso getting off with killing Winslow and is now suspicious of everything about him, like his ability to use chopsticks and his taste for chop suey. He asks some more questions about Winslow’s death, poking even more holes in Sebso’s Swiss cheese account of events.
Back at Nucky’s suite, Hardeen is performing some tricks for Margaret, Nucky, Annabelle, Harry, and a few other guests. They make some jokes and giggle until Harry explodes, ranting that his “investment” with a guy named Charles Ponzi has ruined him. After a minute or two he finally notices Annabelle staring at him with such intense hatred that I’m surprised her eyes didn’t burn a hole in his head. He tries to insist that they’ll be fine, but Annabelle storms out. Ah, Harry. You will not be the last man to fall to Ponzi’s legacy.
The Commodore’s dog has met his demise and is now resting in a coffin in the Commodore’s bedroom. The maid startles him awake when she checks to make sure that he’s still breathing and informs him that he has a visitor. It’s Jimmy, who saunters in looking unimpressed, to say the least. He’s not the biggest fan of the Commodore, going all the way back to when he impregnated Gillian when he was 54 and she was 13. Jimmy eats one of the cookies that the Commodore offers and listens as he pants through a brief history of Atlantic City. He was responsible for making it a destination and feels that the wrong man is running the town, implying that perhaps Jimmy should be at the helm. Jimmy storms out and rushes to the bathroom, where he pukes something green and awful.
Rothstein calls his attorney about the news that so many of the White Sox are being indicted. It’s not looking good for Rothstein and his lawyer thinks he should come to Chicago, the lion’s den, to testify.
Angela is at the photography studio whispering with Mary about plans for their departure. Robert stumbles in on crutches and Angela leaves. He asks Mary what they were talking about. Mary insists it was just girl talk. She gives him a soft kiss on his cheek looking somewhat wistful. Uh oh.
Nucky is irritated to receive a call from Sebso, who is really worried about Van Alden’s incessant questioning. Nucky tells him to drum up a distraction and tells him about a distillery somewhere out in the woods. After he hangs up, Eddie leads Annabelle in, who is furious because Harry has taken the $3,682 that she had stashed under her floorboards. Nucky isn’t too sympathetic since she stole the money bit by bit from Harry in the first place. Annabelle works up some tears over her daughter and Nucky gives her $300 to see her through the summer, much like how he did when Margaret first came to him. Annabelle tries to sweet talk him into giving a little more, hinting at their past sexcapades, but they’re interrupted by Margaret, who has been standing in the doorway long enough to overhear. She informs Nucky that she had already given Annabelle $50. Annabelle leaves and Margaret coolly informs Nucky that the League of Women Voters have officially endorsed Bader for mayor.
Jimmy visits with Gillian and is surprised to learn that she’s been corresponding and visiting with the Commodore. She explains that he was very concerned when Jimmy enlisted since his brother died at the Battle of Vicksburg. Nucky used to take Gillian to see the Commodore, making him essentially her pimp. But Gillian doesn’t really see it that way. Nucky was a young, ambitious sheriff, employed by the Commodore, and had a wife and plans to start a family. She shakes her head at Mrs. Thompson’s demise, a “tragedy,” she says. I wonder what happened? She tells Jimmy that she’ll be meeting the doctor at the Commodore’s house because no one deserves to die alone.
Van Alden and Sebso are driving through the woods, looking for the distillery that Nucky told Sebso about. They’re not finding it, but come across a congregation by the river bank about to start baptismal services. Van Alden questions them and the reverend presiding over the services insists that they’re not breaking any laws. Despite his apparent distaste for their venue, Van Alden allows them to continue. He sneers at Sebso who, in addition to being shady about Winslow’s death, has the audacity to be Jewish. Van Alden is the biggest pain-in-the-ass psycho boss ever.
Jimmy arrives at the Commodore’s house and finds Gillian trying to feed him some soup. The doctor is examining the Commodore’s rotting feet and finds out from the maid that he hasn’t even urinated in days. It’s as though every single organ of his is failing. The doctor wants to run some tests and needs a lock of the Commodore’s hair. As the doctor heads toward him with scissors, he panics, certain that the doctor is trying to kill him. Jimmy steps in and calms him, allowing the doctor to gather the hair sample. The Commodore gazes at Jimmy and says that he is a good son. Uncomfortable with the affection, Jimmy releases himself from the Commodore’s grasp and instructs Gillian to go home and rest while he stays the night.
Nucky and Margaret are getting ready to go to a campaigning event for the Daughters of the American Revolution. Margaret is less than enthused, especially since the DAR were against suffrage and aren’t that thrilled about immigrants and in light of Nucky’s conversation with Annabelle. Nucky is a little irritated by her self-righteousness, noting that if she were such a good person, she wouldn’t be where she is right now. Margaret pulls out the big guns, telling Nucky that she has a pretty good idea about how her husband came to be dead in that fishing net. Nucky can’t figure out why Margaret cares since her husband beat her and murdered her unborn baby. He goes ballistic, grabbing the Lysol from the bathroom and calling Margaret a whore for preventing pregnancy. Margaret shouts that she won’t be having anymore children and Nucky counters that it isn’t her right to decide that. OHHHHHH IT’S ON NOW, DUDE! Margaret spits that it’s not like they’re married and if he thought he was getting an heir out of her he can shove that up his ass. Nucky smashes the Lysol bottle and screams that Margaret won’t be needing that anymore.
Richard goes to see Jimmy at the Commodore’s house. He’s been tracking the D’Alessios and has found a mother, some sisters, and a non-gangster brother who he offers to kill to get the D’Alessios they’re after to show themselves. Jimmy wants to think on that for awhile. The doctor needs to speak with Jimmy anyway. The test results are in and the Commodore is practically 90% arsenic at this point. He’s being poisoned.
Angela is packing her suitcase and tells Tommy that they’re going sailing with Aunt Mary. Tommy is obviously unsure about the whole thing and asks if Jimmy or Gillian or going to. Angela tells him that neither Jimmy nor Gillian like Paris so it will be just be them and Mary. She leaves a note on the bed for Jimmy, then rushes Tommy out the door with his teddy bear. Sniff.
Nucky goes to visit Eli and talk about his argument with Margaret. Eli freaks out when Nucky reveals that Margaret kinda sorta knows about her husband and that he didn’t really deny anything. Eli points out that he has 8 kids to take care of and that Nucky needs to tend to business better. Nucky storms out but not with out comparing Eli to Hardeen, who is only famous because he’s Houdini’s brother. Oh, SNAP!
Jimmy goes to see Gillian and oh so casually asks about how much money the Commodore has and other stuff, like, you know, who would inherit that money and how that might be relevant to her interests. Then, you know, tells Gillian that she can do what she wants, whatever, no judgment, it’s just that Jimmy found a can of poison in the garbage, and he had maybe, kinda gotten sick after eating a cookie. Not accusing you of anything, Gillian, just saying. Gillian looks sheepish, though I guess maybe she and the maid were in cahoots? Didn’t the Commodore get violently ill after eating something that the maid had fixed for him, too?
At his suite, Nucky stands and watches, somewhat disgusted, as the ward bosses, Bader, and Halloran joke like there isn’t a huge election coming up. Nucky scolds them and says that the Democrats have an excellent chance of stealing the election since the people want reform. As such, Eli has resigned and Halloran will be running for sheriff. Everyone’s like, “Uh…okay.” Richard calls Nucky to Margaret’s house, which is now empty. She had sent Richard on an errand and was gone when he returned. Nucky spots the bracelet that he gave her resting on a table. It would be totally awesome if Margaret ran off to start a radical feminist organization.
Angela and Tommy stride up to the photography studio, which now has a for rent sign in the window. There’s no one there but the property manager, who informs Angela that the Dittrichs left in the middle of the night. He doesn’t know where they went, but says that the wife always talked about Paris. Tommy runs up to Angela and hands her a photograph of a couple who I’m pretty sure are the Dittrichs. “Look, Mommy! Ghosts!” he squeals. Angela gropes around trying to find the knife in her back.
Sebso tells Van Alden that he’s put in for a transfer to Detroit, which prompts Van Alden to start peppering him with questions again. Sebso says that this is exactly why he doesn’t like working for Van Alden, but offers to do whatever Van Alden wants to restore his faith in him. Van Alden drags Sebso back to the riverbank where, luckily, another baptism ceremony is underway (did they get the schedule from the reverend before they left last time?). Van Alden wants Sebso to be baptized, to wash away his sins and accept Jesus as his savior. Sebso reluctantly climbs into the water, but gets extremely uncomfortable when Van Alden insists on performing the baptism. In front of at least 40 witnesses, Van Alden drowns Sebso when he refuses to accept Jesus, then marches through the stunned crowd and, I don’t know, heads into the woods to start a militia or bomb a federal building or something.
Angela and Tommy return home. She looks for the letter on the bed but it’s gone. Jimmy startles them and does a good job of acting like everything’s fine for Tommy. He puts Tommy into bed and tells him that Angela will tuck him in. Angela sobs.
Nucky and Eddie are strolling along the boardwalk when Nucky stops and goes into Lady Jean’s, the fortune teller. The sign on her window advertises her advice in business and in love, which are both areas where Nucky is hurting at the moment.
Season finale next week!
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