What I’m Watching: Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire: Season 2, Episode 4 “What Does the Bee Do?” (B+)

In this installment, we have a number of relationships redefined. The most intriguing one has to be the Commodore and Gillian, who spend the opening moments and closing moments together, with Gillian in surprising control during both. The Commodore’s stroke isn’t enormously surprising, but the ending scene is rather shocking, as Gillian recounts their horrific first meeting and gets revenge on him by slapping him continuously as the show fades to black. She’s one character who is certainly independent-minded, and we haven’t yet seen her in this light, interacting mostly with Jimmy in the past. Eli seems particularly distressed by the Commodore’s condition, and Nucky seems to have gotten a break in more ways than one. It was almost possible to see the light bulb appear when the idea of how to get Nucky off was introduced. Margaret and Nucky seem to have very different ideas about how to deal with their money, especially when it comes to dealing with the housekeeping staff. Fresh out of jail, Chalky seems to be having some trouble re-acclimating to life on the outside, and people don’t seem too happy with him either. Nelson’s underlings have gotten themselves into a world of trouble trying to tail their boss and catch him in the act, something for which I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to exercise punishment. Richard posing for and opening up to Angela was quite an interesting, unprecedented moment of bonding for two fringe characters. It was also great to see Jimmy try on some Yiddish to impress William Forsythe’s Horwitz in Philadelphia.