What I’m Watching: Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire: Season 3, Episode 7 “Sunday Best” (B+)

It’s great to have an intimate episode like this which really provides an inside look at the workings of three separate family units: the Thompsons, the Darmodys, and the Rosettis. Eli and Nucky have had a rollercoaster relationship, and it’s fascinating to see the transformation from the beginning of their Sunday, where Eli tries to talk business and Nucky just wants a drink, to Eli telling Nucky to kill him already because he’s sick of waiting for it to happen, to Nucky calling Eli to tell him that he’s promoting him. Nucky’s juggling show was a highlight of the episode, providing a softer look at him and also allowing him to subsequently notice the qualities about Margaret that made him fall in love with her in the first place. Gyp’s home life didn’t seem too bad, but he’s clearly quite angry about his lot, as the poor priest had to discover when he checked in on him. Trying to take out both Nucky and Rothstein isn’t likely to end well for him. Richard managed to have a good time with Julia despite her father being truly awful, and it’s good to see him maintaining his relationship with Tommy. Gillian indulging her obsession with Jimmy by giving his lookalike a bath seemed twisted enough, but it turns out she wasn’t just disturbed but also quite cunning, killing him so that people will think that he is in fact Jimmy and she can finally reap the benefits of her son’s death that have eluded her this far.