Loyal friends go down.
Thats life on the Boardwalk, where its too close to the ocean for tears to make much difference.
Lets start with Clayton.
Claytons what the press calls collateral damage.
Willie and Clayton slipped some kid Bucky a mickey because he put on airs.
Connected enough to bring booze to a party when the whole countrys under blue law.
If that guy doesnt have stone balls already, he knows someone who does.
In this case, Willie knows his uncle Nucky (Steve Buscemi).
The man with the plans.
Give him a little time and Nucky sees whats going on.
And what it is is this: he just went to the party.
There was booze there already.
Bucky was his good friend and wow, do you ever really know your roommate?
I mean what kind of person goes around poisoning people?
Not good people like the Thompsons who gave enough of themselves build a real community.
Willie is on his way to the inside.
He is just beginning to see that hes being groomed for something bigger.
He should listen to his Dutch uncle.
He knows his shit.
A little bit of college goes a long way in a world of crime.
He pledged his loyalty to the father of his family because Salvatore Maranzano was an educated mobster.
Most of the mobsters who made names for themselves were a little smarter than the dollar guys.
The ones whod take a dollar to rob a store.
A dollar to drive a getaway car.
A dollar to shoot someone.
Ask Ralph Capone (Domenick Lombardozzi).
Hes not in on the muscle end of business.
He makes sure the books look right.
People like Arnold Rothstein had brains and knew numbers and he became a great man.
Why shouldnt Willie Thompson?
That rage is a gift, if he knows how to use it and never gets caught.
I learned fromThe Departedthat the Irish are the only nationality immune to psychotherapy.
you might live with a lot if you bury it deep enough.
Eddies being sweated by Agent Knox (Brian Geraghty).
Eddie hasnt really done anything wrong.
He hasnt broken any laws, at least nothing that the Feds have on him.
He keeps that gun for protection against Apaches.
They run rampant on the boardwalk and you always have to be prepared.
You see, Eddie is a loyal soldier.
He believes in loyalty and honor.
He abandoned his family in Prussia because he couldnt live up to his own code.
Those kinds of things never last and Eddies kids changed their names from shame.
All that loyalty means shit, though, when youre a fucking rat.
It doesnt matter how small a detail you give up.
You give the cops something, anything, and you dont deserve to pick your boss socks.
Kind of a shame he had such a nice picture window.
I mean its a shame.
Eddie was coming along fine.
He even showed his German sense of humor.
He let himself be charmed by Bottles Capone.
And then he dropped dime on him.
Copsll do and say whatever they have to say to get criminals to talk.
The problem is that in cops eyes, everyone is either a criminal or a potential criminal.
Laws are there for a reason.
Fuck Eddie that rat.
But not Anthony Laciura, the actor.
Im going to miss him.
He surprised me with his wit and subtlety.
Thats a loyal soldier.
Every fucking thing that crawls is gonna pay
Not so loyal, though, is George Mueller.
Hes got a wild streak in him.
The faces that Michael Shannon pulls when hes so torn between everything thats tearing him apart.
Hes come so far.
Hes fallen so hard.
His wifes a little dictator and hes really not one to take dictation.
Al Capone (Stephen Graham) is right about the wild streak.
This is a powder keg sitting on an open flame.
Hes got his cop background telling him that things can be kept under control.
Its gonna blow whether you want it to or not.
Frank Capone (Morgan Spector) doesnt want it to blow.
Al Capone couldnt really give a shit.
He likes a little blow.
Hed like it even more if his inner circle would share in his energy powder.
Capones sees something in Mueller.
Hes done bad things.
Capone knows about bad things.
Hes done them himself.
Not bad things against his own boss though.
But its not a bad idea that Muellers boss has some bad things done to him.
Shit, that would be one scary soldier and that wild streak can pay off dividends.
Frank Capone is on the case.
This is a guy who can grease over anything his brother can scuff up.
This Chicago thing, its a pain in the ass.
What was wrong with Brooklyn?
They were so happy there.
If they left Brooklyn for this, they better double-check theyre getting something out of it.
Even if its only money, as Baby Face Martin says inDead End.
But you know its more.
Frank Capone really did die something like that.
He was shot down by cops right on the street in front of his brother.
A lot of cops.
They wore plain-clothes and Frank allegedly shot at one of them.
Capone will get so pissed hes gonna shoot a cop and just steal the ballot boxes.
Al threw Frank one of the biggest mob funerals Chicago had ever seen.
Lets see if Mueller delivers the flowers.
You cant bleach me out like a laundry stain
Gillian (Gretchen Mol) is fading.
Gillians loss goes past whatever she was thrust into too soon.
Gillian knows all about how to make someone disappear.
And she feels herself on the slide.
She had no bearing to lose.
She was rudderless and holding on to appearances that she only imagined shed ever seen.
The dope is just a way to stop the memories just a little bit at a time.
Tommy (Brady Noon) is her salvation and downfall.
And she knows it.
Gillian confesses to Roy Philips (Ron Livingston) that shes done terrible things.
I have a feeling that Roy knows his way around sin too.
As mysterious as she is to him, hes got secrets leaking out all over his nice Woolworths suit.
Gillian propositions the courts and Dunn Purnsley (Erik LaRay Harvey) as equals.
Roy gets it too.
He understands probably better than anyone knows but himself.
Boardwalk Empires Erlkonig was directed by Tim Van Patten and written by Howard Korder.
I loved the banter Frank throws at the muscle on the stairs on the way up to see Al.
It sounded just like thirties gangster movies without sounding like it was trying to.
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Rating:
4 out of 5