Boardwalk Empire Recap: Richard Makes a Friend

Smith literally starts sobbing through the speech as it talks about all the virtues he lacks. Means sees Smith start to falter and is repulsed by such overt human frailty. It’s unseemly. Daugherty tries to get Smith to pull his shit together but he just starts openly weeping into his breakfast.  Realizing he’s working with a pair of greedy amateurs, Means runs up to the dais to rush Smith out of the room before he starts self-flagellating in front of a room full of minors and Daugherty excuses them by saying Smith got a bad sausage.

Before…after

Damien Teddy’s staring out the window as some randoms clean out the greenhouse and Margaret’s pleased with his penmanship homework, although his K’s need work. He tells Margaret they’re hard like he’s telling her it’s cold out and Margaret suggests they work on it together.

She mistakes his budding sociopathy with worry and tells Teddy to come sit with her. She doesn’t want him to be scared because they’re safe. Teddy’s still thinking about the gypsy. He thinks the gypsy started the fire because Nucky’s not there. Teddy wants Owen to live with them. Margaret gets all flustered and fluttery and says he can’t because he works for Nucky. Then she tells Teddy that they just need to be more careful to make sure accidents don’t happen again. Margaret doesn’t entirely miss the creepy monotone in Teddy’s voice when he says “It’s not GO-ING to happen again,” but tries to comfort him by telling him they’ll tackle the “K” after dinner.

I told you, Mama. You won’t like me when I’m angry.

Luciano’s cleaning up after fooling around with one of Gillian’s “girls” and decides to get her addicted to his heroin so she can sell it to her johns and the other girls. Before the girl can get too high, though, Gillian busts in and takes away the smack, sending the girl off to get dressed. While Charlie’s getting dressed himself, Gillian tells him that they have standards and she won’t have any of her girls dealing heroin. Charlie turns it around on Gillian and tells her they wouldn’t have to deal dope (they don’t) if she’d let them earn money by looking more like hookers and less like Miss Crabtree.

Gillian’s trying to air out the dirty sex smell from the room while Charlie’s telling her the hookers need to be sexier if they’re going to make some money. Gillian sasses that their conservative dress hasn’t slowed him down any and that she doesn’t know what she’d do without his sage words of advice. The girl comes out in her dress and I didn’t notice it the first time but she looks like she could be Gillian’s (much) younger sister. No wonder Charlie likes her.

Charlie throws some money on the bed and tells the girl he’ll see her the next time he’s in AC but Gillian tells the girl it won’t be at the Artemis Club because she’s fired. Charlie and the girl are all “Whoa, hey…” and Charlie tries to throw around his weight, saying he’s part owner, but Gillian reminds him that it’s her house. Charlie thinks he’s got a good zinger by saying he thought it was Jimmy’s and a brief moment of clarity seems to pass over Gillian’s eyes when she says it is.

I told you, Charlie. You won’t like me when I’m angry.