Boardwalk Empire Recap: Richard Makes a Friend

He doesn’t think either of them will remember that as their finest hour but tells her that Daugherty is set to indict him. Esther’s still sassing him, telling him she’ll root for the home team but Nucky wonders who that is. The AG who set her up by assigning her Nucky’s case then blaming her when it all fell apart? Esther gets steely when she reminds him how it all magically worked out for him but he admits that she pushed him into that corner. She wonders if she should be flattered but Nucky says he wants to offer her George Remus instead.

Esther knows who Remus is, she knows how closely he connects to Daugherty and she knows Daugherty will never approve pursuing that indictment. Nucky says they’ll get it sanctioned by someone higher in the food chain, since he also personally took care of Harding’s little mistress and baby issue during the campaign, and it would be a career making case for the right attorney. He tells her the real crooks are upstairs in the DoJ but Esther’s still clinging to the rightness of the law and thinks accusing Daugherty of corruption is a serious matter. Nucky knows he’s not breaking any news to her.

She doesn’t think Harding would agree to go after Daugherty, but Nucky says he’s “working on it.” Esther goes silent and Nucky tells her she has to admit that he, at least, piqued her interest. She counters that maybe she’s just hungry. Nucky makes a cheap metaphor and leaves, stopping to buy a paper, as Esther reminds him to “say hello to MRS. Thompson” for her. Yeah, she hasn’t been nursing that wound for the last year and a half.

Maybe I can take them all down.

ACK! MY EYES!! Give a girl some warning when you’re going to switch to porn mode. Not that there’s anything wrong with porn I just want to choose if and when I’m almost going to look that closely at someone else’s lady bits, you know? Also, dirty feet. Anyway, Gillian’s back at Roger’s dank little boarding house and fucking her pain away. Roger finishes and collapses on Gillian who seems happy until she says that he’s “taking her back” and I remember Princeton. Luckily for Roger he doesn’t so he just lights up a cigarette.

Roger still can’t believe Gillian’s “29.” She wonders if it matters and it doesn’t. He’s just never been with an older woman. Or one who made him dizzy like her. Gillian’s flattered and tells him he’s a gentleman then asks how long he’ll be at the boarding house. Only through the end of the week, then he’s broke. Gillian hints that she’ll see if she can find a job for him then asks him if he had a nickname back home. No, he was always just Roger. Gillian gets the crazy eye, saying she’ll call him James, then. GAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Roger doesn’t get just how very sad, wrong and creepy that is so he asks why James. Gillian gets a little wistful but tells him because James was a king. Before she can go too far down that rabbit hole, though, Roger’s ready to go again because he’s very young and his rebound time is short.

How do you feel about calling me “Ma?”