Boardwalk Empire Recap: Year of the Pig

Nucky pointedly tries to diffuse the situation by telling Rosetti that he’ll comp rooms at the Ritz for him and his goons but all Rosetti wants is his 500 cases of rum. Owen tries to intervene and here’s Rosetti’s reply:

I’m about 60% offended at the offhanded bigotry but 40% amused and impressed by the sheer wit of it. Nucky doesn’t cow that easily and realizing he, once again, made an ass out of himself, Gyp implies he was joking and walks off, to the countdown to midnight, snatching the dog from one of his goons on the way upstairs.

At midnight, everyone starts celebrating as Father Time and the boxing dwarves that Nucky hires for these occasions come in as the Babies New Year. But New Year’s isn’t as aggressive as St. Patrick’s Day so they’re in a good mood. Gyp pushes his way through the crowd and zeros in on Margaret. He crouches down into her face to emphasize just how wee she is and just how threatening he is, but he just thanks her for a lovely evening and gives her the puppy as a gift for her kids. Nucky and Margaret are al WTF? but Gyp’s out of there.

Manny and Lena Dunham are celebrating the goyim New Year. He reminds her that it’s their holiday, too, since they’ve been in the States for 20 years. They sip some champagne and she pinches his cheek before excusing herself to get ready for bed. Alone, Manny doesn’t look too thrilled as he pulls out his gun to take care of Rowland Smith.

Shayna punim.

Nelson’s home and Sigrid’s up with a baby that’s way too young to be Abigail. Nelson says he thought “he” was sleeping through the night then wonders about Abigail’s cold. That answers that. No wonder he’s not as prone to outbursts of rage anymore. Sigrid’s so sweet that it seems to break the block of wood where Nelson’s heart would be and he quietly tells her he lost. She seems a little disappointed but tells him next year will be lucky. Nelson kisses Sigrid and strokes the baby’s head before telling her the flowers are for her. Sigrid just watches after Nelson and is no longer the goofy nanny who blithely told him about how she tried to nurse her little brother when she was six.

Nucky and Margaret and seeing the last of their guests, the Landaus, off and it’s all so cordial until Philip closes the door and Nucky turns on her with a vengeance. He still hasn’t forgiven her for giving the land to the church and they live completely separate lives except when he needs her to make him look respectable. She feebly tries to defend herself but Nucky doesn’t give a shit, he just wants to berate her, until he sees Teddy sitting on the stairs. He slept through the celebration and wants to know if it’s New Years, yet.

Nucky light and dark