Minicap: Boardwalk Empire

More money, more problems.

It’s 1921 and Atlantic City is flush with illegal liquor, ill-gotten highway funds, gangsters, gamblers, degenerates, bootleggers, corrupt politicians, G-men, and one dreamy sniper with half his face blown off.

Nucky, comfortable in his presumed power over Atlantic City, has decided to shack up with Margaret and play the happy family man whenever he sobers up and remembers to leave the hookers at Babette’s for domestic bliss with Margaret, her mute daughter and her trouble-making son, Teddy.  He thinks the worst of his problems is dealing with Teddy and smoothing over some ambush and murder-related PR issues.  Nucky thinks wrong.

Meanwhile, Jimmy’s still the happy-go-lucky guy he’s always been now that he’s eloped with Angela and the whole extended family, including Gillian and Richard, has moved into a big house on the beach.  He’s still scheming about how to take over Atlantic City for himself and get back at Nucky for not being his father.

Van Alden gets a visit from the Missus to celebrate their anniversary where he decides to surprise her with a gift and a raid on the restaurant where they’re celebrating.  This finally gets Mrs. Van Alden to crack an emotion above despair.

Margaret’s still glum because Nucky’s Nucky and she may be his favorite mistress but he has no intention of putting a ring on it and she’s still tut-tutting him for coming home at eight in the morning while she has to deal with her kids by herself, but at least she has a maid now.

Lucy’s drunk and pregnant and waiting around for Van Alden so she can prance around and call him “Daddy,” in exchange for a large stack of bills.  Make of that what you will.

Eli’s still picking scabs over the fact that Nucky’s the boss of him.

The Commodore’s still picking scabs over the fact that at some point Nucky became the boss of him.

Richard’s taken up scrapbooking.

And then Nucky gets arrested for elections fraud.

Come back in a few days where I connect all those dots so they make sense.