Macall B. Polay / HBOIt's taken three episodes, but Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is finally showing real signs of guilt for what he did to Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt). Whether the emotional crisis is enough to fuel a thaw between Nucky and Margaret (Kelly MacDonald) remains to be seen. The two do go on a date—of sorts—but it's not exactly romantic.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Even Nucky Thompson Can't Turn Down Appointments With Saints: Margaret (Kelly MacDonald) is still hounding Nucky to at least pretend to be a pillar of society, and Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale) is putting equal pressure on Nucky's hootch business. Something's gotta give. Nucky offers Gyp a month's supply of hooch in exchange for backing off the New York/Atlantic City roadways, and it seems to work. (Translation: It will work for less than one episode.) Meanwhile, Gyp invites Nucky to accompany him to the Artemis Club for some fun with the dames, but Bille Kent (Meg Chambers Steedle), it appears, is the only woman on his mind. Too bad she's (almost) never at home when Nucky calls. Eventually, Nucky caves and lets Mags drag him to his knighthood ceremony at the church. While there, he sees a choir boy who appears to a gunshot wound on his face—a clear sign that Nucky is struggling with his decision to off Jimmy.
"George" Is One Steamed Iron Salesman: The agent formerly known as Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon) is still trying to make it as an iron salesman, even though his fellow salesmen have made him the butt of their collective jokes and drag him to a speakeasy where they all promptly get busted. Van Alden bribes the cop into letting him go.
Gyp Has a Crush: Over at the Artemis Club, Gillian (Gretchen Mol) seems to having trouble turning a profit. Perhaps it's fortunate that Gyp is there to lend a sympathetic ear, especially given that Gil's business partner Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) isn't offering much aid. Hey, Lucky's got his own problems; his protégé Benny (Michael Zegen), thinks he knows everything there is to know about the heroin business, which means he will be beaten up before the first half is over. The beating comes courtesy of that long-simmering business rivalry between Luciano and Joe Masseria (Ivo Nandi).
Shouldn't Fib, Mickey: Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) learns from a rum runner that Mickey Doyle (Paul Sparks) is taking credit for his skillful assassination of Manny Horvitz (William Forsythe). Harrow drags Doyle to Nucky's at gunpoint to, um, correct the record, which, if you're counting, is 63 kills.
And...We Called It: Remember how we just said that Gyp's détente with Nuck wouldn't last long? Yeah. Gyp just set a local cop on fire. Then he announced he wasn't going back to New York. One month's worth of hootch doesn't buy much with Gyp, we guess.
ONE-LINERS
"You're a man who can find an insult in a bouquet of roses." —Nucky Thompson
"I could christen you with a bottle of champagne." —Eli Thompson
"I haven't seen my wife in days. I mean, it builds up. Not healthy." —Gyp Rosetti
"Who the f--k is Nucky Thompson to wish me good luck?" —Gyp Rosetti