'You Sent a Message All Right -- That You're Idiots': Boardwalk Empire Recapped

Attention 14-year-old boys of all ages: Paz de la Huerta returned to Boardwalk Empire last night after a brief absence, and if you were hoping that she'd end up naked and riding Michael Shannon's Nelson Van Alden (while calling him "daddy"), you're in luck! Because that happened. Let's skip down the yellow brick road and assess the damage from "The Emerald City."

So, yes: Nelson got his freak on with Lucy -- too bad Shannon didn't talk about filming that scene -- but only after striking out with Margaret by telling her that he wanted to save her from burning in hell. (Nothing says "love" like talk of hellfire and damnation.) But while Nelson's rushed arc throughout "The Emerald City" -- which member of Dorothy's entourage does he represent? The Cowardly Lion? -- was a very nice contrast with the relationship between Nucky and Margaret, the crux of the episode dealt with the increasingly violent Jimmy.

Back in Atlantic City and free from the murder charges that dogged him last week -- ah, crooked cops -- Jimmy was free to be Jimmy. That meant having sex with Angela (but not in a rape-y way), playing with his son, and beating who he thought was Angela's lover to a pulp. Poor, smug photographer jerk! That's what you get for shunning Angela last week. Never mind that it was your wife who was Angela's "kissing friend." Also: Jimmy still doesn't know Angela is a lesbian. Alas, maybe next week.

Jimmy also did a bit of murdering, killing the first of the Stupid D'Alessio brothers with a shot to the head (CGI blood splatter isn't just for The Walking Dead). That moment, with Nucky on hand to confront his failed assassins, was one of the most matter-of-fact and chilling on Boardwalk Empire to date. Jimmy shot Mouthy D'Alessio without a second thought, and Nucky just stood and watched, unmoved. He isn't half-a-gangster anymore.

Which brings us to Margaret, who was busy going down her own rabbit hole of iniquity. Spurred on by Nucky, she not only imbibed a bit of champagne to celebrate the passing of women's suffrage, but Margaret also became part of the political machine by pushing Nucky's patsy mayoral candidate on the women of Atlantic City. Margaret has learned a valuable lesson through the first season of Boardwalk Empire: Give the people what they want. Exactly what she wants remains to be seen, but perhaps some slightly better writing and a bit more development will help her in season two. Besides, Boardwalk Empire needs to keep the one female character that isn't just there to take her clothes off continually layered.

Of course, there were other machinations and advances during "The Emerald City" -- Chalky came back and got vengeance for his lynched driver; Nucky made his plans known indirectly to Arnold Rothstein -- but basically it just set the pieces into place for what should be a bang-up final two episodes. Yes, history is an enemy here -- we know that Rothstein doesn't die until 1928, so anything that Atlantic City's great and powerful wizard wants to set in motion against him won't succeed -- but that doesn't mean it won't be fun watching them fail.

More important though, Boardwalk Empire has finally revealed itself for what it is: An overstuffed with riches polemic on political power, and the lengths to which men will go to keep it. That's great -- this isn't The Sopranos and doesn't want to be -- but if it had better writing, it would be even greater. You'll notice I didn't waste a sentence discussing Al Capone learning to become a man from a Bar Mitzvah, or Richard Harrow joking about being the Tin Man. Apologies to both Stephen Graham and Jack Huston -- especially Huston, who is simply wonderful -- but those scenes were better suited for Screenwriting 101 than an acclaimed HBO drama. Boardwalk Empire has the tools to do whatever it wants as a series; let's hope the final episodes in season one amount to more than just a really sharp looking bookcase.