Last nights episode of Boardwalk Empire was even more crazy than the week before, which is something I never thought would be possible.  Jimmy now has the power that he has been seeking and it appears that he is in position to lead his group of young gangsters.  They all have one thing in common, they have one person standing in their way from complete dominance of their respected cities.  It seems that all of them are in complete agreement that Nucky stands in the way of all of them.  While Jimmy is confident he will go to jail and therefore be out of their way, no one else shares his confidence.  Eli suggests that Nucky should be eliminated and everyone agrees.  Jimmy, hates the idea and is clearly torn up with his decision but is afraid to look weak in front of his colleagues so he carries it out but, thankfully, is unsuccessful.

Something I think we have all been waiting for since season one is to know the background of Margaret Schroeder.  There was a brief scene between Owen Slater and Katy where we discovered that Margaret’s family lived in New York City but want absolutely nothing to do with her.  They refused to speak with her on the phone, but then when she goes to visit them we understand that her and her brother had been communicating through letters.  We finally know why she left Ireland, and it happens to be the same reason why her family hasn’t wanted anything to do with her.  Knowing her background explains a lot about her character, actually it explains everything.  The attraction between her and Owen Slater was clear from the very beginning but I still just kept hoping it wouldn’t happen, but of course it did.

Owen Slater really has had an incredible day at the end of this episode.  We know a little bit about his history, and that he was some type of soldier in Ireland.  I don’t know if soldier is even the correct word to describe what he did in his homeland, maybe freedom fighter is a better term since I don’t know if you could call the group he was fighting for an army.  Anyway, he runs into someone at the bar who is also from Ireland.  They seem to be getting along alright at first, but Owen is obviously planning something from the very beginning.  The way he killed this guy in the bathroom was awesome.  As soon as he put the piano wire around the neck (at least that’s what that weapon was called in the Hitman games, which this scene totally reminded me of) and the guy was able to get his fingers in front of his throat just in time, I had a feeling his fingers would be coming off.  After a while of them fighting I thought maybe not though.  Maybe Owen is just pushing his fingers into his Adams apple hard enough that the man is still choking.  Then they show his fingers bleeding and next thing you know the just fall into the urinal and Owen has successfully killed this man.  What a great scene, no dialogue just two men fighting to the death in almost complete silence, incredible.

This episode really makes you feel sorry for Nucky.  We know that his case is no longer being handled the way he thought by Shooter McGavin and his route to getting these charges against him dropped, appears to be far more difficult.  Not only that, but he has just been shot in the hand, which is a lot better than the face, but it still hurts, and while he is being shot at Margaret is banging Owen Slater, nothing is going right for Nucky. Despite all this Nucky has one thing that is possibly in his favor and that is the arrangement he has offered Nelson.  We are left in limbo though, because we never actually see his decision.  I don’t know whether Nelson just hasn’t made a decision yet or what.  We do know that he gave all of his files on Nucky to the lady who has taken over Nelson’s office because she is the one prosecuting Nucky.  Personally I am under the impression that he gave her these files and told her about Lucy because he wants her to have no reason to think that he is secretly spying on her via Nucky’s request.  Nelson hasn’t said yes or no to Nucky yet, and while I have a hard time believing that he would actually work for Nucky, it seems as though he has no other choice.  We really don’t know what his decision is at this point, but I can’t wait until next week when we find out.