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This week’s episode: A Man, a Plan begins with booze washing up on the beaches, reminding fans that prohibition was a great big party. King Neptune himself got in on the action. We check in with lots of characters this week. Van Alden is making his way in Chicago. Lansky and Luciano explore new partnership opportunities. Margaret contemplates bittersweet endings and new beginnings. Gaston Means looks to tie up some loose ends, and Chalky White cogitates on a new venture.

You can learn a lot while watching Boardwalk Empire. I’ve learned a bunch about hairstyles, fashion, food, and music of the 1930’s. HBO always does their research. So far in Season Three, I’ve learned a bit about how to distill booze, the easiest way to murder someone in a bathtub, and that it actually takes a long time for a man on fire to die. This week, I learned that peccadilloes are tiny faults or foibles. I also learned about Rogue Waves. This season, Boardwalk Empire is deeply affected by rogue waves.

When the wind shifts

Waves crash into each other

From different directions.

When they do,

They make giant waves.

This has been a season for rogue waves. Italians, Jews, Poles, Irishmen, even the Norwegians are coming at each other from different directions. It’s gonna be a full-scale war, and giant waves are gonna be taking people out. Van Alden has found a buyer for the surplus booze his wife has been producing. Gaston Means has noticed a need to silence Jess Smith, and calls Nucky to make the arrangements.

Owen proposes to Katie to quell her suspicions about he and Margaret. I gotta say, I didn’t care for that. And I didn’t like not knowing whether or not Owen was trustworthy. Not sure why it especially hit me this week, but it did. When Owen tells Katie that “we’ll discuss it later,” I found myself wondering if this was an HBO mob equivalent to Kevin Williamson’s I’ll be right back. I was sad to see how right I was.

Nucky calls a few guys in for a meeting. Mickey Doyle is STILL alive. I still can’t believe it. Nucky wants Mickey to go to Philly and get things started at Mellon’s new distillery. It needs to be running ASAP. Mickey is bummed, but he agrees to go. Owen Slater is instructed to kill Joe Massaria, and decides to do this with just himself and one other man. Nucky isn’t sure that’s enough, but trusts Slater’s judgment. Trusting Owen may not be the best move for Nucky, since Owen is about to skip town with Mrs. Thompson. Eli is being sent to make nice with Johnny Torio, and to bring back an army.

Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano are seeking a new partner for their budding heroin business. They approach Arnold Rothstein, who likes the idea but doesn’t want to do anything until the war between Massaria and Nucky Thompson has a clear winner. Disappointed, the pair goes to Massaria himself. After some cajoling and bocce ball, it really does look like they’re going to work together. All I can think of is Don Vito Corleone saying how the drug business would destroy the mafia in the years to come. He was a true visionary!

Margaret heads to the hospital with her bodyguard in tow. Her parenting education class was canceled by the hospital. Even the bitchy nurse admitted that the class was “very educational.” The young doctor was inspired to start his own class, but Margaret was reticent to commit to it. She got the diaphragm she wanted, and one for Mrs. Shearer. It looks as if we may never see the handsome young doctor again. That would be a shame.

When Van Alden returns to his booze patron, Capone’s men take him by force. They question him about selling booze for O’Banion, and demand to know everything about O’Banion’s operation. Look for a tense moment when Van Alden gets a little cheek-intensive karmic-payback. I feel bad for Nelson, but that’s probably just because Michael Shannon’s performance is so damn good.

Harrow is still enjoying Julia’s company, now with more smooches. Her father is still a drunken asshole. Sagorsky doesn’t seem pleased that his daughter’s beau can and will choke the shit out of anyone who insults her. You’d think that would be a plus. Julia made a very telling comment about how every boy needs a father. I’m wondering/hoping Harrow steals Tommy away from Jillian. I’d love to see the three of them just leave town together and be their own family. Remember how upset Harrow was when Jimmy Darmody suggested he settle down with a wife and family? Harrow thought Jimmy was mocking him. Now he knows better. Yay!

Chalky White pays Nucky a visit, and pitches a grand idea to build his own club on the site that was Babette’s. Suggesting black performers and a white audience, it seems like a big moneymaker. Nucky tells Chalky no, rather rudely I thought. Chalky is understandably upset and insulted by the time he leaves, causing him to tell Nucky that he ain’t the only one be thinkin’.

Jess Smith is having a terrible time. Already wracked with guilt, he’s being hounded by everyone who’s afraid he’ll talk to the federal prosecutors. Gaston Means sets him up to look crazy. Dougherty is worried, and tells Smith that they can both just leave politics forever and be done with it. Jess seems comforted by that—for a little while. Means sneaks into Smiths room to kill him, prompting a heartbroken Smith to assume Dougherty put a hit out on him. Gaston merely watches as Smith shoots himself, taking care of problems for many characters with a single bullet. Jess Smith was an honorable man who was talked into a single mistake, and died falsely believing his best friend had betrayed him. Tragedy at its finest. If only that had been the worst tragedy of the week…

Gyp Rosetti is still a terrible person. I was amazed that he let Mr. Rogue Waves live the first time he spoke out of turn. What he ended up doing to that guy was not just straight out of Creepshow. It was a tremendous insult to a loyal employee, and an all-around dick move from a guy who’s famous for dick moves. I’m going to be very disappointed if Gyp does not meet a terrible fate in the next two weeks.

Eddie Kessler wakes Nucky in the middle of the damn night to receive a mysterious oversize crate. They pry it open to find Owen’s corpse. Nucky and Eddie are horrified, but Margaret completely loses herself in sobbing and fury toward Nucky. She clearly assumed her husband had Owen killed. Nucky looked genuinely confused as to why his wife would be so upset over the death of his driver. That’s when we learn for sure that Margaret is pregnant, the baby is Owen’s, and she and Owen really were going to run away together. It would have been very romantic, if it weren’t for those goddamn Italians.

This was a good episode, with lots of great drama, tragedy, and blood. Only two more eps left this season. Death ahoy!

See you’s next week!

–Wednes