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Written by 'Empire' showrunner and co-creator Terence Winter; "Acres of Diamonds" progresses the story this season significantly as we shift the locale down to the swampy south.

(HBO)

THIS WEEK: Written by 'Empire' showrunner and co-creator Terence Winter; "Acres of Diamonds" progresses the story this season significantly as we shift the locale down to the swampy south. The episode was directed by veteran 'Empire' helmer Alan Coulter. His tally of shows thus far? A robust seven. As if the guy wasn't busy enough, Coulter also directed two episodes of the Emmy-nominated and critically-acclaimed "House of Cards" last year.

Some key events:

• Nucky takes a small jaunt down south to Tampa to investigate the prospective land deal cooked up by his former bootleggin' boat captain, Bill McCoy.

• Eli’s son Willie Thompson finds an unlikely pal in Mickey Doyle as he uses a case of Rye to have some "extracurricular" fun at Temple University.

• Gillian Darmody continues to latch onto supermarket executive Roy Phillips and poses as his wife in order to impress another supermarket honcho.

• A dangerous piece of the recent past catches up with transplanted killer Richard Harrow.

• While in Tampa, Nucky meets salt-of-the-Earth speakeasy owner Sally Wheet and is quickly intrigued by her nature.

• Dr. Valentin Narcisse entices Chalky White to book his new alluring blues singer Daughter Maitland at the Onyx. But why?

'Boardwalk Empire' Recap / Season 4, Episode 3 / 'Acres of Diamonds'

We fade in.

We open on long corridor. Two goons escort Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) into his hotel room in Tampa. He inspects the large ornate quarters and looks out the window. (Note: This is the second-like shot we've seen of Nuck looking out or over onto something. The last time we saw this was in the first episode in The Onyx Club when he was looking through a window upon the stage before his meeting with the New York goon squad).

Later, Nuck meets with Captain Bill McCoy (Pearce Bunting) at the hotel's outdoor cafe. McCoy has appeared throughout all three seasons and has been Nuck's trusted ally as a bootlegger and boat captain ('Empire' trivia: McCoy was the first character in the first scene of the first episode). After some small talk about McCoy's booze operation, the captain asks Nucky if he read the prospectus.

"It's a sweet deal, Nuck..." McCoy adds. Nucky says that he's tired and could use some rest and a shower. McCoy says that 'Tucker' is very excited to meet him.

"Most people are... Until they do," Nuck retorts. (1)

(1) So where is Nucky staying? This from user 'ChipDoc' in our forum: "There is only ONE hotel in Tampa which Nucky would even consider patronizing. It's the Tampa Bay Hotel, built between 1888-1891 by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant to serve as a destination attraction for his railroad. A 500-room Moorish palace, basically anyone who was anyone stayed there when they were in Tampa including Teddy Roosevelt when the Rough Riders were staging their invasion of Cuba. Babe Ruth signed his first baseball contract in the hotel's grand dining room in the spring of 1914. From the 1890s until the 1930s it was one of THE great resort hotels of the world. It's still there, although these days it serves as a part of the campus of the University Of Tampa. Take the tour if you're in town." ~ Thanks, ChipDoc.

On the family farm in Wisconsin, Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) buries his gun — perhaps more as a symbolic cleansing than anything else.

In Harlem, Dr. Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) addresses a small contingent of African-American men in his office. He speaks of the importance of education in "uplifting our people" and "The new Negro must be tutored in thought and culture." Notice the banner for the Universal Negro Improvement Association the background. (2)

Is Marcus Garvey one of the inspirations for Dr. Narcisse?

(2) PBS tells us that Marcus Garvey, at the age of 28 founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association on July 20, 1914. "The U.N.I.A. was originally conceived as a benevolent or fraternal reform association dedicated to racial uplift and the establishment of educational and industrial opportunities for blacks, taking Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute as a model. By 1916, New York became the headquarters of the movement. The Harlem branch started with 17 members meeting in a dingy basement. But by the spring of 1918, Garvey's strong advocacy of black economic and political independence had taken hold, and U.N.I.A. branches and divisions were springing up in cities and towns across the country, and then in different parts of the world. By 1920 Garvey claimed nearly a thousand local divisions in the United States, the Caribbean, Central America, Canada and Africa." Read more HERE.

Narcisse soon excuses the men because he's told he has guests. A moment later, Cotton Club owner and gangster Owney Madden enters with Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlberg). Rothstein cuts right to the chase.

"Mr. Madden tells me you're interested in heroin," he says.

"As a commodity, yes..." Narcisse answers. He also tells Rothstein that he wants to expand to other 'Libyan' markets.

"Libyan?" Rothstein asks.

"That's what he calls the coloreds," Madden says interpreting. He goes on to vouch for Narcisse, who asks for twenty pounds of uncut heroin. Rothstein says that it will cost him $80,000 in cash.

"Large bills only," Rothstein instructs.

Narcisse is offended at the notion that Rothstein assumes he'd pay with anything but. "It's my understanding you control the local numbers racket," Rothstein tells him.

"Therefore I transact my business like a schoolboy..." Narcisse says. "Dealing in pennies, nickels and dimes." Rothstein says that he didn't mean to offend.

"Nonetheless, you succeeded despite yourself." Narcisse darts back.

Rothstein says that his associate "Mr. Diamond" will be in touch. (3)

Gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond

(3) Jack "Legs" Diamond was a mobster of the most notorious order. Biography tells us that he received his storied nickname either due to his jackrabbit-like speed when running from the cops or those slick dancing moves he'd show off at various Manhattan speakeasies. Says Bio.com, "With alcohol smuggling a profitable underworld enterprise, Diamond organized truck heists to seize liquor for his speakeasies. In 1923, Diamond ordered the murder of mob boss Nathan "Kid Dropper" Kaplan and usurped power in the world of organized crime for himself, aligning himself with mobsters like Lucky Luciano and Dutch Schultz. (Diamond and Schultz would later become rivals.)" Read more HERE.

After they shake on the deal, Rothstein leaves.

Narcisse tells Madden that Daughter Maitland (Margot Bingham), a singer at The Cotton Club, will be needed elsewhere (we assume The Onyx Club). Madden couldn't care less and tells Narcisse to have Dickie Pastor swing by with her replacement.

Narcisse says, "God will bring every deed into judgement ... With every secret thing either good or evil." (*) He stirs his tea and says, "Mr. Pastor will not be returning."

(*) For those keeping score, that's Ecclesiastes 12:14

Back on the Harrow farm, Richard and Emma (Katherine Waterson) speak with her brother-in-law Hubert, a big galoot of a gravel salesman, the well-meaning type. We get the sense that he's there to take care of Emma out of obligation (since she's a widow), but also that he cares for her as well.

He talks Harrow's ear off — calling him 'Rick — the entire time. He offers to come up on Saturday to help clear out the barn. Emma tells him that there's no need because Richard will do it. She goes on to tell Hubert that that he should probably "call first" when he visits. He says that her delicious treats will keep him coming back.

When he leaves, Emma and Richard playfully joke by taking a jab at 'ol Hubert and mock the conversation he was having. It's a very sweet (if uncharacteristic) moment for the twins.

"He's not so bad," Emma says. "Is he?"

"As a brother in law?" Richard asks.

The pregnant Emma tells her brother that Hubert lost someone as well. She begins the slight sell. "And his folks are good people. They wanted me to move into town with them after Gerry died."

As she speaks of what she wants in the nursery for her child, her brother places cash on the table. "Take it and pay the taxes," Harrow says.

She's confused, telling him that the taxes should be all paid for. She said she sold the family vehicle ('The Hudson') and paid them.

"Well, I'm not paying them twice. Put that money away and let's not talk about it."

Back in Tampa at his hotel, Nucky overhears the conversation of Skeeter Walsh (Roe Hartrampf), a young man nearby. He's pitching some sort of land deal. Obviously, Nucky is intrigued, especially with hearing, "You can double your investment in a month."

When Skeeter's mark leaves, Nucky strikes up a conversation with him, feeling him out. He tells Nuck that the hottest piece of property he's peddling is a development called 'Pineapple Grove.' Nucky admits to the kid, that he knows he's selling useless land. "No offense, but I've met my share of bloodsuckers..."

"What we've got sells itself," Skeeter, the 'binder boy' for a real estate company, says. He insists that while the land may be swampland, the developments within and surrounding will be coming — compete with 80 miles of paved streets and infrastructure. He tells Nucky that the buyers are lining up. Nucky takes it all in.

* * *

At Temple University, Eli's son Will Thompson (Ben Rosenfield) and his college buddies listen to a lecture on a phonograph in the library. (4)

Russell Conwell, one of the founders of Temple University.

(4) The lecture is entitled "Acres of Diamonds" and it was recited by Russell Conwell, a former minister who helped found the institution. For more on the lecture, see 'Other Things On My Mind' below. Read more about it HERE.

Listen to it HERE.

Will watches a typical bully named Henry (Josh Caras) bum a cigarette from a nearby student. Just then, a group of young ladies enter the library. Henry flirts hard with one of the girls to no avail. Instead, she actually notices Will and makes small talk with him. Henry invites the girls to a party. They decline because they have better plans that involve some bootleg liquor. Will pipes in that he could land some.

"Well then...," she says, looking at Will. "It's a date..." Henry the Bully doesn't look to happy about Will stepping in.

In Atlantic City, Gillian Darmody (Gretchen Mol) and Piggly Wiggly supermarket executive Roy Phillips (Ron Livingston) look at a prospective apartment for him. While it's nice, we can tell that he's not exactly feeling it due to his nitpicking the room.

"Are you always so indecisive?" she asks. He tells her that his soon-to-be-ex-wife found it maddening.

"Well, Clara was wrong," she tells him. Roy, stumbling a bit, asks her to dinner later that evening. He wants Gillian to pose as his wife while he dines with a big shot from the A&P Supermarkets. She easily obliges.

Back at The Onyx Club, Chalky (Michael Kenneth Williams) still rides Dunn Purnsley (Erik LaRay Harvey) hard by giving him busboy tasks. Purnsley isn't feeling it, as we can almost see the snarl on his face as he speaks to Chalky.

One of the forefathers of jazz, Joe "King" Oliver

Narcisse enters the club with Daughter Maitland. Chalky looks enchanted by her at first glance.

"May I present Miss Daughter Maitland... Say hello, dear..." Narcisse says. He goes on to inform Chalky that she is a gifted singer in jazz, blues and improv. Chalky says he knows her from "the record."

Daughter tells Chalky that she has indeed recorded "Warsaw Blues" with King Oliver. (5)

(5) Jazz.com tells us that without King Oliver, we probably wouldn't have a Louis Armstrong. "Perhaps Oliver's greatest legacy can be found in the talent of Louis Armstrong, whom he mentored in New Orleans, then brought from the swamp to the swarming streets of Chicago. Starting there, the younger musician took Oliver's inspiration and turned it into a music the whole world would hear." Read more about Oliver HERE and enjoy the tune below.

Narcisse is impressed. "You know your business, sir..."

"I know what Dickie held back..." Chalky says.

Narcisse tells Daughter where to find the dressing room. When she's gone, Chalky wants to know why she there. Narcisse says she's performing at The Onyx for the week.

"I do hope you're asking and not tellin'," Chalky tells him.

"We are partners, Mr. White, and that girl is a star," Narcisse says. "IF you will have her."

What's the real reason Dr. Valentin Narcisse wants singer Daughter Maitland to perform in Chalky's club?

Chalky agrees and quickly barks some more orders at Purnsley.

"It was my understanding that Mr. Purnsley managed the staff," Narcisse asks

"He do as I tell him," Chalky says.

"When men make themselves into brutes, it is just to treat them as brutes," Narcisse tells him. (*)

(*) That's a quote by writer Amelia Barr and her 1908 book "The Belle of Bowling Green"

* * *

Will and his nerdy friend drive to Doyle's warehouse that houses his Uncle Nucky's booze. He brazenly walks in and introduces himself to Mickey Doyle (Paul Sparks) and asks him for some hooch. Doyle tells him to take a hike. Will keeps asking.

"Are you deaf or just stupid?" Doyle says. Will backs down and, as he walks out, attempts to slyly steal a case of rye. One of the drivers catches him and calls Doyle.

Angry, Doyle slaps Will in the face hard and threatens to call Eli. Will pleads his case.

"Alright, don't get so dramatic..." Doyle says. "You can't go around robbing people. It's a good thing your dad's my pal ... Now scat..." As Doyle watches Will scurry out dejected, he calls after him and tells him to take the crate of booze.

Back in Wisconsin, Harrow cleans out the barn and, as he inspects dusty trinkets and trophies, he seems to reminisce of a lifetime long ago. As he moves to the back of the barn, he spots a hole in the roof and the sun creeping in. With his back turned to the camera, he takes of his mask and places his face in the path of the sunlight.

We then see a man holding an old trophy say, "Here's something you actually accomplished. ...Remember me?" It's Carl Billings (Sean Cullen), the man Harrow met on a train 'last summer' and agreed to kill for him for cash. We can now assume it as Billings who killed Dolph Liebling (the man Harrow let go last week). Another man enters, pointing a gun at Harrow.

"As I recall, you said it was the one thing on earth you were good at..." Billings says. "And I said, half now, half when you finish. But you didn't finish. You left a man alive which makes me concerned about the conversation we had."

The man with the gun, throws Harrow's wallet to Billings, who sees that Harrow hasn't spent any of the money. "THIS makes you honest? You don't have any kind of a code... You kill for hire and this just makes you stupid. And how do you trust a stupid man?"

Harrow says nothing and after a brief moment, bum rushes the man with the gun, stabbing him with a knife. His mask falls off and, in the scuffle, Harrow is quickly on the ground as Billings picks up the pistol and points it at him. Just as Billings is about to pull the trigger, Emma's double-barrel shotgun blows him all over the back of the barn.

Patricia Arquette as Tampa speakeasy owner Sally Wheet.

In Tampa, Nucky arrives at Sally Wheet's (Patrica Arquette) joint, a hybrid of a speakeasy and roadhouse of sorts. It looks like the kind of place where you can get a beer, bourbon, burger and bait. Nuck's there to meet McCoy and land baron August Tucker. Sally Wheet enjoys a shot of whiskey with the boys but Tucker rudely dismisses her. Nucky notices and we can tell he doesn't like ol' Tuck's bedside manner.

They sit down and begin to discuss the land deal that McCoy has passed along to Nucky via Tucker.

"Ready to get rich?" Tucker asks.

"I'm already rich, Mr. Tucker," Nucky darts back.

"What good would millions do me in jail?"

Tucker and McCoy don't get where Nucky is coming from. Thanks to Skeeter's tip, he tells them that their land is worthless because the entire surrounding area is being developed. He asks the men what good a convoy of trucks hauling booze would do hauling down Main Street, USA.

Tucker looks agitated. "You told me he was in."

"He was," McCoy assures.

"I said that I would consider it. And I did," Nucky says.

Nucky apologizes and gets up to leave. "Sorry boys, you'll have to find yourselves a new partner." Tucker tells Nucky that he wasted his time.

"You're not the one that came all the way down here." Before he leaves, Nucky thanks Sally for her hospitality.

In Atlantic City at The Onyx Club, Daughter Maitland performs onstage to a packed house.

In Atlantic City at The Onyx Club, Daughter Maitland performs onstage to a packed house. Chalky seems to be in a trance as he watches her. The tune she's singing? "Somebody Loves Me." Enjoy this version by Ella Fitzgerald.

We see Gillian and Roy enjoy their evening with the A&P exec and his wife. They say that they don't have anything like The Onyx Club back in Evansville, Indiana where they're from. Gillian looks a tad uncomfortable. (*)

(*) That's probably because that's the town where Roger McCallister was from. For those who may not remember, he was the young serviceman and Jimmy Darmody doppelganger that she murdered last season in order to get the deed on The Artemis Club.

Posing as Mrs. Roy Phillips, Gillian tries to make some supermarket small talk and, after an awkward question to the exec, the conversation soon escalates into playful fun regarding the spiked "coffee" everyone is drinking at the club. Gillian excuses herself to go to the powder room and Mrs. A&P exec says that she'll join her. Gillian looks frustrated because we know she just wants a fix.

Regarding Daughter Maitland and the quality of her singing, Narcisse asks Chalky, "Well? Was I lying?"

"The white folks seem to like her," Chalky answers.

"Yes... That would be important," Narcisse agrees. After Chalky walks away, Narcisse finishes that sentence, "...TO YOU..."

Because of the booze he received from Mickey Doyle, Will's college party is a resounding success. They all ask where he got the liquor. "A freind," he replies. From the corner of his eye he can see Henry the Bully get a little too "friendly" with Doris (Miranda Cosgrove), a female student. She breaks away, leaving. Will steps in to the rescue. She asks Will to leave with her. He agrees. After they leave, she brings him upstairs to the library and start kissing.

* * *

Back in Tampa, McCoy is angry at Nucky for brushing off the land deal with Tucker. "I owe this man..."

"Owe him what?" Nuck jabs back.

"MONEY..." McCoy answers. "A lot of it." McCoy explains that when he got arrested in a bootlegging run, almost $200,000 of Tucker's scotch was on board.

Nucky asks McCoy why he didn't ask him for help. "Because I wanted to earn it," he answers. "I'm not a charity case." McCoy also explains that Tucker assured that if Nucky entered the land deal, he would forgive his debt.

"So I'm supposed to partner with some two-bit hillbilly?" Nucky asks, agitated.

"He's a big man around these parts," McCoy says.

Nucky's not impressed with McCoy's land deal or his partner Tucker. "I've already met the world's tallest midget on the midway back home," he says.

Nuck's not impressed. "I've already met the world's tallest midget on the midway back home." Nucky goes on to say that the deal is crap. "And you know it."

"I thought you were my friend..." McCoy just about pleads.

"If you had come to me like one it would've been different," Nucky says.

Back in A.C., Roy and Gillian enjoy some time at a boardwalk diner. They joke about all the tall tales they told to Mrs. A&P at dinner. Roy tells her that they make "a pretty swell team."

Just then, a young man approaches them in their booth. He says that he recognizes Gillian from about a year ago when he and his friend ROGER (!!) met her outside of the eatery Abe Klein's on the boardwalk. Gillian becomes a bit flustered. She denies having ever met him but the young man presses on some more.

"This person is making me very uncomfortable," she tells Roy, who gets tough with the kid and shoos him away. She excuses herself and visits the ladies room. Inside, she shoots up and basks in the glory of her high. Eventually she slowly wanders back to Roy's booth and he can tell something is a tad off. She only then realizes that she was gone a while after seeing that their ice cream had melted.

Is Eli's son Will Thompson headed down a dark path? The foreshadowing seems to suggest it.

In the dark library at Temple, Doris and Will are pettin' heavy when Henry and friends intrude on them, singing and laughing.

"Well go on, Romeo... Don't let us interrupt," Henry tells Will, patting him on the chest.

"You think this is funny?" Will asks, shoving Will to the ground. "Touch me again and I'll break your nose."

Henry gets back up, pointing out to the the rest of the kids Will's erection. "Well, it looks like your anger is not the only things that's arisen..." Everyone laughs at Will, who runs out embarrassed.

Back in Tampa, Nucky visits Sally Wheat's roadhouse and tackle joint. It's pretty empty, save for one man who's fast asleep on the table. Nucky as if he's alive.

"He's breathing..." Sally says. "What about you? You alive?"

"I was once..." Nuck answers.

"What happened?" she inquires.

"Prohibition... Until then, I was a simple run-of-the-mill crook and corrupt city official. And I was happy. Plenty of money. Plenty of friends. Plenty of everything. And then suddenly, plenty wasn't enough"

He tells her that it's his stepson Teddy's birthday and he's been meaning to send him something. "Maybe the better gift is to let him forget me," Nuck says. She basically tells him that's a cop out. "The best choice requires the least amount of effort on your part."

"I thought bartenders were supposed to be sympathetic," he asks.

"She laughs, answering, "Welcome to Sally's."

He asks about Tucker, Bill McCoy's partner. "I hear he's a big man around these parts," Nuck says.

Nucky and speakeasy owner Sally Wheet dish about the locals.

"He thinks so..." Sally answers, almost scoffing. After bumming a cigarette from Nucky, she dishes. "August Tucker: Georgia native. Son of moonshiners. Made his way to Tampa after the war." She says they do a little business on occasion.

"Is he dangerous?" Nuck asks. She points to the alligator taxidermy on the wall. "He's a lot like this fella. He'll kill you if he gets the chance but he's not too smart."

He asks how Tucker managed to get a handle on the rackets. "With enough money and the right connections, you can do pretty much do anything down here," Sally tells him.

Back at The Onyx Club, Purnsley finishes up cleaning for the night when he suddenly sees Narcisse appear in the room. Purnsley's blade comes out. He asks, "What do you want, friend? You want some of this?"

"What good would another dead Negro do either of us?" Narcisse asks.

"Make me feel a might better," Purnsley growls.

Narcisse tells him that the Dickie Pastor incident has been settled and that the quarrel was merely financial in nature. The doctor tells Purnsley that Chalky has him doing the slave labor and adds, "He offered to give you up in exchange for Dickie Pastor. His Libyan brother for a knotted devil."

CATCH UP ON SEASON 4 'BOARDWALK EMPIRE' RECAPS

•

Season 4, Episode 1 / 'New York Sour'

•

Season 4, Episode 2 / 'Resignation'

"Chalky White ain't never been my friend," Purnsley growls.

Narcisse shows Purnsley a small envelope of heroin and slides it across the table. Narcisse says that it's, "Freedom. Power. Control over men that are lesser than you. Chalky White is one of those men"

"Where you going, friend?" Purnsley fishes.

"As far as you'd like me to take you," Narcisse smiles back. "But we shall go there together."



In Tampa, a drunk Bill McCoy sits alone in his room, lamenting the land deal that went sour. Tucker frantically knocks on his door, demanding he open up. McCoy tries to apologize and calm Tucker down but he doesn't want to hear about it and wraps his hand around McCoy's throat. They struggle as Tucker slams the door shut.

Back in Wisconsin, Harrow sits outside the family house speaking to Emma's brother-in-law Hubert about the "injury" he received cleaning out the barn. Hubert insinuates that Emma needs more help, especially that she'll soon have a child to raise. We still get the sense that he wants to marry her. We see Emma exit the barn and approach the men. She asks her brother when his train arrives.

"We'll get him there," Hubert assures. "Plenty of time." Emma asks him to send her an address. Before he leaves, she hugs him and whispers, "You need to call yourself to account." In essence, she's telling him that he needs to free his soul from whatever is holding it hostage.

In Tampa, Nucky prepares to go back to Atlantic City. A bellhop delivers a package to his room. It's from SALLY'S BAIT & TACKLE and a gift for Teddy in the junior angler vein. He smiles at the gift.

Minutes later in the lobby, he calls Bill McCoy from a house phone. He says that he's in on the land deal and that Tucker should answer to him. McCoy is slightly surprised. It's odd, though, because we think he should be more happy.

After they hang up, we see that McCoy has actually killed Tucker in his room, with a machete to the head. Blood everywhere. McCoy sits down, face in his palms.

We fade out.

Other stuff on my mind

• Named for the lecture that Eli and the student's were listening to in the library, "Acres of Diamonds" oozes subtext, especially in an episode that has Nucky heading to Florida to examine a lucrative land deal. According to

HistoryMatters

, the lecture delves on the American Dream. Says the site: "The ideology of success — the notion that anyone could make it with enough hard work - was widely promoted in Gilded Age America. An aggressive proponent of the success ideology was Russell Conwell, a former minister who helped found Temple University. His lecture “Acres of Diamonds,” parts of which are excerpted here as text, was his own route to riches. He delivered this pep talk on the joys of instant material success on the national lecture circuit more than 6,000 times, most often during the 1890s. By the time of his death in 1925, this speech had reportedly earned him $8 million." Read more

HERE

.

• Who else noticed Dr. Narcisse wiping his hand down after he shook Rothstein's hand?

• Hubert saying, "See you in the funnies..." instead of goodbye. A jocular expression that all but died out by World War II, some armchair historians believe it was because newspapers often ran their comic strips and obituaries on the same page. Where would YOU rather be? In the funnies or obits... Hence the expression.

• Emma Harrow, with her "Cold Mountain" double-barrel shotgun, is one tough cookie.

• Was I the only one who didn't quickly recognize Miranda Cosgrove as Will's galpal Doris? It was driving me nuts. UPDATE: I didn't recognize her because it wasn't her. The actress was Kayla Ferguson. Sorry for the confusion and thanks to our forum below for pointing it out.

• How long before it comes back to haunt Doyle for giving Eli's son Will a crate of booze?

• In researching Daughter Maitland actress Margot Bingham, there are more than a couple news sites and blogs out there (I won't say who) that are claiming that she's Narcisse's daughter. Not sure if it's a mistake or a HUGE spoiler. Let's enjoy Bingham's voice, who appears on the "Boardwalk Empire" soundtrack, Vol. II.

• Mickey Doyle: "It's a good thing your dad's my pal ... Now scat..." Sorta sweet how Doye thinks Eli and him are pals. Something tells me that Eli doesn't necessarily think so.

• So Billings says he met Harrow "last summer" ... Who else thought that the time element of their arrangement was much closer to the present day of the show?

• I've long been a fan of Patrica Arquette (ever since her role as Alabama Worley in "True Romance") and her showing up as Sally Wheet makes a fine addition to the show. I can't wait to see what else 'Empire' has in store for her. Until then, let's just all enjoy THIS.

• While we're on the subject, is Nucky going to hook up with Sally Wheet? Who else thinks they'd make an interesting pair?

• What's with all the Roger McCallister references? Two in one night?

• Narcisse is really stirring that pot with Dunn Purnsley, huh? And with Purnsley responding "Chalky White ain't never been my friend" ... Other than that jailhouse beating when they met, was there really that much animosity between them? I didn't think so. Anyone?

• Just about four episodes in and we really haven't seen much of 'Shortpants' and Meyer.

• This was brought up last week in our forum. Now that we know Carl Billings has come after Harrow. We see that he's not some meek pencil-neck who can't take care of himself. We know that he has muscle and isn't afraid to pull the trigger or come collecting. Why pay Harrow in the first place for any contract killing when he could have done it himself?

• Lastly, a bit of biz... The next two recaps may not be as in-depth since I may not have the time to compose them.

• I'll be chatting soon with Nelson Johnson, author of the New York Times bestselling book "Boardwalk Empire." He has agreed to take some questions involving the history of Atlantic City, thoughts on the show or anything else Nucky-centric. Post some of your questions that you may have for him below.

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