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Nucky Thompson desperately tries to find out who wanted to kill him last week in Havana, Cuba.

(HBO)

THIS WEEK: Written by show creator Terence Winter and directed by 'Empire' vet Allen Coulter, "The Good Listener" brings us back to Chicago where we catch up with Capone and his empire. We also see what Gillian Darmody has been up to since she was arrested for murder and Nucky just wants to get down to the bottom of who tried to have him killed in Cuba.

'Boardwalk Empire' Recap / Season 5, Episode 2 / THE GOOD LISTENER

NUCKY WANTS ANSWERS

Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) visits Johnny Torrio (Greg Antonacci), who, after surviving an attempt on his life in Chicago last season, now lives in New York. When Nucky insinuates that Torrio should feel lucky to be alive, Torrio wonders just why someone would want him dead to begin with and surmises that his attackers weren't exactly enemies. "A little closer to home," he tells Nucky.

"Capone moved on you?" Nuck asks.

"Let's just say, whoever it was,I got the message," Torrio darts back. Nucky rattles off a list of dead bosses and Torrio mentions that Joe Masseria's wake is the next day, calling him the "richest man in the cemetery." Torrio asserts he has everything he needs in his new calm life. He walked away from trouble in Chicago and never looked back.

Still, Nucky presses him on who might have had him killed last week in Cuba. He mentions that Meyer Lansky was down there. Torrio scoffs, saying that Lansky's always in Havana. Nuck disagrees, saying that it's no coincidence that Masseria was clipped and that someone is gunning for him as well. "It was within 24 hours." Nucky thinks Lansky is taking orders from new boss Joe Maranzano.

Torrio suggests that Nucky should talk to him directly and that he'd set up the meeting. "Year in. Year out. Same dogs, different bone," Nucky says disgusted. Torrio advises that Nucky should take the hint and retire already.

* * *

In New York, Nucky meets members of the Mayflower Grain Corporation in an executive boardroom. They acknowledge and joke about the incessant noise of the jackhammers outside.

"Nothing wrong with building a shrine to one's self." (1)

"Isn't that what money's for?" Nucky quips back.

A vintage postcard of Rockefeller Center.

(1)PBS explains: "In July 1931, work began on Rockefeller Center, the largest private construction project in New York City. Over the course of nine years, in the depth of the Depression, the building of Rockefeller Center would provide employment for 75,000 workers. But the impact of such a massive undertaking was felt even more deeply on the city's morale, boosted by Nelson Rockefeller's confident move."

A man enters to inform the group that Senator Lloyd has been detained in D.C. and sends his regrets and Nucky gets down to business. "It's obvious that you gentleman are poised to enter the liquor business," he says.

One member says that they only agreed to meet as a favor of the senator but a progressive one suggests to hear him out.

Nuck lays his cards on the table and explains that he's secured exclusive North American rights to distribute Bacardi Rum. "... In the event that the sale of their product once again becomes legal," Nucky adds. He proposes pooling resources and forming a partnership.

Will Joe Kennedy go into business with Nucky?

One board member asks what background Nucky has in building infrastructure for distribution. Nucky, staying professional, answers, "My background is quite varied."

"Care to elaborate?" another asks.

The questions keep coming from the boardroom. "We're simply asking what qualifies you to be in the liquor business?"

"What qualifies me is that I have been one of the most successful bootleggers in the country," Nucky answers bluntly. "Is there a reason you wanted to pretend you didn't know?"

Nucky goes on the say that the crash hit him hard as well and doesn't have the money on hand to finance the kind of operation that he has in mind. The boardroom maintains that they need assurances that repeal is, in fact, on the horizon. Nucky assures that he'll get the senator back on board. They're skeptical and thank him for coming in.

As he leaves, one of the board members stops him in the lobby and says that he made the same deal — with Dewar's and Moet — for when Prohibition is repealed.



"Great minds, I suppose," Nucky says.

The man explains that Nucky frightens the boardroom.

"YOU don't seem particularly rattled," Nucky quips. The man says he'll be in contact teh next time he's in Atlantic City.

We come to find out that this progressive man is none other than Joseph P. Kennedy (Matt Letscher). (2)

Joseph P. Kennedy

(2) Joseph P. Kennedy was patriarch to the Kennedy clan who, according to Biography, became a millionaire by the age of 30 through investments in the movie business and alcohol distribution.

There is much lore surrounding Kennedy as a bootlegger. Forbes asserts that "Kennedy was not a bootlegger as is often assumed, though he did start a liquor importing business as Prohibition ended, and after having made a great deal of money in banking and other investments.

Just then, one of Nucky's goons enters and tells him that Maranzano wants to meet.

Across town, Salvatore Maranzano (Giampiero Judica) takes a meeting with Nuck. "The universe loves to change things which are and to make new things like them," he states to Nucky before asking if he is a student of Marcus Aurelius.

"I'm more of a Ben Franklin man myself..." Nuck answers. "A penny saved is a penny earned. That sort of thing."

CATCH UP ON SEASON 4 'BOARDWALK EMPIRE' RECAPS

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Episode 1 / 'New York Sour'

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Episode 2 / 'Resignation'

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Episode 3 / 'Acres of Diamonds'

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Episode 4 / 'All In'

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Episode 5 / 'Erlkönig'

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Episode 6 / 'The North Star'

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Episode 7 / 'William Wilson'

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Episode 8 / 'The Old Ship of Zion'

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Episode 9 / 'Marriage and Hunting'

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Episode 10 / 'White Horse Pike'

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Episode 11 / 'Havre de Grace'

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Episode 12 / 'Farewell Daddy Blues'

Charlie Luciano (Vincent Piazza) and Torrio are also in on the meeting. Maranzano tells them that Joe 'The Boss' Masseria was stubborn and only understood violence.

"So why try to kill ME?" Nucky asks. Maranzano denies any involvement. Nucky counters by saying that he saw Lansky down in Cuba a day before Masseria was killed. Lucky says that he and Meyer haven't spoken in months. Nucky asks if they had a falling out.

"People drift. Friendships end," Lucky says.

"— And new ones are forged," Maranzano adds. Just then, Nucky notices Tonino Sandrelli (Chris Caldovino) and remarks with subtext, "Allegiances as well..." Maranzano tells Nucky that Tonino is a good boy.

Luciano says that Meyer has "his thing" and what Maranzano and the boys are concerned with are their own. "Sicilians only."

"You have nothing to fear from me, Mr. Thompson," Maranzano assures.

And then Nucky replies, "Who says I was afraid?" Classic, Nuck.

Upon exiting, Nucky asks Torrio if he should believe him. "Believe whatever it is that gets you out of this mess," Torrio says bluntly.

* * *

Nuck is back in the hotel room with his Cuban bodyguard Arquimedes (Paul Calderon). He recalls the fable of the traveler and the two tribesman. "One always lies and the other tells the truth..." He basically thinks he's caught between a rock and a hard place. If he lays down, they come after him. If he fights back, there's war. He goes on to tell his silent buddy about Joe Kennedy. We can tell he relishes Kennedy's stature and business models.

"You get to the point where you have to live with the choices you've made. the good ones and the bad," he says. "The trick is to stay alive long enough to cash out."

Frustrated, Nucky asks Arquimedes if he has an opinion on anything. "I kill them... I no kill them. Whatever you say," the bodyguard says.

Are Bugsy, Lucky and Meyer secretly plotting against Nucky Thompson?

The Triple Threat — Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef), Bugsy Seigel (Michael Zegen) and Lucky Luciano — meet in one of their brothels. They're exasperated waiting for Tonino who was upstairs the whole time with one of the ladies.

They ask Tonino if Maranzano is suspicious. Tonino tells them that he plays everything close to the vest. Bugsy asks if he said anything when he dropped him off.

"He says lots of things. Marcus Polo... Who knows what he's talking about?. If you ask me, he believes you fellas are on the outs."

Bugsy starts to show that famous temper and directs his ire to Lansky. "You HAD to talk to Thompson down in Havana..."

"He saw me, Benny... Better to face it head on." Lansky goes on to say that they should take out Maranzano. No more waiting.

Lucky says it's not the time as Tonino pressures them for a piece of Masseria's old territory. Wrong move. They tell Tonino to go back upstairs. After they wonder about his allegiance, Bugsy says he's alright.

"Tell THAT to Gyp Rosetti," Lucky says.

Later, Arquimedes spots Tonino getting into his car and tells him that Nucky wants to talk. At a swanky eatery (*), they chat. Tonino says that he's kind of nervous. Nucky says that they're in a very public place and he shouldn't be.

(*) Call me crazy but the eatery looked like Sardi's in the Big Apple's theater district.

Nucky wants to know who tried to have him murdered in Havana. "You know I could be killed just for talking to you," Tonino states.

"And you will be, if you don't," Nucky sneers. Tonino admits that it was Lansky and Luciano and they are also planning to take out Maranzano. "They're gonna take me out, too. I know it," Tonino says. he also tells Nucky that Maranzano has no beef with Nucky and that he could keep A.C.

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'BOARDWALK EMPIRE': THE FINAL SEASON

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FOREVER IN THE SHADOW OF 'THE SOPRANOS'

"I can keep what's already mine," Nucky quips. "How exceedingly generous."

Tonino goes on to say that he would work for Nucky in a heartbeat. "Tell my man where we can find Lansky and in the morning, come see me," Nucky tells him.

Just then the waiter says, "She was a lovely girl, Billie Kent." Tonino looks up and sees Kent's caricature on the wall. His fate is sealed. (*)

(*) Back in Season 3, Gyp Rosetti (who Tonino used to work for) blew up Babette's Nightclub on the boardwalk in A.C., killing Nucky's former showgirl girlfriend Kent.

Back at Lucky's brothel, women shriek in horror. On the steps, Tonino lies on the steps with a knife in his back with a Cuban postcard attached. His ear is removed.

LOSING A SISTER

Little Susan Thompson (Onata Aprile) has finally succumbed to Tuberculosis. Elenore Thompson says a prayer over her child as Ethan Thompson (Ian Hart) weeps in the background. Little Nucky (Nolan Lyons) and Eli look on, shocked and saddened.

As Elenore laments the fact that the undertaker has not yet arrived, Ethan shoos away a fly from his dead daughter's body. He orders the boys to say a prayer for her. Little Eli begins to ball. Nucky watches his mother and father argue about why the undertaker hasn't shown. She suspects that once again he took the money in the tin and drank it away.

"She's my child, too," Ethan says.

She weeps. "The thought of her in Potter's Field..." (3)

Potter's Field is a common term to define public burial places for poor, unknown people, paupers and criminals.

(3) Potter's Field is a common term to define public burial places for poor, unknown people, paupers and criminals. The Word Detective explains that its origin comes from the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew. "When Judas Iscariot was overcome with remorse for accepting thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus, he returned the coins to the temple. The priests, however, could not accept 'blood money' (money used to purchase the death of a person), so they used it to buy land on which to bury the poor and foreigners. The land they bought was rich in clay and had been owned by a pot-maker, so it was known henceforth as 'Potter's field.'"

* * *

At The Corner Store Hotel, The Commodore (John Ellison Conlee) spots young Nucky, who apologizes for being late. The elder man jokes with the boy about his tardiness when Nucky explains that his sister has died and that they are burying her at home. The Sheriff tells Commodore he should send something.

"What for? The kid's old man thinks I'm the devil."

"He votes, don't he?" the Sheriff answers. The Commodore feels bad and tells little Nucky to go and find solace in his work. The little boy goes into the hotel to fetch his broom.

The next day, Ethan is in the process of burying his daughter's pine box with Nucky as The Commodore rolls up in a lavish carriage.The Commodore pays his respects but Ethan doesn't want to hear it. The Commodore offers him some cash.

"Do you think you can buy me twice?" Ethan sneers.

"It was fair deal, Ethan," The Commodore says. "No one forced you to sell that land." He puts the money on her casket as Ethan retrieves his shotgun from the shed.

The Commodore offers to help bury Nucky's sister.

"I'm not the monster that you think I am, Ethan," The Commodore says with his hands held up. Little Nucky just looks on, embarrassed, as The Commodore leaves.

Later, when the Thompsons bid farewell to their little girl, a jealous Ethan remarks to Nucky that he made his choice with The Commodore.

"He said he would bury her proper," little Nucky says.

"Money never did the dead no good," his father sneers before telling Nucky to fill in the rest of the grave as he walks away.

CAPONE HOLDS COURT

Over the distant sound of a crackling Eddie Cantor record, we're inside the dreamstate of Eli Thompson's (Shea Whigham) drunken haze. He awakens inside the back room of a gigantic liquor warehouse — an operation that even older brother Nucky may covet. But something's wrong. It's being raided with some boy scout of an agent running the show. Eli grabs his hat and makes way for the door.

Over in his suite at the Lexington Hotel, Al Capone (Stephen Graham) inspects that famous scar on his cheek in a mirror as he's being fitted for a slew of new suits. (4)

A reporter asks the gangster if he saw either "The Public Enemy" or "Little Caesar." Capone says that they were comedies. "Good for a chuckle," he jokes. He screams for someone named 'Mike.' Capone orders his goons to find him. Gangsters scatter like roaches as they a start to scream "Where's D'Angelo?"

Just how did Al Capone get his famous scars?

(4) Lots of great Al Capone goodies here. For starters, My Al Capone Museum tells us that while the big guy liked to brag about getting his scars from the war, it was actually none other than Frankie Yale who slashed Al's face for flirting a bit too much with his sister back when he was a bouncer in Coney Island, New York.

An early postcard of the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, where Al Capone held court.

The Lexington Hotel was Capone's home base and a fascinating structure with a rich and varied history. Says the site: "He occupied the Lexington from1928-1932. Capone and his large entourage occupied the third, fourth and fifth floor, maintaining bodyguards in surrounding rooms next to, above and below his personal suite. He also had well armed torpedoes in the lobby pretending to read newspapers when in fact these men were constantly casing the lobby for any threat against 'Snorky'. (Capone's preferred nickname meaning snappy dresser)."

As for the films the reporter referenced, "Little Caesar" starred Edward G. Robinson as a mob hood who climbs the ranks of the mob. The 1931 picture made Robinson a bonafide movie star. Some maintain the movie is NOT based on Capone but Salvatore "Sam" Cardinella, a violent Chicago gangster who was notorious during Prohibition. "The Public Enemy" starred James Cagney and, it too, propelled Cagney to stardom and had similar gangster themes that delved into Chi-town and Prohibition.

Mike D'Angelo (Louis Cancelmi) finally enters and Capone's brother Ralphie (Domenick Lombardozzi) tells him he's got 12 seconds with the big boy and to not to get Al agitated. Too late. D'Angelo tells him that his brewery and warehouse was raided and that 600 cases of Canadian Club and $20,000 in cash are gone. Capone doesn't take the news well and wants to know who was in charge. Ralphie explains it's our favorite rogue treasury agent fugitive George Mueller (Michael Shannon) and "the other one from Atlantic City (Eli)."

D'Angelo explains that Mueller has been making his payoffs but a new fed showed up and busted the joint wide open.

"Those clowns owe me twenty grand," Capone says. D'Angelo leaves and in the elevator tells Mueller and Eli that Capone said he has 24 hours to come up with the cash. In turn, Mueller blames Eli, who pretty just scoffs saying that he was lucky that he, himself, didn't get pinched.

"You reek, by the way, of urine..." Mueller says. As they get off the elevator, Eli spots Jake Guzik (Joe Caniano) and a light bulb goes off in his drunken head.

* * *

At home, Mueller tries to moves a large armoire when little Chester sneaks up on him and asks a seemingly random six-year old boy question about clouds in the sky for his homework. After snapping a bit, Mueller does the best he can with answering, but then ultimately shoos him off. When he's gone, he retrieves a sawed-off shotgun.

Is George Mueller/Nelson Van Alden feeling the pinch working for Al Capone?

Upstairs, Sigrid (Christiane Seidel) doesn't exactly seem like that adoring, loving dedicated wifey she was in earlier seasons. Mueller sees her smoking and snaps, "That is a thoroughly unladylike habit." He also lets her know that he's working late.

"When you will be home?" she asks. Her broken English irks him.

"When WILL I be home... WHEN-WILL-I-BE-HOME..." he corrects. "I'm trying to raise our children to speak proper English."

Before he leaves he snatches her cigarette out of her hand and stamps it out in the ashtray. "I'll be late..."

Later, Mueller and Eli ambush Jake Guzik (*) on his speakeasy collection route. "When he comes out, we make our move. Trust me. He won't put up a fight," Eli says.

Mueller asks Eli how long he's been estranged from his wife. Eli answers about six years or so and that he still cares for her and the kids.

"Sometimes I find it easier to despise someone than to love them," Mueller admits.

(*) Previously footnoted: My Al Capone Museum reminds us that Jake 'Greasy Thumb' Guzik may have been the only man Capone ever really trusted. He had a keen mind for figures, serving as Capone's treasurer and bribe man. Mob folklore says that Guzik never carried a gun since he was so well protected by Torrio and, eventually Capone. His bum ticker finally got him because he died in 1956 from a heart attack.

When they start the ambush, a Capone thug asks Mueller, "Do you know who you're robbin', pal?"

"Peter to pay Paul," he answers. As Guzik exits the building, he sees the ruckus and drops the money satchel and runs back inside. After Eli grabs the bag, he executes Capone's two men.

"Why must there always be pandemonium?!" Mueller shouts to Eli as they run away.

Back at The Lexington, Mueller and Eli deliver Capone his money, who seems as if he forget the entire episode. Mueller dumps the 20 grand on an already-gigantic pile of money and exits the room.

* * *

We see a young crusader giving a press conference who going on and on about good and evil. "I vow to fight the Capone mob," he says. "Fight to win."

This is none other than Treasury Agent Eliot Ness (Jim True-Frost). (5)

The real-life Eliot Ness

(5) By now in pop culture lore, most of us know who Eliot Ness was. Biography says that "Ness joined the Bureau of Prohibition in 1927, assembling a team of Prohibition enforcement personnel known as "The Untouchables." ...Ness and the nine other agents successfully seized and halted operations of breweries run by Capone, one of Ness's most recognized achievements. Capone was eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison."

We then see a man named Wilson ascend a staircase into an office and asks, "Making progress?" Another man is behind a desk and answers yes. It's none other than Capone 'thug' Mike D'Angelo (!) who appears as if he's a fed or some kind of accountant for the treasury Department. Wilson orders him to give a breakdown of a cathouse from a gigantic ledger.

GILLIAN PAYING HER DUES

Gillian Darmody (Gretchen Mol) is paying her debt to society for killing Roger McAllister. While she is not in prison, she's in what looks to be an insane asylum. At first, it looks very spa-like with her speaking with an inmate as they are cushy in what looks like large claw foot soaking tubs in which they are snapped inside of. They speak a bit about their former posh lifestyles and then it gets odd with Gillian making reference to her husband.

Gillian Darmody is paying her debt to society in 'The Good Listener.'

When a domestic advice radio program comes on the radio, the ladies enjoy it until a nurse turns it off, thus setting off a chain of events which results in all of the women busting through their restraints. Gillian, however, seems the most composed. The warden enters and tries to inject a sense of stern calm.

As the other ladies leave, the warden asks Gillian, "What are you?"

"A good girl..." she answers. Gillian exits her tub.

"May I have what I asked for?" Gillian asks.

"If I have what I ask for," the warden answers.

* * *

Later on, the female warden comes to Gillian for her favor. They retreat to a storage room and the warden begins to strip. While it appears as if it's going in a certain direction, the warden simply wants help with her wardrobe, trying on Gillian's different dresses and getting her opinion.

As for Gillian? What did she get out of the deal? Stationary to write on.

No crazy letters to the president," the warden orders. Gillian asks why she thinks she would do that?

"Because you're in the booby hatch, honey..." the warden says.

LEGAL EAGLE WILL

We see a nervous, mature, suit-wearing Will Thompson (Ben Rosenfield) who interviews for a job with U.S. District Attorney Robert T. Hodge for the job of an assistant U.S. attorney. He throws Will a curve ball question asking if he'd bend the law to secure an arrest.

Will tells Hodge that his hypothetical scenario is an unethical one. "You can't do the police a simple favor?" Hodge asks.

"The law's a shield, sir, not a sword." Will confidently darts back.

Hodge then notices that Will hails from Atlantic City. "I don't suppose you're related to NUCKY Thompson?" Hodge asks. Will acknowledges that Nuck is his uncle.

"You don't get to choose your relatives, sir," Will states.

"No, but some of us get to choose our staff members," shoots back dismissively.

As Will leaves, he asserts to Hodge that he wants to be a prosecutor to put people in jail in accordance to the law. "I know the way crime eats you out from the inside and I hate it." He then asks Hodge for a chance to do something good with his life.

* * *

Will dines with Uncle Nucky who wonders what Hodge was like. Will answers that he was direct, tough and earnest. Will recounts the interview to Nucky who asks if his name came up.

"No. Of course not. I wouldn't be ashamed if it did," Will says. Nucky asserts that the young man has a career to think about. "Just as long as you're not the Attorney General of New Jersey." Nucky tells his nephew that he's proud of him.

OTHER STUFF ON MY MIND

• The title of the episode comes from the "The Good Listener," the title of the radio program that Gillian and her friend were listening to during bath time. While I couldn't find an example of it online or its host 'Nadine St. Claire' per se, it was perhaps more symbolic of Mary Margaret McBride which was sort of an 'agony aunt,' a slang term for the kind of advice and homemaker shows that were regularly aired during the day on the radio.

• I love how Johnny Torrio doesn't even try to hide pouring himself an Anisette from his wife as he waves her off in disgust.

• Sakes alive, does Eli looks awful. He's in a perpetual hangover.

• Nucky seems to be bothered by Torrio's religious iconography and nick-knacs.

• It bothered me all last week where I knew Ethan Thompson from. It's the stupendous character actor Ian Hart.

• Something tells me we may see the African-American woman sitting with Will before his interview again. Speaking of, she uttered to nervous Will, "res ipsa loquitur," a Latin term for "the thing that speaks for itself."

• Was Stephen Graham's mugging as Capone a bit over the top with all that scream laughing? It seemed very overzealous.

• There was something funny about Mueller, D'Angelo and even hungover Eli trying to keep their composure in the elevator as people were entering and exiting. And Mueller petting Daisy... Hilarious.

• So ... Nucky tells Joe Kennedy he's still married. Did he and Margaret not get a divorce?

• Looks like Mueller got himself a new home, right? Good thing he got rid of that Sears and Roebuck house.

• Was I the only one that kept thinking of Kevin Costner when Eliot Ness was named? I know there have been other film and TV incarnations but, for me, Costner's portrayal was the most righteous. Who agrees?

• "Believe whatever it is that gets you out of this mess." Is Johnny Torrio the most sane guy in the joint?

• It certainly seems as though Nucky is still holding a torch for Billie Kent, huh?

• I have a strange feeling about Will and his intentions. What's his angle?

• The song over the end credits was "When Yuba plays the Rhumba on his Tuba." The novelty song was Depression-era escapism and hit No. 2 on the charts. Enjoy the version by The Revelers.

Anthony Venutolo may be reached at avenutolo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AnthonyVenutolo and Google+.



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