HBO says of tonight’s installment, “Ourselves Alone”:
Concerned about losing his grip on Atlantic City, Nucky (Steve Buscemi) deliberates a countermove while trying to learn who in his inner circle betrayed him. As agents scour the Treasurer’s office for incriminating evidence, Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) strikes a pose from the past to help Nucky avoid further trouble in the present. In New York, Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) puts Jimmy (Michael Pitt) on hold, but Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef) and Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) loom as possible trading partners. Chalky (Michael Kenneth Williams) is badgered in prison by Dunn Purnsley (Erik LaRay Harvey), a jailmate with an ax to grind; Owen Sleater (Ted Rooney), an advance man for Irish nationalist John McGarrigle (Ted Rooney), scouts the Thompson residence; the Commodore (Dabney Coleman) introduces Eli (Shea Whigham) to “the men who made this city.” Written by Howard Korder; directed by David Petrarca.
Things NOT in this episode:
1) The phantom Richard Harrow
2) Nelson Van Alden and his baby mama.
3) Jimmy's hot mom and hot lesbian wife
No matter. There are many things to love about this this week's installment:
* Chalky’s revealing adventures in stir.
* The Commodore and his massive tusk.
* Anthony Laciura as Nucky’s loyal servant, Eddie Kessler.
* Margaret’s big brain. She gives us reason to love her this week.
* Nucky’s patience with his judgmental Irish visitor (who serves to remind us that Nucky is as Irish as Margaret and Buscemi’s mother is of Irish extraction).
* The brief return of Michael Stuhlbarg as the charming monster Arnold Rothstein, an articulate menace who shares a swell scene with former adversary Jimmy Darmody. Michael Pitt creates a weird pause before he leaves the room that I just love. You don’t see a lot of that on “Charlie’s Angels.”
More in the text invisible.
* There’s a weird moment when Chalky has to change cells. But why wasn’t race mixing an issue when Chalky shared a cell with Nucky.
* There’s quite a lot of lovely violence and gore near the end.
9 p.m. Sunday. HBO.
