Boardwalk Empire Season 3,Ep.6 “Ging Gang Goolie” Review
Following the thrill that was last week’s intense shootout between Gyp Rosetti and Bugsy Siegel, this week’s installment of Boardwalk Empire, entitled “Ging Gang Goolie,” slows matters down considerably to focus heavily on the domestic issues concerning Margaret Thompson, and the bubbling political intrigue surrounding her estranged husband, Nucky Thompson.
We learn that a suspicious fire in the Thompson greenhouse has everyone on edge. Margaret suspects it might be Gyp Rosetti (one of the few times he’s mentioned), who’s gone underground after last week’s failed hit. Her son Teddy blames the fire on a gypsy he’s seen prowling the neighborhood. Margaret doesn’t believe him since the next door neighbor found him on her property along with a bag of flammable oil. The main story is the lack of a strong male authority figure, which Nucky always fails to be by being preoccupied with some other matter (mistress, bootlegging, political bribes etc). The absence is felt most acutely by Teddy, who Nucky implored last season to refer to him as his father. Now, the closest father figure Teddy feels is Owen, as seen when he asks his mother Margaret if Owen can live with them.
“I’ve done what I thought was best and wound up here. How did that happen?”
The above statement by Margaret sums up the loss of direction her character routinely falls into. Despite actively fighting for women’s rights and having the financial access to give her children a comfortable lifestyle, the fact of a loveless marriage with a philandering, murderous gangster weighs heavily on her conscience. Last season, she sought refuge in the arms of Owen, only to feel Catholic guilt in believing her daughter’s polio disease was the result of her sins. In light of catching Nuvky cheating last week, she now feels an air of justification in renewing her own affair. It remains to be seen how this latest development will color her plan to have a “heart to heart” discussion with Nucky on the future of their marriage.
You can’t help but feel the majority of the problems in this marriage stems from them being so much alike. Margaret and Nucky are both opportunists of the highest order. Both have big senses of entitlement, and the only significant difference, which adds to their clashes, is the Catholic guilt that causes the emotional turmoil in Margaret is not as pronounced in Nucky (recent bad dreams/visions aside). At this point, with the disdain evident in their voices during any dialogue, it’s hard to imagine anything outside of a severe family tragedy or crisis bringing them together.
“The courtroom is not the place to find meaning in your life…”
Nucky’s meeting with former courtroom adversary Esther Randolph was one of the few times this season our protagonist is completely confident and in his element. Playing to Randolph’s ego and lack of fulfillment in prosecuting low-level bootleggers, Nucky offers up colleague George Remus and dirt on her boss, attorney general Daugherty. After being roughed up by Daugherty’s men and spending a full day in jail, the previously shaky alliance between the two is effectively finished. Although Randolph doesn’t give a definitive answer, we already know the opportunity for a career-case is something that won’t be passed up. The curveball comes in the form of the slimy Gaston Means, who offered his services for Nucky’s scheme for the sum of $40,000. However, Means has also been entrusted by Daugherty to bring about Nucky’s complete ruin. From his eerie Chesire Cat demeanor, you can be sure Means will find a way to double-cross both men. It’s just a matter of who he sticks the knife further in.
Richard Harrow finally got some semblance of a storyline when he meets an aged former boxer and soldier named Sagorsky and his pretty daughter Julia. He’s so smitten with her that their brief interactions prompt him to fondly go through his family album photos and reminisce about his sister. While Richard is rediscovering his humanity, Gillian is further losing hers: she beds a young lookalike of her son named Roget McAllister and even starts calling him “James.”
Aside from a brief Luciano cameo, the gangsters from NYC to Chicago were all MIA last Sunday (no Chalky, either). From the below preview, the most interesting development to look for this Sunday is the relationship between Gyp Rosetti and Joe “The Boss” Masseria. It appears Masseria needs some convincing to go after Rothstein and company, meaning that Masseria might not be all the way pleased with Gyp’s bloodbath adventures down in Tabor Heights.
