- A frustrated Rothstein meets with Gyp in Tabor Heights, a paranoid Van Alden is looking over his shoulder, and Nucky goes to great length to insure success for Billie's show.
- After venting with Nucky about his liquor travails, Rothstein sends Gyp a message. Van Alden and Sigrid receive an unexpected visitor; Gillian worries about keeping her business afloat; Margaret has awkward moments at the hospital and at Madam Jeunet's.—Anonymous
- A frustrated Rohstein voices his displeasure to Nucky after his convoy of alcohol is hi-jacked by Gypr and in turn meets with Moretti to come to an understanding. Margaret meets with many obstacles in her efforts to establish a women's health clinic at the hospital and accidentally discovers Nucky's affair with showgirl Billie . A desperate Nucky is prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure the success of Billie Kent's show including coercing friend Eddie Cantor. An increasingly paranoid Van Altan is sure the IRS has discovered his new identity and is threatening him with unexpected results.—duke1029
- Gyp Rosetti engages in some intense autoerotic asphyxiation, with a naked woman choking him with a belt while his masturbates. He yells at her not to stop choking him when she stops for a moment for fear of hurting him. He passes out and stops breathing for a moment, but comes back to life with a huge gasp and asks for a towel.
Eli reports to Nucky and Rothstein about the Tabor Heights situation. Gyp has seized control of the thoroughfare between Atlantic City and New York, and it's causing a problem for them. In all, 11 men were killed in Gyp's ambush on the last run. Lucky, who is also in the room, wonders about Nucky's "million-dollar (expletive) highway." Nucky reminds him it's no longer his highway, it costs "considerably more" than $1 million and it's at least two years away. Eli speaks up and says that between the mud, ice and the law, "it's more than we can manage" to get the quantities Rothstein desires to New York from Atlantic City. Eli is thanked for his input and leaves.
Rothstein and Nucky continue to talk about Gyp, and Lucky points out that Gyp reports up to Joe Masseria. Rothstein says he has "a very delicate truce" with Masseria, and tells Nucky it's not his concern. Rothstein says that what solves a problem for Nucky might create one for him. Nucky says Gyp is like "a mad dog," and that because he doesn't follow any rules, he's bad for all business Nucky's and Rothstein's. At this, Rothstein tells everyone else to leave.
Rothstein and Nucky engage in a heated argument that boils down to a couple of things. Rothstein thinks Nucky runs his business like a "drunken shopkeeper," insults New Jersey in a few different ways and suggests that Nucky is too preoccupied with running off to Manhattan to hook up with "some showgirl," Billie Kent. Nucky fires back at Rothstein, suggesting he's "dead below the waist" and saying he's nothing more than "a little weasel with a good poker face."
Lucky and Slater sit outside hearing the muffled argument through the walls in silence. Rothstein opens the doors and takes Lucky with him, saying, "let's move on to other business."
Van Alden is at his office and is told by a colleague that the boss wants to see him. Van Alden asks what it's about, and the co-worker says, "It sounds like the feds finally caught up with you." Van Alden meets with his boss, who says he was contacted by the Internal Revenue Board. He asks about Van Alden's previous employment, and the ex-agent nervously recites a story about owning a wheat farm in Minnesota. The boss says his tax forms were incomplete and tells Van Alden to fix them. He also hands Van Alden a business card left by the special agent who let him off the hook during the speakeasy raid. The boss asks Van Alden if he's thinking about turning them in and Van Alden forces a chuckle.
Leander Whitlock looks at was once the salon of the Commodore and is now a brothel. He looks sad. He goes to meet with Gillian, who says she has "marvelous ideas" for the club. He reminds her that her costs are exceeding revenue and that can't continue. She lists the problems with the house and asks him if he can help arrange a loan. He asks about Lucky, who's her partner in this business, but she says they differ on what's best for the club. She goes on a soliloquy about how the club is supposed to be a place of dreams for men and women, but Leander isn't buying it. She says the house is collateral for the loan, but Leander reminds her she doesn't own it. When he tells her that the first step in the process to claiming ownership is to pronounce Jimmy dead, she recoils. She says he's prone to long disappearances. He tells her that until he's declared dead she has no ownership, title or credit and she's "wasting an old man's time." He leaves.
Nucky comes to the house to tell Margaret he's going to be away on business for a few days. She tells him he didn't need to tell her about that, but he says he just wanted to make sure everything was OK. She asks what's going on, and whether there will be bodyguards again. He asks about the kids and Margaret worries about whether they're in danger. He hands her two copies of Child Life magazine, one for each kid so they won't fight over it. He leaves.
Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon is called before a committee and is asked about his views on the state of Prohibition. He says the costs of effectively policing it is about five times what Congress has seen fit to authorize. Sen. Edge reminds the committee that the question at hand is about prosecutions over enforcement. Edge wants to know whether the Treasury's efforts might be undermined by the Department of Justice. The number of arrests versus convictions, Mellon says, should allow the committee to draw its own conclusions. Another senator jumps in and asks if there's an issue of incompetence or corruption. Mellon says it's his experience that there's room for both. An aid who was inside the hearing, and handed Edge a report, goes out into the hallway to report back to Gaston Bullock Means. He says Mellon is talking about Means' boss' "dirty hands."
Billie Kent is at a show rehearsal and Nucky watches the choreographer work her through a slip-up. Eddie Cantor sits near Nucky and asks him to wake him if anything happens. The musical is supposed to be a comedy, but it's apparently awful. Nucky asks Eddie if he thinks there's something going on between Billie and Verne, the choreographer.
Van Alden is working on the forms and there is a mysterious knock at the door. It's the agent again. He slips his business card under the door. It has a question mark on the back. Van Alden tells Sigrid he hasn't been completely honest with her. She say she knows his name isn't his name and "the bad people" have made false claims about him stealing and doing bad things. She says they're running and hiding so that the bad persons don't find them. "That is exactly what I was going to say," Van Alden tells her.
Dr. Mason runs a class of women through a clinic session. One of the women says she wishes someone had told her this stuff when she was 13, so she wouldn't have thought she was dying. Afterward, Dr. Mason apologizes to Margaret for having "misjudged" her. She thanks him. They'll see each other again the following evening. Dr. Mason's fiancee shows up and Dr. Mason introduces them.
Slater tells Nucky he doesn't like that "it's out of our hands." Nucky says, "If it goes the wrong way, then someone else is to blame." Billie shows up and Slater leaves. Nucky tells him to stay by his phone. Billie's down because Shubert is closing the show. Nucky suggests they find another actor for the male lead, and suggests the choreographer. Billie says Verne is "no one's idea of a star." Nucky offers to call Lee Shubert and propose some changes. She tells him she doesn't want him to do that. She'd rather just go to sleep.
In Tabor Heights, Rothstein and Lucky meet with Gyp. Gyp tells them "it wasn't the money." He says it was Nucky's attitude and arrogance that got to him. Gyp acknowledges to Rothstein that he said something things he shouldn't have at Nucky's New Year's party, but Rothstein says he has thick skin. "Couldn't do business otherwise," he says. Rothstein says he's short a supplier. Gyp says he's controlling the same ocean that Nucky used to have, and he'll even give Rothstein the same price. A paperboy comes in with the evening edition and Gyp buys one after asking if it's "today's" news. He browses some headlines and there's a moment when he calls back to the kid and complains that even though the kid told him it was "today's" news, "all this stuff happened yesterday." Gyp says he's just kidding and tells the kid to make his room at the motel a regular stop on his route. Back to the conversation with Rothstein and Lucky, Gyp says he has a shipment of whiskey coming in the next night. He invites them to come sample for themselves.
Nucky hosts Eddie Cantor for lunch and gives him a bottle of "passover vodka." Nucky tells Eddie that the show Billie's in, "The Naughty Virgin," needs a star. Eddie says he can't because he's in a Jerome Kern play that starts soon and he's under contract. Nucky says that can be sorted out, but Eddie gets serious and tells Nucky he shouldn't get involved. Nucky isn't pleased, but wishes Eddie the best with his show.
Lansky is unpacking smuggled heroin while his young associate, Benny, is filing serial numbers off a gun.
Margaret is on the boardwalk handing out fliers for the health clinic, and drops in to visit Madame Jinnet. She asks if she can leave some fliers. Madame Jinnet seems to be rushing Margaret to leave and we soon see why. Nucky comes out holding a dress and Margaret is surprised to see Nucky is in town and not out of town as he said he'd be. She tells Madame Jinnet this. Soon enough, Billie walks out wearing a fancy dress and talking about how everything's all so fancy. Margaret is stunned. Nucky starts to make the introduction, but Margaret cuts him off. She knows who Billie is. Nucky says they can discuss later, but Margaret says there will be no need. She starts to leave, but turns around. She hands Billie a flier for the clinic, saying, "I doubt that you're free in the evenings, but"
Eddie is in his hotel room why there's a knock on the door. Purnsley and Chalky come in and ask Eddie to give them a show, on account of the fact that when he comes to town they never do get a chance to see him strut. Eddie starts to do a song-and-dance number for them while Chalky and Purnsley just stare menacingly. Out of breath, Eddie finally relents and says, "Tell the son of a bitch I'll do it."
Means shows up to report to Harry Daugherty's man, Smith, about the committee's proceedings. Smith starts to get nervous, saying he can't keep of the lies and who he told them to. Means suggests putting a bootlegger in jail if the committee is complaining that bootleggers aren't being put in jail. But Smith says the bootleggers are who they're in business with.
Nucky shows up in Margaret's room and asks if he can sit. She says, "It's your house." He sits, she stands. He talks her into sitting down again. He starts to speak and says he's sorry "for demonstrating bad form." When she mocks him for "bad form" being what would distress him, Nucky says he's being honest. She says she knows, and "that's what's making it all use slightly humiliating." Margaret asks if Billie is "in need of rescuing, as well." When he says she seems to be capable of taking care of herself. Margaret suggests that must be hard for Nucky because it's not a role he's comfortable in. He suggests he's changed and Margaret says he's not the only one. She asks him not to check in on the kids before he leaves. Nucky urges Margaret to ask herself "some practical questions."
Van Alden gets to his apartment and hears the special agent talking to Sigrid inside. He walks in and asks Agent Coughlin what he wants. The agent tells Van Alden that he knew he'd recognized him from somewhere, and then he recalled that Van Alden sold him an iron and it was a piece of junk. He's about to pull the iron from his bag and Sigrid comes out of nowhere and clubs Coughlin over the head with something. With two blows, he's knocked to the ground and struggling to cling to life. Van Alden says "he wasn't here to arrest me I sold him an iron." After some tense moments of silence, broken only by Coughlin's painful moans and gasps for air, Sigrid says she'll hold his legs. She shouts, "Husband!" at Van Alden to snap him into action. Van Alden pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and lays on top of Coughlin to suppress his struggling while Van Alden suffocates him with the hanky.
Gillian sees all the girls in the brothel chatting. It's a slow night. She tells them to go out on the porch and attract some customers. She's told them before not to do this, but desperate times That night, Gillian writes Jimmy a letter pleading for him to come home. Signed, "Your Eternally Devoted Mother."
The next night at the clinic, the nun overseeing things points out that Margaret has lost a student from the night before. One woman says it's hard to get away at night and that the morning would be a more convenient time. The nun, however, says it wouldn't work for her schedule. A nurse comes in and tells Margaret that Dr. Mason was called away on an emergency. Margaret decides to teach the class herself, much to the nun's chagrin.
Van Alden goes to the flower shop and asks Dean O'Banion who he got out of a tight spot with Lucky and Lansky a while back for a favor. He must dispose of a body. O'Banion is intrigued, saying, "Oh, must you, now?"
In Tabor Heights, a new paperboy shows up at the inn with the evening edition. He tells some guys in front that the regular kid is home sick. Gyp's bodyguard is watching the door when the he tells the paperboy, "I'll take it."
"Suit yourself," the kid says before shooting the guard. Inside the room, Gyp is again being choked, but this time belt around his neck is tied to a bed post. He tells the woman to untie him while he reaches for his gun. The kid, who we now know is Meyer's young associate, Benny, shoots and kicks the door open. He gets a shot at Gyp, who shield himself with the naked woman. She takes three bullets. Benny runs down the hall, shooting a couple more of Gyp's men on the way out. The last person he encounters is the regular paperboy, who pleads, "Don't shoot!" Benny does and the paperboy is dead. Benny comes running out of the motel, whooping excitedly as he jumps into a getaway car.
Inside, a naked Gyp traces Benny's steps down the hallway and steps over the bodies some dead and some struggling to breathe of his men. He last sees the paperboy slumped over, just inside the door of the motel.
Nucky goes to visit Billie backstage at her show. She asks him what happened. Yesterday they were closing the show and today they're rewriting it. Nucky feigns ignorance and says Shubert is probably just trying to protect his investment.
Billie gets down to the stage and stands next to Eddie, who's in full costume for rehearsal. She tells him he's a lifesaver and adds, "Whatever you're doing here, I promise I won't let you down."
"Lucy Danziger," he replies. "Ever heard of her?"
Billie shakes her head, no.
"The next one won't know a God damn thing about you, either," Eddie says.
Eddie plays it up well on stage as he and Billie rehearse while Nucky watches. Slater delivers news to Nucky from Rothstein: Four fatalities none of them Gyp Rosetti.
Nucky says nothing, just stoically turns and continues watching the rehearsal.
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