“That’s me. The tin woodsman. Just need a bit of oil.” (Richard)

It should be no secret that I love The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I don’t know what it is about the book that seems to stick the way it does, but it does, and for that I’m glad. So naturally, I’m completely in love with this episode and am left with but one question: how much does Atlantic City have in common with The Emerald City?

You can’t just not sympathize with Richard Harold. Poor guy’s even dreaming of the whore that pity-fucked him; you can just imagine him falling in love with her because she’s the only person to not have been entirely repulsed by him. The above quote serves the most endearing scene of the entire season so far: Harold making his entry with Margaret’s kids, who are effectively traumatized by the way he looks. Unbelievable – I wanted to hug the guy.

But mainly, this episode was very raw. A lot of violence – the executions near the ending are pretty high up, even for Boardwalk Empire’s standards. Fitting, though: Jimmy kills one in the heat of the moment, Chalky strangles one in cold, calculated rage and Nucky… lets the last one go. Doesn’t get any clearer than that.

“That’s mommy’s kissing friend.” Oh, little kid, you have no idea what hellish fury you just unleashed. If Jimmy’s anger burst out during the execution, it was nothing compared to the way he clobbered that photographer to a bloody pulp. Poor guy – but you have to admit: he has the kind of face you want to punch. He’s practically begging for it.

Thoughts and things

• Twenties-award of the week is another hard one. I’m going to go classic and comment the way Nucky and his colleagues were laughing after Margaret was done speeching. Sexism. Harsh.
• Van Alden just turned naughty. What on earth possessed him to take Lucy Danziger home? Lucy, of all people. On the one hand, I understand this character less with every passing week – but on the other hand, I enjoy watching him more.
• Not really sure whether I felt pity for Angela. To be frank, I think she’s acting stupid. But then again, she is in love.
• Wonderful little C-plot for Al. The new hat… doesn’t really work. Sorry.

In All…

What a depressing mess. Why can’t we all get along? For an episode referring to The Wizard of Oz, nobody seems to be really happy. But then again, were the people in the Emerald City happy? They’re mostly shallow, if you ask me. Shallow and unknowing what the truth really is. But how can that relate to the events in Atlantic City? Maybe they don’t have anything in common after all. Except for one thing: looks deceive…