“Yeah, I understand. You want Schlampen.” (Eddie)

For an episode called “The Age of Reason”, it certainly focused a lot on irrational guilt. It was like a confession, which makes sense after last week’s episode, which was sin all around. Almost every major character either opened up or was punished because they were hiding out. This is the set-up to the second half of the season. I can’t believe it.

Stars of the evening were obviously Van Alden and Lucy. Throughout the episode, Van Alden tried to confess his sins: first to his wife, then to his boss… and he failed spectacularily – twice. I’m always waiting for a religious crisis to happen inside that brain of his, but in the end he makes sense of it all. But his wife showing up by Lucy’s bedside? That’s something different. Speaking of Lucy: for a moment, I was thinking she was going to accidently kill the kid, but surprisingly everything went well. The birth scene was handled well, but showed that there are even things HBO can’t pull off realistically. I’m not expecting HBO to show me a birth in every gory detail – but the shy camera was very, very noticable. Everyone has their limits. Morally or CGI-based, you decide.

I like how Lucky and Jimmy keep running into each other. They can’t stand each other, yet somehow the forces of the universe want them to be buddies, or at the very least partners. Other than that, I didn’t really buy into Jimmy’s way of handling things this episode. Being a prick to assholes is okay, but being a prick to those who want to help you is a bit sad if you ask me.

So now comes the question: has Margaret already slept with Owen? I haven’t rewatched the scene between them, but it was very strange nonetheless. A dubious line here and there and a bit too much closeness for my liking. I think I’m probably imagining things, but it was sort of there. Anyway, Owen’s a dead man if he so much as touches Margaret.

Thoughts and things

• No twenties-award this week. Maybe I’m getting desensitized?
• The scene in the butcher shop was horrifying. Very nasty, too: from the get-go it was clear what was about the happen, which made the scene even more unbearable than it already was.
• I’m glad to see a few different characters this episode. Van Alden doesn’t have nearly enough screentime, and if I have to sacrifice Richard for that, I will. But where is Al Capone? It feels like forever since we last saw him. Anyway, he will be back. History and all that.
• Speaking of underused characters: is that seriously all Angela’s going to do this season? Kiss Jimmy and shovel eggs? Bummer.

In all…

A good midseason episode. Some powerful scenes, but a lot of set-up too. The question whether Nucky will go to prison hangs in the room. I wonder if they’ll actually go that far. It sort of makes sense, but do we really want it to happen? This season is flying by at breakneck speed, I guess we’ll find out by the end of it.