At first I wasn’t sure I liked it. There were parts of the episode that worked, but overall I wasn’t sure if it all coalesced as it should have. However, a few minutes after the credits rolled I began to feel like the episode went down perfectly. I’m reminded of The Sopranos in that we were given a lot of shocks but we didn’t get the satisfying moments we were hoping for (intentionally so). Narcisse is in a shitload of trouble with the FBI, but as much as we dislike Narcisse, Hoover is even worse, which takes away any satisfaction we might get from seeing Narcisse’s comeuppance. Hoover forcing him to call him “sir” was devastating and the look on Jeffrey Wright’s face was pitch perfect for the scene, making me sympathize with him over Hoover. The death of Agent Knox is so incredibly brutal that there’s no fist pump moment, only grimaces and gasps as Eli viciously beats him. Nucky returns to his life of crime, but it’s done off screen. We don’t get a dramatic NUCKY’S BACK moment; we’re just shown that he goes about his business while Sally Wheet sits alone in Florida.

I first saw an episode of Doctor Who in September of 1999 (“Four to Doomsday” in case you were wondering). I was ten years old. Being an American, I didn’t come across many people who had heard of Doctor Who, let alone anyone who was a fan (Doctor Who had a number of positive influences on me- helping me make friends in middle school was not one of them). Thanks to my aunt, who had taped episodes when it aired in the United States during the ‘80s, I had access to this wonderful, inventive, at times awful, but usually brilliant, show. I count myself as damn lucky.

Gretchen Mol is the show’s must underrated actor (with Buscemi right behind her because some people still inexplicably think he’s wrong for the part). She knocks it out of the park in every single scene, creating sympathy for a character for whom we should feel none. Gillian’s psychosis could easily turn her into a nasty, hate-able character, yet Mol gives every line a dose of tragedy, constantly reminding us of the rapes she went through at the hands of the Commodore (back in season two when she slapped the immobile Commodore across the face again and again is one of the most disturbing and upsetting moments of the entire show). This meant that tonight’s reversal, while completely deserved, also made me cringe. Roy turning out to be not who he claimed wasn’t exactly a huge revelation, but I was surprised that he ended up being an investigator looking into the drowning of the boy Gillian used as Jimmy’s body last season. Mol’s screams as the men took her down were heart wrenching no matter how much Gillian deserved it. Her life has been so fucking awful and this can’t possibly improve it. Was I the only one feeling bad for her?

Let’s talk about tension because this episode was absolutely packed with it. We start off with Eli sitting with Agent Knox, telling him what he knows about Johnny Torrio’s operation in Chicago. Beginning with Eli talking to the Feds is a smart move as it gets us on the edge of our seats right away, something Boardwalk Empire occasionally forgets to do when they have more lethargic openings- although, credit where credit is due, they’ve gone away from that a hell of a lot this season, with this being just the latest example.

Man, the titles for episodes this season have not been very inspiring, have they? This week’s is especially blasé. In seasons past we had titles like “You’d Be Surprised” or “Under God’s Power She Flourishes.” I miss those nifty titles.