When the second episode of “Boardwalk Empire” kicks off, it’s a snowy day in 1920, but things are starting not on a boardwalk in Atlantic City but, rather, outside a church in Chicago. It’s the funeral for Big Jim Colosimo, and the reporters are already swarming around Johnny Torrio about his possible connections in Big Jim’s sudden and untimely demise by lead poisoning…as well they should. Still, look at the lovely flower arrangement sent by Nucky Thompson. He’s a real sweetheart, that one…

They’re definitely going out of their way to underline the fact that Nucky’s still mourning his wife: this is two episodes in a row where there’s been a blatant cut to her picture that’s either been preceded or followed by a shot of Nucky looking sad and lonely. Still, he instantaneously transforms into All Business Nucky when Agent Van Alden bursts into his office, easily finding a smirk to accompany his question about whether Van Alden would like “coffee…or something stronger.” Still, the agent’s skepticism about Hans Schroeder’s connection to the shooting is clearly weighing heavy on Nucky’s mind, as evidenced by his extremely limited tolerance for George when he encounters him early in the episode. I mean, seriously, he barely even tried to mask his distaste for the man.

When we first see Margaret, she’s still recovering in the hospital, but her spirits instantly rise at the announcement that Mr. Thompson has come to pay her a visit. What disappointment we see in her eyes, however, when it turns out to be Elias Thompson. Though it seems at first that he’s there to offer his sympathies, it quickly becomes apparent that his agenda is to railroad her into backing up their story that her husband is a murderer, and although she refuses to believe it, you have to give Elias credit for his hurtful yet valid reminder that he was responsible for the death of the child in her womb. Elias no doubt thought he was helping seal the deal by giving her the money, but I’m sure the more literary viewers chuckled to themselves over the foreshadowing offered by Margaret’s choice of reading material: Henry James’ “The Ivory Tower,” which revolves around what a corrupting force money can be.

When she returns home, looking utterly shell-shocked, she’s only been inside for mere seconds before Agent Van Alden knocks on the door, feigning ignorance of her having just arrived. Yeah, right: like he hadn’t either been casing the joint or following her all the way from the hospital to her residence. He tries to play the good cop, telling her that her husband was a fine and decent man. What, has he not even looked into her enough to know why she was in the hospital?

Whatever the case, she’s struggling with her conscience over telling the truth, supporting her family, and sullying her husband’s reputation, but in the end, she decides that she’s willing to work with Nucky, just so long as he can permit her to actually do something to truly earn the money he’s giving her…or, at least, that’s how I saw it, anyway. (As we know, I’m off with my perceptions sometimes.)

It should be no surprise that Nucky’s concerned about Margaret to do whatever he can to help soothe her conscience. We’d already seen him asking about her condition earlier in the episode, immediately before he began complaining to Elias that he didn’t dispose of her husband the way he’d intended. He doesn’t seem overly pissed off about it, but that doesn’t mean his annoyance won’t increase if Van Alden keeps nosing around about the situation. From there, Nucky heads over to the hoosegow, where he informs Mickey that he’s out and that Chalky – who, oddly, never actually appeared during the episode – is in. It’s adding insult to injury for Nucky to leave Mickey behind bars (though it makes sense), and I expect Mickey’s anger over the situation is going to come back to haunt Nucky sooner than later.

Agent Van Alden’s opinion that Nucky Thompson is a far bigger fish than Arnold Rothstein is clearly changing the thrust of the revenuers’ investigation, and it’s affecting ours as well, thanks to the nicely-cut sequences which shone a light on all of the various activities in which Thompson is involved. I also thought it was interesting that they showed how Thompson was ingratiating himself to voters who were being ignored by other candidates, thereby keeping his local reputation high and mighty.

By the way, the sequence where Van Alden writes a letter to his wife…well, the narration was straight out of Ken Burns’ “The Civil War,” but there’s something about his expression and mannerisms as he writes it that shows that he’s a good-hearted man. “Boardwalk Empire” may be a show designed to embrace the anti-hero, a la “The Sopranos,” but we’re clearly meant to respect this guy and the work he’s trying to do for his country.

Jimmy seems thrilled by his new station in life, instantly getting a swelled head and turning into a big spender, buying a toy for his son and jewelry for his wife. The decision to buy a vacuum sweeper backfires somewhat, however, and you can see the disappointment on Jimmy’s face…or if you didn’t spot it then, you surely caught it when he convinces the missus to “do it the French way” in bed, only for her to be interrupted by their bawling child. Fed up with being underappreciated in the homestead, Jimmy slips off to visit the one person he knows will be thrilled to see him: his mother. I’m sure I’m not the only one, though, who was at first under the impression that he was seeking someone else to help him, uh, relieve his stress, if you take my meaning.

Jimmy’s seriously self-absorbed, having little idea or concern about the effect his actions are having on other people, as evidence by his apparent shock over Nucky’s reaction to him when he comes in to work like it’s just another day. Jimmy assures Nucky that Torrio only sanctioned his maneuver after the fact – it’s funny to hear Capone referred to as “the chubby kid” – but despite countless apologies, Nucky’s not having it, offering him this brilliant line instead:

“You want to be a gangster, kid? Go be a gangster. But if you want to be a gangster in my town, then you’ll pay me for the privilege.”

Oh, yeah, Nucky’s pissed: not only does he demand a further $3K from Jimmy, but he doesn’t even bother to look up when Jimmy leaves…not that Jimmy notices. He can tell that Nucky’s serious, and if he’s pissed him off already, he knows he’s a dead man if he doesn’t make good on the $3K. The frantic search for the money was nicely done, particularly that bit with Capone coming as close to laughing in Jimmy’s face as one can manage over a telephone line, but it revealed the depths to which Jimmy will sink that he swiped the money from his mother. (That was who he got it from, wasn’t it?) Also great were the Rothstein-related sequences, including that charming cueball anecdote as well as the phone conversation between Rothstein and Nucky. As a writer, though, the scene that made me cringe the most was when the guy from the Chicago Tribute went to visit Frankie at the bar, telling him that he’s going to be linking Torrio to the Big Jim murder. Seriously, how stupid were journalists in the ’20s?

A few other random moments of note:

* The look on the midget’s face after Nucky went looking for the punchline to the question, “Can you lend me a few bucks?” I’d imagine that joke would get a little old.
* How Nucky had regained his composure when he met up with George later in the episode, going so far as to try and help the poor bastard get laid by making claims of a beauty contest that clearly never would have come to pass.
* The Commodore cruelly calling Luanne into his library solely to mock her intelligence and show Nucky who his female constituents would be.
* Nucky trying to prove the Commodore wrong by telling Margaret, “I want you to vote Republican.”
* Paz de la Huerta getting naked again. Always a highlight.
* The arrival of a blood-soaked man to interrupt George’s blow job. I guess that fifth guy got better…

To wrap up, let’s talk about that last scene with Nucky and Jimmy. I haven’t seen such a power play on TV in awhile: talk about a “fuck you” to Jimmy for Nucky to take that hard-earned $3K and then bet it and lose it right in front of him. Nucky Thompson really is a bad-ass…but, somehow, I don’t think Jimmy’s going to end up being anything but pissed off. Revenge would seem to be in the cards in the very near future.