- Nucky makes preparations for the annual Celtic Day dinner on St. Patrick's Day, and Jimmy tries to get Pearl through the trauma of her disfigurement with drugs,
- Nucky makes preparations for the annual Celtic dinner on St. Patrick's Day, which are complicated when the dwarfs from Tiny Town who traditionally play the leprechauns insist on a raise and brother Eli wants to male a divisive speech supporting the IRA. Jimmy tries to get Pearl through the trauma of her disfigurement with drugs and Capone insists that she should leave the bordello.—duke1029@aol.cim
- Nucky's attempts to usher in a joyous St. Patrick's Day are undermined by Eli, Margaret and Van Alden.—HBO Publicity
- Margaret and her kids are sleeping when she's woken up by a noise. She looks out her window and notices Neary overseeing a bunch of henchmen unloading barrels of beer from a truck to store in the Hiawatha Garage nearby. Unable to get back to sleep, Margaret decides to bake some soda bread.
Nucky is lamenting the arrival of St. Patrick's Day. He hates "the yearly display of crying, arguing and public drunkenness that goes along with it," as he puts it to Eli. Eli feels slighted when the server at the Ritz asks Nucky is he wants breakfast, but doesn't ask Eli anything. Eli thinks it means something, but Nucky disagrees. Eli tells Nucky he's planning on making a speech at the upcoming Celtic dinner. He's been taking public speaking lessons. Nucky is against it, but relents.
Margaret arrives and offers Nucky some soda bread. He tells her to leave it with the bellhop, then blows her off by telling her he's late for a meeting. After Margaret leaves, Eli mentions she's "not a bad looking woman."
"My life's complicated enough," Nucky says, before leaving. Margaret watches him walk away and she throws the soda bread in the trash.
Some midget boxers are getting ready for their fight, but they're upset that they're expected to wear stereotypical leprechaun outfits for St. Patrick's Day, though they are appeased with a pay raise to $10 each.
In Chicago, Jimmy squeezes fresh orange juice for Pearl, whose face is still significantly bandaged from where Liam cut her. A loud noise startles her, but Jimmy assures her it's just a door closing. He says he won't let anyone hurt her. He pours some laudanum into her orange juice after she'd already finished a small bottle.
Nucky and some of his associates rejoice in how much people love liquor, and how much money they're making by providing it. Nucky tells them about Eli's speech, using a joke about him being Daniel Webster for a second time, which annoys Eli. They taunt him a bit, then one of the men sings a song to Nucky about how much money is coming his way.
Margaret arrives at a Women's Temperance League meeting that is far less attended than the one Nucky spoke at previously. A woman stands and reads a story of a woman in Nebraska who fell on hard times and mixed liquor so she could sell it in town. One of her children found it and drank herself to death. The women start sharing stories about the liquor activity in Atlantic City and their leader, Mrs. McGarry, decides it's clear the city's leaders have no interest in curbing it, so they need to do something more to get their attention. At this, Margaret speaks up about what she's seeing in her neighborhood. She wonders if Nucky could help, referring to him as "a friend." The women take an interest, and Mrs. McGarry asks her to arrange a meeting. Margaret says she'll try.
As he gets a haircut in New York, Arnold Rothstein converses with his lawyer, Bill Fallon, about a story in the newspaper about the 1919 World Series match fixing scandal, which is just beginning to unfold. The story names a "well-known New York gambler," and it brings him no relief that he's not mentioned by name (because given Rothstein's reputation, it won't take much for people to put two and two together). Fallon tries to assure him it's all baseless speculation with no evidence to back up their claims. But Rothstein points out that he's been seen with boxer Abe Attell and at a "very public dinner" with "Sleepy Bill" Burns. Fallon, working his legal brain, points out that that's not much, and Rothstein can also deny involvement in the fix by claiming to have refused to have gone through with it after the idea came up.
Carl Heely, the leader of the midget group, comes to meet with Nucky. He tells Nucky that they want a raise for working the Celtic dinner. Nucky is hesitant, though eventually agrees to a compromise: Carl can tell his guys the best he could do was get them $7 each, but he'll give Carl $12 extra for it and he can pocket the difference with them. Carl takes the money.
Mrs. McGarry and Margaret show up, thanking Nucky for taking the time to meet with them. Margaret tells Nucky about the beer delivery she witnessed and says that a man who looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place, appeared to be supervising it. Nucky feigns outrage, then tells Margaret his birthday dinner must have bothered her, explaining to Mrs. McGarry that "there was quite a celebratory atmosphere; some champagne and whiskey may have even been drunk." Mrs. McGarry says she's sure his class of acquaintance only drinks in moderation, to which Nucky replies, "If they drink at all!"
He tells them to give the beer-filled garage information to Eli and they'll shut it down. This pacifies Margaret and Mrs. McGarry, and Nucky assures her, "This isn't a personal favor."
In Chicago, Pearl refuses to eat. Johnny Torrio pays a visit and pulls Jimmy out of the room to inform him that Pearl needs to be evicted by the end of the week, as she's not making enough money to justify being kept around on account of her disfigurement scaring away customers.
The next morning, Margaret hears another beer delivery. Irritated, she walks out to confront Neary and his men. All Neary can do is tell the men to be quieter, then offers Margaret a growler, "compliments of the city." Margaret leaves, disgusted.
We next see Margaret getting dressed in the fancy green negligee and a purple outfit, then waiting in the lobby outside Nucky's office. She hears a festive atmosphere in Nucky's office while she waits, and happens to see Neary walk past her as he emerges from the elevator and enters Nucky's office. Moments later, Eddie emerges from the office and tells everyone waiting that Nucky has "some urgent business" and won't be able to meet with anyone. Margaret goes home and rips the green negligee to pieces.
So Margaret decides to do the next best thing: go to the post office and report Neary's operation to Van Alden. She brings up the fact that her children live in earshot of the garage, in an attempt to gain more sympathy from Van Alden. To this, Van Alden shows Margaret a map of places in the city where alcohol is being warehouse, distilled or sold, to demonstrate that this city is a playground for bootleggers, and the prohibition agents don't have enough resources to shut down every last one. The real problem is the alcohol being imported from overseas, and the growing contingent of bootleggers who water it down and distribute it. He says some of the victims are "just unlucky," making a very pointed reference towards Margaret's late husband. His curiosity is piqued, though, Margaret leaves, after giving Neary's name to Van Alden (and piques his curiosity by mentioning Neary's association with Nucky).
Capone and Jimmy talk about the incident with Pearl, and Capone suggests they should retaliate by attacking the Irish gang who shot up the place. Suddenly, the place goes silent as Pearl comes into the room in lingerie, with the massive cut across her entire face on full display. She's clearly inebriated and asks who wants to buy her a drink, telling Jimmy she's got to earn her keep. Al tells him to get her out of sight. The people in the room laugh as she leaves. She asks Jimmy, "Who's gonna love me now?"
Angela gets ready to go out with a friend as Gillian stays to watch Tommy. Gillian warns Angela of the "lower element" that would be out the night before St. Patrick's Day. Gillian tells Angela she could "be free," and notes that Jimmy might not come back. She offers to raise Tommy while Angela goes off and has her "youthful adventures." Angela is offended by the suggestion.
The Celtic dinner begins with the singing of "Carrickfergus" and Nucky's dad shouts at Nucky, asking where Eli is. Eli finally walks in, having been tied up at home with his sons. Nucky is introduced to get the proceedings underway. Eli asks him when he'll get to talk. Nucky then immediately introduces Eli, who gets taunted by the crowd as he stumbles to get going. He gets the crowd going by taking on the British, blaming them for the Irish famine and saying "the murdering Brits are at it again, naming off a list of Irish heroes who have been killed." He names one incorrectly and someone pipes up, "What's he know? He was born in the States."
Eli's words sets off an intense argument between the different Irish factions of the crowd: those who immigrated from Ireland, and those born here in the United States. It devolves into a battle over who raised money for the fight back home (apparently, the U.S.-born Irish) and who actually did the fighting (the ones who were there). Eli tries to keep talking but he's drowned out by the shouting. Nucky looks bothered and the Commodore leans over and tells him he's going to have a riot on his hands. Nucky ends it all by standing up and stopping Eli's speech, telling a few Irish jokes and introducing some bagpipe players, "the little people" (the leprechaun-dressed midgets) who come with pots of gold. The men are upset that there is no green beer. Eli looks upset by the developments.
Pearl wants more laudanum and says they should go to Chinatown where they can smoke it, but Jimmy tells her to take it easy. She wants to hear a story about him -- "something happy." He tells her about the Fourth of July when he was 7 years old and she nearly falls asleep. The story is about a boat trip with a man named Mr. Lancaster, who Jimmy's mom wanted to marry. When Jimmy is done with the story about what he said was a good day, Pearl said, "Tell me he married her."
"Sure he did," Jimmy replied. "Happily ever after."
They kiss a bit and Jimmy gets up to wash his suit, after having spilled orange juice on it. While he's in the bathroom, Pearl commits suicide by shooting herself with Jimmy's gun.
Nucky is giving Eli a lesson about how "there's a time and place" and that he has to know his audience. Eli is drunk and doesn't much care anymore to take his advice about being a good politician. He tells Nucky, "The whole thing's a game, isn't it? So easy for you."
Eli says that maybe one day he'll be able to lie "as good" as Nucky. "It's lie as well as me, you dolt," Nucky says, telling him to learn to speak properly if he wants to be taken seriously.
The festivities are brought to a grinding halt as Van Alden and some men storm into the dinner. A lawyer stands up and defiantly protests the Prohibition agents' presence. Van Alden punches the man in the face, and dares the others in attendance to interfere with his duties. He produces the arrest warrant for Neary and takes him into custody while ordering that the assembly hall be shuttered and the other attendees disperse.
There's quite a scene outside, with reporters and photographers asking questions and snapping pictures while Neary is walked out. The Women's Temperance League is organized and singing "Stand Up for Prohibition." Nucky takes notice of Margaret standing at the front of the crowd. As soon as everyone has left the hall, Van Alden's men padlock the doors.
Eli turns and mocks Nucky, sarcastically telling him it was a "great night for the Irish." Nucky tells Eli to go home to his wife. Asked by Eli where he's going, Nucky says nothing. Eli slowly and drunkenly takes a swing at Nucky, which he easily dodges. Another man pulls Eli away and they leave. Nucky stands alone on the steps of the hall as everyone leaves.
In a montage, Jimmy hands money to an Asian women and is escorted inside a building; Angela walks on the boardwalk alone, but goes into Dittrich's photo studio where someone is clearly waiting for her; Eli pukes in his bathroom with his wife at his side; Jimmy smokes out of a large pipe; Gillian looks at her reflection and touches her face; Van Alden watches his men use hatchets to break open barrels of green beer; Jimmy continues smoking, looking dazed; Margaret's kids sleep peacefully but she lies awake.
There's a loud knock at Margaret's door. It's Nucky. He lets himself in. He tells her he has neither the time nor the interest in games, calling her Margaret, rather than Mrs. Schroeder. Then they kiss quite passionately.
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