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"Paris Green" is the 11th episode of the first season of the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...
'', which premiered November 28, 2010. The episode was written by supervising producer
Howard Korder Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play ''Boys' Life'', which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play ''Search and Destroy'' was adapted into a film in 1995. ...
and directed by
Allen Coulter Allen Coulter is an American television and film director, credited with a number of successful television programs. He has directed two feature films, ''Hollywoodland'', a film regarding the questionable death of George Reeves starring Adrien ...
. The episode sees Van Alden exacting revenge for a botched investigation, Jimmy facing up to the dark secrets of his family, and Nucky making a decision that will forever change his relationship with Eli.


Plot

Van Alden continues to question Sebso's lies about the witness' death, prompting Sebso to contact Nucky for advice. Nucky tells him about an illegal
still A still is an apparatus used to distillation, distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling, boil and then cooling to Condensation, condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic Distillation#Laboratory_procedures, ...
on the outskirts of
Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...
and suggests Sebso convince Van Alden to refocus his attention. As they look for the still, the two agents come upon a black church's river baptism, prompting Van Alden to shed tears. Sebso, who is
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, puts in for a transfer to
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and confronts Van Alden about his paranoia, hostility, and
anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. Exasperated in spite of his actual guilt, Sebso demands to know how he might earn back Van Alden's trust before leaving. In response, Van Alden brings him to the river and bullies the smaller man into being baptized. Driven into a religious frenzy by Sebso's refusal to "repent", Van Alden dunks him underwater repeatedly and ends up drowning him. He declares to the crowd that "divine justice" has been done, brandishes his gun, and calmly walks away. Gillian asks
Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
to visit the dying Commodore, his biological father, which he does only reluctantly. Jimmy notes that Gillian was only thirteen years old when he was born, making him a child of
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
. The Commodore tries to mollify Jimmy by telling him that "the wrong man is running this town", implying that Jimmy should supplant Nucky, whom Gillian reveals was the one who brought her to the Commodore decades previously while serving as sheriff. Jimmy decides to stay with his father as he passes away. This decision proves crucial, as Jimmy is present when the attending doctor detects significant amounts of
arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...
(
Paris Green Paris green (copper(II) acetate triarsenite or copper(II) acetoarsenite) is an arsenic-based organic pigment. As a green pigment it is also known as Mitis green, Schweinfurt green, Sattler green, emerald, Vienna green, Emperor green or Mount ...
) while testing a hair sample. The Commodore begins to recover, and Jimmy confronts Gillian with an empty canister of Paris Green pigment that he found in the trash. He reassures her of his support, whatever her intentions, but she remains silent. Rothstein is called to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
to face charges of his involvement in the
Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a match fixing, game-fixing scandal in Major League Baseball (MLB) in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for p ...
. The surviving D'Alessio brothers have gone into hiding, but
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
finds one of them staying with family members. The mild-mannered Richard somewhat ruthlessly suggests killing the family as a means of getting the surviving brothers to "stick their heads up," a tactic harkening back to his past as a
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
; Jimmy is undecided. Meanwhile, Angela prepares to leave town with Tommy and Mary, leaving a note for Jimmy. She goes to the photography studio only to find it empty, unaware that Robert became aware of Mary's plan and absconded with her. Distraught and helpless, Angela rushes home, only to find that Jimmy has already read the note. With their son in the room, neither mentions the note, and Jimmy seems determined to carry on as before. Nucky continues to deal with the pressures of winning both the upcoming election and the gang war with the D'Alessio brothers. Meanwhile, the boyfriend of
Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...
's friend Annabelle loses all his money in the original Ponzi scheme. When he flees with Annabelle's life savings, she offers to resume her old relationship with Nucky. Margaret catches them talking in his office and later argues with him, criticizing Nucky for involving her in his business, then insisting she ignore its unsavory realities. Nucky argues that Margaret's own choices have brought them together, none of which reflect well on her own character. Margaret levels her suspicions about Nucky's part in the death of Hans, which Nucky indirectly confirms by retorting that neither of them has or should have any regret about what happened to him. Eli is furious that, by confirming Margaret's suspicions, Nucky has endangered them both. He insults Margaret, calling her a liability created by Nucky's selfishness and criticizing his hypocritical aversion to violence. After a heated argument, Nucky drops Eli from the Republican ticket in favor of Halloran, who has been angling to replace Eli as sheriff. He arrives at Margaret's place only to find that she and her children have already left, her whereabouts unknown. The last scene shows Nucky visiting a
palm reader Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those w ...
on the
Boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...
, while his butler Eddie looks on.


First appearance

* Lemuel Cuffy: The African-American
Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
of Atlantic County's church who is also a member of Atlantic City's black community and a religious member of the
black church The Black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that predominantly minister to, and are led by, African Americans, ...
over there.


Death

* Eric Sebso: A Jewish FBI Agent who is Van Alden's junior partner in the investigation on mob bosses and a secretly corrupt agent working for Nucky. He is murdered by Van Alden by being forcefully drowned to death as he is getting
baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...
.


Reception


Critical reception

IGN praised the episode, calling it "outstanding" and went on to say, "With his safety nets gone and his finger tightening around a trigger gunning for Rothstein, Nucky is a man alone, surrounded by a war that can go any way but good. The future is uncertain, tension hangs and fans of the series are in the best position possible going in to what's sure to be a game-changing finale." ''The A.V. Club '' gave the episode an A−.


Ratings

"Paris Green" slid two tenths of a point in to a 1.1 adults 18–49 rating, but had a nearly identical average viewership vs. last week. The episode had a total of 3.004 million viewers.TV by the Numbers
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References


External links



at
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
* {{Boardwalk Empire Boardwalk Empire episodes 2010 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Allen Coulter Television episodes written by Howard Korder