For us orgers that watch it and have BEEN watching it since season 1, recently season 4 has started. So far....LOVING IT!!! I've been behind posting a thread for each episode every week, so I'm playing catch up.

This past Sunday, episode 2 of season 4 aired where we were introduced to Dr. Valentin Narcisse, portrayed by the brilliant Jeffrey Wright. A clever yet cunning villian for the season...I'd say it's very befitting to the series. I love how more of Chalky is being shown this season as well. Looks like they are doing some twists to Richard's character this season so it will interesting how it will turn out. Still no Margaret yet, but honestly, I really don't miss her. I'm wondering how new character "Daughter Maitland" will fit in with the storyline. I'm thinking she will be a pawn in throwing a monkey wrench between Chalky and Nucky's partnership...all orchestrated by Dr. Narcisse of course. How about that new prohibition agent? Oh and let's not forget Van Alden...oops my bad, George Mueller becoming the new "muscle" for Chicago. Who'd ever thought that Van Alden would turn out the way he has.

Discuss.

I love this show!

luv4u said:

I love this show!

chocolate1 said:

I think I'm going to like this season very much! Last week's was disturbing. This week's was much better. Am I bad for being happy that girl got killed?

Oh she had it coming. As soon as Dr. Narcisse agreed to Nucky's 10% offer, and her "problem" went away as part of the stipulations...I knew she was done. Then when Dr. Narcisse's driver stopped the car, I was like

I agree girl, this season is gonna be the ish!

I enjoy Dr. Narcisse's character. He's already climbed inside Chalky's head.

Richard's story arc is somewhat compelling, but he won't stay on the sidelines long.

I can't wait to see how Luciano and Lansky fit into the dynamic, as well as some other real-life players who've been referred to but not yet seen much (like Onie Madden and J. Edgar Hoover).

S4 has the makings for the best season yet.

I've watched the latest episode "Resignation" a couple of times more and I keep getting this bad feeling about Harrow's sister, Emma. I feel like she is hiding something or is manipulating Richard about something. I guess we'll see in all due time.

Dr. Narcisse is a Trini!

I'm not sure if this is the BEST season so far, because seasons one and two were REALLY good! But for me this has been the most interesting season at the two episode point. This series moved at a snails pace for the first three seasons, winding the smaller plot points tighter and tighter until they exploded in the last couple episodes. Last season in particular seemed to just CRAWL (no Jimmy Darmody) for most of the season. I'm thinking this is something the producers, writers and directors took into account for the season four, because to me it feels like there's been a serious uptick in the speed with which events that actually matter are taking place.

I think I may be the only person on Earth who misses Margaret.

I can't stand Patricia Arquette as an actress. I think she's AWFUL and has one of the most singularly annoying voices in the history of all mankind. I am NOT looking forward to her appearing this season.

missfee said:

chocolate1 said:

I think I'm going to like this season very much! Last week's was disturbing. This week's was much better. Am I bad for being happy that girl got killed?

Oh she had it coming. As soon as Dr. Narcisse agreed to Nucky's 10% offer, and her "problem" went away as part of the stipulations...I knew she was done. Then when Dr. Narcisse's driver stopped the car, I was like

I agree girl, this season is gonna be the ish!

But dumping her body where they did is either a message to Nucky, or it's going to come back to bite him in the ass.

namepeace said:

I enjoy Dr. Narcisse's character. He's already climbed inside Chalky's head.

Richard's story arc is somewhat compelling, but he won't stay on the sidelines long.

I can't wait to see how Luciano and Lansky fit into the dynamic, as well as some other real-life players who've been referred to but not yet seen much (like Onie Madden and J. Edgar Hoover).

S4 has the makings for the best season yet.

I enjoy the Chalky White storylines, always have, so I'm glad they're doing something more interesting with him this season. And the Dr. Narcisse character was a bad ass from the second I saw him in a preview. Unfortunately, based on the way this series has unfolded in the past, I see something bad happening to Chalky, Narcisse, Nucky, or all three of them by seasons end.

I hope they go somewhere with Richard and Van Alden this season, because they've been stringing them along as characters with no real payoff for too long. They're both interesting in a way that's meant to keep you watching, and it works. But if they drag it out for too long they become unintentional humorous caricatures of interesting characters instead of BEING interesting characters. I think they're dangerously close to that point with Van Alden already.

I'm not sure I love the idea of Hoover being a character on the show yet. Undecided I guess.

Yes, agree, other than Patricia Arquette, I think this season could be great.

Cerebus said:

missfee said:

Oh she had it coming. As soon as Dr. Narcisse agreed to Nucky's 10% offer, and her "problem" went away as part of the stipulations...I knew she was done. Then when Dr. Narcisse's driver stopped the car, I was like

I agree girl, this season is gonna be the ish!

But dumping her body where they did is either a message to Nucky, or it's going to come back to bite him in the ass.

I looked at it as a message to Nucky. Dr. Narcisse is way too clever to be careless and it seems everything he does is definitely for a deeper reason.

Cerebus said:

namepeace said:

I enjoy Dr. Narcisse's character. He's already climbed inside Chalky's head.

Richard's story arc is somewhat compelling, but he won't stay on the sidelines long.

I can't wait to see how Luciano and Lansky fit into the dynamic, as well as some other real-life players who've been referred to but not yet seen much (like Onie Madden and J. Edgar Hoover).

S4 has the makings for the best season yet.

I enjoy the Chalky White storylines, always have, so I'm glad they're doing something more interesting with him this season. And the Dr. Narcisse character was a bad ass from the second I saw him in a preview. Unfortunately, based on the way this series has unfolded in the past, I see something bad happening to Chalky, Narcisse, Nucky, or all three of them by seasons end.

I hope they go somewhere with Richard and Van Alden this season, because they've been stringing them along as characters with no real payoff for too long. They're both interesting in a way that's meant to keep you watching, and it works. But if they drag it out for too long they become unintentional humorous caricatures of interesting characters instead of BEING interesting characters. I think they're dangerously close to that point with Van Alden already.

I'm not sure I love the idea of Hoover being a character on the show yet. Undecided I guess.

Yes, agree, other than Patricia Arquette, I think this season could be great.

I agree with you here. I like the fact that they are going deeper with Richard but I'm also nervous that it will go somewhere only to leave the audience hanging. Aside from Chalky, Richard's been a major character that keeps me fiercely interested in this show season after season. I find Van Alden's character fascinating. How in the world do you go from a prohibition agent with scrict Christian values to being on the run in another city under a false name with a loyal wife, kids and becoming part of the muscle for the Chicago mob?

Cerebus was not as impressed with last night's episode. And yes, Patricia Arquette still annoys the ever lovin' crap out of him.

missfee said:

Okay.....Purnsley will definitely be dead by the end of this season.

He's too reactionary. Standing around looking mean all the time doesn't make you a man.
He's going to let Narcisse get him caught up in something stupid...

Another note:

Eli's son... so getting embarrassed by his friends is going to send him to a life of crime?

He has seemed fascinated by Nucky's lifestyle in the past, though.

Cerebus said:

Cerebus was not as impressed with last night's episode. And yes, Patricia Arquette still annoys the ever lovin' crap out of him.

I thought that lizard in the box for Teddy seemed more like a death threat...

chocolate1 said:

missfee said:

Okay.....Purnsley will definitely be dead by the end of this season.

He's too reactionary. Standing around looking mean all the time doesn't make you a man.
He's going to let Narcisse get him caught up in something stupid...

Another note:

Eli's son... so getting embarrassed by his friends is going to send him to a life of crime?

He has seemed fascinated by Nucky's lifestyle in the past, though.

Well that's the beauty of Narcisse's manipulation. Remember, Valentin looks down on Chalky and Purnsley...so it only makes sense that he believes that they are weak enough (yet easy) to pit against each other, however, at the same time Valentin underestimates Chalky. We can see clearly that Daughter Maitlin is Valentin's plan to distract and weaken Chalky...Purnsley is just silly putty in Valentin's hands. Perhaps Chalky is fooling all of us and his public reprimanding of Purnsley is just an "act"....he's really playing Valentin. We shall see. Either way, Chalky's gonna tap Maitland.

As for Eli's son....poor think is so naive. He really has no idea what he has got himself into with Doyle.

Episode 4: "All In" aired last night.

Well Narcisse's two-faced-ness is really interesting. I still can't help but to think that Chalky already knows that Purnsley is up to no good.

The whole scene watching Rothstein act like a brat over losing to Nucky in the poker game is priceless. I have to re-watch the episode just to see that scene all over again because it was so well acted.

Poor Van Alden.

chocolate1 said:

I think I'm going to like this season very much! Last week's was disturbing. This week's was much better. Am I bad for being happy that girl got killed?

Didn't she cry rape? Wasn't her cry a lie? Isn"t this television? I really like the mens suits. The ladies clothes look a little drab.

Billmenever said:

chocolate1 said:

I think I'm going to like this season very much! Last week's was disturbing. This week's was much better. Am I bad for being happy that girl got killed?

Didn't she cry rape? Wasn't her cry a lie? Isn"t this television? I really like the mens suits. The ladies clothes look a little drab.

That's one of the reasons why I love the show so much....their costumes and wardrobe are FIRE!

As I said before, glad to see more happening with Van Alden. Not sure I like where it's going, though, as I suspect his association with Capone will be an easy way for the writers to kill him off before seasons end.

Still bothered by Hoover being on the show - it distracts me for some reason. But I watched the behind the scenes blurb for this episode and it appears his character is there more to interact with Knox than with the various criminal elements. For now, anyway.

Everything with Rothstein was great, as it always is. That guy is one of the best characters/actors on the show, and that's saying a lot! But his show of weakness and the introduction of Meyer Lansky as a major player is bad news.

Everything with Narcisse is great, too (and evidently he's based on this guy - but don't read it if you don't want possible spoilers). Real thought provoking stuff that's coming from a totally different place than the rest of the series. I dig it, but him choosing to work with Dunn, who he clearly looks down upon (even though Dunn isn't smart enough to see it), I believe, is yet another sign of bad things to come.

As soon as Knox said he was going to break Nucky's weakest link I KNEW it was going to be Eddy. Only, I don't think Eddy will break. However, Nucky won't believe that and Eddy will die anyway, and Richard will be the one who does it after he returns. That's my guess at this point, anyway.

No Richard = booo!

Margaret returns in two weeks = yaaaay!

Overall, after the first two weeks of things ACTUALLY HAPPENING, the last two weeks have slowed back down to the usual leisurely bread crumb leaving stroll. Thankfully, the crumbs they're leaving are quite tasty and leave open a lot of great plot lines.

Unfortunately, I think we're seeing the beginning of some bad times for Nucky Thompson. Several of the storylines featuring known gangsters BEFORE they were actually "known gangsters" (Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, etc.) are now moving into the period where they came to power. His assistant, the one man who knows more about him than anyone, wants to be more than than that (which is clearly starting to bother Nucky) and he's been captured. He asked his Brother to run things when he leaves town to go to Florida (a brother who has betrayed him in the past). He made clear to Rothstein that he was taking a risk he normally wouldn't take by buying the land in Florida. He saw a weakened Rothstein, which is clearly going to lead to something bad happening in the future. He's getting into bed (business wise) with Meyer Lansky, an unknown quantity. He's in business with Narcisse, who is clearly interested in something more than he's let on so far. Oh, and did I mention Margaret comes back in two weeks?!

[Edited 9/30/13 19:12pm]

missfee said:

Episode 4: "All In" aired last night.

Well Narcisse's two-faced-ness is really interesting. I still can't help but to think that Chalky already knows that Purnsley is up to no good.

They made a direct link to Narcisse and Marcus Garvey (who was roundly criticized by one WEB DuBois in his day) in this episode.

Chalky had Purnsley beaten half to death and has treated him with only mild indifference ever since. Narcisse, the evil genius he is, picked that up immediately. If I were Chalky I wouldn't trust Purnsley either but I'd also blame myself for that too.


The whole scene watching Rothstein act like a brat over losing to Nucky in the poker game is priceless. I have to re-watch the episode just to see that scene all over again because it was so well acted.

Perhaps the best scene of the season. But I really enjoyed seeing the follow up scenes with Lansky, both with Nucky and in the alley. It shows his cool, confidence, double-dealing and thuggishness at the same time. LOVED the story he told about meeting Luciano.

Poor Van Alden.

A victim of circumstance, and a FAR cry from where he started.

namepeace said:

missfee said:

Episode 4: "All In" aired last night.

Well Narcisse's two-faced-ness is really interesting. I still can't help but to think that Chalky already knows that Purnsley is up to no good.

They made a direct link to Narcisse and Marcus Garvey (who was roundly criticized by one WEB DuBois in his day) in this episode.

Chalky had Purnsley beaten half to death and has treated him with only mild indifference ever since. Narcisse, the evil genius he is, picked that up immediately. If I were Chalky I wouldn't trust Purnsley either but I'd also blame myself for that too.

But wasn't it Purnsley's choice to stick with Chalky AFTER he had him beat up? Chalky has treated him as he would've anybody else in his crew, but at least back then, he had a little bit of respect for him. After this latest incident with the chick in the hotel room and killing her husband, Purnsley caused Chalky to lose money and as if that wasn't worse in itself, Chalky was forced to gain a partner in Narcisse. So whatever little respect Chalky at least had for Purnsley went out of the window. Unlike Narcisse, Chalky is direct and to the point, whereas Narcisse loves to talk his bullshit with calmness and fakeness but they do have something in common, they both view Purnsley as weak and in the way, therefore, he's being used as a means to an end.

missfee said:

namepeace said:

But wasn't it Purnsley's choice to stick with Chalky AFTER he had him beat up? Chalky has treated him as he would've anybody else in his crew, but at least back then, he had a little bit of respect for him. After this latest incident with the chick in the hotel room and killing her husband, Purnsley caused Chalky to lose money and as if that wasn't worse in itself, Chalky was forced to gain a partner in Narcisse. So whatever little respect Chalky at least had for Purnsley went out of the window. Unlike Narcisse, Chalky is direct and to the point, whereas Narcisse loves to talk his bullshit with calmness and fakeness but they do have something in common, they both view Purnsley as weak and in the way, therefore, he's being used as a means to an end.

I completely agree.

Purnsley has little self-control. That whole thing with that woman caused unnecessary burden on Chalky... all because he wanted some easy "tail"

chocolate1 said:

missfee said:

But wasn't it Purnsley's choice to stick with Chalky AFTER he had him beat up? Chalky has treated him as he would've anybody else in his crew, but at least back then, he had a little bit of respect for him. After this latest incident with the chick in the hotel room and killing her husband, Purnsley caused Chalky to lose money and as if that wasn't worse in itself, Chalky was forced to gain a partner in Narcisse. So whatever little respect Chalky at least had for Purnsley went out of the window. Unlike Narcisse, Chalky is direct and to the point, whereas Narcisse loves to talk his bullshit with calmness and fakeness but they do have something in common, they both view Purnsley as weak and in the way, therefore, he's being used as a means to an end.

I completely agree.

Purnsley has little self-control. That whole thing with that woman caused unnecessary burden on Chalky... all because he wanted some easy "tail"

or as Chalky put it: "15 minutes worth of jelly".

missfee said:

namepeace said:

But wasn't it Purnsley's choice to stick with Chalky AFTER he had him beat up? Chalky has treated him as he would've anybody else in his crew, but at least back then, he had a little bit of respect for him.

Everybody else in Chalky's crew was from his community. Purnsley wasn't. Chalky beat Purnsley down, then put him to good use. But Chalky didn't really know him and never really trusted him. It showed as time wore on. We all saw this coming. And Chalky's shares some blame for that.

Nucky has alienated some of his aides, but with a couple of exceptions, he's been able to make things right.

After this latest incident with the chick in the hotel room and killing her husband, Purnsley caused Chalky to lose money and as if that wasn't worse in itself, Chalky was forced to gain a partner in Narcisse. So whatever little respect Chalky at least had for Purnsley went out of the window.

Yeah, but even BEFORE that incident, Chalky was treating Purnsley more and more like a gofer. This relationship was fraying and the episode setup before the incident made that clear. A lot of that's on Chalky.


Unlike Narcisse, Chalky is direct and to the point, whereas Narcisse loves to talk his bullshit with calmness and fakeness but they do have something in common, they both view Purnsley as weak and in the way, therefore, he's being used as a means to an end.

But Narcisse won't keep Purnsley around too long. Chalky probably had by the time all that stuff came up. And Narcisse sees Purnsley as weak and AS A way to move drugs into A-City.

missfee said:

I just finished watching...