The Ivory Tower (Boardwalk Empire)
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"The Ivory Tower" is the second episode of the first season of the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, 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 ba ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...
'', which originally aired September 26, 2010. The episode was written by series creator and
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
Terence Winter and directed by executive producer
Tim Van Patten Timothy Van Patten (born June 10, 1959) is an American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed episodes of ''Perry Mason'', '' Boardwalk Empire'', '' Black Mirror'', '' Deadwood'', '' Ed'', '' Game of Thrones'', '' The Pacifi ...
. Nucky is visited by federal agent Nelson Van Alden, who begins to suspect that Nucky might be a bigger fish than the gangsters he has been investigating. Jimmy is forced to pay Nucky a larger sum of money as compensation for the loss of Rothstein's alcohol. Margaret is visited by Van Alden and Eli, each seeking a different side of her story as to the death of Hans Schroeder.


Main cast

*
Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...
as
Enoch "Nucky" Thompson Enoch Malachi "Nucky" Thompson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO TV series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Steve Buscemi. Nucky is loosely based on former Atlantic City, New Jersey political figure Enoch Lewis "Nuck ...
* Michael Pitt as James "Jimmy" Darmody * Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder/Thompson * Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden *
Shea Whigham Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...
as Elias "Eli" Thompson *
Aleksa Palladino Aleksa Federici Palladino (born September 21, 1980) is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her lead roles in '' Manny & Lo'', ''The Adventures of Sebastian Cole'', ''Find Me Guilty'', Angela Darmody in the HBO crime series '' ...
as Angela Darmody *
Michael Stuhlbarg Michael Stewart Stuhlbarg ( ; born July 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known as a character actor having portrayed a variety of roles in film, television and theatre. He has received several awards including two Screen Actors Guild Awards wi ...
as Arnold Rothstein *
Stephen Graham Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...
as
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
* Vincent Piazza as
Charles Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumenta ...
*
Paz de la Huerta María de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta y Bruce (; born September 3, 1984), known professionally as Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress and model. She had roles in the films ''The Cider House Rules'' (1999) and ''A Walk to Re ...
as Lucy Danziger, Nucky's mistress *
Anthony Laciura Anthony Laciura (born September 27, 1951) is an American actor and operatic tenor. Laciura is often noted for his abilities as a comprimario, and actor. Born in New Orleans, he studied voice there with Charles Paddock, also the teacher of Ticho ...
as Edward Anselm "Eddie" Kessler, Nucky's assistant and butler. * Paul Sparks as Mieczyslaw "Mickey Doyle" Kuzik, a bootlegger and former associate of Nucky's. * Dabney Coleman as "Commodore" Louis Kaestner, Nucky's mentor and predecessor in Atlantic City.


Plot

At Colosimo's funeral in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
and Torrio are questioned by reporters about the circumstances surrounding his murder. Back in
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
,
Nelson Van Alden Nelson Kasper Van Alden (alias George Mueller) is a fictional character in the HBO television series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Michael Shannon. He is a puritanical, repressed, religious fundamentalist and agent for the Bureau of Prohibit ...
, a newly minted investigator with the
Bureau of Prohibition The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the United States federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United St ...
, questions Nucky about the
robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
he is investigating, revealing his suspicions that Hans Schroeder was framed for the crime. Nucky's refusal to cooperate with the investigation leads Van Alden to look into his activities; Alden's report to his superiors reveals the extent to which Nucky extorts and controls every business, political office, public department, and criminal outfit in Atlantic City. At Nucky's direction, Eli visits Margaret in the hospital and delivers an envelope of cash, while making a subtle threat to have her children taken into state custody unless she lies to Van Alden about her husband being involved in bootlegging. Nucky confronts Mickey in jail and explains that his bootlegging operation is being turned over to the black mob headed by Albert "Chalky" White on account of Mickey proving himself too untrustworthy to handle it.
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 ...
buys expensive
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
gifts for his family with his cut from the robbery. Capone beats a reporter who tries to interview him at Torrio's club. In
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, Luciano brings in Frankie Yale to be questioned by Rothstein about his role in Colosimo's death. Jimmy visits his mother Gillian, a middle-aged showgirl, and presents her with an expensive necklace to replace the one she had sold years earlier to support him when they were abandoned by Jimmy's father. When Jimmy shows up for work, Nucky confronts him about the robbery. Jimmy confesses his involvement and is fired on the spot, with Nucky giving him two days to come up with an additional $3,000. Rothstein telephones Nucky and demands $100,000 to cover his losses from the robbery and for the murder of one of the drivers, who happens to be his sister-in-law's nephew. Nucky refuses and threatens to have him killed if he ever returns to Atlantic City. Van Alden visits Margaret and tells her he believes her husband was not involved in the robbery, questioning her about her involvement with Nucky. Nucky visits his political mentor, "Commodore" Louis Kaestner, who humiliates his black maid to mock the idea of
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
. After Van Alden writes home to his wife, he takes a hair ribbon he had stolen from Margaret and smells it to satiate his lust for her. Margaret visits Nucky and returns the money Eli gave her. They discuss Nucky's late wife, Margaret's financial situation, her request that Nucky help her find a job to support her children, and Margaret's enthusiasm for reading, which impresses him. Jimmy, short $500 and unable to get Capone to loan him the rest, steals the necklace from his mother and pawns it to pay Nucky back. Nucky then demonstrates the power he now holds over Jimmy by betting, and losing, the entire $3,000 in a
roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
game. Elsewhere, one of Rothstein's men, alive but badly wounded, stumbles across a businessman getting sexually pleasured in his car outside Atlantic City.


Production

The episode was written by series creator and executive producer Terence Winter and directed by executive producer
Tim Van Patten Timothy Van Patten (born June 10, 1959) is an American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed episodes of ''Perry Mason'', '' Boardwalk Empire'', '' Black Mirror'', '' Deadwood'', '' Ed'', '' Game of Thrones'', '' The Pacifi ...
. This is Van Patten's first directional episode of the series. He would go on to direct additional episodes, including "
Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central R ...
", " Family Limitation" and the season finale, "
A Return to Normalcy "A Return to Normalcy" is the 12th episode of the first season of HBO television series '' Boardwalk Empire'' and the season finale, which premiered on HBO December 5, 2010. The episode was written by series creator Terence Winter and directed by ...
". The story about Big Jim Colosimo's death is the one non-fictional story in ''The Ivory Tower''. As seen in the pilot, Frankie Yale murders Jim on orders from Johnny Torrio. It was widely believed that Torrio ordered Colosimo's killing so that he and the Chicago mob could enter the lucrative bootlegging business, which Colosimo opposed out of a fervent belief that bootlegging was not worth the heat it would bring from law enforcement.


Reception


Critical reception

''IGN'' gave the episode a score of 8 out of 10, calling it "...an episode that is in some ways better than the pilot." They continued by praising Buscemi's performance as Nucky by saying: "Here, Buscemi effortlessly switches between silver-tongued politician and two-steps-ahead gangster, and in doing so eliminates any previous doubt that Nucky is not as formidable a presence as Tony Soprano."


Ratings

Ratings for "The Ivory Tower" fell to 3.329 million viewers in its original telecast. However, if the repeat-telecast that night is included, the total viewer count reaches 4.4 million.


References


External links


"The Ivory Tower"
at
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivory Tower, The 2010 American television episodes Boardwalk Empire episodes Television episodes directed by Tim Van Patten Television episodes written by Terence Winter