"What Does the Bee Do?" is the fourth episode of the second 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 ...

'', and 16th episode overall. First aired on October 16, 2011, it was written by executive story editor Steve Kornacki and directed by

Ed Bianchi Edward Bianchi (born April 24, 1942) is an American television director and television producer, producer. He is better known for his work on ''Deadwood (TV series), Deadwood'', ''Boardwalk Empire'', ''Yellowstone (American TV series), Yellowstone ...

Plot

Nucky looks to Rothstein for a port to receive alcohol, since the Coast Guard is blockading Atlantic City. Rothstein instructs Lansky and Luciano to oversee the Philadelphia delivery. Nucky also sends Owen Sleater to bomb Doyle's still.

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

asks for 'money for the children' from Nucky, which she proceeds to hide in her jewelry box. The Commodore, unbeknownst to Nucky, suffers a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

and can no longer communicate, forcing Jimmy to take control. Eli is unhappy, dubious that Jimmy can handle the situation without the Commodore's connections. While treating the bedridden Commodore, Gillian asks him if he remembers the time he

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

d her, then proceeds to slap him repeatedly. Nucky throws Bader a birthday party, which

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. ...

drops in on. The prostitutes at the party were transported interstate, which is a federal felony. This prompts his attorney to suggest that Nucky use this as a means of making his election-rigging charges federal, thus enabling his higher connections to assist him. Angela asks Harrow if he'd consider posing for her. He agrees and as he sits for the portrait tells her about how he lost his love for his twin sister. Chalky is released from jail. Having been able to provide good education and upbringing for his family, he gets angry at a dinner party, feeling his family and guest are condescending to him as a simple 'country' man. Two of Van Alden's men begin to suspect him of corruption after witnessing him participating in dubious activities. When they investigate Doyle's store house, the bomb that Sleater set explodes, badly burning one of them.

Title

"What Does The Bee Do?" is a children's poem from the late 1800s by

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

. Margaret Schroeder's daughter recites it in the episode.

Reception

Critical reception

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' gave the episode a score of 8.5 out of 10, saying that it "effortlessly hits that sweet spot between advancing the plot while developing characters, much in the same way that the Season 2 premiere did." ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' rated the episode an "A−".

Ratings

The episode was watched by 2.546 million viewers. It fell two tenths, to 1.0 million adults 18-49 rating.

References

External links

"What Does the Bee Do?"
at

HBO.com Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, 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 busi ...

* {{Boardwalk Empire 2011 American television episodes Boardwalk Empire episodes Television episodes directed by Ed Bianchi