This episode is one of the more depressing ones of the series. Brian Geraghty, coming to the cast this season as Agent Knox, is one actor that I absolutely hate to see in any cast. He ruins anything that he's allowed into, IMO. Besides being unable to act, his mouth is always pursed like an anus, so I find him repulsive to look at. Actually, though, that makes him good for the role. The feds in prohibition were criminals themselves, murderers, liars, and thieves with many of them taking payoffs from the gangsters that they allowed to operate while they arrested relatively minor scofflaws. Geraghty looks the part, though his poor acting skills don't serve the production well.
All of the depressing scenes aren't about Knox, though. Willie's poisoning of a young bully and the way he helps Nucky railroad the other student who ends up taking the weight for him is also depressing.
Nucky has always been a monster, and this season the character starts to really become odious. His treatment of Eddie, the most devoted friend in his circle, reveals his character fully. After giving Eddie some responsibility, and thereby boosting Eddie's self image, he thoughtlessly degrades Eddie by making him go and match up the socks in the sock drawer. Eddie is reminded that he is still a menial servant who must dress Nucky. That's part of the story, though, and it's an interesting story.
The side story of "Mueller" in Cicero is really well played by those cast members in that circle. Michael Shannon does his usual excellent job. At the point in time that this series was produced he was a journeyman actor, who has, since this role, shown that he's now a master of the craft. Stephen Graham shows his ability to produce American accents, with his 20th century Brooklynese as Al Capone. I can't think of a single American actor who can turn in a convincing accent of any of the dialects in the UK, but Graham does his roles' required accents flawlessly in whatever film he works.
All of the depressing scenes aren't about Knox, though. Willie's poisoning of a young bully and the way he helps Nucky railroad the other student who ends up taking the weight for him is also depressing.
Nucky has always been a monster, and this season the character starts to really become odious. His treatment of Eddie, the most devoted friend in his circle, reveals his character fully. After giving Eddie some responsibility, and thereby boosting Eddie's self image, he thoughtlessly degrades Eddie by making him go and match up the socks in the sock drawer. Eddie is reminded that he is still a menial servant who must dress Nucky. That's part of the story, though, and it's an interesting story.
The side story of "Mueller" in Cicero is really well played by those cast members in that circle. Michael Shannon does his usual excellent job. At the point in time that this series was produced he was a journeyman actor, who has, since this role, shown that he's now a master of the craft. Stephen Graham shows his ability to produce American accents, with his 20th century Brooklynese as Al Capone. I can't think of a single American actor who can turn in a convincing accent of any of the dialects in the UK, but Graham does his roles' required accents flawlessly in whatever film he works.