The Ivory Tower (26 Sep. 2010)

Investigating a crime which he feels has been pinned on a scapegoat, straight-arrow Agent Nelson Van Alden pays a visit to Nucky and leaves convinced that the Treasurer is "as corrupt as ... See full summary »

Director:

Timothy Van Patten

Writers:

Terence Winter (creator), Terence Winter,

Stars:

Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Buscemi	...	Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson
Michael Pitt	...	James 'Jimmy' Darmody
Kelly Macdonald	...	Margaret Schroeder
Michael Shannon	...	Agent Nelson Van Alden
Shea Whigham	...	Elias 'Eli' Thompson
Aleksa Palladino	...	Angela Darmody
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Arnold Rothstein
Stephen Graham	...	Al Capone
Vincent Piazza	...	Lucky Luciano
Paz de la Huerta	...	Lucy Danziger
Michael Kenneth Williams	...	Chalky White (credit only)
Anthony Laciura	...	Eddie Kessler
Paul Sparks	...	Mickey Doyle
Dabney Coleman	...	Commodore Louis Kaestner
Gretchen Mol	...	Gillian Darmody

Storyline

Investigating a crime which he feels has been pinned on a scapegoat, straight-arrow Agent Nelson Van Alden pays a visit to Nucky and leaves convinced that the Treasurer is "as corrupt as the day is long." Nucky quickly does damage control, enlisting his brother, Sheriff Elias Thompson, to close ranks with their underlings. Nucky discusses the upcoming election with his aging mentor, Commodore Louis Kaestner, with whom he debates the women's vote issue. Later, before heading out for a night on the town, Nucky rebukes an irate Arnold Rothstein over the phone, then meets privately with Margaret Schroeder, who asks him for help in providing for her children. As a long day ends, a traveling salesman named George Baxter, in town for a few days with an unwilling young beauty named Claudia, makes a startling discovery while on the road home to Baltimore.

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Plot Keywords:

treasurer | sheriff | casino | photograph | funeral | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Leverage Management, Closest to the Hole Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

52 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Arnold Rothstein: There was a man once. I don't recall his name. Frequented the billiard parlors downtown. He made a comfortable living wagering whether he could swallow certain objects, billiard balls being a specialty. He'd pick a ball, take it down his gullet to here, and regurgitate it back up. And one evening, I decided to challenge this man to a wager. Ten thousand in cash for him to do the trick with a billiard ball of my choosing. Now, he knew I'd seen him do this a dozen times, so I can only surmise ...
[...]

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Connections

References The Mark of Zorro (1920)

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Soundtracks

"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"
(1909) (uncredited)
Composed by Gus Edwards
Lyrics by Edward Madden
Performed by Billy Murray

User Reviews

Improvement over the Pilot episode

Boardwalk Empire's Pilot was pretty disappointing to me, simply because it felt over-stuffed and moved too rapidly to engage us with it's story lines. However, fortunately, the 2nd episode The Ivory Tower was an improvement.

The episode still had some flaws, it still focuses sometimes way too much on the style of the period without being engaging, but for the most part, the 2nd episode was much more enjoyable, and a much rounder episode as a whole. I think that Michael Pitt's storyline will become more and more engaging, and I think both Stuhlbarg and Shannon are also the best performers. Those three cast members have so far been the most compelling. Kelly Macdonald is a great actress, but her accent is too heavy, but again, she was better in this than the Pilot. Steve Buscemi, the star of the show, is still interesting, but he is becoming overshadowed by Pitt. I think Buscemi is again a great actor, but his portrayal is not compelling enough to warrant me to love this show just yet. However, after this strong episode, the series will become better with time, which is what I predicted for another great new show, Rubicon.