Very good episode although not quite as good as last week's. Richard's one-man army against Rossetti's men was incredible and by far the highlight of the episode. After Richard got blood all over his face (and just before discovering Tommy), I had this terrible fear that Tommy would be traumatized by Richard's appearance. But maybe not considering how Richard saved Tommy from Rossetti's goon. Broke my heart to watch Julia realize what kind of world Richard operates in and I fear how that will affect their relationship. I initially thought this would be the end of Tommy's story (as well as Julia) when I thought Gillian overdosed and no one would be looking for Tommy, but after reading that she didn't actually die and will be returning ( ), I guess we haven't seen the last of either of them just yet. One side note: I loved how Julia's father showed nothing but compassion during Richard's midnight appearance. I guess there's still some good in him after all. The rest of the episode is pretty good, especially Nucky's quiet maneuvering behind the scenes and the Capone/Chalky conflict (after the slaughtering of Masseria's men: "I'm glad I got that out of my system." "You and me both." *chuckle* ). The pacing was a bit rushed but not too noticeably and Van Alden's absence (for the last two episodes) was glaring, but those minor quibbles and Gillian's survival aside, my only real complaint about this episode was not finding out how Eddie was holding up (I'm sure he survived).
I am 10/12s through the season (I don't have HBO and wait for the show to come out on DVD). So far the two big wow moments were the explosion at Babette's and the Margaret's boyfriend coming back in the crate (and the flashback). I like Bobby Cannevale but Gyp is so over the top he's practically a Batman villain.