4. Narcisse Is Humbled
Going into this episode, I expected Dr. Narcisse to die at the hands of Chalky and Nucky. It seemed that was what the show was leading up to given the character's plans and its tendency to dispose of villains at the end of a season. It was a pleasant surprise then to see Narcisse not only alive, but in the hands of J. Edgar Hoover in the conclusion. As Jeffreyy Wright himself said, "He becomes what he despises at the beginning and that is a servant pretending to be a king, so it all comes full circle." Narcisse becoming a federal informant was a very fitting end to his story. This was a man who had high notions of himself and his beliefs, believing nearly everyone around him was lesser than he. We had seen others challenge Narcisse's beliefs before, but never to the extent Hoover had he not only challenged those beliefs, but called Narcisse out on everything, accurately saying he was nothing more than a drug dealer and pimp, no matter what philosophy he believed. For Narcisse to be humiliated and humbled the way he was is not only appropriate, but opens the possibility of returning to Boardwalk in some capacity, and that's an interesting prospect.