Hold Me in Paradise

"Hold Me in Paradise," the eighth installment of Boardwalk Empire's debut season, aired on HBO on November 14, 2010. Meg Jackson, a staff writer, penned the script, with Brian Kirk directing. The story follows Nucky Thompson as he serves as a delegate at the 1920 Republican National Convention in Chicago, leaving his brother Eli to manage affairs back in Atlantic City.

At the convention, Nucky becomes drawn to Warren G. Harding's candidacy over more prominent contenders like Leonard Wood. After learning that the married Harding has an illegitimate daughter with Nan Britton, Nucky strikes a deal with campaign manager Harry Daugherty: he'll deliver New Jersey's votes in exchange for Daugherty blocking Senator Edge's vice-presidential nomination—Nucky's revenge for Edge denying him road funds for Atlantic City. Nucky also agrees to hide Nan and her child until Harding wins the presidency.

While visiting the Four Deuces, Nucky encounters Jimmy, who has come downstairs to handle a disruptive guest. Nucky is cold toward Jimmy, upset that he hasn't contacted or supported his family, unaware that Van Alden has been intercepting Jimmy's letters and money to Angela. Meanwhile, Eli is shot while trying to stop the D'Alessio brothers during a robbery at an illegal casino.

When Nucky learns Eli is incapacitated, he asks Jimmy to return to Atlantic City as his enforcer, reminding him that as an Irishman among Italians, he'll always be an outsider in Torrio's crew. Nucky offers Jimmy a share in his bootlegging operations and help with Van Alden's investigation of the truck heist. Jimmy initially hesitates but reconsiders after feeling excluded while Capone and others speak Italian during a card game.

Van Alden's wife, unable to have children, asks him to pay for an expensive surgery. He gathers the money he's taken from Jimmy and mails it—but sends it to Angela instead, informing his wife in a letter that he doesn't want children. Rothstein prepares for legal fallout from the Black Sox Scandal. Margaret has a public argument with Lucy and becomes entangled in Nucky's affairs when he asks her to hide a ledger detailing his criminal empire. She spends the night reading it against his instructions.

The episode introduces Nan Britton, Harding's mistress and mother of Elizabeth, who befriends Margaret in Atlantic City; Jess Smith, Daugherty's aide and friend, part of the "