Marriage and Hunting

"Marriage and Hunting" is the eighth episode of Boardwalk Empire's fourth season and the 44th episode overall. It aired on HBO on November 3, 2013. The episode was written by David Matthews, Jennifer Ames, and Steve Turner, and directed by Tim Van Patten.

In the episode, Chalky seeks revenge against Narcisse for his role in the assassination attempt on Chalky, but Nucky talks him out of starting another gang war. After learning that Narcisse beat Daughter for her failure, Chalky visits her at home and assigns a henchman to watch over her. He later goes to the club to attack Narcisse, but Nucky again warns him off. Chalky's daughter Maybelle discovers his affair with Daughter and leaves. Meanwhile, Rothstein, deep in financial trouble, holds a $500,000 life insurance policy on Mickey Doyle. He sells it to Nucky for twenty cents on the dollar, needing cash, while Nucky buys it to prevent Rothstein from having Doyle killed.

In Chicago, Van Alden feels humiliated when Sigrid questions his virility. During a delivery for Capone and Ralph, they offer him $1,000 to kill O'Banion. Van Alden is intercepted by former colleagues from Farraday Electric, who beat him. He kills them all. Later, held at gunpoint by O'Banion, Van Alden opens up about his past and intends to kill him, but O'Banion is murdered by Frankie Yale, John Scalise, and Albert Anselmi. Van Alden returns home to have sex with Sigrid.

On the beach, Gillian tells Roy about the Commodore raping her as a child and naming Jimmy after her first kiss. At a custody hearing for Tommy, the judge notes that Julia and Paul's salaries are insufficient, especially since Julia is unmarried. He will decide within a month. Since the judge favors a married couple, Julia proposes to Richard, who accepts. Richard asks Nucky for a job. That night, Roy makes a phone call, saying he will handle something. Nucky calls Sally, suggesting he might return to Florida.

According to Nielsen, the episode was watched by an estimated 1.90 million households and received a 0.8 rating among adults 18–49, a slight drop from the previous episode's 1.91 million. Critics gave it extremely positive reviews. Matt Fowler of IGN rated it 8.8 out of 10, calling it "great" and praising the "demented duality of Van Alden." Genevieve Valentine of The A.V. Club gave it an "A–," noting the episode "doesn't quite explode" but has a "coil of energy.