In Washington... okay, remember how I said about sprawling storylines that don't seem to connect much to the other stories? Like, obviously the power plays in Washington are going to end up trickling down to Nucky's level -- especially if Harry Daugherty goes down as attorney general. And clearly the legendary corruption of the Harding administration is rich thematic ground for a show like this. But on an episode-by-episode level, these scenes are death. We are introduced to James Cromwell as U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon -- of Carnegie Mellon fame -- who is being called before Congress (including Nucky's old frenemy Senator Edge) to testify to the poor record of enforcement when it comes to prohibition. Mellon makes no secret of the fact that he finds prohibition to be bad policy and a huge waste of resources, but he also makes no bones about his feeling that a combination of corruption and incompetence in the Justice department is to blame for poor enforcement. Treasury controls the IRS -- i.e. the prohies -- but it's Justice which seems to dropping the ball when it comes to convicting bootleggers. Mellon moves and speaks slowly, deliberately, with great authority. Edge says they fully intend to call Attorney General Daugherty to testify as well, and it sure seems like he's in hot water. Outside, our old pal Jimmy James -- who, you'll recall, is acting as a go-between for Daugherty and his various criminal dependents -- sits and acts like a big ol' weirdo. Some young flunky exits the chambers and surreptitiously feeds him the bad news about how the proceedings are going for Daugherty.

We're at rehearsal for Billie's new production, a Broadway musical with Lee Shubert, and it's not going very well. Judging by the number we see them rehearsing, taking place on a golf course for some reason, there is no chemistry between the leads and the dancing needs work. The choreographer steps in to show Billie how it's done, and he has much more success than her co-star. Nucky watches from the audience and he's soon joined by Eddie Cantor, who's dismayed (though not un-amused) by how awful it is. Nucky's worried about what this will mean for Billie, but Eddie says it's not her fault. It's just the male lead doesn't exactly live up to the show's title, "The Naughty Virgin." Nucky eyes the choreographer dancing with Billie and asks Eddie about him. Eddie says he's worked with him before. Nucky: "Did he put his hands on your waist?" Eddie smirks: "I'll never tell." That's interesting. I think that's the most explicit the show has been about Eddie's sexuality and it's interesting to know that Nucky's aware of it. Anyway, Eddie wonders if Nucky is worried that there's something going on with Billie and the choreographer, and you get the feeling Nucky's not un-concerned.