‘Boardwalk Empire’ season 4, episode 5 preview: A look at ‘Erlkonig,’ and the title’s meaning

Since we like to consider ourselves the authority on translating episode titles we are going to do our best to try and extract some meaning from “Erlkonig,” the name for next week’s installment of “Boardwalk Empire.” There are no official spoilers ahead, but don’t blame us if any of our speculation turns out to be correct.

The name here is a reference to a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which is the story more or less about a man whose son is attacked and killed by some sort of supernatural entity. The poem is German, which you can make of whatever you wish based on the setting for the series. While it was used as a resource and allusion for quite a bit during the 18th and 19th centuries, the poem has fallen a bit more out of the literary mainstream since that time.

Now, we turn to the actual summary for the episode ahead. For that, take a look below at what HBO had to say in an official release:

“Nucky (Steve Buscemi) heads to Philadelphia to deal with the fallout from Willie’s (Ben Rosenfield) liquor fiasco. Eddie Kessler (Anthony Laciura) is detained by Agent Knox (Brian Geraghty), who uses physical and psychological tactics to elicit information about Nucky’s organization. A desperate Gillian (Gretchen Mol) turns to an unexpected source to score a fix, and is rebuffed in her attempt to reunite with Tommy (Brady Noon). In Cicero, Van Alden (Michael Shannon) is recruited by the Capones to pay an election-day visit to factory workers who are opposed to the Capones’ candidate of choice.”

What do you want to see on this coming “Boardwalk Empire” episode? Be sure to share your thoughts below! Meanwhile, click here if you do want to read some more news about the show’s season 5 renewal.

Photo: HBO