- Main article: Owen Sleater
Owen Sleater remains a major character in the third season. This article details their actions in each episode of the season.
Resolution[]
- Main article: Resolution
Nucky and Margaret Thompson plan a lavish Egyptian themed party on December 31, 1922 to commemorate the new year. Nucky invites his bootlegging contacts from New York, including the volatile Sicilian gangster Gyp Rosetti.
A Delivery Boy brings a parcel of coffee and donuts to Nucky Thompson at a boardwalk flop house. His men have captured Nate, a thief who robbed the warehouse controlled by Mickey Doyle and Manny Horvitz. Owen Sleater stands guard watchfully as Nucky questions the thief in front of the bootleggers he stole from. Nucky tells him that he is not angry at him as he was doing his job as a thief, and blames Mickey for leaving the warehouse unattended. Nate is lulled into a false sense of security and gives up the name of his wheelman. Nucky then orders Manny to kill Nate and leaves, ignoring Nate's pleading screams. Manny shoots Nate in the head.
Owen accompanies Nucky as he meets with Attorney General Harry Daugherty and waits outside. They next visit the bootlegging warehouse and tasks Manny with killing the wheelman from the robbery. Manny is reluctant to leave his wife on New Year's Eve and barters for a still of his own before agreeing. That night Richard Harrow goes to Manny's house in Philadelphia and kills him, avenging the murder of Angela.
Nucky's party is a huge success. The guests are delighted with the themed design. Nucky has Eddie Cantor bring Billie Kent with him to provide musical entertainment for the crowd. They pull him up for a dance, comparing him to King Tutankhamen. Owen approaches Margaret but she curtly tells him to say hello to Katie for her. Just before midnight Nucky assembles his bootlegging contacts in the kitchen. He tells them that because of the attention on the Harding administration he is going to be supplying Arnold Rothstein exclusively. Rosetti is incensed and delivers a tirade of abuse on Nucky and his associates before storming out. ("Resolution")
Spaghetti and Coffee[]
- Main article: Spaghetti and Coffee
Owen delivers Margaret's household expenses from Nucky. Margaret's friend Cornelia Predock is thrilled that he remembers her from the New Year's Eve party but excuses herself to give them privacy. He tries to make small talk with her; she is coldly impassive and asks Owen to remind Nucky about his invitation to receive the St. George's award from the Catholic Church.
Owen prepares a convoy team to deliver a shipment of liquor to Arnold Rothstein. He gives them their instructions; they will be making two stops, one in Tabor Heights to refuel and their delivery to Rothstein's people in New York. Owen offers the newly released Eli Thompson $50 to join the convoy. Eli feigns reluctance and notes that he does not have a weapon. Owen takes the hint and hands him a pistol from his waistband.
The convoy stops in Tabor Heights as planned but they find the gas station deserted and the pumps locked. Owen tries to break in, looking for a key. New York gangster Gyp Rosetti emerges from the darkness with Sheriff Sickles and announces that he has bought the station and will not be supplying them. He has set up an ambush with at least a dozen armed men waiting in town. Owen turns the convoy around and stops at a nearby house to call Nucky, who does not answer. Unable to get further instructions Owen sounds out the idea of taking on Gyp's men with Eli. Eli is dubious of their guards stomach for a gun fight. They decide to head back to Atlantic City. Mickey is reluctant to disappoint Rothstein but is forced to go along with them. ("Spaghetti and Coffee")
Bone for Tuna[]
- Main article: Bone for Tuna
Nucky drives out to Tabor Heights to meet Gyp Rosetti and negotiate an end to his blockade of liquor shipments, offering a final shipment of free liquor as a goodwill gesture and a fully paid night in Atlantic City.
Gyp is disappointed when Nucky sends Owen with his excuses at the pickup. Gyp pointedly notes Eli's presence. When he bemoans the deal being curt, Eli says that he can christen him with a bottle of champagne. Owen delivers a good luck message from Nucky, garbling the pronunciation of the Italian as "Bone for Tuna". As Gyp leaves town he lets the perceived insult fester, convinced that Nucky is being sarcastic and intends him to fail. He stops in Tabor Heights to refuel and Sheriff Sickles drives out to meet him. Sickles wishes him good luck. Gyp believes he is being insulted again. He douses the lawman in gasoline and then sets him alight, burning him to death. ("Bone for Tuna")
Blue Bell Boy[]
- Main article: Blue Bell Boy
Nucky realizes he needs to reestablish his authority over Owen.
Nucky Thompson calls for Owen Sleater while he is having sex with Katy. He summons Owen. Owen tells Katy that Nucky is in a bad mood again and she encourages him not to hurry. Nucky assembles his men at Mickey Doyle's warehouse and orders them to avoid Gyp Rosetti's blockade of Tabor Heights and use backroads through the Pine Barrens to transport liquor to New York. Mickey is dubious given that the dirt roads will be icy until the Spring and looks to Owen for clarification. Nucky is furious at his authority being challenged. He reasserts the order and ends the meeting. He then questions Owen about the thief Rowland Smith. Owen admits that he has not looked for him since Manny Horvitz died and Nucky insists he restart the search, suggesting that he use Prohibition Agent Stan Sawicki.
Owen has Sawicki meet them at Smith's reported hideout. Sawicki got the address from a contact in the Philadelphia branch. They find the backwoods house filled with crates of liquor; their own and other bootleggers. Nucky leaves Owen and one of his men to wait for Smith. They ambush him when he returns to the house. They are surprised by how young he is. Owen calls Nucky for further guidance.
Nucky drives out to question Smith. While they are at the house it is raided by Philadelphia Prohibition Agents. They kill Owen's man and Nucky's bodyguard when they find them outside. Nucky, Owen, and Smith hide in the basement while the agents search the house. They are trapped there for more than a day as the agents wait for Smith. The prohibition agents clear the building of liquor, loading it into their vehicles. The boy claims that he is not quite sixteen and tries to charm Nucky into giving him a job.
Nucky shoots Rowland Smith.
When the agents eventually leave Nucky, Owen, and Smith emerge from the basement. Nucky offers Smith a cigarette and then shoots him in the back of the head. Owen is shocked by the unexpected murder and Nucky uses it as a lesson that he is to be respected and feared. Owen finds out that Mickey has ignored Nucky's orders. The convoy is massacred by Gyp's people in Tabor Heights. ("Blue Bell Boy")