It took all of 2 weeks for it to happen, but the Melvin Williams episode has been supplanted. The Frank Lucas episode is now the best one. To see a murderer, corrupter and drug Kingpin captivate with the grace of your favorite Uncle was hard to put into words. There is a common theme with a lot of these men, namely a level of charisma that forces you to block out that part of your being that should make you loathe these criminals every time you see them.
The underdog element of the Lucas story is hard to beat, a son having to take the mantle of the family because of Jim Crow era racism comes to the Black mecca of Harlem and becomes king.
While American Gangster always takes great pains to expose the dead end nature of the world of crime, there is something about the "PSA" that people like Williams and Lucas give that makes you feel these guys would be back in the game in a minute.