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Boardwalk Empire

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 85 Critic Reviews

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83

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 38 Ratings

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8.5

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8.5	Your Score
8.5	User Score Universal acclaim based on 38 Ratings

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Boardwalk Empire: Previously On

Now Playing: Boardwalk Empire: Previously On

Boardwalk Empire

Series Details & Credits

HBO | Release Date: September 19, 2010

Starring: Steve Buscemi, Michael Kenneth Williams, Kelly Macdonald, Stephen Graham (II), Gretchen Mol, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Vincent Piazza, Paul Sparks

Summary: Atlantic City in the 1920s is the setting for the series based on the book by Nelson Johnson about how the city turned into the infamous gambling locale.

Creator: Terence Winter

Genre(s): Drama

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Recent Episodes

tbd
S5:E8. Eldorado
Air Date: October 26, 2014
tbd
S5:E7. Friendless Child
Air Date: October 19, 2014
tbd
S5:E6. Devil You Know
Air Date: October 12, 2014

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

83

Positive:

76

Mixed:

9

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

100

Variety

Brian Lowry

Season 1 Review: Expectations were certainly sky-high for Boardwalk, but the producers have risen to meet them--in a series that grows richer, deeper and more absorbing with each of the six episodes previewed. Read full review

100

Zap2it (Inside the Box) Rick Porter

Season 1 Review: Boardwalk Empire has everything you'd expect in an HBO drama--sharply drawn characters, large-scale stories intercut with intimate moments and a sense that you couldn't find something like it anywhere else on the guide. It's maybe the best new show HBO has launched in several years. Read full review

100

New York Daily News

David Hinckley

Sep 5, 2014

Season 5 Review: Sorting out the sins and sinners in the final eight episodes of Boardwalk Empire promises to be as intriguing as it will be intense. Read full review

83

Hitfix

Alan Sepinwall

Sep 13, 2012

Season 3 Review: The actors all get their moments to shine, even if their stories don't always feel attached to one another Read full review

80

PopMatters

Marisa Carroll

Oct 4, 2011

Season 2 Review: The Oedipal quagmire only enhances the political treachery. Read full review

75

People Weekly

Tom Gliatto

Sep 30, 2011

Season 2 Review: Boardwalk is still solid, but it's sacrificed some of its nervy power. [10 Oct 2011, p.40]

50

The Huffington Post

Maureen Ryan

Sep 22, 2011

Season 2 Review: Despite all the attention to detail, or maybe because of it, Boardwalk Empire is a slog. For long periods of time, it's boring, glum, bloodless slog. Read full review

SEE ALL 85 REVIEWS

Write a Review

8.5

Mixed:

0

User Reviews

10

Flashyboy89

Mar 11, 2020

Epic gangster TV show. The actors do a great job and the production quality is very high.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

8

Bruceiscontent

Mar 28, 2021

It's one of those shows that completely goes off the rails after the good will instilled from its early seasons. 1 & 2 are absolutely incredible, 3 is when you'll start to get a bit "fatigued" with their insistence to focus on certain insufferable plots, and 4 is when you'll surely faceIt's one of those shows that completely goes off the rails after the good will instilled from its early seasons. 1 & 2 are absolutely incredible, 3 is when you'll start to get a bit "fatigued" with their insistence to focus on certain insufferable plots, and 4 is when you'll surely face exhaustion with your favorite characters making the same stupid mistakes over and over again / getting killed. Steve Buscemi is both miscast and also perfect at the same time. It's weird. The show definitely suffers from having a roster of characters that outshine the lead, since we're constantly taken away from the stories of Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Jimmy, Chalky White, and the like in order to frame Buscemi as this Bogart-like pillar of badass charisma. It's a bit much. (Especially the scenes where he's beating up guys three times his size.) Season 5 is where things really went downhill for me. It's almost like halfway through the season, HBO called up and said, "Alright, we've left you guys alone for a few years, time to wrap this convoluted nightmare up. Right now."

It ends shockingly and abruptly, abandoning the more interesting plots waiting in the ranks for a redemption story that you probably won't give a **** about. That being said, much like Twin Peaks, Dexter, and the Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire creates a vibrant world that you want to revisit, despite its sadomasochistic attitude toward its characters and the viewer.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

7

RefinedInsights

Aug 16, 2023

A show that wanted to be The Sopranos but failed at its goal. The characters are boring, the plots are forgettable, and overall it's a decent historical piece but nothing more.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

2

Broyax

Jan 30, 2023

Steve Buscemi est étonnant, il a pris pleinement la mesure du rôle du dandy apprenti-mafieux très distingué… On ne peut en dire autant des autres qui sonnent faux, si faux que c’en est dérangeant. Cela dit la reconstitution de l’époque est soignée et HBO oblige, on tombe sur une violenceSteve Buscemi est étonnant, il a pris pleinement la mesure du rôle du dandy apprenti-mafieux très distingué… On ne peut en dire autant des autres qui sonnent faux, si faux que c’en est dérangeant. Cela dit la reconstitution de l’époque est soignée et HBO oblige, on tombe sur une violence certaine et du cul ici et là, ce qui n’est pas désagréable.

Il reste deux gros problèmes cependant. D’abord la prohibition : pour les Américains c’est sans doute très intéressant mais nous… on s’en fout comme de l’an 40. Ensuite il ne se passe pour ainsi dire rien là-dedans : c’est en effet du blabla à n’en plus finir, le quotidien de combinards péteux et si au début on apprécie le coup de pression du FBI qui vient renifler de temps en temps, il s’en trouve totalement dilué par la suite.

Il n’y a que 12 épisodes (dans la saison 1) de plus de 50 mn chacun au bas mot : quand est-ce que ça décolle, ce truc ? quand est-ce que ça se réveille ? on voit Scorsese au générique mais pas la patte des Affranchis, ni son génie. Surtout de l’ennui en somme !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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Seasons & Episodes

83

Series Overview
Season 5

83
- Season 5 Overview
  Air Date: September 7, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E8. Eldorado
  Air Date: October 26, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E7. Friendless Child
  Air Date: October 19, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E6. Devil You Know
  Air Date: October 12, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E5. King of Norway
  Air Date: October 5, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E4. Cuanto
  Air Date: September 28, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E3. What Jesus Said
  Air Date: September 21, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E2. The Good Listener
  Air Date: September 14, 2014
- tbd
  S5:E1. Golden Days for Boys and Girls
  Air Date: September 7, 2014
Season 4

77
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: September 8, 2013
Season 3

76
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: September 16, 2012
Season 2

82
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: September 25, 2011
Season 1

88
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: September 19, 2010