Boardwalk Empire

Based on most of the first five episodes sent out for review, Boardwalk Empire easily establishes its claim as one of the three or four best dramas on TV.

Watching Nucky's frenemies thrive like poison toadstools ringing a tree--that's a grim, gripping spectacle in its own right. [9 Sep 2013, p.42]

With its huge cast (the new season also adds Ron Livingston as a businessman who romances Gretchen Mol’s Gillian) and sprawling world, Boardwalk Empire could suffer from that desire for more than plenty. Inevitably, though, it reveals itself as a show with a firm grasp on all these disparate people and places, and a clear sense of how to fit them all together.

Boardwalk Empire keeps the players moving as its fourth season begins Sunday night, and that’s just one reason it remains must-see television drama.

We have to take the good things about Boardwalk Empire (the acting, the authenticity in its exquisite details and most of the writing) along with the bad (the repetitiveness, the plodding).

The new season relies heavily on the show’s rich mood and atmosphere, inasmuch as series creator Terence Winter and his crew appear content to ease back into the proceedings while hitting the reset button.

Nucky has long been the king in this regard, but for once his throne seems like it's in real jeopardy, and it's a joy to watch him squirm.

There's a lot of slow exposition here, requiring patience for new characters (like Ron Livingston as wealthy playboy Roy Phillips). But the body count builds by the time the credits roll, so those quiet rooms won't stay quiet for long. [6 Sep 2013, p.71]

I can't fault the emphasis on some other characters' stories--including Nucky's valet, Eddie Kessler (Anthony Laciura), and nightclub operator Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams)--or the additions of Jeffrey Wright, Ron Livingston and Patricia Arquette to a cast that's already one of the strongest in television.

Hardcore fans will appreciate the interwoven, intricate storylines, and what the show lacks in “oomph” is partly compensated for by terrific cinematography and solid acting. For diehards only.

It’s an ambitious work that is always fascinating, if not always successful. When all is said and done, Boardwalk Empire may be TV’s best uneven series.