“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Prohibition begins
With a $20 million pilot directed by Martin Scorsese and a $10 million ad campaign to back it up, HBO has gone all-in with "Boardwalk Empire," the first of whose 12 episodes premiered last night....
View ArticleThe underrated genius of Steve Buscemi
Starting with "The Sopranos," HBO has specialized in a certain type of dramatic series: a sprawling, overpopulated show about crime and morality, awash in testosterone, propelled by elaborate schemes...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Sex, murder, Al Capone
Last week's premiere opened with a bang — or at least a man getting decked with the wrong end of a shotgun — but this week, we begin with the tolling of church bells, setting the stage for an episode...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire”: Everyone is currency
There's a scene in this week's episode, titled "Broadway Limited," that speaks volumes about where "Boardwalk Empire" is headed, and why it's a good thing HBO has already renewed the show for a second...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Unhappy surprises
As Terence Winter's "Sopranos" colleague Matthew Weiner is fond of saying, "actions have consequences," and while it took four seasons for Don Draper to pay for his deceptions, Jimmy Darmody is no Don...
View ArticleHow real is “Boardwalk Empire’s” Al Capone?
"Boardwalk Empire," HBO's stunning period drama, tells a tale that's largely true. Some of the show's characters are fictional, but many are based on real gangsters and politicians from the Prohibition...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Time to celebrate
Nucky Thompson is in a bad mood. In last week’s episode, he threw himself a lavish birthday party, a booze-soaked bacchanal full of friends and allies. But this week’s episode, "Nights in Ballygran,"...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Everyone’s screwed
This week on "Boardwalk Empire," everybody gets screwed. At first, it's just metaphorical, as Nucky Thompson's bagman gets ambushed by a heavy from the D'Alessio mob, as arranged two weeks back by the...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Old wounds reopen
The titles of Boardwalk Empire's episodes, often taken from minor details like a song lyric or a book title that might otherwise pass unnoticed, have been heavy with portent. (More to come, too: "The...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: The prodigal son returns
What separates a great episode of serial TV from a merely good one is a sense of overall cohesion, that the stories it's telling are linked together by something more than a common time frame....
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Nucky’s danger grows
Much of last week's "Boardwalk Empire" was set at the Republican National Convention, which ended with a little-known Warren G. Harding winning his party's nomination. This week, in "Belle Femme," the...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Women’s suffrage arrives
As "Boardwalk Empire" heads into its home stretch — two episodes left! — the long-simmering mixture is coming to a boil. The key thread in "The Emerald City" is Nucky’s decision to move against the...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” recap: Accusations fly
In the penultimate episode of this season of "Boardwalk Empire," Harry Houdini's frequently invoked brother, Hardeen (Remy Auberjonois) finally makes an appearance — upside-down, red-faced and...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” finale recap
The title of "Boardwalk Empire’s" first-season finale, "A Return to Normalcy," comes from Warren G. Harding’s singularly uninspiring campaign slogan, one that nonetheless won him a record percentage of...
View ArticleThe plot-crazy spectacle of “Boardwalk Empire”
Almost every time an episode of "Boardwalk Empire" ends, I feel slightly disappointed -- not because the hour wasn't entertaining, but because it failed to deliver the richness, depth and ambition of...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” takes a cartoonish turn
According to a lot of fellow "Boardwalk Empire" fans who have lavishly praised it, last night's installment (written by Howard Korder and directed by Tim Van Patten) was a cut above the norm, maybe...
View ArticleA bear, a baseball glove and “Boardwalk Empire”
"Powerful" episodes of cable dramas make a huge impression on viewers, and are often acclaimed as the best of their season. Sometimes the praise is deserved; other times it's a reaction to the sight of...
View ArticleThe man’s world of “Boardwalk Empire”
On one hand, yes, oh my God, oh the humanity, poor Angela Darmody (Aleksa Palladino), rest her soul; what a ghastly exit. Philadelphia gangster/butcher Manny Horvitz (William Forsythe) avenged a...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire” does not want your forgiveness
"To the Lost," the second season finale of "Boardwalk Empire," may be remembered as the moment when "Boardwalk" finally, finally hit its stride. This isn't the first time the HBO drama has impressed me...
View Article“Boardwalk Empire’s” empty gangsters
Way back in the first season of “Boardwalk Empire” -- the best-looking, most impressive, well-acted series to add up to so much less than the sum of its parts -- sad-eyed Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi)...
View Article
