Boardwalk Empire: Season 2 Premiere

If you know a Non-Boardwalk Believer, sit them down for the first episode of it’s second season, and they’ll most surely be converted. It is simply the best show out there. It’s writing is spectacular, creating fascinating, ever surprising characters, and it’s artistic design is absolutely captivating. It may be unlike any other series out there just for the fact that’s it’s purely dialogue driven. Hallelujah. During pilot season a show’s longevity is always questioned: can you keep it interesting? Can you go bigger without going bland? Boardwalk should be more than confident in it’s success because it’s found the answer that American made cinema and TV has ignored for years (possibly because it’s more difficult)…. don’t go bigger, go deeper.

This season all the major players are back, and we’re transported into Atlantic City with a bang, literally. Chalky White’s bootlegging operation is sabotaged when Klu Klux Klan members raid his warehouse, opening fire on he and his men. Chalky saves his own life but one of the Klansman is injured, causing some serious problems in the city.

Then there’s Nucky, who manages to save the day on multiple occasions during the first episode, and each time with a wad of cash. He gives a speech to the congregations of both races in the city, vowing justice to each of them. He’s a two-timing bastard as always. But like a great villain, he has a heart, and we still root for him. Nucky and Jimmy are having their own problems, Jimmy continuing to question his past mentor and taking more advice from his actual father who’s recovered from his arsenic accident. Jimmy and Angela are finally newlyweds and seemingly very happy. After everything they’ve been through, we want nothing more than to see their marriage prevail.

Each and every character is given their due attention in the episode, keeping us on track with Margaret and her son, Johnny Torrio and his illegal operations and most unexpectedly with Agent Van Nelson’s wife Rose. She comes in to Atlantic City to visit Nelson, and he goes to extreme lengths to impress her and also preserve a secret of his own… the pregnant Lucy Danziger.

It’s refreshing that Boardwalk actually demands your undivided attention. The characters stories weave together at rapid pace, and if you look away, you may loose an important clue, name or raise of the brow. The writers are extremely careful in their balance between exposition and action. More so, the actions of the characters reveal more about their true identity, and because we care about them, their actions serve as plot. The entire plot of the show is formulated around each person’s choices. Will Nucky protect Chalky from the KKK? Will Jimmy tell Nucky what’s really on his mind? Will Nelson keep Lucy’s baby as his own? Who knew a cliffhanger didn’t have to involve a gun to someone’s head or a vampire rising from the dead?

Scorsese and Terence Winter, that’s who. From the beginning, they developed an environment where endlessly interesting characters could thrive. A place where nothing is black and white and no one can be trusted. These days, a person’s true identity can be found with a computer click and a fingerprint. The 1920s is so much more mysterious. It lends itself to characters with extreme depth dealing with extreme issues. Boardwalk also embraces the horrendous events it’s characters endure and isn’t afraid to confront them dead on. The series is based on the non-fiction novel “Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High times and Corruption of Atlantic City” by Nelson Johnson and Boardwalk respects it’s predecessors realities. Even prohibition and religion, two American attempts at preserving morality, that are often touchy subjects for audiences, are made controversial and horrifying through various characters. We never know who or what is innocent in Atlantic City.

I definitely, though, should add a word of warning. This isn’t a series you can jump into and immediately catch up. If you’re going to watch season 2, which I highly recommend, you probably should watch the first season beforehand. The stories are jam-packed with details and with the first season under your belt, the new episodes will be that much more satisfying. Get ready to be addicted.