Binge Watchin’ TV Review: Boardwalk Empire

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Welcome to Binge Watchin,’ where we take a look at some of the best TV shows available on streaming or disc that have a great catalogue of seasons to jump into and get sucked into the beautiful bliss of binge watching! From crime, action, comedy, drama, animation, etc., we’ll be evaluating an assortment of shows that will hopefully serve as a gateway to your next binge experience.

Series: BOARDWALK EMPIRE

Number of Seasons: 5 (56 episodes)

Where to watch: Amazon Instant, HBO GO, Blu-Ray/DVD

What’s the show about?

After working on David Chase's THE SOPRANOS, writer Terence Winter teamed up with Steve Buscemi, producer Mark Wahlberg, and director Martin Scorsese to adapt the non-fiction work BOARDWALK EMPIRE into a sprawling crime drama. Part GANGS OF NEW YORK, part THE GODFATHER, and part THE SOPRANOS, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is a high drama chock full of violence, nudity, and memorable characters.  Set during Prohibition, the series chronicles the rise and fall of Nucky Thompson while also illustrating the fictionalized careers of Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lanksy, and other real life mob bosses.

Why should I watch it?

BOARDWALK EMPIRE is a series built from the same blocks as THE SOPRANOS while giving us a period drama.  It immediately brings to mind everything from THE GODFATHER PART II, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, and even HBO's DEADWOOD.  There is a level of craftmanship in this series that is almost without peer on any network.  Plus, you have a cast of amazingly talented performers centered around the great Steve Buscemi.  Buscemi knocks his role out of the park and there is little doubt his performance as Nucky Thompson may be considered the best of his career.

But, detractors to BOARDWALK EMPIRE are likely going to tell you that the short seasons of twelve episodes each (the final season ran for only eight) still manage to lag in the middle.  The series always opens each season with a large number of plot threads that it sometimes struggles to wrap up neatly at the end of each run with some stretching into the following season.  Even the final season, which jumped ahead seven years from the prior year, left a lot of unresolved storylines while still managing to give us a satisfying conclusion.

Having watch some of BOARDWALK EMPIRE live as it aired on HBO and binge watching others, I can say without any doubt that this is a series designed for marathon viewing.  With shorter cable seasons, you can easily watch an entire season in a sitting or two and get the benefit of watching this storylines unfold like chapters in a novel.  BOARDWALK EMPIRE is the television equivalent of a page-turner and being able to view each season as a volume in a longer saga is a much different experience than getting an isolated hour each week over a three month period.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE, like DEADWOOD, is one of those HBO series that could have gone on for years but high production values and diminishing viewers doomed it.  Still, seeing actors like Michael Pitt, Michael K. Williams, Jeffrey Wright, Bobby Cannavale, Jack Huston, Michael Shannon, Kelly MacDonald, and Gretchen Mol do their thing is an absolute pleasure, but not one for those with weak stomachs.

Best season:

While I really enjoyed the third season of the show with Bobby Cannavale as the devious Gyp Rosetti, the first season is by far the best with the setup for these various criminal elements all within the confines of the dangerous and alluring world of Atlantic City.

Final thoughts:

Blending history with creative fiction, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is a brilliantly conceived exploration of crime in the early part of the 20th century.  Definitely not for all tastes, the series is incredibly violent with copious nudity and profanity, but not more than GAME OF THRONES or even the average Martin Scorsese film.  With only a total of 56 episodes, this is a series perfect for binge watching as you could likely get through the entire run in a few days to a couple of weeks.  But, once you watch one episode, the serialized nature of BOARDWALK EMPIRE will suck you in until the concluding episode of season five.