Boardwalk Empire
Rock SolidEvery season landed between 8.3 and 8.6 across 5 seasons.
Criminal underworldOrganized crime, gangs and the criminal life seen from the inside.This show: 10/10Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 10/10Antihero leadA protagonist doing bad things you can't stop watching.This show: 9/10Morally grayNo clean heroes or villains anywhere in sight.This show: 9/10Real historyReal historical events and figures woven into the story.This show: 8/10Visually strikingComposition and imagery worth pausing for.This show: 8/10GrittyRaw, unglamorous realism in both look and subject matter.This show: 8/10AtmosphericMood and place thick enough to touch.This show: 8/10
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Starring
Steve BuscemiKelly MacdonaldMichael ShannonShea WhighamStephen GrahamVincent Piazza
Written by
Terence Winter
Starring
Steve BuscemiKelly MacdonaldMichael ShannonShea WhighamStephen GrahamVincent Piazza
Written by
Terence Winter
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Boardwalk Empire Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.7 | |
| S2 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 9.3 | |
| S3 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 9.4 | |
| S4 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 9.3 | |
| S5 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 9.1 | 9.2 |
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About
"Prohibition-era power and rot, gorgeously staged"
Set in Atlantic City during Prohibition, this HBO drama follows Nucky Thompson, a corrupt political boss who slides deeper into organized crime as bootlegging money floods in. It's lavishly mounted, slow-burning television, more interested in mood, period texture, and the moral erosion of its characters than in shootouts. Steve Buscemi anchors a sprawling cast of gangsters, politicians, and federal agents whose fortunes rise and fall across the decade. The pace rewards patience: dialogue-heavy scenes, meticulous production design, and a creeping sense of doom carry it more than plot twists, building toward a genuinely melancholic long game.
Watch it for
the immersive period detail and Steve Buscemi's quietly devastating lead performance.
Maybe skip if
you want fast plotting rather than slow, atmospheric character study.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12010
8.339K1211h 11m
On the eve of Prohibition in 1920, Atlantic City county treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson is looking to cash in. Prohibition may have outlawed alcohol, but in Nucky's world it has opened up highly lucrative opportunities for gangsters and rumrunners looking to provide "liquid gold" for a thirsty nation. In a city defined by notorious backroom politics and vicious power struggles, Nucky battles a relentless federal agent, ambitious underlings, and opportunistic rivals—including Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, and Al Capone.
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Season 22011
8.532K1211h 14m
It's 1921 and after rigging the Atlantic City mayoral election, Nucky appears to be in control of the city. However, Nucky's grip soon begins to unravel as he is arrested for election fraud and members of both his inner circle and family begin to question their allegiances, while mobsters including Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Al Capone wait in the wings, looking for the right opportunity to grab a bigger piece of Nucky's pie.
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Season 32012
8.631K1211h 23m
Atlantic City, 1922: The Roaring '20s are about to begin in earnest and despite a booming economy, alcohol is scarce and gangster violence is heating up. Amidst this backdrop, Nucky, whose marriage to Margaret has become a sham after she signed away his highway windfall to the church, faces the challenge of mending old relationships while encountering new competition from hair-trigger gangster Gyp Rosetti, who builds a strategic bulkhead between New York and Atlantic City in an effort to siphon off Nucky's alcohol business.
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Season 42013
8.427K1211h 22m
Atlantic City, 1924: Nucky is laying low at the end of the Boardwalk after barely surviving an overthrow by gangster Gyp Rosetti. But the calm will be short-lived, as Nucky faces new challenges, including a clash with a violent Harlem power broker, a battle with his brother Eli over Eli's college-age son, and the irresistible lure of lucrative—and perilous—opportunities in Florida.
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Season 52014
8.620K87h 31m
It's 1931 and in stark contrast with the Roaring '20s, the country is now in the throes of the Great Depression. With the end of Prohibition in sight, Nucky looks to legitimize himself by forging alliances with liquor producers.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Steve Buscemi Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson
Kelly Macdonald Margaret Thompson, Margaret Schroeder
Michael Shannon Nelson Van Alden
Shea Whigham Elias 'Eli' Thompson
Stephen Graham Al Capone
Vincent Piazza Lucky Luciano
Michael Kenneth Williams Chalky White
Paul Sparks Mickey Doyle
Gretchen Mol Gillian Darmody
Michael Stuhlbarg Arnold Rothstein
Crew
Terence Winter
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