BOARDWALK EMPIRE: Nucky & the Gang Return for Season 2

HBO’s ode to gangsters in the 1920’s returns tonight when Boardwalk Empire‘s second season premieres. The series returns to Atlantic City, circa 1921, where Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is paying a steep price for wielding ultimate power in “the worldʼs playground.” Following the ʼ20 election, Nucky finds himself the target of an investigation for voter fraud and faces not only jail, but insurrection by some of those he considered his closest allies.

I watched the first season of Boardwalk Empire last winter and while it was laborious in places, watching Nucky navigate through the corruption he helped create kept me coming back for more. I also really liked Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) as the woman Nucky wants to love but who isn’t entirely comfortable loving him.

It’s a violent, sometimes creepy tale from an odd period in U.S. history. Prohibition was supposed to fix what ailed the country after WWI, but instead it encouraged greed, corruption, and crime in an atmosphere of gaiety that belied the seriousness of the business. Add in the racial and sexual politics of the time and the ’20s were a hotbed of social activity.  Boardwalk Empire does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. I have to wonder when Nucky’s house of cards will fall down, though.

Boardwalk Empire returns tonight at 9/8c on HBO. Will you be watching?