TV Review - Boardwalk Empire

Story by Greg Bright 

| Published Oct 5, 2010

Has American life changed at all since the time of prohibition? That is the main question that “Boardwalk Empire,” the gritty, complex and entertaining new HBO drama from Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese, tries to answer.

The show takes place during the prohibition era and centers on Atlantic City’s elected treasurer (Steve Buscemi), who also happens to be the main provider of illegal alcohol. He runs a anti-alcoholic campaign by day and sells and drinks alcohol by night, partying into the early morning hours.

There are very few people who could pull this role off while keeping the character’s humanity, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Steve Buscemi get the role. Usually forced to play two-bit criminals or just weird, lonely supporting roles, Buscemi is finally given a role that shows off his talents. Through two episodes he has done that, effortlessly switching from the raw power of the leader of an underground gang to the upstanding civic leader. Hopefully this role will get him the recognition he deserves.

The writing is top notch. Headed by Terence Winter, the story line keeps the viewer entertained while never forgetting that this show is an allegory to human behavior. The use of comic relief as an allusion to these ideas has never been done better than it is in the pilot of this show.

Martin Scorsese, who directs the pilot and set the overall tone for the show, continues this allegory and overall theme of the human behavior. The idea that violence, corruption and stupidity were just as bad in the olden days as they are now is a favorite subject for him (see Gangs of New York) and you can see the devotion he gives to it.

Watching a writer and director as talented as Winter and Scorsese work so well together through the first two episodes is a great sign for this show. If it keeps heading in the direction it is, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t, the show is destined to be the next great HBO drama.