Boardwalk Empire (Boardwalk Empire episode)

Written by series creator Terence Winter and directed by Martin Scorsese with a budget of $18 million, the episode introduces the character of Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi, as the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic City who is involved in gambling and bootlegging in 1920.

[3] David Hinkley of the New York Daily News awarded the episode five stars, saying, "Watching HBO's new 'Boardwalk Empire' is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say, 'Drinks are on the house.'

[7] In 1920, two masked men ambush a group of bootleggers smuggling Canadian Club whisky from offshore boats into the United States.

The scene then cuts to three days prior, as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, the treasurer of Atlantic County, New Jersey, delivers the keynote address at a Women's Temperance League rally on the eve of Prohibition.

[8] Nucky leaves the rally early and promptly heads to Babette's Supper Club, where a raucous gathering of elected officials, including his younger brother, Sheriff Elias "Eli" Thompson, celebrate the onset of Prohibition and the lucrative bootlegging opportunities it will bring.

Nucky dines with four major mob figures: Arnold Rothstein and his protege, Charles "Lucky" Luciano of New York, and "Big Jim" Colosimo and his right-hand man Johnny Torrio of Chicago.

The episode returns to the conclusion of the opening robbery, in a montage interspersed with scenes from a comedy routine performed by Eddie Cantor attended by Nucky and his mistress.

Back in Atlantic City, the radio reports that police, having found Hans' body in a fisherman's net, have named him as the key suspect in the murder of Rothstein's men, implying that Nucky will continue to protect Jimmy.

Terence Winter, who had served as executive producer and writer on the HBO series The Sopranos, was hired to adapt the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City on June 4, 2008.

[18] He was soon joined by Kelly Macdonald, Vincent Piazza and Michael Shannon, who had just received an Oscar nomination for his role in the Sam Mendes film Revolutionary Road.

Says Glenn Allen, visual effects producer for Boardwalk Empire and co-founder of Brainstorm, "It's our most complex job to date.

"[21] "Any time you get to work on a period piece, it's more fun," comments visual effects artist Chris "Pinkus" Wesselman, who used archival photographs, postcards, and architectural plans to recreate the Atlantic City boardwalks as accurately as possible.

[22] TV Guide's Matt Roush praised the marriage of Scorsese and Winter, saying it "... brilliantly marries Martin Scorsese's virtuosic cinematic eye to Terence Winter's panoramic mastery of rich character and eventful story," and finished his review by stating "It's the most purely—and impurely—enjoyable storytelling HBO has delivered in ages, like a movie that you never want to end.

"[23] Variety's Brian Lowry praised the show for returning network HBO to top form, saying, "This is, quite simply, television at its finest, occupying a sweet spot that—for all the able competition—still remains unique to HBO: An expensive, explicit, character-driven program, tackling material no broadcast network or movie studio would dare touch... For those wondering when the channel would deliver another franchise to definitively put it on top of the world, Ma, the wait is over: Go directly to 'Boardwalk.

'"[24] "One of the unexpected joys of 'Boardwalk Empire,' though, lies in the way the show revels in the oddities of its time, peeling back the layers of polite society to reveal a giddy shadow world of criminals and politicians collaborating to keep the liquor flowing," says online magazine Salon's Heather Havrilesky who went on to call the pilot "breathtaking.

Nancy Franklin of The New Yorker felt that the series too closely echoed The Sopranos, and went on to say that "... the first episode alone cost nearly twenty million dollars–and it looks authentic in a way that, paradoxically, seems lifeless.

"[27] Chris Barsanti from PopMatters affords the show six out of ten, remarking that the series "... doesn't begin in the most thought-proving manner..." and added that the character of Jimmy Darmody is a "dud" and Michael Pitt gives "a one-note performance.

"[28] Aaron Riccio of Slant praised the series overall (awarding it three and a half stars), but commented that the show was "too big" and had too many subplots.

"The plots that Boardwalk Empire does settle on are too complex for a single episode," he said, "... while this style of drawn-out, season-long storytelling can work the writers don't establish enough tension up front to carry the back-heavy narrative.

"[29] On its original airing at 9 pm, "Boardwalk Empire" gained a 2.0/5 ratings share among adults aged 18–49 and garnered 4.81 million viewers.