"The Old Ship of Zion" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American period crime drama television series Boardwalk Empire.
The series follows Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, a political figure who rises to prominence and interacts with mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the common folk who look up to him.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.91 million household viewers and gained a 0.8 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Club gave the episode an "A" grade and wrote, "One of the reasons this show has stayed so engaging is that it assembles a cast of actors that can almost universally elevate their material.
And when an actor like Michael K. Williams, who's spent several seasons as a scene-stealing supporting act, finally gets room to stretch, we get 'The Old Ship of Zion,' a reminder of what this show can do at its best.
There's none of the Illinois arc, nor any of New York's in this episode, while even the Floridians and DC lawmen in the Boardwalk universe do us the favor of traveling to Atlantic City at various points.
But as far as individual hours of successful television go, this one was achieved though more or less traditional ends: We watched a core group of characters, unified in time and space, going through changes.
"[7] Rodrigo Perez of IndieWire wrote, "Yes, Boardwalk Empire takes a long time to coalesce, but we'll admit, when its early chess piece moves begin to fall into place, and you can see the forest for the trees on the board, boy does it get good.
"[8] Chris O'Hara of TV Fanatic gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Fans were treated to one of - if not the - most intense fight scenes in the show's history this week on 'The Old Ship of Zion'.
"[9] Michael Noble of Den of Geek wrote, "There is an explicitly performative aspect to so many of Boardwalk Empire's characters, but this week's episode demonstrated the tendency especially well, and particularly in the Chalky versus Narcisse storyline.