Sets And Violence

Boardwalk Empire is in its fifth and final season for HBO.  It was introduced with a lot of hoopla--created by Terence Winter of The Sopranos, directed by Martin Scorsese, set in Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition, with a huge, expensive set recreating the Boardwalk.  Now that it's ending, the fifth season jumps years ahead to the end of Prohibition.

The show never became the hit HBO hoped for, one that might replace The Sopranos. It wasn't a water cooler show, like Breaking Bad. (Both those hopes would be fulfilled by Game Of Thrones.)  For all the money and talent they threw at it, it never really happened.

The show never gained its footing.  It had a ton of characters, but it never quite seemed to be about anything. In fact, each new season introduced more people, as if the show were flailing about hoping that something might catch, but all it ever amounted to was well-done period detail and lots of killing.

I stopped watching regularly after the first season, but would tune in for a few episodes every now and then to see if anything had changed.  Well, it did change, it just never cohered.  Maybe it's pointless to attack a show already on the way out, but all I can say is it's too bad.  The idea was good, and the people were talented--Boardwalk Empire was a missed opportunity.