
Boardwalk Empire, the HBO mobster drama set in Atlantic City at the start of Prohibition, is fascinating to watch, as expected of a series co-produced by Martin Scorcese. But does it know where it's going?
The protagonist, "Nucky" Johnson Thompson, is a machine politician who widens his operations from graft to bootlegging in the premiere episode. He cuts deals with gangsters and orders the killings of both criminals and "civilians" who rub him the wrong way. Nucky is hardly the first anti-hero to headline an American TV series, and Steve Buscemi does a fine job in the lead. After three episodes, however, Boardwalk Empire still seems like a long movie rather than a true TV series, and we're already primed to watch Nucky's fall -- which is at least a couple dozen episodes from now, given that HBO has already renewed the series for a second season.
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