The fifth and final season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television series ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...

'' premiered on September 7, 2014, and concluded on October 26, 2014, consisting of 8 episodes. The series was created by

Terence Winter Terence Patrick Winter (born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–14). Before creating ''Boardwal ...

and based on the book ''Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City'' by Nelson Johnson. Set in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, during the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

, the series stars

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based loosely on the historical

Enoch "Nucky" Johnson Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson (January 20, 1883December 9, 1968) was an Atlantic City, New Jersey, political boss, a sheriff of Atlantic County, New Jersey, a businessman and a crime boss who was the leader of the political machine that control ...

), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

period of the 1920s and early 1930s. The fifth season takes place between April and October 1931, seven years after the previous season, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, with flashbacks to 1884 and 1897 detailing Nucky's childhood and young adulthood. On January 13, 2015, the fifth season was made available on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1.

Production

HBO renewed ''Boardwalk Empire'' for a fifth season on September 26, 2013, and announced on January 9, 2014, that it would be the final season. The New York budget for the show's final season was $87.2 million.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Departing the main cast from the previous season are

Anthony Laciura Anthony Laciura (born September 27, 1951) is an American actor and operatic tenor. Laciura is often noted for his abilities as a comprimario, and actor. Born in New Orleans, he studied voice there with Charles Paddock, also the teacher of Ticho ...

Jack Huston Jack Alexander Huston (born 7 December 1982) is a British actor. He appeared as Richard Harrow in the HBO television drama series '' Boardwalk Empire''. He also had a supporting role in the 2013 film '' American Hustle'', portrayed the eponym ...

Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 film ''Office Space'' and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the 2001 miniseries '' Band of Brothers.'' Livingston's other roles include ...

and

Michael Stuhlbarg Michael Stewart Stuhlbarg ( ; born July 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known as a character actor having portrayed a variety of roles in film, television and theatre. He has received several awards including two Screen Actors Guild Awards wi ...

Ben Rosenfield Ben Rosenfield is an American actor and musician, best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2013–2014). His first role was in the Off-Broadway stage adapta ...

was promoted to main cast after recurring in the previous season. *

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson Enoch Malachi "Nucky" Thompson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO TV series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Steve Buscemi. Nucky is loosely based on former Atlantic City, New Jersey political figure Enoch Lewis "Nuck ...

Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. She is known for her roles in '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' Gosford Park'' (2001), '' Intermission'' (2003), '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), '' No Country for Old Men'' (2007), ''Boardwa ...

Margaret Thompson Margaret Catherine Sheila Thompson is a fictional character in the HBO crime drama series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Kelly Macdonald. An Irish immigrant living in 1920s Atlantic City, New Jersey, she is the mistress and eventual wife ...

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

as Nelson Van Alden/George Mueller *

Shea Whigham Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...

as Elias "Eli" Thompson *

Stephen Graham Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

Vincent Piazza Vincent Piazza (born May 25, 1976) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of gangster Lucky Luciano in the HBO television series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He has also played Earl Hefner in the comedy-dram ...

Charlie Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...

Michael Kenneth Williams Michael Kenneth Williams (November 22, 1966 – September 6, 2021) was an American actor. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. He has been described as a "singular pre ...

as Albert "Chalky" White *

Paul Sparks Paul Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'', writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series ''House of Cards (Americ ...

Mickey Doyle Mieczyslaw "Mickey Doyle" Kuzik is a fictional character in the HBO TV series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He is played by Paul Sparks. Mickey Doyle is loosely based on Polish American mobster Mickey Duffy. Mickey is a gangster in Prohibition-era Atla ...

Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...

as Dr. Valentin Narcisse *

as Willie Thompson *

Gretchen Mol Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ...

as Gillian Darmody

Recurring cast

Episodes

Reception

The fifth season of ''Boardwalk Empire'' received positive reviews from critics. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the fifth season scored 83 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Another aggregator website,

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, reported 88% of critics gave the fifth season a "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 132 reviews with an average score of 8.05/10, with the site consensus stating "The final season of Boardwalk Empire is as visually dazzling and well-acted as ever, but it's the emphasis on Nucky Thompson's history that's particularly rewarding this time out." For the 67th Writers Guild of America Awards, the series received two nominations for Best Episodic Drama—

Howard Korder Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play '' Boy's Life'', which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play ''Search and Destroy'' was adapted into a film in 1995. ...

for "Devil You Know", and Riccardo DiLoreto, Cristine Chambers and Howard Korder for "Friendless Child". For the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast was nominated for Best Drama Ensemble,

was nominated for Best Drama Actor, and the series was nominated for Best Stunt Team. For the

67th Primetime Emmy Awards The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2014 until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at the Mi ...

Tim Van Patten Timothy Van Patten (born June 10, 1959) is an American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed episodes of ''Perry Mason'', '' Boardwalk Empire'', '' Black Mirror'', '' Deadwood'', '' Ed'', '' Game of Thrones'', '' The Pacifi ...

was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Eldorado". For the

67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 67th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 12, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. The event was broadcast in the U.S. by FXX on September 19, 2015. The ceremony was in conjunction wit ...

, the series received nine nominations, and won for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series and Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period Program (One Hour or More).

Broadcast

The season premiered on OSN First HD in the Middle East on September 8, 2014.

References

External links

* * {{Boardwalk Empire Boardwalk Empire 2014 American television seasons Fiction set in 1884 Fiction set in 1897 Fiction set in 1931