The third season of the HBO television series '' Boardwalk Empire'' premiered on September 16, 2012 and concluded on December 2, 2012, consisting of 12 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, 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 manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...

, the series stars Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based 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 alcohol ...

period of the 1920s and early 1930s. Taking place 16 months after season two, the third season begins on New Year's Eve 1922 and concludes in June 1923. The third season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on August 20, 2013.

Cast

Main

Charlie Cox Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in several projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, including lead roles in the television series ''Daredevil'' (201 ...

was promoted to main cast after recurring in the previous season, and Bobby Cannavale joined the cast.

Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. Pitt is known in film for his roles in '' Murder by Numbers'' (2002), Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Dreamers'' (2003), Gus Van Sant's '' Last Days'' (2005), and M ...

Aleksa Palladino Aleksa Federici Palladino (born September 21, 1980) is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her lead roles in '' Manny & Lo'', ''The Adventures of Sebastian Cole'', ''Find Me Guilty'', Angela Darmody in the HBO crime series '' ...

Paz de la Huerta María de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta y Bruce (; born September 3, 1984), known professionally as Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress and model. She had roles in the films ''The Cider House Rules'' (1999) and ''A Walk to Re ...

and

Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...

all departed the cast. * Steve Buscemi as

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 *

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 ...

Arnold Rothstein Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletic ...

* Stephen Graham as Al Capone *

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-dra ...

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 *

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 ...

as Eddie Kessler *

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'', m ...

as Mieczyslaw "Mickey Doyle" Kuzik * Jack Huston as

Richard Harrow Richard Harrow is a fictional character on the television series '' Boardwalk Empire'', played by the actor Jack Huston. Fictional biography Backstory Richard was a sharpshooter in the US Army during World War I. He was badly disfigured during t ...

as Owen Sleater * Bobby Cannavale as

Gyp Rosetti Giuseppe Colombano "Gyp" Rosetti is a character in the HBO TV series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Bobby Cannavale. Rosetti is a New York City gangster who works for Joe Masseria (Ivo Nandi). Hot-headed, easily offended and prone to bouts o ...

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

Episodes

Reception

Critical reception

The third season of ''Boardwalk Empire'' received positive reviews from critics, with Bobby Cannavale being singled out for praise. 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 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the third season scored 76/100 based on 15 reviews. 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 84% of critics gave the third season a "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 25 reviews with an average score of 8.6/10, with the site consensus stating "As hot-headed mobster Gyp Rosetti, Bobby Cannavale brings a sense of danger and energy to this season of Boardwalk Empire, which remains lavish, twisty, and violent."

Awards and nominations

The third season received 10 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the

65th Primetime Emmy Awards The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2012 until May 31, 2013, were held on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. CBS televised the cer ...

and won 5 altogether. Bobby Cannavale won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and the series won the awards for Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series ("Sunday Best"), Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series ("Resolution"), Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series ("The Milkmaid's Lot"), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series ("The Milkmaid's Lot").

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 "Margate Sands", and the series also received nominations for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series ("Margate Sands"), Outstanding Costumes for a Series ("Resolution"), Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) ("Resolution"), and Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role ("The Pony").

References

External links

* * {{Boardwalk Empire Boardwalk Empire 2012 American television seasons Fiction set in 1923 Fiction set in 1922 fr:Boardwalk Empire#Troisième saison (2012)