‘Boardwalk Empire’ season 5 premiere review: A new era for Nucky Thompson

Going into the season 5 premiere of “Boardwalk Empire” tonight, the only real hope that we had was that we’d have an episode where quite a bit happened, and we got a sense that this was a different world than the one we last saw Nucky in.

This was proven to be true not long into the episode at all, and mostly thanks to the lighting and costuming for this show continuing to be superior. It was clear visually that the age of decadence was in some ways over, and the government was struggling now. For Nucky, this meant opportunity, a chance to finally get himself on the right path again rather than continuing down a dark road of fighting against Prohibition. He could prepare an operation to get a foothold in the legal liquor trade early.

The story this week went everywhere from Cuba (chock full of interrogations) to Nucky’s own past, where he started to learn lessons as a child in the 1880s about the value of money. IF we are being completely honest, we’re not sold on the flashbacks in the final season, and we would be okay to gleam whatever we wanted from Nucky’s past.

Also, we wanted to see a little bit more happen throughout the hour, and despite Nucky’s travels, it felt like we ended on a somewhat-flat note. We know that this series can occasionally be dry, but we do like there to be a little more substance than we had in here.

Perhaps the best way to look at this hour was as a foundation. We came to understand the characters better and where they are now, and in turn, maybe this helps to understand the future. We can only hope that this is the direction we are going. Grade: B.

What was your take on the season premiere? Let us know right now in the comments.