Boardwalk Empire season 2 explained

Season Number:	2
Bgcolour:	575454
Network:	HBO
Num Episodes:	12
Episode List:	List of Boardwalk Empire episodes

The second season of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire premiered on September 25, 2011, and concluded on December 11, 2011, consisting of 12 episodes. The series was created by Terence Winter 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, the series stars Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson),^[1] a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s. The second season takes place between February and August 1921. The second season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on August 28, 2012.^[2]

Cast

Main

Jack Huston and Gretchen Mol were promoted to series regulars for the second season after appearing in several episodes during the first season.

• Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, the corrupt and Machiavellian treasurer of Atlantic City who tries to keep his title and reputation intact.
• Michael Pitt as James "Jimmy" Darmody, Nucky's former protege, a WW1 veteran who tries to defeat Nucky at all costs.
• Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder, Nucky's mistress and lover trying to reconnect with her past.
• Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden, an FBI agent who investigated but failed to capture Nucky last season. He now manages stopping bootlegging in Atlantic City.
• Shea Whigham as Elias "Eli" Thompson, Nucky's younger brother and the sheriff of Atlantic City who joins Jimmy's side to get rid of Nucky.
• Aleksa Palladino as Angela Darmody, Jimmy's newlywed wife, Tommy's mother and a closeted and aspiring artist.
• Michael Stuhlbarg as Arnold Rothstein, a New York gangster and gambler who is a former rival of Nucky's.
• Stephen Graham as Al Capone, Johnny Torrio's protege and Jimmy's friend who joins his side to further improve his career as a gangster.
• Vincent Piazza as Charlie Luciano, Rothstein's calculating but hot-headed protege who joins Jimmy's side to improve his gangster career.
• Paz de la Huerta as Lucy Danziger, Nucky's former mistress who is now psychologically tortured by Van Alden and pregnant with his baby.
• Michael Kenneth Williams as Albert "Chalky" White, Nucky's business partner and the leader of Atlantic City's Black community who faces trouble with the KKK this season.
• Anthony Laciura as Eddie Kessler, Nucky's comedic and bumbling German butler who suffers most of his boss's verbal abuse.
• Paul Sparks as Mieczyslaw "Mickey Doyle" Kozik, a Polish-American bootlegger who joins Jimmy's side to get rid of Nucky and is also investigated by Van Alden.
• Jack Huston as Richard Harrow, a half-faced WW1 war veteran and former sniper acting as Jimmy's bodyguard and right-hand man.
• Gretchen Mol as Gillian Darmody, Jimmy's mother who joins his side to get rid of Nucky.
• Dabney Coleman as Commodore Louis Kaestner, Nucky's former mentor and Jimmy's illegitimate father who joins his son to get rid of Thompson.

Recurring

• Charlie Cox as Owen Sleater, an IRA bomb-maker and assassin who joins Nucky's side as his bodyguard and right hand-man.
• Josie and Lucy Gallina as Emily Schroeder, Margaret's daughter and Teddy's younger sister.
• Bill Sage as Solomon Bishop, a Deputy US Attorney who arrests Nucky for election fraud.
• Heather Lind as Katy, Nucky and Margaret's new housemaid who has an affair with Owen.
• Declan and Rory McTigue as Theodore "Teddy" Schroeder, Margaret's son and Emily's older brother
• Anatol Yusef as Meyer Lansky, a New York gangster who joins Jimmy's side alongside Luciano and Capone.
• Robert Clohessy as Alderman Jim Neary, one of Nucky's henchmen in his political machine who joins Jimmy's side.
• Kevin O'Rourke as Edward L. Bader, the Mayor of Atlantic City and Nucky's business partner helping him to defeat Jimmy.
• Brady and Connor Noon as Tommy Darmody, Jimmy and Angela's young son and Gillian and Louis's grandson
• Dominic Chianese as Leander Whitlock, the Commodore's longtime lawyer and executor of estate and will who also becomes Jimmy's mentor briefly.
• Joseph Aniska as Agent Stan Sawicki, Van Alden's junior FBI agent and Clarkson's partner who investigates Mickey Doyle's warehouse.
• William Forsythe as Munya "Manny" Horvitz, a Ukrainian Jewish gangster in Philadephia who's at odds with Jimmy Darmody and Waxey Gordon.
• Glenn Fleshler as George Remus, a German born bootlegger from Ohio who creates and sells medicinal alcohol and is Torrio and Capone's bootlegging partner.
• Erik LaRay Harvey as Dunn Purnsley, a career criminal from Baltimore who later teams up with Chalky White because of the prejudice they both face.
• Nick Sandow as Waxey Gordon, Rothstein's bootlegging partner in Philadelphia and Manny's rival.
• Adam Mucci as Deputy Halloran, Eli's bumbling and comedic deputy and second-in-command vying for the sheriff position.
• Julianne Nicholson as Esther Randolph, a Deputy US Attorney sent by Harry Daugherty to investigate Nucky, replacing George "Solomon" Bishop and Charles Kenneth Thorogood.
• Christiane Seidel as Sigrid, Van Alden's new maid and his newborn daughter Abigail's nanny who falls in love with him.
• Brandon Zumsteg as Brian Thompson, one of Eli's sons
• David Aaron Baker as Bill Fallon, Arnold Rothstein and later Nucky Thompson's lawyer.
• Matthew Broadley as Patrick Thompson, one of Eli's sons
• Pearce Bunting as Bill McCoy, a bootlegger, ship captain and partner of Nucky's who stays loyal to him and backs out of a deal with the Commodore.
• William Hill as Alderman George O'Neill, another of Nucky's henchmen in his political machine who betrays him for Jimmy.
• Christopher McDonald as Harry Daugherty, a political aide of President Harding and associate of Nucky's who tackles his election fraud case.
• Natalie Wachen as Lenore White, Chalky's wife and Adeline, Maybelle and Lester's mother
• Tom Aldredge as Ethan Thompson, Nucky and Eli's abusive father, now on his deathbed. This was Aldredge's final screen role before his real-life death the same year.
• Greg Antonacci as Johnny Torrio, Capone's mentor and boss who runs the Four Deuces and is also business partners with Rothstein, Nucky and Remus.
• Ed Jewett as Jess Smith, Harry's aide and associate
• Charlie Plummer as Michael Thompson, one of Eli's sons
• Ted Rooney as John McGarrigle, the leader of the IRA and Owen's mentor and boss who has a dispute with Nucky.
• Michael Zegen as Bugsy Siegel, Luciano and Lansky's young associate in New York
• Stephen DeRosa as Eddie Cantor, a comedian who is friendly with Nucky.
• Christina Jackson as Maybelle White, Chalky and Lenore's oldest daughter, Adeline's older sister, Lester's sister and Samuel's fiancee
• Peter McRobbie as Supervisor Frederick Elliot, Van Alden, Clarkson and Sawicki's superior in the FBI.
• Geoff Pierson as Walter Edge, an Atlantic City politician and associate of Nucky's.
• Enid Graham as Rose Van Alden, Nelson Van Alden's infertile and estranged wife.

Episodes

Reception

Critical reception

The second season of Boardwalk Empire received positive reviews; on the review aggregator website Metacritic, the second season scored 82/100 based on 14 reviews.^[3] Another aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, gave the second season a 91% rating, based on 34 reviews with an average score of 8.2/10, with the site consensus stating "Boardwalk Empire delves deeper into both its intriguing supporting players and its rich tapestry of moral ambiguity."^[4]

Awards and nominations

The second season received 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards and won 4 altogether. The series received its second consecutive nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, while Steve Buscemi was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.^[5] The series won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series for "21", and Outstanding Special Visual Effects Television Miniseries, Movie, or Special for "Georgia Peaches" at the 64th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Tim Van Patten won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "To the Lost".

Notes and References

1. Web site: Boardwalk Empire . The New York Times . Alessandra . Stanley . September 16, 2010 . September 2, 2013 . October 15, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131015145425/http://tv.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/arts/television/17boardwalk.html . live .
2. Web site: Boardwalk Empire - The Complete 2nd Season on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo. TVShowsOnDVD.com. Lambert. David. June 7, 2012. June 7, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120609014913/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Boardwalk-Empire-Season-2/17058. June 9, 2012.
3. Web site: Boardwalk Empire: Season 2 . Metacritic . September 22, 2013 . September 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200925013624/https://www.metacritic.com/tv/boardwalk-empire/season-2 . live .
4. Web site: Boardwalk Empire: Season 2 (2011). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. April 25, 2014. April 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140426233014/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/boardwalk-empire/s02/. live.
5. Web site: Boardwalk Empire - Emmys. emmys.com. July 20, 2012. February 17, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130217053120/http://www.emmys.com/shows/boardwalk-empire. live.