Boardwalk Empire. El Imperio del Contrabando

It was nearly perfect. I feel like the final season was a little unnecessary but they made it work. Richard Harrow is probably my favourite character from anything ever and I know they think they used him just enough but they could have featured him just a little more.

I feel sorry for everyone who says they stopped watching after season 2.

I have never written a review on iMDb. I have never given a TV show a straight 10/10 before. No other ending has ever left me in the total shock that this ending left me. Apart from a very few exceptions (e.g. The Sopranos, Breaking Bad), no other show has done such a phenomenal job at character development. The music, the atmosphere, the (historical) characters are simply spectacular. Pretty much all the characters are extremely memorable, since the viewer gets really, and I mean, REALLY invested into their entire personality, their dreams, their fears, their yearnings, their aspirations. Do yourself a favor and start watching this masterpiece right away.

With production values that are mind-boggling, cast, and a budget to die for HBO is now what film studios were in the 1930s, they have the clout and the ability to go way further than most films can - and you get episode after episode.

the detailing is beyond accurate and lavish - every stitch, every furnishing, every telegraph wire looks and feels authentic and it is all shot and lit to the highest standards of film not TV.

The story of prohibition and Atlantic City is fully detailed, complex, with Steve Buscemi heading up a great cast. I have a gripe that the F-word was not ubiquitous at the time and strikes a jarring note in an otherwise near perfect production.

Where this shines is in the details - I just hope the story lines and acting live up to the promise - they certainly have so far.

This show is amazing all around such great acting and story line. It's one of those shows that needs time to set things up so if it seems slow and confusing at first try and stick it out. I love seeing all these big time crime syndicates come up and thru the ranks. The way they can transform a set back 100 years with such precision and accuracy is astounding to me. Sopranos is my favorite show ever and you'll see a lot of these actors and actresses in this series.

At first when I started this series, I thought it would be just another typical gangster TV show with not much of a plot or well developed characters. However, season 3 onward, the show really grew on me.

The overall story arcs I found really engaging and interesting. You weren't just watching one gangster shoot another gangster, you were watching characters you cared about get into interesting and varied predicaments. Though each season was often slow at the start, though I didn't mind this personally, the way they built up to the finales was fantastic, not a single one disappointed.

The characters were also really well developed. Again unlike your typical gangster flick, where you like the characters because of the stealing and murdering and racketeering they get into, in Boardwalk Empire you actually get the sense that the mob bosses are real people with real motivations. This is best seen in Nucky Thomson but also with others, though in Al Capone's case I found he got crueller, nastier and less humorous as the seasons went by.

The setting and cinematography was also great, helped by the show's choice of music. Previously, I'd never thought of Atlantic City as much of a place, being an Englishman, but by the end I felt like I had gotten to no and love it. Overall, a great TV show which I would think is suited to quite a wide audience, not gangster film fans.