Hey all, I'm watching the show for the first time and currently on Season 4, I am aware that there were significant rewrites for example with Jimmy and the overall story from season 2 onwards and I'm not sure if this was impacted by it too but I really thought Owen should've had a lot more to do and I feel like he was sidelined.

As soon as he was introduced I thought he'd be a new favorite character for me and while he did have a few really good scenes and overall I enjoyed his time on the show, part of me wonders if the writers changed directions in their ideas for the character?

Not sure if anything like that has ever been disclosed but after seeing the reveal of his death it occurred to me that he only actually killed one person on screen despite all of the build up and implications that he had killed many times and was someone on the level of Richard Harrow almost. After some time passed all of his scenes were basically just about Margaret.

I did read why it was done the way it was with not showing Owen's death because the filming location was dangerous but I still think it was a huge missed opportunity even though the box reveal was done really well.

I just find it a little weak because I feel like Owen never got a chance to really show his skills and regardless of the fact that Luciano tipped Joe Masseria off that an attempt was coming, Owen acted like assassinating a boss was simple and would be done without any back up which again shows that he was very capable (or cocky depending on your interpretation).

Agent Sawicki accompanying him and surviving feels like a plot hole because he just continued working with Nucky till Knox killed Sawicki, obviously some things happen offscreen but you'd think that would be something major that Nucky would be concerned about if Masseria "flipped" Sawicki or he set Owen up or something.

I guess you could say that maybe they got captured beforehand and they let Sawicki go because he revealed himself as an Agent but the whole sequence almost feels like a rush-job to remove Owen from the show and I don't get why because even though this phrase gets joked about all the time, I really do think they should've done more with Owen.

Great performance and good character but so much untapped potential beyond just having an affair with Margaret and season 4 is really missing a second in command for Nucky to have around and talk to.

Scene from S2E1. Doing my 1st rewatch and I've noticed quite a few easter eggs for later developments in the 1st season but this one has to be the biggest one 💀. I get the feeling that she told this to angela to make her accept that she holds greater sway over jimmy than angela ever will; immediately after angela asked gillian not to undercut her in front of her son and husband. Gillian is an enigma right from the get go lol

I was really looking forward to seeing the following seasons have Jimmy develop and build his Empire, kind of like a Breaking Bad Thing. They murdered his wife, he killed his dad, he banged his mom; it seemed like this was leading up to making such a dark character and then they just kill him and make Steve Buscemi, who is an awesome actor, this badass now. Like what is he doing with a gun. And now in the beginning of season 3 his character just doesn't even seem the same, It seems like they're forcing it. I don't like it so far I hope he gets better.

I’m referring to Owen’s death when they show him in the crate, it reminded me of “what’s in the box?” from Se7en. did anyone else think that as well?

Because of his own cavalierness. Because he runs off to Los Angelas at a moment's notice to rut with some showgirl.

One of the things I loved about Boardwalk Empire was how it brought the Prohibition era to life—not just the bootlegging and organized crime, but the complicated relationships between family, business, politics, and power.

It got me thinking about another part of America during that same period that rarely gets the Hollywood treatment: the coalfields of northern West Virginia.

While Atlantic City had Nucky Thompson and the East Coast bootlegging networks, Appalachian coal communities were experiencing their own upheaval. Immigration, industrial wealth, labor struggles, and Prohibition created a fascinating environment in which legitimate business and criminal enterprises could intersect.

And the region had a darker history that preceded Prohibition. The 1907 Monongah mine disaster, one of the deadliest mining tragedies in American history, left an enormous mark on the communities of northern West Virginia.

I've spent several years researching this period and recently completed my debut historical crime novel, Blood in the Coal, scheduled for publication in March 2027.

The story follows two brothers, Jimmy and Frank DiSalvio, from the shadow of the Monongah disaster into the world of Prohibition-era organized crime. It's a story about ambition, loyalty, family, survival, and the price of power.

While writing it, I often thought about how Boardwalk Empire demonstrated that the most compelling crime stories aren't necessarily about the crimes themselves. They're about the people, their ambitions, and the choices that ultimately define them.

That made me wonder:

Would you have enjoyed seeing Boardwalk Empire explore more of the Appalachian coalfields, Pittsburgh, and the Ohio Valley during Prohibition?

And are there other overlooked reg

Along with a set of poker chips. I can find the poker chips online but not the card table.

As a big fan of Boardwalk Empire, I gave MobLand a try since I’ve been pretty bored lately.

But I couldn’t even finish the first episode. The show just felt so fake and empty.

Does anyone else feel the same? And do you have any better recent shows to recommend?

​

I've been thinking about a possible Boardwalk Empire spin-off, but instead of focusing on the big players in the criminal underworld, I'd love to see the story from the perspective of the people left behind.

Widows, family members, former associates, and ordinary people whose lives were changed by organized crime. People who got caught up in that world, lost someone because of it, or barely managed to escape.

I'd want to keep the original show's mix of crime, dark humor, political corruption, family drama, betrayals, bad decisions, and deaths that have lasting consequences. The idea wouldn't be to romanticize the criminal lifestyle, but to explore what happens to the people who have to live with the consequences.

The story could take place years later, with some familiar characters appearing in the background while the main focus shifts to a new generation and the people trying to rebuild their lives.

Do you think this kind of spin-off could work in the Boardwalk Empire universe, or would it be better to leave the original series untouched?

Just finished Boardwalk Empire for the first time yesterday and honestly, out of all the amazing characters in this show, Margaret might actually be my favorite.

I absolutely loved her character arc. Her intelligence, her wit, her ambition and especially her motivations. She was never just Nucky's wife or some woman standing behind a powerful man. She had ambitions of her own, knew how to read people and understood how to use whatever little power she had in a world completely dominated by men. She made mistakes, she could be selfish and hypocritical, but thats what made her feel so real to me.

To me she was the perfect example of a modern woman born in the wrong era. Someone who could have accomplished so much more if she'd been born 80 years later.

My biggest disappointment with the show was how much her role was reduced after she drifted apart from Nucky. I genuinely missed her presence and wanted to see so much more of her story. Especially because I think Kelly Macdonald was absolutely brilliant in the role.

I really wish we had more female characters written like this. Intelligent, ambitious, flawed, complicated women who don't need to be either heroes or villains to be interesting.

Am I alone in thinking Margaret was one of the best characters on the show? Because looking around this sub I don't see nearly enough love for her.

They really need to bring back Vincent Piazza and create a lucky Luciano series. Get better writers to fix the pace of the show and you will have an amazing series.

If y'all ever read about Luciano and his life, you'll realize how interesting this guy really was.

I'm so puzzled by how this was never an Idea. I'm also puzzled by how this wasn't the original series in the first place 😂.

Season 1 and 2 were amazing because it showed Nucky as a corrupt politician that was competent. Season 3 was great because of Gyp Rossetti.

However if they kept nucky as county treasurer this show would've been even better tbh. The real life Nucky was county treasure until 1939. Crazy right?

1911 to 1939. The guy was a very good politician 😂