Boardwalk Empire, the HBO series about the evolution of the seaside resort town in New Jersey, may have taken a while to root viewers to its story. But in its first dozen episodes, strong cast performances and the now expected liberal amounts of violence and nudity kept many tuned in to the exploits of county treasurer, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), and the criminals, big and small, inside and out of government in prohibition era Atlantic City.
Those elements and brilliant cinematography, direction and writing also won the show a deserved bevy of awards, and easily secured a second season.
The corruption will continue in the autumn, when a young Benjamin Siegelbaum (who in later years will become known as Bugsy Siegel) joins a youthful Al Capone and Lucky Luciano in a cast of factual and fictional gangsters, government officials, their victims and the creepy, perverse Agent Van Alden (Michael Shannon) tasked with wiping out crime on the boardwalk and beyond.
Here's a peek at what we can expect in a few months, and we'll let you know when broadcast dates are announced for the US and UK...
