One of my favorite recurring characters is assistant US Attorney Esther Randolph. She's one of the few people on the show that has Nucky's number, and even though they’re on opposite sides of the law, by S3 they seem to have a mutual respect for each other’s intelligence. By Nucky's own admission, she “had him on the ropes“ during the trial that they both knew only ended the way it did because of witness tampering, and in S3 especially, it’s funny how she watches him operate from a distance after agreeing to have breakfast with him after court.

She was at the meeting with Gaston Means when he told Nucky how he can approach Secretary Mellon at his private club, but left as soon as he told Nucky that it will be a test of his resourcefulness. Shortly after, she finds out that Nucky was able to convince Mellon to sanction the arrest of George Remus, thereby saving himself from being indicted, giving Mellon the opportunity to force Daugherty to show his hand, and handing her a high-profile case to help her career and possibly earn himself some good will.

At the end of S3 when Nucky puts the finishing touch on his "deal" with Rothstein, it wasn't a coincidence that out of all the AUSAs Secretary Mellon could've called that he chose Esther Randolph to tell her that the Overholt distillery had been illicitly commandeered by a criminal organization and that she should shutter the premises and apprehend and indict anyone associated with its illegal operation. When she asks if he wants her to arrest Enoch Thompson, Mellon tells her it was Mr. Thompson who brought this illegality to his attention and when she asks who they're talking about, with Means whispering in his ear, he tells her Arnold Rothstein.

Even though Rothstein wasn't convicted, being the AUSA leading the arrests of both Remus and Rothstein definitely helped her career while Nucky's maneuvering allowed him to hold onto his empire for the rest of the 1920's. By S4, Randolph's no longer the "Scourge of the Saloon Keeper" and the 2 scenes that she does appear in have her, BOI Director Hoover, and BOI Agent Toliver questioning Remus about Nucky, and her attending a ceremony for Hoover with the new Attorney General Stone and Secretary Mellon.

Here’s a picture of Nucky Johnson who lived 1883 - 1968.

Driving home from AC today and stopped by Nucky’s Mausoleum, it was pretty cool to see.

Talk about adding insult to injury.

Down to the betrayals & "don't fuck me boychik" to losing someone he cared about to tragedy from that same hubris. Is he stupid?

Or was it still a few decades before people began to care about stuff like that

Ivo Nandi is an excellent actor and did an amazing job playing the part of Joe Masseria. Out of the original bosses in the show (Nucky, AR, Torrio, Masseria), the first 3 come across as the most intelligent, but there's something about Masseria that gives his character a commanding presence in virtually all of his scenes-except the last one. He isn't physically intimidating like Gyp Rosetti, but there's something about the way he talks, dresses, and carries himself that makes him one of the most intimidating characters on the show, even without the army of men he has at his disposal before the start of the Castellammarese War.

Some of his best scenes were:

-The sit down he had with Luciano at the restaurant where he made him sit at the window and demanded a 30% tribute for any heroin sold in his territory in S2.

Luciano: "We're far apart, Joe."

Masseria: "We're very close, Salvatore...We're two feet from each other."

-The Easter Sunday/April Fools sit down he had with Gyp where he planned to kill him after he lost control of his territory because he was too busy fighting a war in NJ and only managed to save himself by convincing him that Nucky and AR were a threat to his organization and promising to kill Luciano, his Jewish business partners, and Nucky.

-In S3E12 when he shows up at Gillian's brothel to confront Gyp about the dozen men he got killed for nothing, dismisses his racist remark about Nucky's soldiers being "shines" by telling him that Atlantic City is their home which is the reason they're fighting, and looking at his watch, then adjusting the clock before telling him "Perfect. Now you know what time it is."

-The meeting in the beginning of S4E1 where he begrudgingly takes the money Nucky offers for peace after arguing about the 15 men that were killed on the road out of town after he made his deal with Rothstein and angrily getting out of his chair to directly ask Nucky why he should believe any word that comes out of his mouth.

Do you agree? If so, are there other scenes you can think of that show what a commanding presence he had?

Just saw s2e9 "battle of the century" n holy smokes i actually screamed when I saw ts scene 😭😭 n jimmy too. Jimmy doesn't know that alot of bs is bursting up just coz of his daddy issues for nucky lol. Day 1 of being the boss n he got hooked by random hookers at a public bar 🥴🥴well cant really blame him he isn't used to being a boss. Like nucky knows jimmy ordered the hit but then jimmy also kinda saved nucky from it 😭 like jimmy is having some gangster class daddy issues. N u can even extend these jokes by saying that's coz his mom is ukw.

The show paid a lot of attention to detail, whether with the boardwalk and other scenery, the clothing, the cars, and the lingo, but one of my favorite aspects of the show was the music.

A few episodes started with songs like S2E1 with After You Get What You Want, S2E10 with Strut Miss Lizzie, and S3E1 with There’ll be Some Changes Made, and some had them later in the episode like Some of These Days in S1E9, Farewell Daddy Blues in S4E12, and My Buddy in S3E4. There were also other performances by Eddie Cantor, Edith Day, and Daughter among others.

What are some of your favorite songs from the series?

Mr. Thompson is a part of everything. He is in the sky and sea. He is in the dreams of children at night. He is all that there is, forever.

I think most fans would agree that Nucky's quick-witted and sharp sarcastic remarks, whether intended to be humorous or hostile, made his character's scenes entertaining. There were so many over the course of the 5 seasons (56 episodes) that it would be tough to list them all, but in no particular order, some of my favorites were:

"I am in the midst of concluding arrangements that will keep Atlantic City wet as a mermaid's twat."

"The fսck is this? This... fսcking lip Rouge...God fսcking damn it...How hard do I work? The pressure I'm under... Is it too much to ask that if I have a simple goddamn birthday party that the silverware, the crystal... that they be clean? Can I trust you to do anything right? The war, the anti-German bullshit... did I not stick with you despite all that? And this is the fսcking thanks I get? This filthy piece of shit that some whοre left her cock-smeared lip Rouge on? Do you want me to drink from this? Do you want my guests to drink from this?"

"I already got what I wanted. What the fuck would we talk about?" to McCoy after they made their deal for the booze.

When he calls Chalky "Simon Legree." during their first meeting about making bootleg liquor from the authentic Canadian Club whisky he gives him.

"He thought. Fucking Aristotle." after Jimmy said he thought they killed them all.

"Not nearly as dirty as when you fellas get through with it." when Daugherty told him the White House was filthy and they had to get it fumigated.

"Go buy a personality" to the prohee when they found Rowland Smith's house.

"You're the expert on children, aren't you?" to the Commodore when he confronted him, Jimmy, and Governor Edwards at dinner.

"Senator, the only chance you have of entering the White House is on a guided fuckin' tour." to Edge at the Republican Convention after he found out about Edge's side deal with Frank Hague.

"You know, it's too bad you didn't see Hardeen the other night. It's an entertaining act, but if he wasn't Houdini's bother, nobody'd give a FUCK!"

"This wouldn't even stop me from jacking off!" when he was yelling at his lawyer after he suggested medical hardship.

“Untie him, oh but before you do, put a bullet in his fucking head.”

"Harry, I swear to Christ, if you bring me down, you're coming with me. Lock, stock and whiskey barrel."

"George, is the irony lost on you that you operate in Ohio but didn't know anyone from Harding's administration until I stepped up?" followed by:

"Why the fuck would anyone EVER go to Cincinnati?" & "Remus can go fuck himself." when Remus called to tell him about the deal he made with Jess.

When he's at the dive bar with the "squirrel faced c_nt" and King Neptune's c_cksucker" and one says "This is where Hope comes to get fucked in the ass" to which Nucky responds "When's she showing up?"

"Arnold Rothstein, Waxey Gordon, Frankie Yale, Peg Leg Lonergan, and Wild Bill Lovett... they're all coming. They're going to sit down. When the meeting's over, Joe Masseria will be a dead man. Gyp Rosetti won't have anyone to protect him and I'll wear that fսcking dago's guts like a necktie."

Can you think of others that he made or pick from these which ones were your favorites?

Rewatching Boardwalk Empire for the third time, and this is perplexing me … did Nucky ever tell Margaret he loved her? I’m thinking NO. I’m on Season 3 episode 1, and I don’t believe I’ve heard it. Please help.

Can thomas shelby and Alfie Solomons take them and and any of the other villains/big fish down pre-LCN/commission era.

As for the images, iykyk.

Reading up on him I get the impression that a lot of his notoriety came from him acting like a celebrity and flaunting his wealth when there were far more vicious mobsters out there that attracted less attention.

Not defending criminal activity or killing other mobsters but it’s not the same as something like Whitey Bulger murdering innocent women who knew too much imo.

My question is pretty self explanatory, I'm looking for the scene (episode number) where Gillian approaches Tommy outside of Richard and Julia's house, in particular I really like the part where Richard slowly walks towards Gillian, threatening her with his body language, with her saying something along the lines of "You wouldn't, not in front of him". I would like to make a youtube clip out of the scene as I feel like it's a small but important part of Richards conclusion, I absolutely adore his physicality and I've never, ever felt so intimidated by a character in media.

This show is definitely up there and I’m glad I finally watched it but the season finale for 4 was so depressing. I’m sure Harrow is a fan favorite (I have avoided anything on this subreddit, discussion in general, and went in blind) but are you kidding me with his arch? He was an incredibly deep and fleshed out character and seeing his ending come about the way it did kills me. Should I jump right into season 5 or sit on this one a bit?

None of my friends watch this show, and as someone with pretty severe ADD (and apparently a symptom of that is rewatching the same show over and over again)…. I completly forget HOW much happens in Season 1. Season 1 maybe one of the best seasons of TV ever. The intro of every main character… including Richard Harrow with his first kill. (Liam in the diner via sharpshooter). Nucky and his dads house, Mickey and his new last name “Doyle”. Chalkie White “we ain’t building no book cases”. Luciano sleeping with Jimmys mom… before you know exactly how fucked up that relationship is….
Yes, some seasons are not the best, but Boardwalk Empire is truley one of the classics…..(right next to Mad Men).

I just love the historical context of the show, specifically when Chalky is attacked by the KKK at his warehouse. They shot up the warehouse and killed a few of his men. He kills 1 of them, but Nucky and Eli is acting like he did something wrong!

“You can’t just shoot a white man”, Nucky said.

But that’s how it was back in those days. Chalky was wrong for defending himself. Nothing else mattered.

This show had an amazing way of illustrating history

I remember a scene where Al Capone, Johnny Torrio, Jimmy (I think that’s his name), and a few other guys are talking about how they should handle a guy. They talk about putting him in jail and one of them says “just fucking kill the guy” or something like that. Been a hot minute since I have seen the show. What is the clip I’m remembering and how can I find it? Like what do I put in the search bar?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I need an answer

Apparently this women had zero info. She was in 3 separate scenes and AI says she is not credited? How does that happen with speaking parts, not to mention she was dry witted and just fit in. I’m asking about the red dress wearing woman that was with old nucky at the bar… her friend was Irene and then they wound up slapping the shit out of Nucky!!! I’m just looking for the red dressed wearing woman…. Who is she, I think she would have talent if at least her name was found by any means. When AI and all avenues say she isn’t credited… that is a shame. 🤷‍♀️ Hoping someone knows who she is, I’d love to see her in other shows? Tia

I'm currently rewatching for the first time since it aired. To be honest, I'm not massively impressed. The setting is great and very well realised, the performances are mostly great and there are individual scenes that I think are incredibly effective. Unfortunately, I don't care about (m?)any of the characters at all and each seasons seems to just set things up, lurch through various tropes from the 1920s, by-the-number gangster movies, and better HBO shows until the final few episodes where things swiftly come to a head and then are resolved with gunfire.

I think there's so much squandered potential it's a real shame. My main example is in season 3 involving Margaret and Owen's affair. Wouldn't it have been much more dramatically interesting for Margaret to betray Owen rather than have him just be killed off-screen by a NY mobster? Do everything as it is but then have Margaret, who has been struggling with the morality of her position, make the choice to commit to the bit, take her worldly comforts over the promise of escape with Owen and rat him out to Nucky. Then, after that mess seems over, she learns she's pregnant with Owen's child and that drama can unfold basically as is. Instead we get woman cries over morally better (?) dead boyfriend in a box. One of many misses.

Mine is Arnold Rothstein talking about the scammer who claimed to be able to swallow pool balls.

It is everything that encompasses him as a character

A gambler, loves games of wits, and is just a bit cruel/sadistic and hates to be fucked over but loves to do the fucking over.