Boardwalk Empire - 21, S02E01 - Premiere

The return of Boardwalk Empire didn't feel so much like a return as a continuation. It's back on, I'm back to watching it to find out what happens next, and it's continuing the story from about where we left off. As an episode, it was what we expect, but as a premiere it was a bit dry.

The set up for the season happened in the season finale. Nucky (Steve Buscemi) is still running Atlanta, while his brother Eli (Shea Whigham) and the boy he raised, Jimmy (Michael Pitt), may or may not be conspiring to take it all away from him. By the end of the episode, I remained unsure of which course of action they planned to take.

Nucky's relationship with Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) remains strained. Clearly neither of them is actually getting what they want out of it, though I'm not sure of exactly what that is. But they are in a much healthier relationship than what Agent Nelson (Michael Shannon) has going on with his wife, or with the chick he knocked up.

There was a fair amount going on, especially in regards to the racial conflicts of Black and White communities, but it's not until the end that something tangible really happened. And I'm not even sure where they are going to take Nucky's arrest for fixing an election.

I'm happy to keep watching this show, as I do like it very much, but I was a little disappointed that the premiere didn't stand out from an average episode of the series.