Boardwalk Empire
A Return to Normalcy
TV Flash files “A Return to Normalcy” as the last listed hour of season 1 — Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) on HBO, season 1, episode 12, aired 2010-12-05, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E12: listed hour 12 of 56 in the Boardwalk Empire guide, last listed hour of season 1. It aired 2010-12-05 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Paris Green” (S01E11). Next is “21” (S02E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Nucky faces Election Day in Atlantic City and pulls out all the stops to keep power in Republican hands. Torrio brokers a discussion between Nucky and Rothstein to resolve their growing gang war, as well as Rothstein's looming federal indictment over the World Series. Both Jimmy and Eli voice their growing resentment towards Nucky, and find they have an ally in the equally embittered Commodore. Van Alden seeks a sign on whether or not to leave Atlantic City, but receives unexpected news from Lucy. Margaret weighs new information about Nucky's first marriage and her uncertain future to make a final decision on her role in his life.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Return to Normalcy sit in the Boardwalk Empire guide?
S01E12 is listed hour 12 of 56 — last listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 12.
When did Boardwalk Empire S01E12 air?
A Return to Normalcy aired 2010-12-05 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need The Sopranos first?
Winter comes out of that world; this is Prohibition Atlantic City, not Jersey therapy. Gangster prestige with Scorsese sheen, standalone.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Terence Winter's Prohibition Atlantic City with Scorsese sheen: Steve Buscemi's Nucky running politics as just another racket, Chalky White, Rothstein, and production design that eats the frame. Early-HBO gangster prestige — sequins, mud, and the body count of a treasurer who thought the Boardwalk was forever.
The flash is sequins in mud. September **2010**, HBO, Martin Scorsese on the pilot, Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson — a corrupt treasurer running Atlantic City through Prohibition's opportunities and body count, politics as just another racket. Terence Winter's tentpole between *Sopranos* afterglow and later peaks. Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg's Rothstein, Michael Kenneth Williams's Chalky White, Shea Whigham. Production design eats the frame. The museum guard can catalog the period…
Filed against
- Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson
Steve Buscemi ran Boardwalk Empire as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson — Prohibition Atlantic City with Scorsese sheen, politics as just another racket, sequins, mud, a treasurer's body count. Terence Winter's early-HBO gangster prestige. TV Flash…
- Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder
Kelly Macdonald's Margaret Schroeder gave Boardwalk Empire a human ledger under the sequins — Terence Winter's Prohibition Atlantic City, Scorsese sheen, politics as just another racket. Mud and treasurer math. TV Flash files her as 2010s…
- Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden
Michael Shannon’s Nelson Van Alden turned Boardwalk Empire’s Prohibition piety into a sweating moral problem — Scorsese sheen, sequins and mud — then bearded up for Death by Lightning’s assassination-as-standom tragedy. Early-HBO gangster…
- Shea Whigham as Eli Thompson
Shea Whigham's Eli Thompson ran Boardwalk Empire as brother-and-treasurer mud — Terence Winter's Prohibition Atlantic City with Scorsese sheen, Steve Buscemi's Nucky treating politics as another racket, sequins, a body count. Early-HBO…
- Michael Stuhlbarg as Arnold Rothstein
Michael Stuhlbarg’s Arnold Rothstein counted Boardwalk Empire’s Atlantic City like a treasurer who thought the sequins were his — Terence Winter, Scorsese sheen, Nucky, Chalky, mud, 2010s early-HBO gangster prestige. TV Flash files him as…
- Michael Kenneth Williams as Chalky White
Michael Kenneth Williams’s Chalky White walked Boardwalk Empire like Prohibition Atlantic City needed a rival weather system — Terence Winter, Scorsese sheen, Steve Buscemi’s Nucky, sequins, mud, a treasurer’s body count. TV Flash files…