History Series / BoardwalkEmpire

** Al Capone's son is portrayed as completely deaf from birth when he actually went partially deaf at age 7.

* GutturalGrowler: Richard Harrow has one as a result of injuries inflicted during the war (check the scar on his throat). Serves to emphasize his both dangerous and shy nature. Jack Huston came up with the voice by stuffing his mouth with cotton balls, not unlike Creator/MarlonBrando did for ''Film/TheGodfather''.

* MeaningfulName: ShellShockedVeteran Richard ''Harrow''.

''Boardwalk Empire'' is an {{Creator/HBO}} drama series set in Atlantic City, New Jersey from TheRoaringTwenties and the beginning of Prohibition into TheGreatDepression.

** A grand Irish American Society dinner is marked by a performance of the song Carrickfergus, which is depicted as a song everyone knows the lyrics to. Carrickfergus wasn't popularised until the 1960s, in fact the first guy to publish the song says he learned it from Peter O'Toole.

** People can be seen eating popcorn in the movie theater scenes. Popcorn wasn't sold in movie theaters until the forties, although they did sell candy.

** Hans Schroeder beat his children. In fact, he was so bad that Nucky sanctioned a hit on him after he made Margaret miscarry, and [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit then painted him as a participant in the Woods Massacre]], knowing that people wouldn't bother questioning it.

** Chalky White, played by Michael K. Williams (of ''Series/TheWire'' fame), was deliberately written as one in the first season. Once Chalky proved to be popular, it was announced that he would get a more prominent role in Season 2 (along with another minor character that the audience loved, [[EnsembleDarkhorse Richard Harrow]]), and in season 3 they both play major roles in the great scheme of things. In season 4 Chalky is arguably just as much of a main character as Nucky.

** Maranzano is a suave, soft-spoken, easy-going mobster who tries not to take things personally, even after an assassination attempt.

** In season two's "Ourselves Alone", Margaret borrows a maid's clothes, dresses much like she did in the pilot, and coaxes her way into Nucky's office with a story much like the one she told in the pilot. She does this to rescue some cash and incriminating documents from the cops that are rifling through Nucky's things.

* ClickHello: ''Margaret'', of all people, in "Gimcrack and Bunkum". With a shotgun.

** In "Family Limitation", Margaret resorts to it after Lucy can't comprehend her analogy to a piano-playing rooster.

** The beginning of "Margate Sands" mixes a bloody MobWar and the [[BlatantLies reassuring words]] of Mayor Ed Bader about everything being under control in Atlantic City.

** Also in the pilot, Torrio's young driver is standing in the cold and amiably shooting the breeze with Jimmy. His name is UsefulNotes/AlCapone. He's on the bottom rung at this point, but with an [[FromNobodyToNightmare eye on advancement]].

** Chalky White is introduced in an flashy suit, commanding Eddie to tell Nucky that he doesn't have all day. This establishes Chalky's position as a powerful Black man who must nevertheless bow to white authorities like Nucky.

** In "Home," Richard Harrow is first seen in the hospital, meek and awkward. Then he starts listing the arsenal of firearms he owns and detailing his [[ColdSniper sniper exploits]].

* TheJeeves: Eddie Kessler, Nucky's butler, is stuffy, well-dressed and behaves with GermanicEfficiency. He's also devoted to Nucky, in spite of Nucky's temper. He notably asserts very passionately to Margaret that the charges against Nucky are false, in spite of the fact that Kessler knows firsthand that Nucky is a large-scale bootlegger.

** Richard and Julia meet because her father had to be helped after losing a boxing bout at the American Legion.

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Generally averted. However, in his first on-screen kill, Richard Harrow gives the guy who disfigured Pearl a MoeGreeneSpecial from across the street, and at first the rest of the cafe's patrons only notice because the bullet shatters a water jug in passing. The victim remains seated at his table, with his head slumped back and blood running from his nose and a dainty new red birthmark under one eye.

* PunnyName: Albert "[[IronicNickname Chalky]]" White, the Black mobster, has three names meaning "white."

* RunningGag: In season 3, there's Gyp Rosetti's dog Regina, and her constantly shifting ownership. She starts out as a good Samaritan's dog until Gyp beats her owner to death with a tire iron. Later, Gyp shows up at Nucky's black tie party holding the dog, having apparently adopted her. After getting angry, he storms off and leaves the dog behind, to Margaret's annoyance. We later find out that the Thompsons have reluctantly adopted her. When Gyp takes over Nucky's office, he takes Regina back and orders her fed.

** In "Under God's Power She Flourishes" we find out in a flashback that [[spoiler: Jimmy slept with his mother and that's why he enlisted in the army. In the present storyline Jimmy murders the Commodore (OedipusComplex much?). Also Van Alden's murder of Agent Sebso is discovered and he goes on the run]].

** An interesting one in "The Ivory Tower". Near the beginning of the episode, Jimmy buys a necklace. Later on, he gives his wife an also expensive bracelet instead of that necklace, so it's already fishy. Then, he can't have sex with her because his son is napping in the same room. He looks frustrated, so he goes to a Broadway rehearsal. Backstage, a great-looking woman is jumping with joy when he sees her, so the audience assumes it's an old flame and Jimmy's there for a booty call. He gives her the necklace from the beginning of the episode. And then it turns out it's his ''mother''. This sets up their underlying OedipusComplex.

** "The Ivory Tower" introduces Gillian Darmody by pulling a BaitAndSwitch. Jimmy sneaks off after arguing with his wife to see a beautiful showgirl, giving her a necklace as a gift. Is it his girlfriend? Nope, it's [[OedipusComplex his mother]]!

* LadyMacbeth: Gillian is this in Season 2 [[OedipusComplex for her son, Jimmy]], with a side of TheConsigliere. She's the one who encourages him to stick to his guns and [[spoiler:go through with his assassination of Nucky]].

* LoveDodecahedron: The Darmody household. Jimmy is married to Angela, but also has [[OedipusComplex a very weird relationship with his mother]], and falls in love with a prostitute, Pearl, in Chicago. When he brings Richard back home with him, Richard falls (albeit chastely) in love with Angela, while Angela begins an affair with her friend Louise, and Jimmy continues to have affairs on the side.

* OedipusComplex: Jimmy and Gillian's relationship is shown to be increasingly Oedipal as the show goes on until "Under God's Power She Flourishes," when it's revealed that [[spoiler:they already had sex years ago]]. In the same episode, Jimmy takes it to its logical conclusion by [[spoiler:killing his father, the Commodore]].

** Season 5 is Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel. They are the only villains (other than Rothstein as TheManBehindTheMan in Season 1) who are HistoricalDomainCharacters throughout the series, and naturally they are destined to be SavedByCanon.

* ButNotTooBlack: [[invoked]]

''Boardwalk Empire'' is an {{Creator/HBO}} drama series, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey from TheRoaringTwenties and the beginning of Prohibition into TheGreatDepression.

''Boardwalk Empire'' is an {{Creator/HBO}} drama, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from TheRoaringTwenties and the beginning of Prohibition into TheGreatDepression.

"[[InNameOnly Inspired by]]", rather than adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name, the series was created and written by Terence Winter of ''Series/TheSopranos'' renown and its pilot episode was directed by Creator/MartinScorsese, who also set the artistic tone of the show. HBO picked up the series for a twelve-episode first season, and it debuted September 19, 2010. A second season was announced after the pilot registered one of the highest followings in the network's history and the show completed its third season in 2012. Veteran ''Series/TheWire'' writers Creator/DennisLehane and George Pelecanos joined the creative staff in the fourth season, which was aired in the second half of 2013.

The series has won seventeen Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes. It has also [[ShownTheirWork done its research]].

** Chalky White is the closest thing to the black community's version of Santa Claus. In spite of the fact that he actually is a bootlegger as well as a brutal killer, he's one of the more sympathetic characters on the show.

* ConsummateLiar: Honesty is a dangerous commodity for gangsters. For Nucky it comes with the job description, he is a master of the BastardlySpeech who can be defending the black community and demonizing it in the next phrase thanks to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGRepRsNH24 the montage]]. Gaston Means is even more successful, as he goes through life [[PlayingBothSides outlying everybody]].

** Nucky does business with Italians, Jews, Irish and blacks. Many of the gangs he does business with are also willing to go beyond their cultural boundaries for the sake of profit.

** Chalky White is introduced in an flashy suit, commanding Eddie to tell Nucky that he doesn't have all day. This establishes Chalky's position as a powerful black man who must nevertheless bow to white authorities like Nucky.

** When Nucky talks to Jimmy and his cohorts about resigning as County Treasurer and stepping back, he says they can have "Atlantic City and all that goes with it". This includes the black strike he immediately convinces Chalky White to instigate as soon as he leaves the room.

* InsistentTerminology: Dr. Narcisse with respect to his title and his unusual name for black people, the "Libyans".

* TheKlan: The Klan are a problem for Nucky Thompson because he gets a lot of his political support from the black community and the black gangster Chalky White is one of Nucky's main associates. In season one, when one of Chalky's people is lynched, Nucky allows him to torture a Klan leader for information. In season two, the Klan has its revenge when they attack Chalky's liquor warehouse and kill four of Chalky's men. When Chalky kills one of the Klansmen in self defense, Nucky has to pull a lot of strings so Chalky is not tried and executed for murder. However, the Klan has little power in Atlantic City so they are never too serious a problem for Nucky.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Chalky, who was born a poor, black working man, in contrast to his classically educated family. Dunn Purnsley is also illiterate. He insinuates that Chalky can't read, but can't actually prove it by pointing out that Chalky gives the wrong title for the book he's "reading."

** Frequently subverted with Nucky's liberal attitudes toward all people and races. He deals with the black community, but only because it's profitable. He hired Eddie Kessler in spite of the bad reputation that Germans had after the Great War, but he uses this fact to shame and guilt him. He supports women's suffrage, but only because he thinks he can control their votes.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averts it just as much as ''Series/MadMen''. Casual domestic abuse, racial slurs, midget boxing, and [[UncleTomfoolery a band in blackface]] feature just in the pilot. A black man shooting a white one in self defense still faces a lynching no matter how well connected he might be, and never mind the fact that the white man in question was a Klansman who had just killed a bunch of Chalky's men.

* PunnyName: Albert "[[IronicNickname Chalky]]" White, the black mobster, has three names meaning "white."

* TwistedEchoCut: In "21" Nucky is delivering an impassioned speech to a black church congregation promising to protect them from Klansmen--then, after a cleverly disguised cut, Nucky is shown in a near-identical setting telling a racist white church congregation that the "coloreds" will be taught a lesson.

* GutturalGrowler: Richard Harrow has one as a result of injuries inflicted during the war (check the scar on his throat). Serves to emphasize his both dangerous and shy nature. Jack Huston came up with the voice by [[DoingItForTheArt stuffing his mouth with cotton balls]], not unlike Creator/MarlonBrando did for ''Film/TheGodfather''.

** Season 1: [[spoiler:Nucky and Rothstein are able to come to an agreement and make peace. Nucky and Margaret are able to move forward with their relationship. However, unknown to Nucky a conspiracy to take him down is brewing between The Commodore, Eli and Jimmy to take him down.]]

* BookedFullOfMooks: When Chalky is stuck in a crowded jail cell, a fellow inmate named Purvis keeps getting on his case, psyching himself up for a fight. Chalky eventually decides he's had enough, and he turns and addresses all the other inmates by name, revealing he's either employed or done favors for all of them. Purvis has just enough time to realize his mistake before they beat the hell out of him.

!!Additional pages:
* [[Recap/BoardwalkEmpire Episode Guide]]

* [[Recap/BoardwalkEmpire Episode Guide]], clearly one of the Sandbox/PagesNeedingWikiMagic