Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season

The 2012 third season of HBO's Boardwalk Empire ushers in 1922 with the introduction of sadistic gangster Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale) and a new set of power struggles. Although Atlantic City impresario Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) has streamlined his bootlegging operations, Gyp's attempts to muscle in lead to all-out war. On the domestic front, Nucky's wife, Margaret (Kelly Macdonald), publicly supports him but prefers to spend personal time with his assistant, Slater (Charlie Cox), while Nucky's brother, Eli (Shea Whigham), returns from prison gaunt and desperate, forced to move bottles of hooch for bowler-sporting Mickey (Paul Sparks). Following the death of his parents, young Tommy Darmody (played by Connor and Brady Noon) lives with his opportunistic grandmother, Gillian (Gretchen Mol), who runs a gentleman's club, which is where Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) looks after Tommy—at least when Harrow isn't putting his sharpshooting skills to use. The 12 new episodes of Boardwalk Empire compiled here are bursting with plot, but not everything works, such as the misadventures of former federal agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon), who segues from door-to-door salesman to distiller (his storyline is stranded from the central narrative for too long, although he does finally connect with Al Capone). The massacre in the finale serves to sort out the not-completely-bad guys from the totally irredeemable ones. Extras include an intro by Martin Scorsese, episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, extensive archival newsreels, a season two recap, and interactive features. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)