Boardwalk Empire

Series four, episode three
Not so much a placeholder as a scene-setter, this episode sees ‘Boardwalk Empire’ settling into a familiar pattern. Longueurs are inevitable in such a sprawling tale – during such periods, the fun comes from watching narrative undercurrents gathering strength, enjoying the immaculate performances and soaking up the beautifully precise and subtly-realised production details.

And yet things do move on tonight: Richard, for example, is finding no respite from his past life in his rural idyll. Narcisse, meanwhile, is proving to be an utterly ruthless and dangerously shrewd operator – a new threat to Chalky’s Atlanta primacy is looming large. And Nucky is casting his net wider for new business down in Tampa and perhaps, making a rod for his own back. Not ‘Boardwalk Empire’ at its most energised, but hardly less compelling for that.