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"Boardwalk Empire" is the pilot episode of the HBO crime drama ''Boardwalk Empire''. Written by series creator Terence Winter and directed by Martin Scorsese with a budget of $18 million, the episode introduces the character of Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi, as the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic City who is involved in gambling and bootlegging in 1920. The show used a large ensemble cast and a specially constructed boardwalk set to re-create the Prohibition and Jazz Era, and was based on ''Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City'' by Nelson Johnson. Filming for the pilot took place at various locations in and around New York City in June 2009. The episode first aired in the United States on September 19, 2010. The episode opens with bootleggers being ambushed, and then moves to a Temperance rally two days earlier during which Nucky Thompson attracts the attention of a pregnant woman who later seeks assistance from Thompson for her husband, Schroeder. In a night club the day after the rally, we are introduced to other characters, including Thompson's brother, Eli, the town sheriff, and Jimmy Darmody, a political assistant. Thompson makes a deal to supply alcohol to four gangsters, including Arnold Rothstein who agrees to use his own men to transport the alcohol. Meanwhile Schroeder drunkenly tangles with Thompson, and then beats his (Schroeder's) wife into a miscarriage. The next day, Darmody plots with Al Capone to rob Rothstein's incoming whiskey shipment. The episode returns to the ambush and we see Capone and Darmody shoot all the bootleggers and run off with the whiskey, with Darmody later giving Thompson a share of the heist. David Hinkley of the New York Daily News awarded the episode five stars, saying "Watching HBO's new 'Boardwalk Empire' is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say, 'Drinks are on the house.' Friends, it doesn't get much better." Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "... an event not to be missed," and praised Buscemi in particular, calling his performance "fascinating." The episode gained a 2.0/5 ratings share among adults aged 18–49 and garnered 4.81 million viewers. This was the highest rated premiere for a HBO series since the pilot of ''Deadwood'' in March 2004. Following this successful debut, HBO immediately renewed the series for a second season. == Plot == The episode opens in the year 1920. A group of bootleggers smuggle Canadian Club whisky from boats into the United States but two men in ski masks later ambush their trucks and hold them at gunpoint. The scene then cuts to three days prior, as Atlantic County treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson delivers the keynote address at a Women's Temperance League rally on the eve of Prohibition. He inspires the all-female audience with his rags-to-riches story and anti-alcohol rhetoric. Nucky leaves the rally early and promptly heads to Babette's Supper Club, where a raucous gathering of elected officials, including Atlantic City's mayor and Nucky's brother, Sheriff Elias "Eli" Thompson, are celebrating the onset of Prohibition and the lucrative bootlegging opportunities it will bring. Nucky lays out the logistics and introduces his driver James "Jimmy" Darmody, who has just returned after serving in World War I, and appoints him an assistant to Paddy Ryan, a young ward boss who is part of Nucky's political machine. As midnight strikes and Prohibition officially goes into effect, the partygoers in the club all toast the "death" of alcohol and merrily continue the party. Moody and uncomfortable, Jimmy quickly leaves. The following morning, Jimmy and Angela, his common-law wife, discuss their future. She wants him to return to his studies at Princeton, but he believes this will take too long and decides to continue working for Nucky. Meanwhile, Thompson meets Margaret Schroeder, a pregnant member of the Temperance League. When she asks about a job for her husband, Nucky gives her a wad of money and has Jimmy drive her home. As night falls, Jimmy and Nucky visit Mickey Doyle's funeral parlor, a front for distilling alcohol. Mickey pranks Jimmy by giving him a drink of formaldehyde, and Jimmy attacks him, nearly compromising the operation. Scolded by Nucky, Jimmy demands more important work and implies that the war has matured him. Nucky at first cajoles him but ultimately challenges Jimmy to make his own opportunities. Afterwards, Nucky dines with four major mob figures, New York's Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano and Chicago's Big Jim Colosimo and Johnny Torrio, who agree to start buying Nucky's seaborne liquor shipments.〔 Rothstein requests some alcohol for a friend's wedding and Nucky agrees to sell him his latest shipment, on the condition that Rothstein's own men pick it up. Rothstein asks to defer payment until the next day. As Jimmy waits for Nucky outside, he befriends Torrio's driver, Al Capone. The next day, Rothstein, a well-known card shark and cheat, takes Nucky's casino for over $90,000. Nucky arrives and gets Rothstein to leave with his winnings, less the cost of the whiskey shipment. As he leaves, Hans Schroeder, Margaret's jealous and abusive husband, confronts Nucky. When Nucky sees Hans gambling with the money he had given Margaret earlier, he beats him and has him thrown out. That night, the drunken Hans severely beats Margaret, causing her to miscarry. The day of the heist arrives. Jimmy recruits Capone to hijack Rothstein's whiskey shipment. The episode returns to the conclusion of the opening robbery, in a montage interspersed with scenes from a comedy routine performed by Eddie Cantor attended by Nucky and his mistress. Capone, startled by a deer, opens fire on the surrendering smugglers. Jimmy and Capone kill them all and flee with the stolen trucks. At the same time, only three miles away, a team of federal agents raid Mickey's funeral parlor. With Eli's help, Nucky deduces that Jimmy had met with agents the day before and informed on Mickey and therefore must also be involved in the simultaneous robbery. When confronted, Jimmy admits that he counted on Nucky's forgiveness and again asks for his help with more aggressive criminal enterprises, claiming that the war has left him with no future other than violence. Jimmy seals Nucky's complicity by presenting him with a share of the take and warns Nucky that Nucky can no longer afford to be "half a gangster." Nucky learns about Margaret's hospitalization. He has Eli kidnap Hans. Scenes showing Eli and his deputies taking Hans out to sea and beating him to death are interspersed with the assassination of Colosimo in his Chicago restaurant. A radio reports that the police have named Hans as the suspect in the murder of Rothstein's men, implying that Nucky will continue to protect Jimmy. The episode ends with Nucky delivering flowers to a recovering and widowed Margaret. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Boardwalk Empire (episode)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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