in boardwalk empire, we see all kimds of Nucky situations. he,s getting people jobs, he,s romanicng women, he,s at parties, he,s getting work done. rothstein, our villain, is only seen in his offices working to cinvince lesser men of hi importance. it works very well. rothstein is spared the humanity of being a person with doubts and provlems. all he is is a man who talks proudly and condescendingly about himself while playing pool very well. even the playing of pool! it lways helps in constructing a villain to mke him good t omething mot people are bad at.
Also, while I’m sure the show this one gets compared to most often is The Sopranos—Jersey, gangsters, illegal activities—the one it brings to mind for me is Mad Men, especially if all you see of the latter show is a time when social drinking ran rampant and straight white men enjoyed uncontested power and control. The nostalgia of untroubled, easy racism!