Nucky Thompson is facing a decidedly less rosey outlook in tonight's "Boardwalk Empire" Season 2 premiere than we saw in the opening of Season 1. Instead of gleefully anticipating the windfall of Prohibition, this season Nucky is neck deep in the betrayals and complications that come from controlling Atlantic City and the illegal booze flowing into it.

Nucky (Steve Buscemi) finds himself suddenly caught between the KKK and some of his most powerful friends; he's still a target of certain snoopy federal agent; and he's made enemies of most of those previously closest too him. And of course, there's trouble at home.

But much of tonight's episode will focus on Chalky White's deadly clash with the Klan and the repurcussions of that encounter. Any storyline where we get to see more of Michael K. Williams is a good one, and Williams looks to figure prominently in the action this season.

Dabney Coleman, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Jack Huston and Michael Shannon all return this season, and the show is also adding Michael Zegan as Bugsy Segal.

Here's a recap of Season 1 if you need a refresher, and there's a clip below of the Commodore, Jimmy and Eli plotting Nucky's demise.

I've not been paying close attention to chef Rocco DiSpirito, so despite the fact that he's been a reality show regular, I'm not sick of him.

That's important when you're watching "Rocco's Dinner Party" (Bravo, 11 tonight; moves to 10 next week) because, just like in the title, Rocco is front and center.

Surrounding him is a show that's kind of like a mini-"Top Chef"; 3 chefs compete to cook a dinner for Rocco and his friends. One is eliminated quickly after a Quick Fire-like challenge. The other two go head to head, preparing a meal for a themed party. (The first theme is speakeasy.) The winner gets $20,000.
 

Here's a look inside this past weekend's episode of "Boardwalk Empire," and one of the most powerful scenes from the series to date. Chalky White (played by "The Wire's" Michael Kenneth Williams) interrogates the Grand Cyclops of the Atlantic City KKK to find out who lynched a young man who worked for him. Chalky tells the Cyclops a story about his father, a carpenter.
 

Click below for other scenes from Episode 4.

It's not exactly going out on a limb to proclaim an HBO series executive-produced by Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter ("The Sopranos") and starring Steve Buscemi to be "wonderful." But really, it is. It is so wonderful.

The Academy Award-winning Scorsese even directed the first episode of "Boardwalk Empire," which premieres tonight, and you can tell. I've watched the first several episodes and the show so far feels like one long, delicious Scorsese film in serial form. There's beautiful cinematography, superb performances, and brutal, unflinching violence.

It's perhaps inevitable that "Boardwalk" be compared to "The Sopranos," given all the production and casting connections, plus the subject matter of New Jersey gangsters. But it has a decidedly more epic feel, in part because the backdrop --  Prohibition -- is the genesis of organized crime as we came to know it in movies like "Godfather" and "Goodfellas," and yes, in "The Sopranos."