The fifth and final season of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire premiered on September 7, 2014, and concluded on October 26, 2014, consisting of 8 episodes. The series was created by Terence Winter and based on the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson. Set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era, the series stars Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch "Nucky" Johnson), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition period of the 1920s and early 1930s. The fifth season takes place in 1931, seven years after the previous season, during the Great Depression, with flashbacks to 1884 and 1897 detailing Nucky's childhood and young adulthood