Boardwalk Empire: Season 2 (18) Various directors DVD/Blu-ray

The second serving of HBO’s savage Prohibition-set mobster saga takes a while to get cooking, but the final three episodes are shocking.

Michael Shannon continues to scene-steal as the conflicted/demented FBI agent, Nelson Van Alden, who is keeping his pregnant mistress (Paz de la Huerta) under wraps. Meanwhile, wily bootlegger Nucky (Steve Buscemi) discovers his weak brother Eli and battle-scarred protégé Jimmy (Michael Pitt, excellent) are betraying him, and a certain Al Capone (Stephen Graham) is eager to pounce.