Ever since the announcement that Boardwalk Empire would enter its fifth and final season seven years after the end of Season 4, critics and viewers have been trying guess at which social and political changes the show is aiming to highlight.

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The HBO prohibition drama will be nearing the end of prohibition during Season 5, which takes place in 1931. This is just two years before alcohol became legal in the United States. Real-life Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, on whom the program's Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is based, was losing influence by the 1930s and 1940s.

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It also just so happens that 1931 is also the year in which the Italian crime boss Joe Masseria, also featured on the show, was killed. According to TIME, his assassination came as a result of Lucky Luciano's rise to power. On the show Luciano is played by Vincent Piazza, who has gotten quite a bit of press for his upcoming role on the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Jersey Boys. Will Luciano in turn become an even more central figure on the show?

Historically, Luciano outlived many of his contemporaries, thought the United States government ultimately succeeded in having him deported to Italy to live out his final years.

Another historical factor to be considered in 1931 is the legal trouble Al Capone fell into, which could lead to less screen-time for Stephen Graham, who plays Capone on the show.

Boardwalk Empire returns on HBO for a fifth and final season in Fall 2014.

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Boardwalk Empire, Hbo