HBO released a new interview with Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter on Friday, and while the featurette is entitled "Anatomy of a Hit" the "hit" is not the kind which first comes to mind in discussing show business.

Nucky Thompson Looking To 'Start Over' In Upcoming 'Boardwalk Empire' Episode

Boardwalk Empire has been perhaps HBO's biggest hit in terms of historical dramas, but in "Anatomy of a Hit" (featured below), Winter, writer Howard Korder, and director Tim Van Patten opened up on the use of mob "hits" on the series, for which there is quite a bit of footage to cover from the last five seasons.

"A premeditated murder is so outside the realm of our reality so when you see it depicted on film it's always compelling and jarring and hopefully, in the sense of a gangster movie, entertaining as well," noted Winter after the three watched a few of the show's most iconic death sequences.

"And each of these scenes I do feel like a journey all these characters have been on culminates in an act of violence," added Korder.

"There's so much there," continued Van Patten, "And the thing about it is all of them are earned, like your so invested in these characters."

While Winter admitted there is a certain level of creativity involved in the process, Korder explained that murder on the prohibition drama has always been handled appropriately within a narrative arc.

"in the world of the gangster, it's [tension] released through violence…" he said, noting that a "hit" is "the only thing left to happen" for some of these characters.

Nonetheless, Boardwalk Empire has covered a lot of ground when it comes to murder and mayhem. "I think we listed the ways in which we killed people on the show and I don't think there's a way a human being can inflict pain on another that we haven't done," insisted Winter.

"There's nothing more boring than a reasonable gangster," he added with a laugh.

Boardwalk Empire continues on HBO with its fifth and final season Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Tags
Boardwalk Empire, Hbo, Television