'Boardwalk Empire' Season 3 Premiere Gangster Rankings: New Nucky, New Problem

"Boardwalk Empire" returned for its Season 3 premiere Sunday night and quickly made clear that we are dealing with a darker, more powerful Nucky Thompson this season. A graduate of the "half gangster" school of liquor bootlegging, Nucky's embraced a more violent approach after offing his former protege Jimmy Darmody in last season's finale. Now looking to simplify his operation and become something of a liquor wholesaler, Nucky told a room full of bootleggers that he'd only be selling booze to Arnold Rothstein, and instantly made himself more enemies than he already had.
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boardwalk empire season 3 premiere

Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you haven't seen the Season 3 premiere of "Boardwalk Empire," titled "Resolution."

"Boardwalk Empire" returned for its Season 3 premiere Sunday night, and quickly made clear that we are dealing with a darker, more powerful Nucky Thompson. A graduate of the "half gangster" school of liquor bootlegging, Nucky has embraced a more violent approach after offing his former protege Jimmy Darmody in last season's finale. Now looking to simplify his operation and become something of a liquor wholesaler, Nucky told a room full of bootleggers that he'd only be selling booze to Arnold Rothstein, and instantly made himself a whole new set of enemies.

"Boardwalk's" writers also presented Nucky with his next worthy adversary, a ruthless gangster named Gyp Rosetti who will inevitably propel this season towards even more compelling Prohibition-era violence and quite possibly a New York turf war. He beat two random strangers to a pulp for looking at him wrong during the hour, establishing his crazy credentials with the audience in short order.

And amidst all these new storylines, one character took care of some old business. Richard Harrow, "Boardwalk's" gravely-voiced, masked and disfigured war veteran exacted some poetic revenge against his friend Jimmy's wife's killer, and blasted Manny Horvitz's face off with a shotgun.

To keep track of the deals, deception and death, HuffPost TV presents our weekly "Boardwalk Empire" gangster rankings, a guide to who's up and who's down among HBO's organized criminals.

Check out the slideshow to find out how your favorite liquor-slinging sociopath fared this week ...

1. Nucky Thompson

'Boardwalk Empire' Gangster Rankings: Week 1

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