Two Boats and a Lifeguard

The episode was written by series creator Terence Winter, and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten. This was Winter's fifth writing credit, and Van Patten's seventh directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "Two Boats and a Lifeguard" was seen by an estimated 2.54 million household viewers with a 1.0 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 1 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a 8% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.74 million household viewers with a 1.1 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"Two Boats and a Lifeguard" received extremely positive reviews from critics. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.5 out of 10 and wrote, "It became evident, while watching Nucky meet with Rothstein and Torrio, that the days of 'paying your dues' in the gangster business might be at an end. Along with bootlegging, this series is also chronicling the birth of modern organized crime and while it might seem like 'slow and steady wins the race,' we know, thanks to history, that hot-headed guys who don't like to pay their respect like Jimmy, Capone, Luciano and Lansky eventually take over the whole scene."[4]

Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "It took a while for this week's Boardwalk Empire to get revved up, especially given that it came after such a slam-bang episode. 'Two Boats And A Lifeguard' is more aftermath-y, and more elusive. Until Nucky makes his move, that is. Then the situation gets interesting in a hurry."[5] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "In the home stretch now, with four episodes to go. Now that Nucky's fighting back, I imagine things are going to get very interesting, no?"[6]

Seth Colter Walls of Vulture wrote, "Unlike last week's mess of an episode, which featured three on-screen writing credits, this vastly superior hour comes from Terrence Winter's desk alone. The show is still setting up all its arcs for the final run of season two episodes, but this transitional hour feels both graceful and surprising."[7] Michael Noble of Den of Geek wrote, "In this, the eighth of twelve episodes, we find ourselves moving into the season's climactic sequences and major battles are definitely brewing. The lines have been drawn, old alliances severed and new partnerships formed. The strongest break has been generational, between Jimmy and Nucky, Al and Torrio and Rothstein and Lucky and Meyer. The problem with the rising generation was a simple one, they were too stupid. Most of them still are. Johnny Torrio's joke about Romulus and Remus flies straight over Al's head, while Lucky and Meyer fail to understand Rothstein's double meaning of horse manure."[8]

Teresa Lopez of TV Fanatic gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "What I love most about Boardwalk Empire is its ability to constantly thwart our expectations. The show not only maintains a consistent level of quality but also allows the story and the characters to grow."[9] Paste gave the episode a 7.3 out of 10 and wrote, "The show was continuing to build momentum for the last few weeks and then it just dropped off for a good 40 minutes here. It was a great ending, but most of what happened before that seemed inconsequential or, in some cases, only served to reemphasize things we already knew about characters."[10]

For the episode, Steve Buscemi was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.[11] He lost the award to Damian Lewis for Homeland.[12]