Boardwalk Empire season 4 premiere was last night and after a long wait between seasons, for Boardwalk Empire fans, the critics are weighing in. For the most part, the Boardwalk Empire Season 4 premiere garnered positive reviews, but some critics reactions ranged from a little “muddled” and “weird” to “standard series” opening. If you can't watch Boardwalk Empire free, then pay, only crime doesn't pay.

Newsday’s review said “Based on most of the first five episodes sent out for review, "Boardwalk Empire" easily establishes its claim as one of the three or four best dramas on TV. But initial impressions aren't too promising. Sunday's opener is a nasty piece of business in parts, and worse, muddled.”

Newsday goes on to say tht Boardwalk Empire is suffering from the long shadow that was cast by last year’s breakout performance by Bobby Cannavale, saying “The huge creative challenge for "Empire's" fourth season is escaping the long shadow cast by the third -- a crowd-pleaser with archetypical villain, Bobby Cannavale's Gyp Rosetti, who tended to suck up so much oxygen there wasn't all that much left for most of the other characters.”

TV.com thought Boardwalk Empire season 4 premiere “was literally exactly what you might have expected it to be. "New York Sour" spent a whole lot of time re-introducing us to the seemingly 183 people already in the cast, plus the half-dozen new ones who are surely bound to cause some trouble for Nucky eventually. (And the best part is that most of this new season's biggest guest-stars—Jeffrey Wright, Patricia Arquette, and Eric Ladin—didn't even appear.) The episode was probably a disorienting experience for anyone who doesn't remember every little detail about the previous seasons, anyone who's fuzzy on which crime cohorts are in cahoots with each other at this exact moment. It's okay if you found yourself Googling for answers; I'll admit that I had to look a few things up myself.”

If you don’t want to google for yourself, the online movie magazine Den of Geek offers in-depth looks at the history of the gangster era on an ongoing basis. Den of Geek’s review says “Directed by Tim Van Patten and written by Howard Korder, “New York Sour,” is the usual season opening. It brings us up to date, shows us the new digs, introduces some new friends and lets you know where the season’s going to go. It gives us sex and blood and a couple mysteries to chew over. This week’s mystery is Richard Harrow (Jack Huston). He seems to be on a cross country murder spree. Richard Harrow has become the Phantom. At first I thought he was working for someone, but then I figured he was earning on his way to move in with his sister.”

Flavorwire.com says “Atlantic City’s become a much grimmer place in the eight months since Nucky squashed his signature flower and stalked down the boardwalk to a life of relative anonymity. Life isn’t going poorly for most of the major players we actually got to see in last night’s season premiere, but no one’s riding high either: for every settled gang war, there’s a dead ex-girlfriend for some new squeeze to shit-talk; for every successful nightclub, there’s a lieutenant to murder a business associate over a little horrific racism.”

By Tony Sokol, follow me on Twitter