‘Boardwalk Empire’ Final Season: Michael K. Williams Reveals Major Time Jump?

We weren't altogether surprised to learn that HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire' would make the upcoming fifth season its last call, what with showrunner Terence Winter wanting to move onto his new series, though the latest on season 5 is more than a little sobering. As revealed by one of the cast, could 'Boardwalk Empire' season 5 see a major time-jump pushing Nucky Thompson into a brand-new era?

We're going to take this one with a minor grain of salt for now, but according to 'Boardwalk Empire' star Michael K. Williams (through Den of Geek), season 5 will say goodbye to the lavish roaring '20s and breeze forward at least 7 years into the 1930's, notably the great depression. Asked about his appearance during press for 'The Purge: Anarchy,' here's what Williams had to say of the final season:

The storyline has jumped seven years [into the future], which is why I have the beard now. The Depression has set in. The days of the shiny shoes and fancy suits are long gone.

Notably, the Prohibition Act, which drives the series, didn't actually end up repealed until 1933, so it might make a degree of sense for 'Boardwalk Empire' to fast-forward a bit with its final season. As for the character himself, Williams offered of Chalky White in season 5 that "It ended very badly for Chalky last year. His family life is no more, and he is desperately seeking Dr. Narcisse [Jeffrey Wright] to settle old scores.”

We'll learn more of the fifth and final season of 'Boardwalk Empire' as we approach this fall, but in the meantime, what say you? Will the Steve Buscemi series be the same without the lavish sets and costumes of the era? How do you feel about such a potentially landmark time-jump?