Viewers In its original American broadcast, "Acres of Diamonds" was seen by an estimated 1.87 million household viewers with a 0.7 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.7 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode. This was a 16% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.21 million household viewers with a 0.9 in the 18-49 demographics.
Critical reviews "Acres of Diamonds" received positive reviews from critics. Matt Fowler of
IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.3 out of 10 and wrote, "'Acres of Diamonds' had a few patchy spots, and everyone aside from Chalky and Nucky (and William, I suppose) seems to be locked into an orbit for now, but I really enjoyed the idea of Nucky getting a change of scenery. Everything he'd gained from his years as a bootlegger, from a love standpoint, had also been taken away from him - giving him zero-sum decade. Time to soak up the sun." Genevieve Valentine of
The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "This week,
Boardwalk Empire covers a considerable swath of geography, leaping up and down the East Coast and taking a detour into Wisconsin. But for an episode that covers so much ground, the claustrophobia is palpable, both in its story and in its framing. Almost everywhere, the characters are trapped in low, close places."
Alan Sepinwall of
HitFix wrote, "it's easy to imagine 'Acres of Diamonds' getting completely lost in the shuffle. We get to see Dr. Narcisse make cagey new alliances with both Rothstein and Dunn Purnsley, we see Richard's attempt at a peaceful retirement fall apart when his sister Emma is forced to kill a man to save his life, and we see Gillian get understandably shaken up when she runs into a friend of the late Jimmy lookalike Roger. But it's largely a transitional episode, and also one that devotes a large chunk of time to Willie Thompson trying get booze for a campus party." Seth Colter Walls of
Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and criticized Gillian's role, "I mean, it's nice to have Gillian's arc brought in sync with something else on
Boardwalk, but that decision doesn't really scan." Rodrigo Perez of
IndieWire wrote, "A bridge building type of narrative, the worst example of 'chess piece' writing is an episode wherein almost nothing really happens and instead the seeds are sown for action down the road. Sure, something always happens, but the worst offenders are overt about the fact that every dramatic event that took place is simply in service for a bigger narrative beat down line — episodes turn into a long lead ramp to the main event which renders middle episodes a type of slow-moving stasis." Chris O'Hara of
TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Yes, there was a lot of talk about the future on 'Acres of Diamond,' but the past played catch up with Gillian and Richard and Eli's son just tried to fit in with his classmates." Michael Noble of
Den of Geek wrote, "Like so many of its characters,
Boardwalk Empire is wearing a mask. It will slip in time, but for now, I'll gladly admire the beautiful façade."
Paste gave the episode a 6.2 out of 10 rating and wrote, "That's some very diffuse action, and yes, with so many settings it creates an epic feel. But with so few of these stories particularly compelling, it's hard to care too much about the scope." == References ==