'Boardwalk Empire' Series Finale Spoilers: Was Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson Supposed To Live With Margaret?

The critically acclaimed period/gangster drama, Boardwalk Empire, officially came to an end on HBO. Now that the series finale has aired, was there an alternate ending where Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) was going to live with Margaret (Kelly Macdonald)?

In our previous recap, Nucky Thompson (Buscemi) lost his entire Bacardi fortune to the ruthless mob boss Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza). In order to save his nephew's life, Thompson traded away all his wealth and bent down to his knees, in front of the victorious crime lord. Beaten and depressed, Nucky has no more fight left in him to retaliate against Lucky.

In the shocking conclusion, Nucky meets his fate by a surprise visit from Tommy Darmody, the grandson of Gillian (Gretchen Mol) and the only child by Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt). Though he has survived many shootouts, this is the one Nucky couldn't escape from, nor talk his way out of. Shot at point blank range, Nucky dropped to the floor and died on the boardwalk he helped create.

In an interview with Hitflix, creator/showrunner Terence Winter explains what was going on Tommy's mind before he pulled the trigger, "Tommy Darmody, growing up hearing stories about this guy Nucky and his father, and not really sure whether this guy Nucky was a good guy or a bad guy, and needing to see for himself seemed to us the most powerful version of it."

But before he met Tommy, Nucky was building himself a new business. Margaret (Macdonald) even helped get back his fortune back by playing a risky game at the stock market. Where was Nucky heading off to after he met Gillian at the insane asylum?

Winter reveals to Deadline, "Nucky was probably going to rent that apartment at the El Dorado in Manhattan and live the life of a retired businessman. Maybe those plans would last two weeks before he got himself in trouble again. But he wasn't going to have a life with Margaret. From the look on their faces, both knew it was the final goodbye."

Check out the inside look on the series finale:

We have 5 reasons why we're missing Boardwalk Empire now that it's over.

Boardwalk Empire delivered its swan song on HBO. Readers, which ending do you prefer?