Watch a Preview of Sunday's Season Two Finale of 'Boardwalk Empire'

It all comes down to this. It seems like that's the kind of phrase that could apply to just about every episode of the increasingly violent, tension-filled "Boardwalk Empire," which this season has evolved from the story of an up-and-coming gangster in Prohibition-era Atlantic City to a richly envisioned tapestry of race, politics, class struggle and near-Shakespearean incestuous intrigue.

The last episode in particular popped open a few highly pressurized corks, exposing the truth behind Jimmy's relationship with his all-too-hot mother and bringing an end the long and sordid life of the Commodore.

It also marked a new phase in Nucky's relationship with Margaret - mainly an adversarial element based on Nucky's threats and Margaret's admission of infidelity with Owen. You gotta think the change in relationship is not going to go too well for Nucky in the end (especially considering just how smart Margaret has turned out to be).

On other fronts, the single most intriguing character on TV today, Michael Shannon's deeply conflicted (and now recently-divorced) Agent Van Alden, has been confronted about the murder he committed against a fellow agent in a fairly amazing baptism scene earlier in the season. As he's about to be arrested, Van Alden breaks away, but not before shooting another agent. Now an unhinged and guilty Van Alden is out and on the run, and heaven help those who get in his path.

Then there's Chalky, who's about to bring all his considerable power in Atlantic City's African-American community to bear, most likely in exacting revenge on the KKK members who killed some of his people.

The only real question is who makes it out of this season alive, because it's clear that more than possibly any other episode, in the season 2 finale, there will be blood...

Watch a preview of the Season 2 finale of "Boardwalk Empire":