You'd Be Surprised (Boardwalk Empire)

The episode was written by co-executive producers Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten. This was Frolov's first writing credit, Schneider's first writing credit, and Van Patten's tenth directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "You'd Be Surprised" was seen by an estimated 2.19 million household viewers with a 0.8 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.8 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a slight increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.11 million household viewers with a 0.9 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"You'd Be Surprised" received critical acclaim. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9.1 out of 10 and wrote, "Well, if there's one thing this episode, 'You'd Be Surprised', was, it was surprising. Just full of nasty, bloody scenes and painfully awkward moments of silence. It just a vicious ride, through and through. And hat's off to that."[4]

Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "Not that 'You'd Be Surprised' is a bad episode — it's an essential one in many ways, with multiple standout scenes — but plot-wise, it's easily the most unfocused of this season to date, with appearances by just about every major character, but very little immediately apparent cohesion between any of its many threads."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Halfway through the year, it feels like the individual pieces of this season have been stronger than the whole, and good enough to forgive some of the sluggish or cartoonish parts. But I'm hopeful things start tying together more as we go into the rest of the season."[6] Seth Colter Walls of Vulture gave the episode a 2 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Some people in this story universe, having been kept in the dark for various lengths of time, refuse to have 'greater knowledge' hidden from themselves, or from others. As a viewer, it’s not hard to look at this impulse as an entirely understandable and sympathetic one."[7] Chris O'Hara of TV Fanatic gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "This week ended with the state of things very far from Hunky Dory. If Nucky thought Gyp a mad dog before, wait till they get a load of him after a botched attempt on his life. He is going to make Cujo look like Odie from Garfield."[8]

Michael Noble of Den of Geek wrote, "I have commented before on the way that Boardwalk Empire slams its characters' personal and business lives together, complicating both sides. This is particularly the case in 'You'd Be Surprised', an excellent episode which shows how badly this can turn out."[9] Michelle Rafferty of Paste gave the episode a 8 out of 10 and wrote, "Boardwalk may not seem all that romantic of a show, but in a way it is, consistently unpacking why we rescue each other. I thought about this a lot last episode, in Nucky's case, but also Sigrid, who just took her role as the supportive, confidence-inspiring wife to a whole new level. When she thinks a prohibition officer, or one of the 'bad men,' is after her husband, she whacks him in the head, proving more than a prop in the case of George Mueller. Her misguided rescue seemed to be an action inspired by true affection and loyalty, and I'm suddenly a lot more interested in watching their relationship unfold as things heat up in Chicago."[10]