Nelson Kasper Van Alden (alias George Mueller) is a fictional character in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, portrayed by Michael Shannon. He is a puritanical, repressed, religious fundamentalist and agent for the Bureau of Prohibition. Biography There is not much known about Nelson Van Alden's childhood, but in season 2 he explained that his parents believed that the second coming of Jesus Christ would occur in 1892. In preparation for this, they sold off the family farm and began living out of a tent in order to emulate the poverty of Christ and thus gain his favor. These experiences led to a permanent estrangement between Van Alden and his parents, and he eventually abandoned them to work his way back up into a prosperous life and marriage, eventually becoming an agent of the newly established United States Bureau of Prohibition. At the start of the series, Nelson Van Alden acts as Nucky Thompson's (Steve Buscemi) primary antagonist as he takes the lead to bring the kingpin down. However, in the midst of trying to tackle one of Prohibition's most notorious bootleggers, Van Alden's volatile temper and self-loathing start to blur his ethics and by the end of Season 1 he has killed his corrupt partner Agent Eric Sebso (Erik Wiener) and violated his religious values through a one-night stand with Nucky Thompson's ex-mistress (who he accidentally impregnates). Season 2 follows Van Alden's fruitless efforts to conceal his crimes from the previous season. In the second season, Van Alden forces the ex-mistress to stay in his apartment in order to give birth to their child. He also forces them to keep the pregnancy a secret and is highly controlling towards her in the meantime. The season ends with Van Alden discovering he has been named the prime suspect in Sebso's murder, and he spends Season 3 on the run with his infant daughter and nanny Sigrid (Christiane Seidel) (with whom he later fathers a son), eventually settling in Chicago under the alias George Mueller. He starts working as a home appliance salesman but gets mocked and abused by his coworkers for his inability to make any sales. Nelson finally snaps and uses an iron to burn the face of one of his tormentors; months later, when the man and his friends jump Van Alden in an alley to get revenge, he pulls a gun and kills all three of them.