Season Four of The Sopranos was probably the weakest season to-date (ranking them 3-1-2-4 at the moment) thanks to a couple of problematic storylines and one weird episode (though its poor qualities are exaggerated by some). As always, though, there was still a lot to like.
SPOILER SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The biggest problem with this season was the will-they-won't-they mutual attraction between Carmela and Furio. That was always going to end one of two ways and neither one was happy. The certain negative outcome made the various scenes between them uncomfortable to watch. It was apparent that the show was setting up that action from the first episode and there were no real developments of note until the twelfth episode, when Furio stops himself short of killing a drunk Tony and then flees back to Italy.
The upside to that storyline, however, is that Carmela finally decides she's fed up and that she wants to split up with Tony. It took almost four full seasons of being walked on and being excessively passive about the way Tony treats her for Carmela to stand up for herself. It was a refreshing payoff that was almost worth watching her be such a frustrating character for the rest of the series' run so far. The viewer has been waiting so long for Tony and Carmela to have the fights in this episode that it's actually a relief to hear all of the grievances (Carmela stealing money, Tony's cheating, Carmela's nagging, the attraction to Furio, Tony's complete lack of attention to their relationship). aired.
During the arguments, both make very good points against the other, and while Tony's primarily in the wrong for all of this, the point I most took away from the fight was his comment that Carmela brings little to the table from a personality standpoint. Tony was attracted to Svetlana in large part because she had a compelling backstory and interesting things to say. Until he called out Carmela for having a dull personality, I never really thought about it. She really is something of a zilcheroo and I spent too much of my attention feeling bad for her because of Tony's cheating to realize that.
The other bad storyline from this season (though it's much lower-leverage and shorter) is Artie's attempt to make some quick cash by loaning money to Jean-Phillipe. We know the deal is going to go bad from the second it's proposed (otherwise, there'd be no reason to introduce it as a storyline). From the moment that's set up, we're just waiting for the inevitable and the inevitable is sad.
Regarding the strange "Christopher" episode, I didn't hate it all that much. There seems to be widespread agreement that it's the worst episode of the series and while I certainly agree that it was on the weaker side, after watching it I didn't think it deserved anywhere near the level of vitriol that it got. That was the episode that Bacala's wife died, and while that was really sad, it was compelling television. I can deal with the fact that Silvio and others had straightforward telling-not-showing lines about the history between Native Americans and Italians.
That about wraps up all I didn't like about Season Four. On the positive side, we got a lot of Bacala. We learn that he's the only one in the mob who was faithful to his wife, which makes his grieving genuine. The only downside to so much focus on Bobby is the fact that Janice (ugh) got heavily involved in his life, but even she had a few strong moments this season.
The show even acknowledged the problematic nature of Dr. Melfi and Tony's therapy sessions. The last time one of those scenes packed a punch was when Melfi declined to sic Tony and the mob on her rapist. Since then, they've been low-leverage scenes that could have been written out of the show with no dip in quality. Tony seems to recognize as much, saying late in the season that he doesn't need the therapy anymore and quitting the sessions.
I've heard Season Five and Season Six are outstanding, so I'm very optimistic about the journey ahead. There's many storylines to be excited about -- the potential fallout/resolution of Tony and Carmela splitting, Christopher's sobriety, Paulie's downward spiral, the tensions between Tony and Johnny Sack's bunch from New York, Adriana's service as an informant that's yet to have any sort of payoff...there's a lot to look forward to.
Are they really never going to tie up the fallout of the missing Russian guy from Season Three's "Pine Barrens"?
Season Grade: B+
