Watching The Sopranos for the first time in 2016-17 means that I went into it with all the hype that a TV show could possibly have. I recapped Season Two here, Season Three here, and Season Four here, before completely running out of steam. I had a little bit on Season Five, in which I did nothing more than wax poetic about Steve Buscemi's performance as Tony Blundetto, but it never went to publication. In any event, the last two seasons of The Sopranos were fantastic.
I've read a lot of debate online about the ranking of the six seasons of The Sopranos, so I'll toss my thoughts out there.
SPOILERS ABOUND!!!!!!!
1) Season Five
Season Five had the aforementioned Tony B. arc and tensions between Christopher and Tony over Adriana, who was herself battling her situation as an FBI informant throughout. With a show this consistently great, it's hard to choose one season that stood out above the rest, but I'll give the edge to Season Five's cohesive storyline, much of which is satisfyingly wrapped up by the final episode. It's also about when you can become certain that there's no redemption for any of these characters. At the beginning of the series, Tony is someone who can be occasionally influenced by Dr. Melfi, Carmela, or his own conscience to do the right thing ("right" is always relative on The Sopranos). Season Five is when it becomes clear that there will be no saving Tony Soprano -- a realization Melfi speaks out loud in Season Six. Similarly, Christopher goes back on drugs, Carmela goes back to Tony, and everyone's doomed to be stuck in their ways. A major theme of the series is these characters' inability to change for the better, despite their circumstances repeatedly demanding it.
2) Season Three
Season Three had "Pine Barrens" (the one where Paulie and Christopher are lost in the freezing woods), which for my money is one of the best few episodes of the series, and certainly the most memorable. It also introduced Ralphie, who provided strong villain material for much of the season, and had the episode "Employee of the Month", which presented an extreme test of Dr. Melfi's moral compass. Had it not been for the Jackie Jr. storyline, Season Three would be practically flawless.
3) Season One
A couple of the highlights here are the excellent "College" episode and "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano". Though it doesn't have the depth of some of the later seasons, the story was engrossing enough that I knew I'd be able to plow through the remaining 73 hours of television with ease. Tony's college trip with Meadow, in which he makes it his mission to track down and kill an FBI informant while showing his daughter around Colby College, is one of the top-rated episodes of The Sopranos and establishes the difficulty of the double-life that Tony leads. It was also enjoyable to watch Tony before he lost pretty much all sense of morality.
4) Season Six
Season Six starts out somewhat slowly, with Tony being in a coma, Christopher developing his movie, and Vito on the run from his past life, but the back half of the season makes it all worth it. The series' final nine episodes include "Soprano Home Movies", an excellent hour in which the Tony, Carmela, Bobby, and Janice adjourn to a lake house, with amusing conflicts. The violent mob war between Phil Leotardo and the DiMeo family comes to its bloody conclusion, a couple of beloved characters meet their tragic demise, and Dr. Melfi finally realizes the uselessness in treating Tony. Then there's the ending of the series finale; I think I should expla
5) Season Two
Season Two earned an "A-" grade from me, so ranking it fifth is no insult. I especially enjoyed the Pussy storyline that ran through most of the season and Christopher's foray into the movie business was still a novelty, so I enjoyed it a little more here than I did later in the series. However, there were a couple weird plot devices used (the airline tickets turned out to be much ado about nothing), Silvio and Paulie had yet to be well-developed characters, and there was way too much Janice, who is terrible.
6) Season Four
The season-ending breakup between Carmela and Tony was a long time coming and made for some excellent viewing. I also liked the added focus on Bobby Bacala, who was consistently one of my favorite characters. However, the Carmela/Furio storyline was problematic from the start and had an anticlimactic ending. Similarly, Artie's get-cash-quick scheme was uncomfortable to watch just because it was pretty obvious how it would end. This was a weird season that certainly had its moments despite a couple of weak storylines. I still gave it a B+; this show is still really good even at its worst.
I've read a lot of debate online about the ranking of the six seasons of The Sopranos, so I'll toss my thoughts out there.
SPOILERS ABOUND!!!!!!!
1) Season Five
Season Five had the aforementioned Tony B. arc and tensions between Christopher and Tony over Adriana, who was herself battling her situation as an FBI informant throughout. With a show this consistently great, it's hard to choose one season that stood out above the rest, but I'll give the edge to Season Five's cohesive storyline, much of which is satisfyingly wrapped up by the final episode. It's also about when you can become certain that there's no redemption for any of these characters. At the beginning of the series, Tony is someone who can be occasionally influenced by Dr. Melfi, Carmela, or his own conscience to do the right thing ("right" is always relative on The Sopranos). Season Five is when it becomes clear that there will be no saving Tony Soprano -- a realization Melfi speaks out loud in Season Six. Similarly, Christopher goes back on drugs, Carmela goes back to Tony, and everyone's doomed to be stuck in their ways. A major theme of the series is these characters' inability to change for the better, despite their circumstances repeatedly demanding it.
2) Season Three
Season Three had "Pine Barrens" (the one where Paulie and Christopher are lost in the freezing woods), which for my money is one of the best few episodes of the series, and certainly the most memorable. It also introduced Ralphie, who provided strong villain material for much of the season, and had the episode "Employee of the Month", which presented an extreme test of Dr. Melfi's moral compass. Had it not been for the Jackie Jr. storyline, Season Three would be practically flawless.
3) Season One
A couple of the highlights here are the excellent "College" episode and "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano". Though it doesn't have the depth of some of the later seasons, the story was engrossing enough that I knew I'd be able to plow through the remaining 73 hours of television with ease. Tony's college trip with Meadow, in which he makes it his mission to track down and kill an FBI informant while showing his daughter around Colby College, is one of the top-rated episodes of The Sopranos and establishes the difficulty of the double-life that Tony leads. It was also enjoyable to watch Tony before he lost pretty much all sense of morality.
4) Season Six
Season Six starts out somewhat slowly, with Tony being in a coma, Christopher developing his movie, and Vito on the run from his past life, but the back half of the season makes it all worth it. The series' final nine episodes include "Soprano Home Movies", an excellent hour in which the Tony, Carmela, Bobby, and Janice adjourn to a lake house, with amusing conflicts. The violent mob war between Phil Leotardo and the DiMeo family comes to its bloody conclusion, a couple of beloved characters meet their tragic demise, and Dr. Melfi finally realizes the uselessness in treating Tony. Then there's the ending of the series finale; I think I should expla
5) Season Two
Season Two earned an "A-" grade from me, so ranking it fifth is no insult. I especially enjoyed the Pussy storyline that ran through most of the season and Christopher's foray into the movie business was still a novelty, so I enjoyed it a little more here than I did later in the series. However, there were a couple weird plot devices used (the airline tickets turned out to be much ado about nothing), Silvio and Paulie had yet to be well-developed characters, and there was way too much Janice, who is terrible.
6) Season Four
The season-ending breakup between Carmela and Tony was a long time coming and made for some excellent viewing. I also liked the added focus on Bobby Bacala, who was consistently one of my favorite characters. However, the Carmela/Furio storyline was problematic from the start and had an anticlimactic ending. Similarly, Artie's get-cash-quick scheme was uncomfortable to watch just because it was pretty obvious how it would end. This was a weird season that certainly had its moments despite a couple of weak storylines. I still gave it a B+; this show is still really good even at its worst.
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