There
is no question that "The Sopranos" is the most influential dramatic
television show of the past twenty years, and one of the biggest reasons
that we're enjoying the unprecedented boom in quality television that
we have now. It's not one of my favorites - mob stories never held much
appeal for me - but I respect it top to bottom and enjoyed may episodes
greatly. Below, my top ten episodes, unranked and ordered by airdate.
Moderate spoilers ahead.
"Pilot"
- I was expecting "The Sopranos" to be a more comedic show after the
pilot, which really pushes the mobster in therapy premise, and ends with
a gun-toting Carmela. In retrospect some of these early antics look a
little silly. However, the introduction of Tony is so strong, and
creates the foundation for so much good character-building to follow.
It's actually a little heartbreaking to see him back at the beginning,
when we could still pretend he was a regular schmuck at heart.
"College"
- Now here's where the show really started to pick up steam, as Tony
and Meadow drive around Maine to tour a few colleges, and Tony takes it
upon himself to execute a rat while his daughter's not looking. In
addition to the fun of breaking a lot of narrative conventions left and
right, this is where Tony's domestic versus mob obligations really clash
for the first time, and we see the toll that it takes on him. Many
point to this episode as a good gateway to the rest of the series.
"I
Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" - The first season closes with lots of good
plotty stuff as Tony's family troubles come ot a head, and they directly
impact Dr. Melfi. I love how the subplot with Artie Bucco and the
restaurant arson plays out. And Paulie and Christopher give us a brief
preview of "Pine Barrens." If the series had ended here, relatively
happily, it still would have left one heck of an impression.
Fortunately it didn't, and we got to see the fallout play out over the
following seasons.
"The Knight in White Satin
Armor" - One of the best shockers of the whole series comes courtesy of
Tony's sister, Janice Soprano, who has always been a severely underrated
member of the "Sopranos" roster. This was the second-to-last episode
of the second season, and may have started the trend of prestige shows
building up to a big climax in similar fashion, setting off the
fireworks in a penultimate episode and leaving the finale to tie up
loose ends and provide a quieter denouement.
"Employee
of the Month" - One of the last episodes where Dr. Melfi gets anything
really interesting to do, as the show quickly backgrounded the "mobster
in therapy" device, and the character became a peripheral presence by
the end of the third season. This is a controversial one with some
cringeworthy content, but it pushes Dr. Melfi into the kind of moral
crisis I'd been waiting for since the first season. Lorraine Bracco
gives it her all here, and makes Melfi's personal victory feel well
earned.
"Pine Barrens" - Paulie and Christopher
getting lost in the woods chasing a Russian goon has become one of the
undisputed highlights of "The Sopranos." It's one of the most
out-and-out comedic episodes, featuring wonderfully quotable dialogue,
absurd situations, and Bobby Bacala's hunting outfit. The show didn't
have the greatest track record when it came to comedy, especially where
Christopher was involved, but when they did get it right, you could
forget you were watching a show about lethal mobsters.
"Whitecaps"
- My favorite episode. The lead-up the famous showdown between Tony
and Carmela is so hopeful, and even idyllic when they're looking at the
new property and discussing the future. And then there's the fateful
phone call and James Gandolfini and Edie Falco go to town earning their
Emmys - both won specifically for this episode, and it was so, so well
deserved. The show had been building to this from the very beginning,
and it was so satisfying to see everything detonate at last.
"Long
Term Parking" - Poor Adriana. And poor Christopher. This was probably
his last chance to get out of the business with his soul intact, but he
failed to take it, and paid the price. The effectiveness of the ending
hinges on the suddenness and cruelty of the events, along with the
juxtaposition of it with Tony and Carmela's queasy reconciliation. Big
kudos to the (mis)directing here too. I'd seen the climax out of
context before, and didn't even realize it was coming until Sil turned
into the woods.
"Kennedy and Heidi" - Yeah, it's
the episode where *that* happens, but what stuck with me was really
James Gandolfini's performance. The episode is really about Tony, and
his mental state in the wake of committing a mortal sin. And it's
terrifying to see him rationalize and justify his actions, finally
turning to gambling and drugs to help him put any feelings of guilt or
shame behind him as quickly as possible. It's impossible to pretend
after this episode that Tony is anything but a monster and a menace.
"Made
in America" - The notorious final scene is divisive, but it worked for
me. I think you really need to watch certain earlier episodes to get it
the way the creator intended. However, the rest of the episode is a
winner regardless. We check in with all the Sopranos for a final time,
seeing them repeating old patterns and turning away from hard choices.
Has anyone learned anything? Has anyone figured anything out? Are they
happy and do they deserve to be? It's a challenging, merciless
goodbye.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment