My 5th annual rewatch of The Sopranos came to an end today. Some random thoughts
Writing this to keep the emptiness away little longer before I do it all again next year. Honestly, what is there to be said about the show that hasn't already been said at this point? Still, I'll do it anyway. With every rewatch my appreciation runs deeper and deeper for what was essentially a cosmic aligning of events - the perfect time for something more artistic to take off in television, an incredible cast of not only actors but writers too who all did their job so flawlessly that you honestly forget to an extent that it's not real, labels not being so greedy at the time to overcharge out the wazoo for things like use of their music, the turn of the millennium and all of the events the US was involved in at the time allowing for both a nostalgic window into a better time and also observance of the rot creeping in, all of it. Shift the window of creation by a year or two and it wouldn't have ended up nearly as extraordinarily incredible.
Anyway, top 10 episodes, no particular order except for the last few.
Full Leather Jacket - my favourite comedic episode. Matt and Sean are just great dickhead characters, the kind you want to see fail not because you hate them necessarily, but because their antics are just too funny. David Proval as Richie is as great as ever, the out of touch, behind the times attempts at reconciling with Tony are just too great. (I also have a soft spot for him because he looks like my uncle.)
College - it's a classic for a reason, the birthplace of proper anti heroes on television. The duality of Tony being a family man at the same time as being a ruthless killer - it's a great microcosm of his character as a whole and how it eventually eats him from the inside out.
The Knight in White Satin Armour - the brilliant subversion of what you expect with the typical coming to a head of mob figures clashing. A brief flash of Janice having some backbone and redeemable qualities. Livia's last major appearance, so to say - the end argument with Tony doing right by Janice and Livia showing her cruel nature for the last time is horrifying. Nancy Marchand really was brilliant as her, and kt's a shame we never got to see her involved in Season 3, even if it ended up working out just fine story wise.
Proshai, Livushka - we get closure on Livia, and the surreal, supernatural elements that had largely stayed out of the series until now start creeping their way in more and more. AJ feels her presence, Pussy appears in the mirror, the mysterious man on the stairs at the wake (I personally think it's Johnny, just my gut feeling) - it's an understated part of the series, but I love that there is clearly something beyond our world, even if it's not tied to the story in any overarching, ever present way. Tony realiskng he doesn't feel real sadness over her death but still wishing he had a healthy relationship with her and crying over that - going back to what I discussed before, the story never really suffered even with the untimely passing of Marchand, Chase managed to make her feel like a black shadow that looms over Tony for the rest of the series, and this is the start of it.
Boca - very underappreciated in my opinion. The teacher subplot almost feels a little overboard, but Tony coming home, drunk and happy as anything that he actually solved things peacefully for once... it's one of the better episode endings in the series in my opinion, tears at your heartstrings when you know how much further he has to fall as a person. The Junior/Bobbi subplot is of course entertaining and endlessly quotable, all of Junior's brief romantic interactions in the series and general are great scenes.
Everybody Hurts - Gloria as a companion of sorts to Livia in terms of Tony's woes with women was a great storyline, and having Tony feel the grief here, Artie being a shmuck trying to be the tough guy, AJ being pathetic when he realises the lifestyle he has even isn't that impressive for all the shit his dad has waded himself into (along with an early flash of brilliance from Paul Dano), Tony starting to confront the fact that he's a manipulative bastard even when he doesn't intend to be... a great middle point for the series and how it all starts spiraling downward further not long from here.
Where's Johnny - seeing Junior, a previously shrewd, cunning man start down that road of losing himself, and Tony be blindsided by it and end up emotionally vulnerable in front of him without either really able to admit to each other what they want to say about how much they love each other... it's an incredibly powerful episode just off that alone. No wonder Dominic Chianese ended up crying thinking about it, so wonderfully acted by both him and James.
Honourable mentions: In Camelot - Tony coming to terms with the fact that his father was a right bastard and the days he pimed for weren't so great before ending up shutting it out at the end with Linkin Park being used in probably the best way they ever have artistically. Calling All Cars - the dream sequences here are just bone chilling. That ending sequence where he dreams of his mother beckoning him to hell, waiing up with the red light washing over everything and then stepping out into Miami... just great. The Ride - the sequence of Chris relapsing is one of the most beautifully shot pieces in the entire show. And of course, the Virgin Mary showing up as a vision for Paulie is as frightening as ever - spooks me every rewatch. Remember When - was really debating between this and the next one on the list for third favourite. Junior stuck in his old habits as a ruthless man before being pacified and coddled into a withered old man is just painful to watch play out, and Tony contemplating killing Paulie, one of his father figures, with the camera rocking back and forth, making you feel sick in multiple ways watching his greed and short temper get worse... it's a great way to remind you how low he's gotten. But that pales in comparison to:
Last three.
Kennedy and Heidi - The amount of greed and contempt Tony shows is just staggering and played so well. He becomes the devil here, he really does - and then to see his gluttony rewarded briefly, with the peyote trip and the endless winning and the beautiful woman and his realisation that he can do whatever he wants, he doesn't have to feel burdened anymore by all his doubts and panic attacks and guilt and shame he was losing along the way, all summed up in one "I GET IT". Does a lot better job at cementing Tony as a piece of shit than Chasing It did a few episodes previous in my opinion.
Sopranos Home Movies - one little last bit of relief before Season 6B really sets in, and it's done so well, showing how much the mob has corrupted Tony when it comes to even basic family life. The foreshadowing for the ending of the series. The all too real dysfunctional family scenes with the awful karaoke and the Monpoly game and two men trying to nurse their ego. The damning of Bobby and coming home knowing he's killed one father as he comes home trying to be the next.
Funhouse - this is the one for me. It's that transitional gap between the almost whimsical, deeply nostalgic 90s feel of the first two seasons and the more serious, darker, intensely focused future that truly cemented the show as something special. All the various Lynchian dream sequences. The goofy sound effects. The loss of Tony's... not quite innocence, but maybe the start of the rot of his soul by having to lose his best friend to the lifestyle they chose. How deeply, truly sick Gandolfini looks and acts in a way you don't really see in any other piece of show or film. Taking the tension from the past 18 episodes and bringing it to a brilliant close. It just feels like a sendoff to a different period of life, in a way, and bringing in that rot and decay of the 21st century. I can't quite quantify or codify it to the level I want for knowing it might be my favourite episode of a show ever, but I just know it is in my heart.
Anyway... $4 a pound.