The Sopranos: The Complete Fourth Season (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)While the death count has steadily decreased in subsequent seasons, The Sopranos is not going soft, but rather evolving. In the first season, everything was put together. In number two, an emphasis was placed on Tony's business: busting out, poker games, scams, power struggles, traders, etc. In season 3, the series showed it is not prone to repetition. Instead of Ralph becoming another Richie, his ability to make money kept him alive.
Now the fourth and still not the last season. Seemingly every episode ended with an uncomfortable shot of Tony and Carmela alone together, but still apart: In bed with Carmela facing away, in the kitchen with Tony leaning on the couch, in the bathroom with Carmela in the tub. And after all this, Tony bought "Whitecaps", his way of saying that he wanted to keep his family together forever. But Carmela saw it as just "a bigger version of a diamond ring." As Dean Martin sings at the end of the finale, "It's because, my girl's right here."
Then the demise of Ralph, foreshadowed when Jonny Sack comments "I should have let Tony cut your head off last year." Ralph was kept around only because of money and when he hands Tony an envelope and says "At least I'm good for something," Tony can't help but agree. And when Ralph is being `silenced' by Tony in `Whoever Did This', Tony comments "She was a beautiful creature, what did she ever do to you?" It becomes hazy whether he is referring to Pie-O-My or Tracy when he sees her picture at the Bing. The "thousand incidents with that guy" finally catch up to Ralph.
By the end of the season, Tony has a business predicament that will likely be settled somehow in season 5. Tony has conspired with Carmine to kill Jonny Sack, and negotiated with Jonny to kill Carmine. It is unclear by season's end exactly who knows what and who is being set up.
The biggest gripes from viewers seemed to be the oddness of the Carmela / Furio and Janice / Bacala storylines. I think more in depth viewing will help people to understand the subtleness of season 4. And mind you a lot of season 4 storylines will likely carry over into 5. The Sopranos is ongoing, and doesn't play by the national network `close all storylines in the finale and leave one cliffhanger' rule.
My biggest beef was HBO's ruining the finale with posting online that Uncle Junior's would get a mistrial and showing in the trailer a black SUV being shot into. Of course when it aired and a black SUV pulled up, any element of shock was completely ruined.
Season 4 is very deep and intriguing, and has taken me dozens of viewings to understand underlying themes, and will take many more to grasp them all and catch all the jokes (like Tony feeling like the 'Reverend Rodney King Jr.') Hopefully the DVD and its audio commentary will help. Like what was Tony's `Italian Immigrant' dream suppose to mean?

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It's tough times in Jersey for Tony Soprano. The sluggish economy hasn't been good for the family business. His wife Carmela is angling for more financial security. Some longtime lieutenants aren't happy with Tony's recent decisions. A rival boss wants a bigger piece of the suburban pie. A Sopranos is actually heading to trial for the first time in decades. At least one child seems to have lost interest in higher education. And the ducks aren't coming back anytime soon. PROGRAM INFORMATION Number of Episodes: 13 1. For All Debts Public & Private 2. No -Show 3. Christopher 4. The Weight 5. Pie O My 6. Everybody Hurts 7. Watching Too Much Television 8. Mergers & Acquisitions 9. Whoever Did This 10. The Strong Silent Type 11. Calling All Cars 12. Eloise 13. Whitecaps

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The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)The death of Carmine, family crime boss of New York, sets up the organizational tug of war that operates through the fifth season. The brutal push and shove between Little Carmine and Johnny Sack provides the dramatic backdrop as tensions mount between the families. Through it all, Tony tries to maintain neutrality but finds himself, as usual, in the thick of things.
On the home front there are several touching and poignant moment between our lovable thug, Tony, and his long-suffering wife, Carmella. Slowly and sweetly, they inch toward each other; each painfully aware of the sensitive issues and the deep divide which separate them. In a grimly amusing scene, Tony may have found Carmella's price.
Without question, this is Gandolfini's finest hour. He gives a performance which portrays not only the ruthlessness and thuggery of Tony Soprano but also the maturity, thoughtfulness, humor and depth of a caring husband father. No humanitarian awards just yet, though, this is brutal gangsterism and intimidation of innocents, after all. Carmella, Christopher, and Adriana also deliver their very best performances to date. Well-deserving of their awards and recognition.
Adriana's episode commentary in bonus features is worth listening to.


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His separation hasn't been working out. His nephew's fiance has become a distraction. His paroled cousin is giving off bad vibes. His business rival is looking for payback. His therapist isn't buying into the "other Tony." It's enough to send any mob boss over the edge. Hell hath no fury like The Sopranos.DVD Features:Audio CommentaryOther

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The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Sopranos is one of HBO's greatest achievements (although I admit that I think it lost some of its momentum and spark with seasons three and four). When I first saw the show, I was hooked. I'd watch anywhere from three to four episodes a day. One of the great things about first watching this show on DVD was that I could watch any number of episodes instead of just watching one per week.
"The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season" has to be my favorite season. As much as I love the first one, this was when things were really funny, intense, dramatic and involving. The season doesn't let us down when it comes to Tony having more problems than ever before. Both in his Mafia Family and his immediate family, Tony can never get a break. His wife gives him grief while his kids keep doing things that upset him. And don't get me started on his ill mother and self-centered sister. Life isn't much better in his Mafia Family when the brother of Jackie is released from prison and is giving Tony a hard time both personally and professionally. Not to mention that his long time friend, Big P. comes back from a long hiatus when he was first suspected of turning rat to the Feds. All of this leads to one incredible and unpredictable season that showcases the show like none other.
For me, this was the most entertaining season of them all. I loved the characters, the constantly changing storylines, and the personal and business life of Tony Soprano, which is superbly balanced in this season. There's still the much appreciated humor in these episodes that were found lacking in the next two seasons. It doesn't feel like a soap opera, but a more enhanced look into the Mafia world. There's plenty of action as well as dramatic storylines that will make everybody happy for the most part.
This season comes in a set of four discs, totaling at 13 episodes. The great thing about the show is that it is presented to us in a widescreen format that is enhanced for widescreen TVs. This really makes the show that more effective because you feel like you're actually watching a movie rather than a show on cable. The picture and sound quality is great and really shows. There are some nice little extras, such as featurettes, brief previews and recaps of episodes, web-links and more.
"The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season" is a bundle of laughs, suspense, drama, action and surprises. You're always on your toes and you never know what's coming next. One thing's for sure; this is the most unpredictable season out of the four seasons (the fifth one looks pretty promising thus far). While you'll want to start with the first season if you've never seen the show before, you'll know that you will have something special to look forward to once you get to the second season. In my opinion, this is where Sopranos is flawlessly at its best. -Michael Crane

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For Tony Soprano, there's no such thing as business as usual. Balancing the demands of his immediate family - wife Carmel, daughter Meadow and son Anthony Jr. - witht the demands of his other family - Paulie Walnuts, Silvio Dante and Big Pussy Bompensiero - means walking a tightrope no self-respecting mobster should have to walk. With his mother and uncle plotting against him, his older sister Janice wreaking her own special kind of havoc, and the very real threat that one of his closest allies is wired by the F.B.I, Tony needs the support of his psychiatrist Dr. Melfi more than ever.DVD Features:Audio CommentaryBiographiesFeaturetteFilmographiesOtherScene AccessTV Spot

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The Sopranos: The Complete Third Season (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)The third series of 'The Sopranos' consolidates the brilliance of the first two, rather than taking it in any radically new directions. The characters, their relationships and their environment are so strong; the dramatic irony between our sympathy with and enjoyment of these people, and our knowledge of their brutal and unhypocritically presented crimes, is so complex, that any blatant originality merely for the sake of it would be a betrayal.
But, because the central components are so strong, there is plenty of room for play - in the way narratives are set up to encourage then defy expectations; in the interplay with canonical gangster texts, especially 'The Godfather'; in the consistently creative use of music - for mood and to emphasise character, yes, but also to create ironic distance, to add montages of 'commentary' over the stories, to connect apparently disparate scenes, to add a depth of texture. Because it is in texture that 'The Sopranos' has really developed - the recklessly confident film-making; the layered scripts; the rich dialogue; and the knowing acting combine to create programmes of truly, yes, operatic density.
There are a number of new plot developments in this series - Meadow goes to Columbia University; the FBI (in a supremely funny handful of episodes) attempt to bug the Sopranos; the Russian mafia grow in menacing importance; Janice takes up with a Christian musician; Anthony Jr. becomes increasingly unmanagable at school and at play, but proves an unexpectedly skilful footballer; Ralph (Joe Pantoliano) replaces Richie Aprile as the major made-guy thorn in Tony's side; Carmela feels increasingly guilty about her mob-financed luxury; Tony begins an affair with a beautiful, smart, successful car saleswoman (Anabella Sciorra) who has even more mental problems than he. Most crucial for the series is the role of Jackie Aprile Jr., college-mitching son of Tony's former mob boss and best friend, who wants to see some of the criminal action, and starts dating Meadow as a spectacularly misjudged entree. The major weakness of the second series - the tokenistic continuation of the Dr. Melfi framing scenes long after they've outrun their dramtic usefulness - is corrected by both bringing the psychotherapist (dangerously) closer to Tony's life, and by having Carmela join in the sessions, to comic effect.
There is a brooding, elegiac feel to the series, with Tony thinking not just about his mother, but his dead friends, Pussy's actions in the last series, and the future possibilities open to the younger generation. If nothing else, Series 3 boasts the best-ever episode of 'The Sopranos', directed by one Steve Buscemi, which begins farcically, with Paulie and Christopher accidentally killing an irate Russian, and bungling the disposal of his body in a snow-wasted forest; before turning into a nightmare, as they lose their bearings after the corpse runs off, and they are stranded in the middle of nowhere. Loosened from the secure ties and identity-affirmation of family and Family, the episode brilliantly encapsulates what's at stake in the series, as unforgettably as the immortal 'Seinfeld' episode when the quartet can't find their car in the shopping mall car park.

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Some suburban households have two cars. Some have two houses. But Tony Soprano has two families. This could be why the FBI is going to such lengths to wiretap his home. Why the son of his dear late friend Jackie Aprile is causing him such agita. Why a Russian housekeeper is searching for her missing leg. Why his son is vandalizing school property and his daughter is getting her heart broken. Why his wife Carmela is both consulting a psychiatrist and confessing to a priest. And it's also why Tony Soprano is still seeing Dr. Melfi for his anxiety attacks. It isn't easy heading-up the mob in New Jersey. But that's what puts dinner on the table for the two families of Tony Soprano.DVD Features:Audio CommentaryBiographiesFeaturetteInteractive MenusOtherScene Access

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