There’s nothing worse than watching your favorite TV show die a slow death. Not only do you have to deal with lowering your expectations for what’s to come, you also have to defend your loyalty to the wavering franchise in all of your social circles. For years fans have been dealing with diminished quality as well as creative stagnation from writers. Hey, it’s only natural; writers have to work really hard to maintain that euphoria established when a show’s idea is original. And at this point in TV history, we’ve seen all of their tactics, like introducing a new, cute kid to spice up a comedy, or unexpectedly killing off a major character.
Now in the middle of Season 6 of it’s 7 year history, HBOs “The Sopranos” is now the old fogy on the block. We’ve seen Tony and his two families go through a lot in that time. There have been many deaths and many new characters to spice up this New Jersey world. One of the strengths of the show has been it’s ability to develop and layer in tons of characters/storylines and have us actually care about them. However, the tactic show writers have been living (and perhaps dying) by is to introduce a ‘major’ character for a season and then have them whacked, er, killed off. More specifically this happened first in Season 2 with Richie Aprile, Season 3 with Jackie Aprile, Jr., Season 4 with Ralphie Cifaretto, more in Season 5 with Tony Blundetto, and finally in the first 12 episodes of Season 6 with our favorite gay mobster, Vito Spatefore.
It’s probably important to denote my bias towards the series - I’m loyal to the end, regardless of how wacky David Chase has gotten with it. As the proud owner of the Seasons 1-5 DVD box sets, I’ve watched all 65 currently DVD-available episodes countless times. The geeky critics have spoken as well, the mob drama is one of the most critically acclaimed series ever having dominated the Emmy’s most of the times it’s been eligible.
So with the release of “The Sopranos Season 6, Part I” DVD, what is one to do? In theory, Season 6 should have delighted. The writers were “creative”, there were some massive changes to major characters (Tony getting shot and actually starting to change his ways) and the requisite comedy and action from Paulie and friends were present. However, for some reason, I just don’t feel compelled to shell out over $60 for this latest DVD. For the first time, the series actually felt boring, to the point where catching a rerun rather than the 9PM Sunday premiere was an acceptable action. In fact, at some point during Season 5, the show went on a tangent of quelling what could’ve been a nasty showdown between the New Jersey and New York families. I seem to remember Johnny Sack catching a face full of snow..Ahh, there was potential for SO much more.. Anyway…
Heading into the last 8 episodes of the series next year, I’m left feeling quite empty and actually somewhat hesitant to defend my loyalty to the show. Recommendations to newcomers usually involve a “OH, but you should watch seasons 1-5 (actually 5 up until the episode Adriana is whacked), they’re MUCH better”. The jury is still out on whether Season 6 Parts I and II should be treated as a full length season. If they are, in fact, a 20 episode season, we’re in for some serious action to come in 2007. A satisfying end of story showing the final fate of Tony and gang might just be enough to erase some bad memories from the last 12 episodes. Here’s to hoping that the series finishes off strong and doesn’t leave a bad aftertaste.
Season 6 Part 1 releases on DVD on November 7th. It’s currently available for pre-order at Amazon for $63.27.
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Anyone think Tony will get killed before the season’s over? I think this season forshadowed that when Junior shot him
I am from the UK,series 6 is yet to finish here but I already know whats left throug various sources. I understand why so many people have moaned about part 1 and why some are perplexed to certain choices that writers have made but I have enjoyed every episode. I wish Sopranos would go on for another series,if not 3 or 4! It will be a sad day when it all has to end!