In many circles of die-hard Sopranos fans, you’ll find a commonly held perception that Season 6A caused the show to fall from grace. Personally, I thought that the 12 episodes that aired in the spring of 2006 were abnormally boring and didn’t advance the plot too well. Don’t get me wrong, a sub par episode of The Sopranos is still several notches of quality above that of almost any of the other TV dramas currently available. It’s not that first set of episodes was terrible, I just expected more after the two year hiatus of one of my favorite shows. There was so much promise with Tony getting shot and being thrown into a dream inducing coma… but honestly, the rest of the goings-on were not that interesting.
Fast forward to last night’s season premiere, “Soprano Home Movies”. Many viewers will say that it was more of the same slow-paced nonsense from 2006. Some will even venture so far as to say that absolutely nothing happened, but I beg to differ.
Tony, Carmela, Bobby, and Janice are up the Adirondacks celebrating Tony’s 47th birthday with a little, actually a lot, of alcohol. They chewed the fat, sang some Karaoke, and drank some more. What seemed like an innocent game of Monopoly was actually a stew simmering to a fast boil. Anyway, sucker-punch or not, Tony gets bested in a fist fight by former pushover, Bobby. While this didn’t have the same shocking impact as Tony being shot by Uncle June last year, it definitely was a surprising development.
That development, I predict will ultimately lead to the unraveling of both of Tony’s families. With his embarrassing loss to Bobby eating away at him, Tony’s sadistic self takes over and sends Bobby to ‘pop his cherry’ by committing his first murder. Bobby complies and shows that he’s a good soldier, but a novice at murder. He amateurishly does the deed, but leaves DNA-incriminating evidence behind.
The buildup and tension in the show was that of the old Sopranos. The requisite symbolism was there with the ducks and there was some serious foreshadowing of what’s to come (i.e. blood on the monopoly house = blood to be shed in Tony’s family(ies)?) If the history of the show has told us anything, times of slowness and reflection usually are followed by some hard hitting action and some serious drama. Right before the attempt on Tony’s life in Season 1 was his depression and several days spent in bed battling sickness. Soon after, Tony cleaned up shop on Uncle June’s minions and seized complete unofficial control over the family. Right before Tony and Carmela’s married blew up in Season 4, Tony attempted to find peace and tranquility with his family by buying them a beach house down the shore.
I thought this episode was great and reminds us how hard of a time Tony has had juggling both of his families. I wouldn’t dare predict how things are going to end for Tony.. but it’s really not looking good for him. The Feds have been building a RICO case against him, Phil Leotardo’s back and Johnny Sack will be in the slammer for a long time. Without Johnny there to diffuse the tension between Tony and Phil, we may be looking at the first actual war between NY and NJ in the show. Also, Carmela’s frequent rubbing of her shoulder was just a little too deliberate an action to be taken lightly. If writers are hinting that our favorite mob wife is going to get sick, Tony might possibly face a devastating setback that even he can’t rebound from. Carm has stuck by his side throughout it all and it would completely destroy him if her health were to deteriorate.
Finally, The Sopranos we used to know and love is back. Die-hard fans and casual viewers alike are full of wonder and speculation on what’s going to happen next. With a proper conclusion, David Chase can completely rewrite the bad perception of those 12 episodes in 2006. Taken in context of a “good” ending to the show, that set could be considered plot staging - setting up the final stories of all our favorite characters. Even though it will be hard for Chase to please everybody with any ending he chooses, I think we’re all game to see what happens in the next 8 episodes.
this episode was awesome. I think everyone calls out 6A as the worst season, but David Chase may actually finished off the series strong. Can’t wait til next Sunday.
Surprisingly, last night’s episode didn’t put me to sleep. It had all the elements of a winner: Jail time, sex, a good old fashioned fist fight, a murder, and Bobby gets his cherry popped. Who could ask for more?
But, you know what was really surprising? This episode actually dealt with the overall plot and theme of the Sopranos. Seems the writers decided to include several little nuances to advance the plot. Will wonders never cease. Do that every episode and fans will never complain. You did it season 1 and 2. Even seasons 4 and 5, had strong overall plot movements - though there were a few rotten apples in the pie. But season 6 part A… BAH.
The producers found there way with this first episode, it had a decent setup. But what will come next? The ending is never as good as the road leading to and including the climax. Taken as a whole the Sopranos had a serious decline on its way to the last nine episodes. One can only hope the the climax extends for several episodes. So we can enjoy it throughout and not have to suffer through any rotten apples that take place out of continuity. I’m sure I don’t have to remind Soprano aficionado about the Columbus Day fiasco.