One of the few shows left on television that can still elicit conversation the next day continues it’s second to last season on Movie Central every Sunday night. The Soprano’s is a finely crafted drama about the life of a New Jersey Mob boss and the underlings, sycophants, opponents and family members who complicate the life of Tony Soprano.
Featuring an extremely well cast collection of characters, the profane, violent and addictive show has held a large audience and collected numerous awards in its run thus far. Cleverly filmed and with a great soundtrack to go with each episode, it’s a show that keeps pulling you back in.
As David Chase winds his morality play towards it’s final season next year, fans of the Soprano’s hang on every episode, looking at each one for subtle (or on some occasions not so subtle) hints as to how things will all finish up when Tony walks off the screen next year (If indeed he’s allowed to walk off).
Everybody seems to have an opinion on how Tony is coping with the pressures of running a crime family, how his own family life (both criminal and personal) is impacting on his health and happiness. From Television without Pity to Slate magazine everybody has something to say.
Slate has come up with an interesting approach to reviewing the program, basically providing a Monday morning quarterbacking club to recount the happenings of the night before. Three critics review the show and pass judgment on its bona fides in the world of organized crime. Last year Slate utilized the services of psychiatrists, this year they approached three guys who know their mobsters well.
Jerry Capeci the columnist with Gangland for the New York Sun, Jeffrey Goldberg who has been a crime reporter for New York Magazine and Gerald Shargel who teaches Law at the Brooklyn Law School, he’s also represented John Gotti in some of the late mobsters’ legal troubles.
The rapport between the three is quite lively and entertaining as they bring their extensive knowledge of the real criminal element to our computer screens, comparing the real criminals to the television ones. It’s a nice companion piece to one’s weekly Soprano’s fix.
For those that haven’t seen the program yet or are latecomers to the parade, Seasons one through four are available on DVD and Video at your local video store or on line for purchase. Give yourself a weekend to trace the beginning of the saga; it helps to be able to desensitize yourself, for the violence while not overly graphic is brutal and constant through the various seasons. A steady weekend of exposure could make you a tad hard to be around for a bit, not to mention seeing your vocabulary degenerating into vulgarities with each successive episode. But to fully appreciate where the Sopranos are heading you have to go where they’ve been.
Once you’re up to speed you’ll be surfing the various sites that offer you more Soprano background. And before you know it you may end up contributing to the numerous bulletin boards and forums which have sprung up over the years. You will end up taking time to Offer up your own theories, suppositions and character developments. It’s a rare show that can conjure up such fanatical involvement, but Soprano fans know that they have to share! Once you're hooked you go for the ride, wherever it's taking us we have to hop in and go.
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