I'm about 3 episodes into Season 3, so still a ways to go... but so far I've been very underwhelmed for a show many considered one of the greatest ever.


** SPOILER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T WATCHED IT **

Acting is top notch, but the storylines are... shocking considering its a series about mobsters... rather boring.

Show also seems to be lacking any kind of overall story arch. We dive into the kids lives for a few minutes here and there, ditto for the wife -- but not enough to actually care all that much about them.

It all revolves around Tony, which I'm OK with... But we get it, he hates his mother, his sister is a mooch and being a mob boss is stressful.

Season 2 just tossed in Richie -- a guy who doesn't feel like he is getting what he deserves -- out of nowhere to be the season's "antagonist". Likewise we learned Pu$@y is a FBI informant somewhat out of nowhere.

Now Season 3 has just tossed in Ralphie -- a guy who doesn't feel like he is getting what he deserves -- out of nowhere... And we learn that Ray is a FBI informant somewhat out of nowhere.


Does the show get stronger as it goes along, or is it pretty much more of the same through the rest of the series?

Just quit watching and do something productive. If you have not gotten any enjoyment out of it, you won't.

I agree. Stop watching it.

It is more of the same. You either love it by now or you won't ever.

I usually give a show 3 episodes and if I don't like it by then I am out.

Excuse Me?!

Yeah I didn't love it either. It benefited from being the first of the cable dramas.

I was in the same boat as the OP. I thought about quitting the show after S2, but kept on watching. I can't tell you exactly when I started really liking the show (maybe end off S3 beginning of S4?), but I'm glad I stuck with it. Hopefully the OP will do the same.

Ive rewatched several times and I feel like it holds up to the dramas of today. But Im also a massive fan.

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Yeah I didn't love it either. It benefited from being the first of the cable dramas.

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This

If you're not into it by now, you probably won't ever get into it. Personally, I think it's one of the five greatest television shows of all time. I haven't watched it since the show ended, so I'm not sure how it holds up to more recent shows but the first four seasons were fantastic. The show started to decline in season 5 and by season 6, I felt they were mailing it in, but the last few episodes were some of the best of the entire series. The finale was kinda dumb though.

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Yeah I didn't love it either. It benefited from being the first of the cable dramas.

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This

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This was my first impression. I quit during the second season.

i thought it all really came together nicely there at the end.

I picked it up around season 3, so it was all I knew. I still haven't seen seasons 1 and 2.

It is still one of my favorite TV dramas ever. As others have said if you don't find yourself interested by now, not much changes.

I think one of the hard things to process about the Sopranos is most mafia movies fit a certain mold. A lot of killing, big scams, mistresses on the side, big-time hits and moves taking place, etc. But all of that is crammed into a 2-3 hour movie.

With the Sopranos, all of that happens for the most part, but spread out over a season(s). People didn't die every episode...scams didn't happen every episode...etc. In that regard, it probably seems slow to most people. I loved it. I took it as probably a lot more of a realistic view of the modern mob than a Goodfellas/Godfather type view. Those movies may have been partially true for the times in which they were set....but for a 1990's-2000's organized crime family...I picture it being similar to what the show portrayed.

I'm not saying any of this to convince you to like it, just my read on the show.



Geez I hated Livia and Janice.

The Pine Barrens.

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The Pine Barrens.

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Beat me to it!

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I think one of the hard things to process about the Sopranos is most mafia movies fit a certain mold. A lot of killing, big scams, mistresses on the side, big-time hits and moves taking place, etc. But all of that is crammed into a 2-3 hour movie.

With the Sopranos, all of that happens for the most part, but spread out over a season(s). People didn't die every episode...scams didn't happen every episode...etc. In that regard, it probably seems slow to most people. I loved it. I took it as probably a lot more of a realistic view of the modern mob than a Goodfellas/Godfather type view. Those movies may have been partially true for the times in which they were set....but for a 1990's-2000's organized crime family...I picture it being similar to what the show portrayed.

I'm not saying any of this to convince you to like it, just my read on the show.



Geez I hated Livia and Janice.

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I hate both of them more than Skyler.

"College"
"University" (Bada Bing scene)
"Pine Barrens"

Pax Soprano

I agree tho..if u dont like it by now u prob wont

I think the first two seasons are the best and it slowly drops off every subsequent season.

My favorite show ever. I got hooked after the college visit episode in season 1. Season 4 to me was one of the better seasons, especially with the pentulmate scene with Ralph and tony. The end of season 6 was just insanely brutal to watch.

I would stop now if you didn't think the first 2+ were compelling.

I enjoyed the series overall, but it was no all-timer for me. Agree that it benefitted from being one of the early quality cable dramas, and that it has paled as other high quality cable series have come along.

Finished it up last night. Scattershot of thoughts:

* Overall I think it was a very good series, but not one of the greatest of all time simply because I don't think it holds up 10 years later. I feel like Breaking Bad and The Shield are shows that I could watch through 10 years from now and still think are great. Shows like X-Files and Lost coming up behind them (personally I could never finish Lost but I could certainly see by the writing and character development why people loved it).

* Because I didn't watch it when it was on, a lot of the topical stuff probably didn't resonate as much. The terrorism "sub-plot" and just a lot of the stuff going on in the world during that time just doesn't ring as well 10 years later.

* I thought many of the stoylines were too repetitive (like I mentioned in my previous post)... It seemed like in the first 3 seasons you basically swapped out a new "baddie"... Rinse, repeat.

* I enjoyed the later seasons much more as it fleshed out a lot of the characters a bit more. John Sacaramone and his cancer, Phil, etc... I just felt those characters were far more developed then the "drop in for a season" Steve Buschemi.

* I don't think I've ever hated a TV character more than Janice.

* I haven't read a lot of the reviews (I'm going back and reading some of Sepinwall's thoughts) on many of the themes that i likely missed, but it took me by surprise that it was much more a family drama about mafia members than a mafia show with family drama. Not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting.

* I thought the dynamic between Tony, his wife and kids was one of the best parts of the show. For all the power he held, he faced the same issues other parents/husbands do.

* I thought Pine Barrens was good, but I don't understand the love for it being called by some one of the greatest TV episodes of all time.

* While I know it was the driving plot of the story, I thought too much time was spent in the therapist chair. Those scenes just dragged on after the third season or so. I know part of what it was trying to show was Tony "making progress" but then really not making any progress, but it seemed like filler in the later seasons.

* I like how the show seemed to say that we can't really change who we are. Tony was still the alpha-male who wanted what he wanted, Carmela was still the enabling wife that hated "the life" but still wanted the perks that went along with it. AJ was still a punk kid, but growing out of that stage that most teenage boys go through.

* Acting wise I thought it was top-notch across the board. I have a problem sticking with shows where the acting gets sketchy, even if it's by a support cast -- which is why I just couldn't stick with The Walking Dead. But with The Sopranos everyone was top-notch and you believed it.

* Talk about a show that looks like it's going to re-visit certain events and then just drops them -- The Russian from Pine Barrens, the psychiatrist rape scene, Christopher's cigarette left at the guy who killed his father's house... Not a bad thing by any means, just you think it is going to go one direction and it just leaves it in the wind.

* Blasphemy coming from an E-Street fan, but Silvio just was too over-the-top "Italian mobster" for me in his acting... Paulie was by far my favorite character.

* I thought the last 2-3 episodes were some of the best in the entire series, and even though I knew how it ended, I thought it was great. No big climax. You just don't see it coming, and after Tony dies, who really needs to see more?


Overall my opinion was very good, but not great. I can see myself (and have in many cases) re-watching The Shield, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Justified, Game of Thrones, X-Files and a handful of other shows during the day in the background while I'm working... but I don't think The Sopranos is one that I'll ever take on again.

That's a pretty solid writeup on The Sopranos. It definitely was better when it was released because it felt so different than anything else out there, it made Sunday Night "Sunday Night" for HBO and it was the first series where droves of people subscribed to HBO just for that show, similar to how GOT is now. I remember how big the song was at the time for instance and how that intro just put the hook in you but it just doesn't have that feel now.

I also agree Pine Barrens is overrated and never really cared for it. I have never had much interest in re-watching old episodes either. It was without a doubt a high quality series in the end with great acting but it isn't aging that well.

If you really liked Transformers, it probably isn't your cup of tea.

Honestly, it never "picks up". Great show but I don't remember being excited.

If you're into it at all, check out Sepinwall's reviews. If not, then it just isn't for you and you should move along.

[quotes]Acting is top notch, but the storylines are... shocking considering its a series about mobsters... rather boring. [/quotes]

It is a show about mobsters. Are you shocked by the lack of action? If so, it's probably because Sopranos is closer to reality than the other shows / movies in this genre.

I loved it. As others have mentioned, it's partially because it was the original cable drama, but I believe it holds up today as well.

Edit: wow! Didn't realize the OP was so long ago. Oops! Haha

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You just don't see it coming, and after Tony dies, who really needs to see more?

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Tony didn't die...HTH

Pine Barrens was good but completely agree it was very over rated imo. Its not even in my personal top 10 of episodes.

Agree the last few eps were very strong.

Overall for me personally its 2nd behind BB.

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Pine Barrens was good but completely agree it was very over rated imo. Its not even in my personal top 10 of episodes.

Agree the last few eps were very strong.

Overall for me personally its 2nd behind BB.

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Phil L's death was probably the most satisfying one I've seen in tv or movie. I literally did a happy dance.

"Say bye, bye to grandpa. Bye, bye"...bam

Cocos curb stomp was so amazingly satisfying!

Silvie was pretty much a caricature of a mafia guy, but that is true to his character. His buddies egg him on to do the "just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in" cheesy Godfather line. I thought it made him very believable even though he was extreme.

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Silvie was pretty much a caricature of a mafia guy, but that is true to his character. His buddies egg him on to do the "just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in" cheesy Godfather line. I thought it made him very believable even though he was extreme.

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Yeah I didn't think about that aspect and them always egging him on. Definitely liked Paulie's character and how everything was "woe is me" with him, though he sacrificed to take care of (who he thought was) his mother. Loved when they'd be talking about John or another character dying from some kind of horrible cancer and he'd say he can relate because "he had the cancer".