Revisiting The Sopranos (Spoilers)

[JLTucker]

I've been re-watching The Sopranos (almost done with season two) and I've been finding it hard to get through some of the episodes, but not because of what you may think.

Over the years, my political, moral, and ethical ideals have changed significantly. Someone who once reveled in violence and wanted more of it in movies and television has been affected by it. I used to love the violence in The Sopranos and had no issue when Christopher Moltisanti beat the hell out of Adriana LaCerva. I loved it when Furio Gunta went into a massage parlor and beat the hell out of the owner and his wife. It was awesome when he put a bullet in the owner's kneecap. But no more.

The violence in the series is finally affecting me the way David Chase likely wanted intended: it's difficult to manage and should make you feel uneasy. This happens to me on almost every episode. I don't know if I'll be able to make it through future episodes where the violence gets worse, but maybe I will because the themes and characterizations strengthen throughout and are worth sitting out the uncomfortable bits..

Season six is perhaps considered one of the worst seasons in the run of the show, but I think it's the best and can't wait to eventually watch it again. One reason is that Tony appears to get become even more evil as the series progresses, but it's not firmly cemented into the mind of the viewer. Season six? It's proven in the episode "Kennedy and Heidi" as Tony is in a casino and glances at a devil on a gambling machine. Later, while he's tripping on peyote, the comatose dream in "Mayham" is referenced as Tony sees a flash of light on the horizon while on a cliff. "I get it!" he exclaims. He knows where he's heading and he no longer cares. He's fully gone and can never come back.

Good stuff. Can't wait to see it again.

Your thoughts on the series as a whole?

[Raw Shark]

Good series. Well shot. I enjoy it. I think my favorite sequence was the second-season opener, with Sinatra. Pure magic. The violence is well-done, which is to say that I appreciate the occasional severity of it. There are points where it gets pretty intense, and as a viewer I was like, "Holy shit, man!" but there have been parts of my life like that, too, so... what can I really say here? People actually do that stuff.