Once again, it has taken me three months to finish a season of The Sopranos. But, once again, I've enjoyed it very much. This was an especially bold season of the show; it was by far the lightest on typical "mob material" yet, and instead relied on the audience being familiar enough with (and invested in) the characters to care about plenty of their personal demons. This isn't something the show has been a stranger to in the past, but while the previous three seasons have featured numerous betrayals and deaths, this one did everything it could, for the most part, not to pull triggers and bury bodies. In lieu of this, we see Christopher struggle with a heroin addiction, watch Tony and Carmela's marriage fall apart, and witness Junior debase himself by faking dementia as a trial-dodging tactic. I said three months ago when recapping Season 3 that I thought I had finally figured out that the big overall theme of The Sopranos was one of decadence and decline. And I stand by that statement one season later. Most of the main characters in this show have had it pretty good for a while now, and yet it's impossible to shake the feeling that most of them are headed for death or at least personal disaster, both collectively and as individuals. I'm looking forward to Season 5, which most fans agree is the most dramatic and plot-thickened (though not necessarily best) season of them all. I'm interested to see where a lot of these guys will end up. Rock bottom? A lake bottom? If my current track record holds true, it'll be three months before I finish the next season. Let's hope I can do what I did with The Wire and turn up the tempo toward the homestretch.
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