The Sopranos was another landmark HBO series I've wanted to get into, and unlike The Wire, I found it easy to jump right into the series and enjoy it right from the start. The first season mostly felt like an introduction to the mafia world of New Jersey as we meet Tony Soprano and his two 'families'. On the one side you have Tony's mafia family- his friends and acquaintances who make all sorts of illegal moves and deals while avoiding the watchful eye of the law, and on the other is Tony's real family, who he often tries and fails to keep safe and ignorant of his mafia life. As the season starts up Tony is plagued by unexpected episodes where he'll simply lose control of his body and fall over, which makes sense as controlling the mafia is a full-time job that seems pretty stressful. Because of this, tough-guy Tony swallows his pride and starts seeing a therapist. What could have easily been a cheap gimmick, allowing Tony to directly tell the viewers how he feels about things ("...that makes me angry!"), is worked into the story organically and never feels like too dramatic a shift in tone from the rest of the series. News of Tony seeing a therapist quickly spreads to everyone he knows- his wife is ecstatic about his newfound ability to be open with his feelings, while his friends and allies are understandably upset that the behind-the-scenes boss is telling some random woman all about the inner workings of the business. The series isn't quite as serial as many other dramas that came later- you could miss a few episodes and still have a pretty good handle on the whole story of season one, but I'm confident that The Sopranos will go from 'pretty good' to 'great' television very soon.
I was also worried about the presence of a therapist in the show at first, as if the writers were too clumsy to "show" us Tony's feelings and used the therapist to "tell" them instead. I was just as glad as you were to see how organically she fit right into Tony's story. Besides, this show certainly "shows" us Tony's innermost feelings and demons quite a bit. You'll probably recall an episode late in the season where Tony fantasizes about a woman who isn't even there? Yeah, this won't be the last time Tony's dreams will play a prominent role.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, enjoy this series. It's easier to get into than The Wire as you've noted, and in my experience it's nearly as rewarding when all is said and done.