MUM'S THE WORD (THE SOPRANOS, SEASON ONE)
Not long ago, the website Screenrant published an article entitled '10 Harsh Realities Of Researching 'The Sopranos' 24 Years Later'.
The article listed off things the author believed were troubling about David Chase's groundbreaking HBO gangster show.
These included a "failure to address the uncomfortable age gaps in certain romantic relationships, including older men dating much younger women, which can be uncomfortable to watch."
It cited the lack of remorse exhibited by James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano "when indirectly hurting children, such as ruining his son's life for his own benefit, highlighting his own lack of empathy and disturbing behaviour."
There was also an observation that while none of the main characters were "bigoted towards other races as a whole, they primarily had problems with the notion of their Italian culture mixing with others. They had no problems using racial slurs and mocking other races."
The show was accused of failing to punish any character for domestic violence and the article also lamented Tony's often "problematic behaviour" in his therapy sessions with Lorraine Bracco's Dr Jennifer Melfi.
On top of that, the author observed there were filler episodes spread throughout all six seasons that "lacked substance and significance in the overall story, which can be boring and irrelevant to viewers."
I don't recall ever being bored by 'The Sopranos' - even during the more quirky episodes.
I'm also not convinced that many classic books, plays and films hold up well when judged against the prevailing attitudes of today's audiences.
The work of Shakespeare, Dickens, Joyce, Tennessee Williams and John Ford all have language or plots that that contemporary commentators could take exception to.
In fact, you could claim some of the attitudes expressed in their best work are simply a reflection of the prevailing attitudes of the worlds their characters inhabit.
In case of 'The Sopranos,' the world David Chase and his writers depict is a brutal, dog eat dog world populated by emotionally scarred sociopaths and psychopaths who have little empathy for others.
So why soft soap the brutal reality of that world?
'The Sopranos' unfiltered depiction of Mafia lives is what makes it the classic that it is.
If it had bleached that out, the show would have been poorer.
Where David Chase's show really scores, though, is in its depiction of its thugs as complex, often contradictory individuals.
Sometimes we see a softer, human, even humourous side to characters that we would normally be repulsed by.
Just like Martin Scorsese's 'Good Fellas' and 'Casino' whose DNA runs strongly through Chase's show, the many sides to Tony Soprano and the other characters add layers of complexity and make us ambivalent about enjoying their company.
While we may find some of the characters funny and even empathise with them, we also know they can turn on a sixpence and jolt us with sudden explosions of rage and violence.
Now that we have reached the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast of David Chase's groundbreaking show on HBO, it seems apt to revisit 'The Sopranos' season by season to examine how the drama holds up.
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Over the course of 2024, Pomona Rewind will, therefore, review each season and consider if David Chase's Mob drama is still worthy of the title "the Greatest TV show of all time".
There will be no po faced analysis, however - no looking at the show purely from a 21st Century lens.
'The Sopranos' will be judged for what it is - a turn of the millennium drama about gangsters and their real families that treads a fine line between earthy black humour and repulsive acts of violence.
Are you sitting uncomfortably? Then let us begin.
Season One of 'The Sopranos' gets off to a rip-roaring start with James Gandolfini's New Jersey Mob capo Tony Soprano passing out at a barbecue in his home after enjoying watching some ducks splash about his swimming pool and fly away.
Referred to Lorraine Bracco's Dr Jennifer Melfi, his initial engagement with the psychiatrist is cagey and riddled with tension.
Highly sceptical about Dr Melfi's ability to help him, he rants that everyone has to go to shrinks or on Sally Jessy Raphael's TV show to talk about their feelings.
"What ever happened to Gary Cooper - the strong silent type? That was an American," he pronounces.
It's quickly becomes clear, though, that this Gary Cooper fan needs to open up.
From the off, he tells the psychiatrist he works as a "waste management consultant" which, as a woman of Italian heritage, Dr Melfi immediately knows is a euphemism for being a Mobster.
Once she explains the parameters of doctor patient confidentiality, he starts to open up.
What becomes evident during their sessions is Tony is struggling with a dysfunctional family life on top of a volatile life of crime.
At home, his wife Edie Falco's Carmela is clashing with his teenage daughter Meadow.
His marriage to Carmela is also fraught with tension, given that he is also maintaining an Eastern European mistress, Oksana Lada's Irina Peltsin who he sometimes has furious rows with.
Tony has a hot and cold relationship too with his uncle Dominic Chianese's Corrado "Junior" Soprano.
However his relationship with his elderly mother, Nancy Marchand's Livia is on a whole other level.
In fact, it gets downright chilling.
Struggling to live in the original family home on her own, Livia resists Tony's suggestion that she should move to a plush nursing home.
When she is eventually forced to leave the family home, Livia becomes hostile.
On top of this, the New Jersey Mob is in unsteady waters, unsettled by its boss, Michael Rispoli's Jackie Aprile dying from cancer.
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Junior and Tony are regarded as the candidates most likely to succeed Jackie and with his uncle having a brittle temper and a massive ego, things have the potential to get really ugly.
There's an early taste of this when Junior plots to have a suspected informant "Little Pussy" Malanga gunned down in the restaurant of Tony's childhood friend, John Ventimiglia's chef Artie Bucco.
Fearing what this might do to Artie's business, Tony resorts to desperate measures when Junior won't divert from his plan.
His first ruse is to have the restaurant shut down for three weeks but it fails.
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© HBOTony orders his right hand man, Steven Van Zandt's Silvio Dante to torch the restaurant instead, making it look like the fire was an accident.
Unaware of the real reason, Artie is gutted his business has been destroyed.
If Junior's obstinacy wasn't stressful enough, Tony also has to deal with the wayward behaviour of his nephew, Michael Imperioli's Christopher Moltisanti and his meth addict buddy, Anthony DeSando's Brendan Filone.
Desperately trying to prove themselves to their criminal associates, the duo rob a truck full of DVD players belonging to a company that makes regular protection payments to Junior.
Seeing this as a challenge to his authority, Junior seeks restitution.
When another robbery takes place and goes disastrously, Junior tasks his henchman Al Sapienza's Mikey Palmice to seek retribution.
When Jackie dies, his passing opens up the potential for a really violent family split.
Tony avoids this by agreeing a peaceful transition that allows Junior to become the boss but is secretly relieved because he could do without all the FBI attention.
Treating Junior as the titular head of the New Jersey Mob feeds the old man's ego but, behind his uncle's back, Tony runs sideline meetings with the other capos from his mother's nursing home.
With Livia observing the comings and goings and harbouring deep resentment towards Tony, she alerts Junior to what is going on and suggests to her brother-in-law that her son needs to be put in his box.
Season One of 'The Sopranos' revels in the power games in Tony's two families - his Mafia one and his actual one.
Both have a tendency to bleed into the other, sometimes with devastating consequences.
Over the course of 13 brilliantly written episodes by creator David Chase, Mark Saraceni, Jason Cahill, James Manos Jr, Frank Renzulli, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, the scriptwriters dive deep into the insecurities that fuel the power games.
Having a capo let his guard down and talk to a psychiatrist is one way of examining that and it's a fascinating watch, with Tony worrying about the consequences for him if word got out he is talking to a shrink.
Forced to look over both shoulders because of threats from law enforcement and rival Mobsters, there's something compelling about watching him also grapple with the toxic dynamics of his family in Dr Melfi's practice and the significance of dreams, symbolism and his emotions.
While Tony constantly lives under the shadow of arrest or potential death, the biggest shock is the toxicity of his relationship with his mother which sheds a lot of light on the monster he has become.
Livia is a shrewd, skilled manipulator of others and a sociopath.
The poison of this relationship dominates Season One, with flashbacks revealing her deep rooted callousness and her mastery of mind games.
Brilliantly played by Nancy Marchand, she easily manipulates Junior - feeding off his insecurities and using them against her son.
But this isn't the only fertile ground that Chase and his writing team mine.
Season One explores the mendacity of various members of Tony's family as they enjoy the trappings of their ill gotten gains.
Carmela occasionally rants and rages about Tony's lifestyle but she is also no angel.
She enjoys the fruits of his crime - the nice house, the nice schools, the lovely meals - knowing all too well how it has been obtained.
While she berates Tony for his womanising, she also flirts with Phil Schulze's slippery Catholic priest, Fr Phil who sponges off the family too despite knowing Tony's background.
Tony and Carmela's daughter Jamie-Lynn Sigler's Meadow is smart and definitely not blind to the reality of how her father makes money despite him lying to her face.
Her brother Robert Iler's AJ is probably the most innocent of the lot - caring more about playing Mario Kart and pizza and willingly swallowing the line that members of his Tony's crew are his uncles.
While Christopher harbours dreams of being a screenwriter, his girlfriend Drea de Matteo connives with his drug abuse.
She is not above using his criminal background to further her own dream of being a manager to an awful rock band - a poor man's Bon Jovi called Visiting Day.
This sparks a memorable episode where Bokeem Woodvine's rap entrepreneur Massive Genius humours her attempts to secure a recording session for the band, while also leaning on Tony's close adviser, Jerry Adler's Hesh Rabkin to make reparations to the family of a crooner whose writing credits he stole in the 1960s.
Other secrets and lies come to the surface in Tony's gang, with John Heard's corrupt detective Vin Makazian alerts him to a stool pigeon operating within his ranks.
When Makazian points the finger of suspicion at Vincent Pastore's Big Pussy Bonpensiero, he goes to ground.
However Tony, Silvio and Tony Sirico's Paulie Walnuts are unable to find any evidence.
When another suspect is identified, Big Pussy is exonerated.
With all these plots bubbling, Season One scores with some strong individual episodes too - some of them more quirky than others.
The former includes an episode where Tony becomes fixated with a mysterious Italian exchange student, Maria Grazia Cucinotta's Isabella who appears to be staying at his next door neighbours, the Cusamsnos' house.
In another episode the Cusamanos feature in one of the best gags of the entire series when Robert LuPone's family physician Dr Bruce Cusamano treats Tony a bit like a dancing bear during a round of golf with his friends only for the Mobster to turn the tables on him with an ingenious prank.
Other standout episodes include one where Tony and Meadow scout out colleges in Maine only for him to spot an informer, Tony Ray Rossi's Fabian "Febby" Petrulio living in one community under a new identity.
Another memorable edition sees an intimate secret about Junior revealed by his indiscreet girlfriend Robyn Petersen's Bobbi Sanfillipo.
The same episode counterbalances the humour of this storyline with a much darker plot about Meadow's school soccer coach, Kevin O'Sullivan's Coach Don Hauser who Tony, Artie and Silvio idolise until some disturbing allegations come to light.
Another memorable instalment sees Tony's crew get tangled up in a bitter feud between members of an Orthodox Jewish family who run a motel.
Chase and his fellow directors Dan Attias, Nick Gomez, John Patterson, Allen Coulter, Alan Taylor, Lorraine Senna, Tim Van Patten, Andy Wolk, Matthew Penn and Henry J Bronchtein deliver 13 episodes that even now still hold up favourably against the best TV shows of the past 25 years.
When 'The Sopranos' first aired in 1999, each episode felt like game changing television.
It still does.
The sophistication of its writing has rarely been matched.
The acting is uniformly terrific too, with Gandolfini establishing from the off one of the most fascinating characters ever to grace our television screens.
Falco, Bracco, Imperioli, Marchand and Chianese also turn in rich performances, embracing their characters' many foibles and contradictions.
The contributions of Sigler, Iler, Van Zandt, Sirocco, Pastore, Adler, de Matteo and Ventimiglia should not be overlooked either.
Nor should we discount the work of more minor characters or occasional guests like Lada, Rispoli, LuPone, DeSando, Schulze, O'Sullivan, Woodbine, Heard, Chuck Low as Shlomo Tittelman and Kathrine Narducci as Artie's wife Charmaine.
Great works of art never lose their power as the decades roll by and that is certainly true of 'The Sopranos'.
Season One felt fresh 25 years ago and it does today.
Not only that, it still feels groundbreaking after all this time and that is a staggering achievement.
(Season One of 'The Sopranos' was first broadcast on HBO in the US from January 10-April 4, 1999)
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