On rewatching "The Sopranos"

There hasn't been much "must see TV" in my life since I was in seventh grade, living from Thursday to Thursday, pining for the moment I could watch dreamboat Richard Chamberlain on Dr. Kildare. These days, of course - other than for sporting events, elections, and tragedies - technology has pretty much rendered the notion of "must see TV" obsolete. But when The Sopranos was on, I absolutely knew what my husband and I would be doing on Sunday night at nine. Over the course of six seasons, running to 86 episodes, I only remember missing one in real time, and that's when we were somewhere in Europe.

I'm not usually a big fan of violence - and there was plenty of gore in The Sopranos - but I was very much an admirer of The Sopranos. The writing was brilliant: rich, interesting, gripping, and plenty of times LOL funny. The acting, especially on the part of the leads James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, but pretty much the entire cast, was fabulous. Up to the writing. Equally brilliant.

So late this past summer, I started rewatching the series in its entirety, putting it on a few times a week, onesie-twosie. Sometimes threesie. 

Some of the episodes I recall with almost photographic memory: Tony Soprano taking his daughter Meadow on a college tour (a combination of horrific violence and hilarity). The death of Christopher Moltisanti's girlfriend Adriana LaCerva, which had me hollering at the TV for Adriana not to get into the car with Silvio.

Other episodes and scenes seemed new to me. I didn't remember at all the family time Tony and Carm spent with Janice and Bobby at their vacation home on the lake. And did I remember that Bobby was a train hobbyist? Not really, but what a nice touch for this sweet, doomed guy.

Not surprising, of course, that I didn't remember everything. The show aired from January 1999 through June 2007. A lot of water under that bridge.

What I did remember was just how much I loved The Sopranos.

The writing? Wow! Combining what's pretty much a standard-issue Mafia story with a brilliantly realized serio-comic story about family dynamics, and doing it so deftly. The sibling squabbles that never grow up or old, the mouthy teenagers, the aging parents (and uncles) who are pure PITA. The little family dramas were just superb.

And I got a kick out of Carm's flirtation with Fr. Phil. (Which ended when she caught wind of her friend Rosalie's flirtation with him. That Fr. Phil sure slimed around.)

I loved the New Jersey Napoletano argot. Gabagool (capicola). Goomar (mistress). Jamook (idiot). Stugots (testicles: the name of Tony's boat.)

And the frequent malapropisms that came out of the mouths of uneducated (but often quite wily and intelligent) characters. "She's like an albacore around my neck." "Create a little dysentery among the ranks." "You know, Quasimodo predicted all this." (Just don't tell Nostradamus.)

There's a ton of eating, and I was there for it. Even though I'm not a huge fan of gabagool, those subs from Satriale's looked delish. As did the food served at Vesuvio. And by Carmela, morning-noon-and-night to her family. Marone, that family could eat. (Tony was pretty hefty, but how did Carm and Meadow stay trim?)

A friend recently sent me The Sopranos Cookbook, and let me tell you, that rigatoni with broccoli is better than the version I made up many years ago. As are Olivia's mushrooms.  

So much about the show just plain worked. Treating organized crime as a regular business, with problems with managers, with negotiations with partners, with dealing with competitors, with griping employees. (Why did that guy get made a captain before me?)

The acting, as noted, was great, and I really enjoyed the fact that for the most part the main actors weren't familiar to me. I'd seen James Gandolfini in a movie, and I was familiar with Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco. But most of the actors were local New Yorkers and New Jersey-ites. What a boon this show was for Italian-Americans. The casting was superb.

Over the years, a number of Hollywood A-listers took cameo roles, sometimes playing themselves (Lauren Bacall, Ben Kingsley), sometimes playing a character (Hal Holbrook, Annette Benning). It was fun spotting them. Even more fun: spotting folks who became famous later. I was watching one episode and said to myself (as I'm the only one here), that bellman sure looks like Lin-Manuel Miranda. Sure enough.

Fittingly, Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra, Jr. both appeared as themselves. A nice NJ Italian connection. As was using Frankie Valli of Four Seasons fame to play a minor mobster. Jersey Boys!

These days, I don't know if they could get away with it, but there was a ton of casual racism and sexism (just how many pole dancers did the Bada Bing employ?) scattered throughout. But I'd like to think it would still be "allowed", as it seemed so authentic to the characters and the time. Sometimes I winced, but mostly it did work for me.

What worked less well was Tony's relationship with his shrink, Dr. Melfi. I understand that she was fascinated by this complex, yet completely sociopathic (or is it psychopathic) person. Still, at some point sooner than the second to last episode, one would hope she would have dumped him. (Of course, there would go a powerful arc of the series, so I guess it has to stay. I just thought that once he physically attacked her, she'd have been done with him. And I really didn't like the Sharon Stone-y thing that sometimes went on between Tony and Dr. Melfi, all those times she was sitting down opposite Tony in a mighty short skirt. Come on, Jennifer, put on a pant suit.)

Throughout, there was an awful lot of look-away violence. (I do literally look away from it.) But that's what you get when you're dealing with mobsters.

Knowing the ending was coming, I almost didn't watch the last episode. When it was aired, the ending was a bit ambiguous, but the show's creator recently let the cat out of the bag. Yep, in the end, Tony gets his.)

There's a theatrical prequel in the works. Gandolfini's son is getting his shot. He'll be playing the young Tony. I'm looking forward to it. 

But I'd also like a sequel. I want to now whether Carm stays in that big, gaudy house. Does she make a go of her real estate business? Does she tone down her wardrobe? Does she ever come to terms with being married to the mob?

Does Meadow go to law school? Does she marry Patrick Parisi? Do they fully escape the family business? 

What happens to A.J., a fundamentally sweet doofus? How does he end up?

How does Uncle Junior die? Where's Janice? Does Sil ever come out of his coma?

Guess this is what "must see TV" is all about.