by Robbie Jones
A year ago today, James Gandolfini died. It was a devastating event, one that left a large impact on the acting world. He is remembered highly for his film performances and so on, but nobody will ever forget his starring role in one of, if not THE greatest TV Show of all time, The Sopranos.
A year ago today, James Gandolfini died. It was a devastating event, one that left a large impact on the acting world. He is remembered highly for his film performances and so on, but nobody will ever forget his starring role in one of, if not THE greatest TV Show of all time, The Sopranos.
No doubt you’ve all heard of it; for a while, it was a show that nobody could stop talking about. And rightly so, for it is absolute perfection. The Sopranos was the story of Tony Soprano (Gandolfini), a husband, father and mob boss living in New Jersey. He finds himself seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), when his relationship with wife Carmela (Edie Falco), his kids Meadow (Jaime Lynn-Sigler) and AJ (Robert Iler), his crew (Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, and Michael Imperioli) and his overbearing mother Livia (Nancy Marchand), become too much and he begins suffering panic attacks. It’s through these therapy sessions that the big, angry mob boss becomes a human being.
The Sopranos is not an addictive show; it’s not the kind of program that you’ll watch three episodes of and then find yourself losing sleep because you’re watching it. It’s too heavy for that, and it’s too brilliant. The excellence of the show needs to be handled in small doses. Every episode is like a masterpiece, with hardly any bad ones throughout its six season run. They were tense, gripping, nerve shredding, hilarious, heartbreaking, adrenaline fuelled and so much more, to the point where watching an episode feels like watching your favourite movie.
The Sopranos is not an addictive show; it’s not the kind of program that you’ll watch three episodes of and then find yourself losing sleep because you’re watching it. It’s too heavy for that, and it’s too brilliant. The excellence of the show needs to be handled in small doses. Every episode is like a masterpiece, with hardly any bad ones throughout its six season run. They were tense, gripping, nerve shredding, hilarious, heartbreaking, adrenaline fuelled and so much more, to the point where watching an episode feels like watching your favourite movie.
One of the show’s best qualities is certainly its cast, who are without a doubt beyond perfection. James Gandolfini was a gentle giant, a pacifist and a caring man, yet somehow he was absolutely perfect for the role of Tony. If that doesn’t prove how amazing an actor he was, nothing will. There was nothing he couldn’t with the role; he could change from sad to happy to angry in minutes. But he wasn’t the only highlight; Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, and Lorraine Bracco are just examples of exceptional cast members. The show also got phenomenal performances out of its short lived cast, such as Joe Pantoliano as Ralphie Cifaretto, a character so evil, so remarkably unlikeable, he’s almost as bad as King Joffrey. But the only cast member who could truly hold a candle to Gandolfini was Nancy Marchand as his despicable, overbearing, pure evil mother Livia. Marchand delivered blood boiling performances for the show’s first two seasons until she sadly passed away before the third season started filming. She is remembered fondly by the cast and crew, and by fans of the show. One of the highlights of the first two seasons was the chemistry between Tony and Livia, which brings up another area of praise: The cast did so well bouncing off each other that it made their scenes together absolutely gripping. The scenes in which Tony and Carmela have their huge fight at the end of Season Four is one of the most nerve racking, ground breaking television moments of all time.
The Sopranos changed television forever; TV dramas existed, but they were nothing like this. They were never as complex or conflicting, and they never had a huge impact. But without The Sopranos, we probably wouldn’t have shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and in turn, without Tony Soprano, there probably wouldn’t be a Don Draper or a Walter White.
The show is legendary for all the right reasons, and a show everybody should see.
The show is legendary for all the right reasons, and a show everybody should see.
What was your favourite episode of The Sopranos? Will you be watching it tonight in memory of James Gandolfini? Let us know in the comments!
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