Re-Watching the Sopranos – Season 1

I’ve said before that HBO changed the the way I watch TV. The emphasis on strong writing, stellar acting, big production values, and season-long storylines drew me back into television after a long period of having abandoned the idea of it being something worthwhile. Prior to a change in my TV habits, I had given up watching broadcast TV altogether. There seemed better things to see and better things to watch (such as Hitchcock films).

But HBO’s bold, expansive programming changed all that, and these days I prefer long television dramas to movies.

It all started with The Sopranos, a landmark series by any measure. This is a show that took the groundbreaking efforts of Hill Street Blues and blew them into the stratosphere. No one had seen anything like it before. Season-long stories, twisted characters, sex, violence, profanity, and most of all, smarts. This was a show that didn’t merely rely on loads of adult content to differentiate itself from network TV. After all, pushing the boundaries of taste is easy. Turning it into art is something else entirely.

Yet The Sopranos was smart. Witty. And despite all the cussing and murder, it could be subtle and intelligent and thought-provoking. This was a show that, between the murders and sex, dealt with some powerful themes. Whether people can change. Morals and good and evil. The things you can justify to yourself and others to protect your family, yourself, or merely your income.

Behind all the mafia intrigue it was actually a deep character study and a family drama.

Anyway, let me dispense with long introductions. While I DO plan to do a series of posts about re-watching this series — and with each season they are likely to get longer and more detailed — my intention is not to be scholarly or insightful or groundbreaking. After all, I’ve been there before. I just want to post about the Sopranos. If you want in-depth, intelligent essays on The Sopranos, look at this great series on the Onion A/V Club. If you just want to reminisce with a friend, however, stick around.

So, season 1.

I very took few notes because I did not expect to be making these blog posts at the time I started re-watching, so this one will be brief. And just so we’re clear, every blog post will have SPOILERS, so if you haven’t watched the show but plan to, avoid reading. These are not meant to be consumer reviews, they’re just some quick commentary between folks who have seen the show.

Here in season 1, the show starts out strong, just as strong as I remember — which is a surprise because in the years since I last saw it I had gotten the feeling that TV had left The Sopranos behind. But no, it sure didn’t. I’m impressed at how well these early episodes hold up. I’m even less of a fan of the family drama now than I was first time around, in large part because Carmella and the kids aren’t yet as well-developed as they’d be in later seasons, but the mob stuff is impeccable. It’s brisk, brutal, and funny as hell. I go back and forth between lukewarm on the stuff with Dr. Melfi — at times it screams “gimmick!” — and finding it a creative way to really get inside the character of Tony Soprano.

Regardless of some stray misgivings, the first season has some OUTSTANDING episodes. Tops among these is “College,” in which Tony takes Meadow on a college tour and spots a rat from the past, while Carmela is at home drinking wine and getting close with her priest. It was at this point that the show really hit its stride and showed what it could be.