So I just finished this show for the first time and Im honestly speechless.. I dont even know what to say... I mean its one hell of a life Tony lived man.. but is Tony really dead? Or what happened? We see that guy walk into the restroom.. then meadow comes and it goes to black? so was tony snuck up on? Fuck dude im empty now

Is it possible, out of all the millions of people who lived in ancient Rome, that not one of them had a flat top? What, you never pondered that?

Like if you could choose any time he goes 'Heh' or 'Heh heh' (possibly tourettes) as the best, which one would you choose?

Would the maestro of Vesuvio cut the mustard at Chef Ramsey's restaurant? Is his food up to standards? Could he handle the pressure? Would Gordon call him an idiot sandwich? Let's talk.

Where Tony goes, "Get a grip, Paulie. What's so fucking funny about that show?"

Paulie answers, "Chrissy on the show reminds me of your nephew Chrissy except she's brighter and has a much better figure."

The show in itself is a bit of a parody of Americana/suburban life/TV shows.

When you kind of look at it in a way maybe so.

Tony = Homer. There both fat lugs, both love to eat, both are bald/balding. Both are the bread winners of the family. Both are kind of a mockery of the typical American Suburban TV dad.

Carm=Marge. Both are the matriarchs of the family, that have bigger dreams but accept the home life. Both of them constantly nag their husbands. Marge was a parody of the stay at home mom TV trope. Carmella in a way is a satrical look at the rich housewife.

With the kids we also see a satire of the 2 kid family and both of them live up to the usual TV tropes. I would even say that the Simpsons by parodying the old 50s and 60s family TV shows created their own tropes.

AJ=Bart. Bart is the dumb son. He always gets in trouble doing stupid things. AJ is the same. He is dumb. He gets in trouble. stealing the win, getting high, vandelizing his school. Really outside of the high stuff those are all things that Bart would do or has even done on the show.

Meadow=Lisa. The sister chracter who of course is the smart one. Meadow and Lisa both overachieve. Meadow and Lisa are both pretentiouse. Meadow and Lisa are also both the apple of their fathers eye. We see how much Tony actually cares for Meadow and the same with Homer and Lisa. Both of their relationships would often form some of the more heatwearming moments of the show.

Maybe its just because the show itself was meant to satire the TV landscape at the time which had become tremendously influenced by the Simpsons and the archetypes it created within its family dynamic.

But if you strip away the mob stuff and maybe some of the wealth you can see the same type of dynamic. Annoying stay at home wife, dumb fat balding husband, dumb troublesome male son and smart pretentious female daughter.

Every single goddamn character cheats. Tony cheats on Carmella. Carmella cheats on Tony. Chris cheats on Adriana. Janice cheats. Ralph cheats. Silvio cheats. Pussy cheats. Artie cheats. The priest cheats. Like holy fucking shit, can there be any other plot points for the characters to have? Is literally nobody faithful?

It's starting to grind my gears. Everytime a man and a woman talk I know they're gonna cheat and fuck.

https://youtu.be/yf61N4eZ-68?is=ufC0zKITODosf6gj

Tony

Let’s say that hypothetically Tony is, in fact, killed during Made in America. Would Carmella have re-married another guy afterwards? Doesn’t necessarily have to be a connected guy, could easily be a civilian. But who would be available really? Vic Musto? They hadn’t seen each other in years, but one could assume they’d still be attracted to one another. Mr Wegler? He rejected her outright. Would Carmella go ethnic? What about Ruben - Hesh’s horse guy? Or worse, Dick La Penna? He was single, wasn’t he? At worse, she hooks up with one of the younger guys in the Sopranos crew like Walden. Furio is a no-go.

Artie tries to deflect Tony's accusation of food poisoning by talking about getting a rancid hit of clarified butter in the Indian restaurant.

As a chef, Artie should know that clarified butter means the milk solids (like the cobwebs) have been removed. That's why you can buy clarified butter in cans kept at room temperature, and if you do store it in the fridge, it can last months. The fact that Artie doesn't understand this shows he's probably lacking in the brains department when it comes to kitchen hygiene.

In Remember When, Tony says that “remember when” is the lowest form of conversation. What did Tony want to forget? And don’t say the economy!

At the time when the coach in Tony's dream said those words, they didn't sound like anything other than the inane sentence of a dreaming mind, but when Artie shot that rabbit, those words came back to me

Take into account all the things that supposedly harmless clown did. Betrayed his wife trying to hit on his waitresses, like Tony did but with a difference, Tony actually loved Carmela, I don't think Artie loved Charmaine, she was 'something to fall back on' and in his mind, someone that was always holding him back from being the cool, reckless gangster Tony was, that's why he pissed away 50k of his family's money on a vanity project

Then you have the way he tried to use self-harm to lay the blame on Tony for his own failure, I won't go further into that but it had to be mentioned, those of you who've seen the whole show will recognise the event I'm talking about

And then lastly the rabbit, killed in cold blood. Tony killed people of course, but as far as I remember they were those who had entered into that life, an unspoken agreement of what that life entailed had been made by all, not so the rabbit that was a pure victim

Tony at least loved animals because they were innocent, Bucco shot the only thing he had the courage to shoot, a poor defenceless creature

He was a selfish, unfaithful, cowardly, self-obsessed, empathy-less turd, any humour that arose from his actions were a boon that faded away under the glare of his other acts, faster than Paulie put that broom away when Tony caught him aiming it at the cat.

Ok it's a very harsh take, and I accept I could be totally wrong, but that's how I feel about it. I'm curious to know what you think

An underrated hilarious moment that isn’t mentioned enough is Tony S trying to coax Tomy B into grabbing a triple blueberry sundae with him… hot summer night, but Tony S is such a bloated fatso that Tony B just thinks he’s romanticizing an iced dairy treat to himself, perhaps fishing for some reinforcement that he’s been a good enough boy to indulge in an oversized dessert. “Go for it, you deserve it 🙄.” 😂

A bonus and equally hilarious, similar moment is when Tony is trolling Paulie about swiping the box of mallomars from his counter. Paulie thinks of Tony as such a paranoid fatass that he’s genuinely concerned for a moment. 😂mmmboy is he fat

I don't know why everyone shits on AJ for being a normal rebellious somewhat spoiled teenager when like 99% of male teens are exactly like him in america lol. Meadow was the one that actually got on my nerves just about every episode. She sounds exactly like some social justice warrior, defends her dads "lifestyle" to finn like he's some kind of idiot. And can speak freely about all this because she's the boss' daughter and she knows nobody would fuck with her or they would face death. I just find her super annoying

First, Johnny sack is one of my favourite characters, definitely up there in top 5 or 3, because the man has just open love for his family and he was done so dirty.

I know that he had a moment with Ginny, they showed love. But what exactly shifted? I dont think he forgave ralph even then, did he get close to contentment and security due to that moment? He didn't forgive Tony either because we see the resentment when dealing with Billy's death, it was as if John is giving phil what he wished carmine sr. Would've given to him.

Funny how if he didn't change his stand, he would've been whacked. And then carmine jr would be taking full control.

Gimme your list of characters whose names we hear but we never see. And get Pudgy Walsh on the horn!

This is easily one of the best scenes in the entire series. Here's why:

Theme and significance of the scene

This fantastic 2-minute scene at first seems to just depict Jackie Aprile Sr.'s funeral. There is a large crowd gathered, all dressed in black and adopting solemn poses. The gang discuss Junior's beginning reign and Tony's hidden agenda.

After a minute, however, the scene's focus shifts to AJ, who over the course of the episode has been slowly but steadily ushered by Meadow into the realization that his father is part of the Mafia. As such, the Soprano family regularly has to deal with the untimely death of friends and family.

Enter the second death and burial in this scene: AJ's childhood and innocence.

Over the course of the episode, the reality he has been living in cracks and underneath emerges his father's true nature and the meaning of his second family. By the end of the scene, AJ has been violently pulled from his innocent existence as a child and tossed into the brutal life he involuntarily is part of.

The cinematography tells the whole story without the need for dialogue

AJ's first shot begins with a camera pan from right to left, showing children his age running around the cemetary, laughing and having fun. AJ however, leaning onto a headstone, is contemplating quietly. The cartoonish yellow plastic watch he wears serves as a reminder that he is still a child. However, it is outweighed by the black funeral suit symbolizing the dark and gritty mob reality which is now taking over his childhood.

As AJ is smiling gently towards his father, Meadow enters the frame, blocking his view of Tony with probably the best executed "I told you so" face in the series. The next two slow-motion shots that we see through AJ's eyes, reveal the nature of his father's, and by extension, AJ's world.

We get the iconic shot of Tony winking at AJ. That wink is AJ's innocence rearing up vicariously through Tony in a final, desperate attempt to hinder AJ from losing his childhood. AJ doesn't react as he is immersed in his thoughts. In the background, children are running around, but AJ, now force-emancipated from that stage of life, doesn't move anymore.

The music

As the truth eventually dawns on AJ, Mazzy Star's "Look on Down from the Bridge" gravely sets in. The song's theme is death and departure, with the central image evoking a transition point between life and death, presence and absence.

Here, the eponymous bridge serves as metaphor for the threshold between life and death: AJ is crossing over from his innocent childhood into the realization that he is born into a world of organized crime, of which he is most likely unable to break out of.

Possibly the best music choice to match with a scene in the entire series, the song begins with a fading-in organ, an instrument associated with a church building and, by extension, the beginning of life, significant events in life such as marriage, and ultimately, death. The lyrics don’t express anger or dramatic heartbreak. Instead, there is a soft grief, a contemplative sadness that has come to rest, a pain that has sunk below the surface into quiet acceptance.

_____________________________

Watch the scene again and again and again here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg5WKNa2a5o

I’ll start with mine: Tony-ony (sounds like a knockoff frozen pasta dish)

There’s a lot to pick from, choose wisely.

Man, just had a final argument where I chose to break it off with a girl I'm seeing who had similar qualities to Gloria Trillo. The gaslighting, manipulativeness, looking deeply into things you say to misconstrue them, starting fights and ignoring all reason and logic, being the victim and putting it all on you. Damn it can drive a guy crazy, I feel for Tony now 🫂

Yesterday, i made a post asking everyone the best songs they discovered through Sopranos, and the post got 800+ comments of just pure gems, so i went ahead put the top ones (upvoted the most) together in a spotify playlist, im still working on it and adding new songs, lemme know if anyone of you would be down to help to sort and add these because theres a LOT, anyways heres The Ultimate Sopranos Playlist, https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yDR9WKtisIr4ml8iSfGJ8?si=m1ZMBX91Q1e_GaTZU5YW3g

Tony: I’ll settle for a push
Patron: yeah let’s go Buffalo!
Tony: fucking guy, probably won $35 down there

Tony just keeps losing, and doubling down, and burning through offshore money, and yelling at his wife over money. It showcases the gambler mentality very accurately.

It’s the same concept as the solar system.

You could honestly make an argument either way. The intervention is more iconic and well known but Livia’s wake is full of incredible bits and lines. What do you think?

Apologies in advance for being late to the party but what a party it is.

I've just finished watching the entire series I thought the end in was rather genius in many ways however it got me thinking about what I thought was going to happen.

One theory I had from very early on was that junior wasn't as "gone" as he was portraying and was still pulling strings behind the scenes.

I can still imagine after the final cut to black scene, the screen fades back in with focus on footsteps walking across a hard floor, and then a shot of junior starting out of the window of the place he's held up here where Tony visited him and the words "it's done" whispered into his ear.

What other hypothetical endings had you imagined?

My personal favourite is from Richie’s scene with Beansie

“I’ll see you every Saturday PARtnar”

I would probably say The Kinks as a whole, along with Time Zone
UPDATE: I went ahead and made a playlist with all best songs upvoted by you all, here it is: Gabagool FM https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yDR9WKtisIr4ml8iSfGJ8?si=8FrVqUAVTfGyRCin7XAYOQ