I threatened, so here it is: my capsule review of the first two episodes of The Sopranos, season 6 (don’t bother reading if you haven’t watched them).
The premiere, “Members Only,” was solid and satisfying; I found the opening William S. Burroughs monologue too clever by half, but I imagine it will be the sort of thing that I’m just gasping in amazement at when the season ends and I can see all the foreshadowing. I thought it was kind of awesome that two rats would both die without anyone finding their secret, and I think it speaks to the degree to which Tony and the captains are losing control of the family (exhibit B: Vito Spatafore, who is clearly up to something with New York).
The ending was amazing, but kind of empty: yeah, they’re really going to take James Gandolfini out of the series at the start of the season.
But last night’s episode, “Join the Club,” was really something else. I’ve seen a lot of praise and grumbling in about equal amounts, but for me this was the best episode since season 3, and I couldn’t be more excited to see where the show goes from here. So many possibilities; will the entire season revolve around Tony in a coma? Then he’s revived, only to be half brain-dead and crippled? And that’s the non-death, non-jail ending that David Chase keeps promising? Or he comes out of the coma, heals, and attempts (but fails, of course) to redeem himself and become a good man? Lovin’ it. Of course, I’m one of those who not only adores dream sequences but also in general really likes formally innovative television over well-plotted television. We’ll see how it goes. I hope they drag it out, but the bulk of the audience doesn’t seem to agree with me.
Oh, and Edie Falco was as good as I have ever seen an actress on American TV.