Saturday, June 23, 2007

Request: Sopranos Top 10 and Never-Ending Links


So it goes that Mackenzie pointed out perhaps the best link about the final scene over at BobHarris.com. Print it out and read it right away, he goes so far to say it wasn't just that T died, but got himself a proper funeral. The links continue to appear even two weeks after the show ended.
We've received multiple requests for all-time favorite episodes, so I've put together my list of personal Top 10 favorite episodes in chronological order. I've linked each one to the episode description at HBO.com, and some to their wikipedia page where I think there's accurate information:
  1. College: Fifth episode, season 1. As Alan Sepinwall of The Star Ledger says, the episode that suggested this wasn't just a ground breaker, but a masterpiece. Chase fought with HBO over having Tony kill Febby the Rat, and won the fight and eventually the war. Water Cooler Moments: Meadow asking Tony if he's in the mafia; Carmela almost sleeping with her priest; Tony finds a rat, kills said rat.
  2. The Knight in White Satin Armor: Penultimate episode of season 2. Water Cooler Moments: Janice fights with Richie Aprile; Richie punches Janice; Janice shoots Richie dead; Tony orders Christopher and Furio to get rid of the body; They do so by pulling a Fargo and slicing Richie up at Satriales; Carmela catching Tony fucking around ("You're putting me in a position where I feel sorry for a whore who fucks you?").
  3. Second Opinion: 7th episode, Season 3. Dominic Chianese's (Uncle Junior) finest hour as his one liners dominate the show. After three incredibly violent shows, this one focuses on Carmela wanting out of her marriage and Junior's cancer. Water Cooler Moments: Paulie sniffing Adriana's underwear; Adriana admitting that she blew Penn Jillette in Atlantic City; Carmela's psychologist demanding her to leave Tony.
  4. Amour Fou: Penultimate episode, Season 3 (notice a trend here with the penultimate shows). Tony realizes that Gloria Trillo (Anabella Schiorra) is a "full blown loop-de-loo". Water Cooler Moments: The card game that Jackie Jr. holds up, where he shoots Sunshine (played by Paul Mazursky of all people); Gloria and Tony fight ("Kill me" she begs); Gloria taking Carmela on a ride home.
  5. Whoever Did This: 9th episode, season 4. The first half hour plays like a usual drama where the audience feels sorry for Ralphie, who's son is in the hospital and may never walk or talk again. Those feelings all go to waste when Tony learns that his beloved horse died in a fire. Water Cooler Moments: Tony to Ralph -- "Did you kill that horse?"; Tony killing Ralph; Chrissy tripping out the entire time he and T "dismember" Ralphie; Ralphie wears a rug; Chrissy doing the sign of the cross before he tosses Ralphie's head in a bowling ball bag into the river.
  6. Whitecaps: Season 4 finale. James Gandolfini and Edie Falco put on an acting clinic as their marriage finally falls apart. Three scenes in particular sealed them each an Emmy Award (the ones at home where they realistically fight like never before). Water Cooler Moments: Carm throwing T out of the house; Tony blasting Dean Martin from his boat as revenge on a lawyer who won't give him his money back; Johnny Sack being "very disappointed" that Tony won't kill his boss.
  7. Long Term Parking: Penultimate episode, season 5. This time Michael Imperioli and Drea de Matteo get the juicy stuff to win their deserved Emmys. Water Cooler Moments: Silvio's killing of Adriana; Adriana admitting the truth about her involvement with the feds to Chrissy; Chrissy quoting Springsteen ("Highway was jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive"); Tony telling Johnny Sack to go fuck himself. Steven Van Zandt and Drea De Matteo went to David Chase and asked him to cut out the scene where Christopher tells Tony about Adriana in order to keep Adriana's death at the hands of Silvio a surprise. The scene was later aired in the sixth season episode "The Ride", as a flashback.
  8. Members Only: First episode, season 6. The beginning of the end, and knowing not only the title of this episode but the savoring the rewards of repeat viewings clues you in to how it's all going to end. Great Hitchcock-esque episode. Water Cooler Moments: The suicide of Eugene Pontecorvo; Junior shooting Tony right in the stomach; that opening montage set to William Burroughs "Seven Souls".
  9. Kennedy and Heidi: Sixth episode of the second part of season 6. Different from any other episode in the shows history as the really big moment happens within the first 10 minutes, and it's perhaps the most shocking in series history. Water Cooler Moments: Tony killing Christopher with that cold as ice stare; Paulie ordering 500 prayer cards for his mother's wake, scheduled the same night as Chrissy's; something about Tony flying to Vegas, having sex with Christopher's hot ex-girlfriend stripper ("Do you mean I fuck like him?"), tripping out on peyote with her, and yelling "I GET IT" to end the episode.
  10. Made in America: Final episode ever. The last scene has been discussed in detail like no other scene in television history or really anything else in recent memory. Water Cooler Moments: The use of "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey as the final song in that diner, and it fits in perfectly; the killing of Phil Leotardo; a cat that may or may not be the reincarnation of Christopher, still annoying Paulie from beyond; the entire final scene, complete with 12 million interpretations; Junior not even knowing what his own name is.

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