Plot: What’s it about?
I won’t reinvent the wheel here and try and tell you what The Soprano’s is all about. It’s been hailed as one of the greatest American TV shows in the last 25 years (that alone should say a lot). One thing that struck me in an odd way was the the manner it was cast. To create a truly more “realistic” cast, all of the actors were of East Coast descent. That’s why the cast roster is littered with names like “Gandolfini” and “Bompenserio”. Most are true Italians and this gives us the feel of a more naturalistic atmosphere; much like that of GoodFellas. HBO, true to their form, has launched the first series which was highly lauded and praised and is now trying to outdo theirselves with the second season. Below are some episode synopsis that can give you a good idea of what to expect during this Sophmore Season…
1. (Episode #14) “Guy Walks into a psychiatrist’s office”
Tony Soprano is running the business “bunker style” and trying not to draw the Feds’ attention himself. Tony is now the sole Boss of the professional one, as Junior’s been indicted on twelve RICO predicates. And to answer everyone’s question…someone is alive and well and living in New Jersey.
2. (Episode #15) “Do not Resuscitate”
When Pussy goes to the doctor for steroid injections in his back, the person leafing through old magazines in the waiting room is FBI Agent Skip Lipari. As they drive home afterwards it’s revealed that Sal Bompensiero, AKA Big Pussy Bompensiero, made man and life-long friend of Tony Soprano, is facing a heroin possession charge and has become an informant for the Feds.
3. (Episode #16) “Toodle-Fucking-Oo”
Big brother of the late, great Jackie Aprile, Richie has just finished ten years in prison and is looking to pick up where he left off. He figures it should be pretty easy, too. After all, the jerky kid he used to look out for in the old neighborhood has grown up to be none other than the current Boss, Tony Soprano.
4. (Episode #17) “Commendatori”
As part of the spoils of being Boss, Tony now controls the family’s luxury car “export” business. This new responsibility takes Tony, Paulie and Christopher to Naples to meet with Zi Vittorio, head of the Neapolitan famiglia. Since his return Pussy’s been inattentiveness personified and she can’t take it anymore. After all, what could be so heavy on Pussy’s mind that he would completely shut out his wife of twenty-four years?
5. (Episode #18) “Big Girls Don’t Cry”
Watch out, New Jersey, Furio Giunta has arrived. The latest addition to the Soprano crew is safely in the States and now that his operation has some new talent, the Boss can make a few organizational changes. But as far as Tony knows, things are going pretty well. He’s not under indictment, he’s firmly in control of the organization and business is good.
6. (Episode #19) “The Happy Wanderer”
Now that he’s back with Dr. Melfi, Tony tells her that he’s angry with all the “happy wanderers” in the world: the people who manage to get through life “with a clear head.”At the moment, however, he doesn’t have time to explore this anger. He’s got to organize the “Executive Game.”
7. (Episode #20) “D-Girl”
On the eve of Anthony, Junior’s confirmation, uncertainty abounds. A.J. has discovered Camus and Nietzsche and thinks life is meaningless. Christopher has a tryst with his cousin’s filmmaker fiancee and thinks he would rather be a player in Hollywood than New Jersey. And Pussy must decide whether the threat of thirty years in prison can force him to wear a wire into Tony’s house.
8. (Episode #21) “Full Leather Jacket”
Worried about Meadow’s college prospects, Carmela asks her next-door neighbor, Jean Cusamano, for help. Richie makes a peace offering to Tony. Christopher’s friends, Sean and Matt, seek to improve their status by pledging allegiance to Richie through an enterprising plan.
9. (Episode #22) “From Where to Eternity”
Christopher, clinically dead for a moment during surgery, has a textbook out-of-body experience. Paulie consults a psychic. In therapy, Dr. Melfi tells her psychiatrist about her complex relationship with Tony, and discusses her growing substance abuse problems.
10. (Episode #23) “Bust-Out”
Richie complains to Tony about his business situation, and seeks an alliance with Junior. Tony decides to spend more quality time with Anthony Jr., with mixed results. Tony orchestrates the bankruptcy of David Scatino’s sporting goods store, while Carmela hires Scatino’s virile brother-in-law Vic to wallpaper the Soprano powder room.
11. (Episode #24) “House Arrest”
After dodging a legal bullet, Tony is advised by his lawyer to spend more time at his legitimate business interests. Junior relieves the tedium of house arrest in the company of widow Catherine Romano. Tony confronts Richie over drug sales. Stressed out Dr. Melfi gets into a public altercation.
12. (Episode #25) “The Knight in White Satin Armor”
Richie’s not the only one with whom Tony would like to sever ties. He’s been trying to break up with Irina, his Russian goomah, but she’s not the kind of girl you can just shove a pie at, Junior-style. Meanwhile, Pussy’s grown increasingly resentful of the Boss’ treatment of him since his return. Is Pussy’s resentment strong enough that he’ll finally give Tony up to the Feds?
13. (Episode #26) “Funhouse”
The last episode of the season finds things going pretty well for Tony. Business-wise, things are great. But despite his success, one night Tony’s doubts about Pussy keep coming up – along with the chicken vindaloo he ate in an Indian restaurant. Tony wakes up determined to find out the truth about Pussy, one way or the other.
Video: How does it look?
As with the first season of The Soprano’s, these have all been presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. The colors are dull and muted, but it’s the way they’re supposed to look. We don’t really consider programs on television to be formatted for “Home Theater”, but more and more shows are being filmed as “mini movies”. This is good. For the most part, the images are clean and crisp. There are a few artifacting errors that I noticed, but nothing too bad. I can say that the episodes do look a lot better on DVD than when you watch them on HBO, and this is due to the benefit of anamorphic enhancement. If you ever need proof that anamorphic is the way to go, do a side by side comparison with your “digital cable” and the DVD. I think you’ll find that anamorphic is the winner every time. Now it’s time to rant a little bit…HBO has done a great job on this series, but the ever-popular “Sex in the City” has received the full-frame treatment for it’s first two season. Granted, they made an improvement for the second season, but to treat one a certain way (anamorphic) and the other a different way (full-frame) is just plain wrong!
Audio: How does it sound?
Now as if this wasn’t a slap in the face already, The Soprano’s has a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack whereas Sex in the City does not. Still, I’ll have to admit that The Soprano’s does make better use of the sound than it’s “sexy” competitor. The dialogue is clean and free of any distortion that you might expect from a television show. Surround effects aren’t used a whole lot, but there are times that you’ll realize that you’re hearing a very aggressive Dolby Digital 5.1 track here. While most of the action seems limited to the front three channels, I was duly impressed by the sound here. You will be too.
Supplements: What are the extras?
While this second edition of The Sopranos isn’t busting at the seams with supplements, it does contain some very interesting and diverse bonus materials. There are four audio commentaries on selected episodes. “Funhouse”, “Knight in White Satin”, “From Where to Eternity” and “Commendatori”. These aren’t arbitrarily selected episodes, either…”Funhouse” and “From Where to Eternity” were nominated and won several awards. The tracks are good, however, though I feel that some had a lot more silent spots that I would have expected with episodes that aren’t even a full hour. Still, there is a commentary on every fourth episode, so we have little to complain about here. Some very in-depth cast bios are also included for the major stars as well as a list of the awards that the show has won. To tell you how good it is, the awards section goes on for several pages! Two featurettes are also included. The first, entitled “The Real Deal” is a rather brief 4 minute featurette that concentrates on exactly how “real” the show is. With interviews from reporters, ex-cops and so on, they all conclude that HBO must have some ex-Mafia men working on the scripts. Yes…it’s that true to life! The second is called “A Sit Down with The Sopranos”. This 14 minute featurette has interviews with the members of the cast (the ones that don’t die, naturally) who tell why they all took their respective roles and such. They talk of the success of the show and so on. All in all, this second season is better than the first season in terms of supplements. Fans of the show will want to add this to their collection.
