What do you think is the “worst” Sopranos episode if there even is one? And let me know your thoughts about the always controversial In Camelot! Let me know down below 👇🏻
This has one of my favourite ever moments in it though… Juniour working his funeral scam.. going to funeral after funeral just so he can get out and eat/ socialise and then finally becoming depressed and breaking down in tears because he’s going to so many funerals. That’s some high comedy right there.
There is a wing of the Sopranos fan base that really only really likes the core mafia plot and get bored by the therapy or domestic life stuff, I know how they feel as I always was more interested in Mad Men’s advertising business scenes and grew tired of Don’s family troubles which began overshadowing it more as the series progressed. That said Sopranos does every element of the series so well from the comedy to therapy scenes I can’t really say there is a bad episode among any of them. Mad Men was a great show too but it dragged in certain areas that keeps it from being the pantheon of re-watchable TV.
@@mikeg2491 I agree with you every episode feels like watching a movie. My father lost his interest in it because it was too confusing for him, and I had to rewatch the whole thing and now I'm understanding a lot of things I didn't catch up at first.
Right when people talk about the worst sopranos episodes they only think about the a story usually and not the b or c stories. And even then in Camelot reveals a lot of fascinating stuff about Tony's father. It's an episode you don't really want to skip for that reason alone.
I don't understand why the dream sequence where Tony figures out Pussy is an informant is so hated. It was one of the most memorable episodes in the entire series.
@@katiepop3442 well no shit watching an episode of a bunch of characters you know nothing about have a dream sequence where we find out Tony Knows about Pussy being an informant, is important IF you have been watching with the show. Random episode of any show makes no sense. Come on now
Yep and yet his father still chose to spend time with this annoying selfish bitch Fran instead of his loyal wife Livia. This episode is important in showing his mom wasn't to blame as much as his dad was for Tony's bad upbringing.
I actually really like "In Camelot" honestly. It's one of the only times we ever see things a little bit from Livia's side and it's one of the few times where Tony shows any sort of negative feeling towards his father, even if it is short-lived.
And it makes perfect sense to me why Tony would be so nice to Fran, it never really bothered me. Not only does he feel a degree of duty towards his father's mistress because of how he idolizes his father, not only is she a gateway to connect with his father (who, at a different point, he even questions "where he stood" with him) but she represents a sort of "what if" to him. What if he'd had a nurturing and loving mother who made him feel good? She misreads his desire to be around her completely and tries to make it sexual. And the smoking thing just completely breaks the illusion that she was some sort of "better" alternative.
@@keldonmcfarland2969 He realizes quickly how improper that comment was. What I found funny that he recalled the location of the handjob too, if I remember correctly. Junior is always funny. Voluntarily or not.
I liked this episode because it was a delve into Tony's (and even Junior's) past that as a character aside was quite enjoyable for me. Fran is cringe but she is meant to be cringe, she is a fraud a myth like Camelot so to speak. Livia too, who we are taught to hate, has a sympathetic scene in this. Junior going to the funerals to get out the house was also comedy gold.
It was titled Camelot because some would call JFK adminstration that, the perceived perfectness of the USA at the time. Fran does the Marilyn Monroe bit, but also it's about dispelling nostalgia. Fran and Johnny weren't great people and Livia wasn't completely to blame. The best part is when it's revealed she never quit smoking, while Livia did to not aggravate Johnny's lung cancer.
Her singing is genuinely the scariest fucking moment I've seen in a TV series. It's bad, it's weird, but most notably, it's scary. I've never shown such fear of something in my life.
@@PeekaBooo24 Frankly, it may just be because it’s from a time before I was born and, thus, don’t really understand, but even Marilyn’s original “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” was cringeWORTHY (not “cringe” - WTF, video-man?)… The original may be less cringeworthy, but only by degrees.
Tony didn't just find out about Fran in this episode, it had just been years since he'd heard about her. When Tony ran into her at Johnny Boy's grave, he even remembered what store she worked at, right down to the specific counter she worked, the perfume counter.
Which is funny because when he breaks up with his Russian (Reen?) and is talking to her about modeling, I believe Tony says something along the lines of “you don’t want to end up working in some department store at the perfume counter” David Chase knew how to write
“In Camelot” isn’t exactly a terrible episode, but now that we’ve seen Johnny Boy Soprano in the prequel movie, it’s hard to believe that he was knocking down one of JFK’s mistresses.
It's not a bit hard for me to believe. The only difference between JFK and Johnny Boy is Johnny Boy was a fictional scumbag while JFK was an historical scumbag. If women love real life scumbags it's not at all unrealistic to put them in bed with fictional scumbags.
@@kpimkpim349 I think the maker of the video is saying that the general fan agreement is that this episode sucks, rather than him thinking it’s not good.
The ending of this episode was iconic.When Tony lies about the old lady and Artie is like niccee huh? And he downs a shot and hits his cigar as it zooms in on his face while the strippers dance and that song is playing..super awesome!
@@TheValhalla1989 yeah that was such a weird flex like my dad smashed someone JFK smashed and then he had to keep adding to the story to make it more unbelievable…just quit while you are ahead tone
I was in middle school when this came out. Unable to watch of course, but I heard this song come on as my parents were finishing their tape recording. I was so into Linkin Park at the time, and couldn't believe I was hearing it from Sopranos!
Not enough is said about Polly Bergen’s fantastic performance. Having to do that extremely uncomfortable song and dance as a real character and not a satire is extremely difficult. She really added a texture to Fran that made the episode so effective.
she is a phenomenal actress. She can flash a gaze and make you feel anything she wants you to feel. Really, a performer of the very highest calibre. And I'm a Brit so you can trust me!!! haha
Polly did her work well, because I was definitely disgusted with the whole affair after that. It's like watching your Nana try to seduce one of your friends.
Yep. This content creator is too young to even know who Polly Bergen is. He misses this by a mile. The Happy Birthday song was supposed to be cringe & she pulled it off. Brave.
“In Camelot” is one of my favorite episodes. Fran reminded me much of the Baby Jane Hudson character from the movie “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”. In Camelot is my favorite because I always liked seeing flashbacks of Tony’s upbringing. I don’t think that there is a “worst episode” per say but I really disliked the Noah Tenenbalm character and the “University” episode because the creepiness of him.
@@Emp6ft10in Yeah LOL According to Noah himself!! Too bad really. They could have made a more poignant stance with the subject matter, but Noah was a douche..
I’m on my semi annual rewatch and just got to Employee of the Month last night and I agree, that episode and the acting is just off the charts. The last scene where Melfi cries suddenly at the thought of Tony leaving, now that she feels vulnerable and afraid of someone and sees Tony as a protective type (something she earlier chastises Richard for) and the way Tony immediately goes to comfort her and show how gentle he can be….even Gandolfini’s walk back to the chair and the pausing to look at her again to see if she’s actually alright and the believable confusion and worry at Melfi’s short breakdown is so well done. When he asks if she wants to say anything to him, and her resounding “No” is one of the best endings in the show if not all television series. Not to mention Bracco’s acting in the scene where she’s telling Elliot how she won’t have Tony go after him, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love the thought that *she* could have him “squished like a bug” is breathtaking. I think it’s hard to watch because of SA scene, because it is so real, it’s graphic and disgusting. Also as fans I think most of us genuinely love Dr Melfi as she’s not only the moral compass of the show but also, the perfect representation of empathy as even when everyone else is telling her to cut off Tony she prolongs it for years. Sure there’s hints of her own selfishness (being excited by the danger, being scared after the assault, even just her reputation professionally and obligation to not abandon a patient) but you can see in their complex relationship, that she cares for him. She knows he does horrible things and lashes out at her constantly, but she describes him once as a scared little boy. To see any woman be hurt and violated is repulsive, but as a viewer to see such a loved, respectable and powerful woman be hit, dragged and violated while she pleads for it to stop…. it makes me tear up and feel sick everytime. It’s a fantastic episode with some amazing dialogue, themes, shots, topics and acting but I think most people who would rate the episode low for so because of the scene and how hard it is to watch
@@empac8631 I love your thoughts on this ep. I personally hate Employee of the Month. I see no added value to the show. . I know this episode is a foil for Tony. He knows something is wrong and hes the Don, he could have pushed Melfi a little to find out exactly what happened to her. He kind of set boundaries on himself with Melfi. I think Bracco and Gandolfini brought some of their best acting, but I don't see how her rape added value to Melfi's character development. Tes she touches on it when shes lowkey starts to hate her patients and tells Elliot during her session. However, we never really see past that for the character. For that reason I hate the episode.
Personally, I think that it was gross for the writers to have Melfi get raped by a stranger, only to concoct a situation where she's stumped by an ethical dilemma of whether or not to ask Tony to kill her rapist. It was a real stretch to even get there, they had to invent some reason that the rapist would get off scot-free to enable this situation to even happen. Plus, showing Melfi's rape in all its excruciating, horrific detail just cheapened the act, in my opinion. It was something to gawk at, and it was used as emotional manipulation of the audience to justify a pretty convoluted series of events following thereafter. If you're gonna show the act of sexual assault or rape, I think it needs to be for a good reason. Like, you have to be making a statement about sexual violence, not just using rape as a plot point, a domino that needs to fall in order for other plot points to occur. I've never liked how Melfi's rape was treated, especially since it is seldom mentioned after this episode, only a couple times in the Kupferberg scenes.
@@empac8631 - One of the main themes of the show is how Tony and his lifestyle end up corrupting everything and everyone that’s in his orbit. There’s too many characters to even mention that had a relationship, even a minor or casual one, with Tony and crew but then ended up being used or exploited by them. They were a little heavy-handed in the execution of showing Melfi’s morality and ethics being tested but I think it still stays within the bounds of what the show was trying to get at thematically.
@@HandsUp12100 it does add to the character, she was almost ready to cut Tony out at this point and move him to behavioural therapy; she saw no use in continuing with Tony not only professionally but personally. The rape gives her a reason to feel weak and actually dread the thought of losing the power she could have by association with Tony. Also, rapists go scott free all the time. It then brilliantly shows how Melfi and her husband break up again; his obsession with the reputation of being Italian and that he’s so quick to point a finger at Tony and say he’s ruining their cultural image but then be stunned that an Italian would rape someone. That his obsession with getting her to leave Tony consumes their conversations up until his wife is violated, and it portrays how a victim can feel ignored by the justice system, abandoned by our so called protectors in this world, and that - like Elliot says later on in the season when he sees Tony at Columbia in a parking garage- Melfi and others immediately jump to say she shouldn’t have been walking to her car so late instead of the right a person has to walk to their car and not be raped. This episode did say things, it’s just not everyone has the disadvantage of knowing the message. As a SA survivor I didn’t feel it was glorified, I think for the most part it’s handled tastefully and actually touches on the subject that we all still face today and always will. And to see Melfi’s moral dilemma of gaining her power back by knowing she could have Tony kill him is one of the best scenes of dialogue in the series; and that says a lot
Worst episode is easily “A Hit is A Hit.” In Camelot is a great episode because it makes the viewer uncomfortable. It shows Tony that the good old days were not all he makes them out to be. Moreover, it adds soooo much depth to Livia as a Character. We learn that Melfi was right in hypothesizing that Tony’s father was not the Saint he made him out to be given Livia’s resentment toward her family.
This episode did so much character building for Livia and made me pity her. I'm by no means saying she was a good person. She became a shrewd wretch who hated the world and most everyone in it. But it does show the trauma she went through that helped make her (or perhaps, tear her down) into the person she became. There are parallels in my own life growing up to go with this. I won't go into detail, but I'll just say a miscarriage (or in my own mothers case, several) can do a lot to a woman's psyche.
@@jpmnky She’s not exactly likable but Meadow at least grows up somewhat as the series progresses and unlike with Aj, I do think she has some pretty good scenes with Tony. Aj wasn’t to bad in the early seasons but by Season 5 my god...were we supposed to be horrified every time Tony smacked him cuz I had the exact opposite reaction 😂
The scene where AJ botched his suicide was kinda funny cuz he was such a loser who couldn’t do anything right. With the plastic bag over his head lol. And suicide is not supposed to be funny. AJ snapped out of his depression asa they bought him a new BMW lol. They spoiled and enabled his bad behavior wether they realized it or not
I think the character analysis of Fran was oversimplified here. She’s not just after money. She’s after the glamour and self-esteem she derives from being wanted by high status men.
@@GiftSparks And when she got the money she didn’t even pay her phone bill but instead bought some expensive shoes. Shows that material security isn’t as important to her as feeling as if she’s still young and attractive
Season 5 was running on all cylinders. This episode included. Great insight with Johnny Boy and Silvia. Our first sight of Tony and Phil feuding, and watching Tony take in all this info and reacting the only way tony would. Classic episode. Highly re watchable.
It really bothered me that tony didn’t give Fran an ounce of his anger after finding out she didn’t stop smoking around his dad who was sick. And then proceeded to still get her the money she was after, knowing that’s all she ever cared about. I get he loved his dad but wow
David Chase in the background of the opening shot of the hitmen in the airplane. In my opinion 'In Camelot' rates so poorly due to the sheer cringeworthy nature of the Happy Birthday scene. The episode did a great job in both moving the story forward and explaining Tony's psychology, but that scene is incredibly difficult to watch. And, yes, I get that it's supposed to be difficult to watch. That's the point of the comment.
I really liked, in Camelot it was brilliant episode that shows tony that his father wasn’t a great guy and it makes him show a little sympathy to his mom
Feldstein was working Tony ,she probably was at the cometary hoping Tony would show and she could establish a relationship .It did not take long for her to get around to her getting screwed by Phil and Hesh.
idk why people would hate the dream sequences, its crazy to me that a huge drama can have great surreal dream sequences that also flesh out the characters and their emotions, def some of my favorite episodes, especcaily all the kevin finnerty stuff was wild
Fran was played by the wonderful Polly Bergen who starred along side Gregory Peck in the original Cape Fear and -dare I mention it-along side Fred MacMurray in Kisses for My President.
If there's a Hell, it's being tied to a chair with your eyed pried open, with Fran Feldstein and Skylar White singing Happy Birthday Mr. President to you over and over for eternity.
Fran is so hard to take in this episode but i do like othr parts of it and i love the song that Jackie Gleason wrote that plays at the end. thank you for the video bro!
I don't mind In Camelot. For me, I think A Hit is a Hit and Boca stand out as the weak episodes for most of the series. The second half of season 6A also, hard to pin point single episode there, but I found most of those on the weaker side as well.
I thought this was a really good episode. It was a little coincidental how they met at the grave, but I thought that that the arc of the relationship was really interesting and the ending was awesome. It also showed you what Livia had to deal with. I really liked it.
I never believed Fran that it was an ‘accidental meeting’, she was too wily for that. There are no ‘innocent’ people in the game. She sure knew how to play Tony🎻
I would say “a hit is a hit” is the worst one because it adds little to no substance to the show. We never hear about any of the subjects in the show again, and it contains more cringy scenes than In Camelot. I will admit, the mr president scene in In Camelot is the cringiest scene of the whole show. I just binged Breaking Bad, and when Skyler White did the same thing, the wounds in my brain left from Fran Felstein were cut deeper again, i will never recover and i will probably suffer PTSD from watching those scenes. But In Camelot has classic scenes and one liners like the Tony chasing the Shah of Iran while Rock the Casbah is playing the background, and juniors iconic one liners like “chickens nice n spicy eh” and “i can pay my respects from the afterparty”
Fran Felstein is what happens to women who are extremely good looking in their prime, but never learn to grow as a person, because their looks were once all they needed to get what they wanted from life, but once they age out of it, they've really got nothing left to offer. She's still trying to use her sexuality to get what she wants, even if it's in the past through bragging about being with JFK and being Johnny's mistress. It works with Tony until he sees through her. Women like that are loathed. By their contemporaries (there's a sense of schadenfreude, from the men - the Uncle Juniors - who never had a chance with her, and women who weren't as attractive, especially if they did well for themselves in the long run), and younger generations, who just find them cringe. What's notable is that she's basically ended up alone. Her son has moved to another country (possibly hinting at a strained relationship), no husband, etc.
I actually really enjoyed this episode. This is my take: Tony has serious mommy issues (or at least needs to find a maternal figure, as he had a father one with Dickie). Johnny’s Goomar, Feldstein, initially fills that mother figure (that Livia sucked at). So, I’m his mind, this woman is all Livia wasn’t, and even Johnny chose her over that maniac. But then the realization that she’s simply a Goomar / lover rather than a real mother (critiquing Livia, telling stories about being “slutty” around JFK) brought that fantasy of wishing that woman was actually Tony’s mom, to ashes. What’s sadder is that Anthony knew about it all along. He knows what a “Goomar” is and how a lover will never be a spouse.
Great recap. You're right that the episode is about illusions. Besides Tony and Fran, there's also the Kennedy myth in the episode's title and Chris' ill-fated illusion that he can be both friend and loan shark to J.T. Dolan. The biggest illusion, though, is about television itself. J.T. tries to pawn his Emmy and is told that it's near-worthless--"If you had an Oscar, maybe I could give you something." It's like David Chase knew that this was both an important episode and going to be the least loved by the audience.
"A Hit is a Hit" from Season 1 is pretty bad. Again, it had terrible music too with that hideous band "Visiting Day." And the whole Hesh vs. Massive Genius storyline that went nowhere was awful, too. And one of most cringe scenes was Adriana dancing with Massive Genius essentially raping her with his eyeballs the entire time. I also can't stand the first episode of Season 3, "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood," where the FBI is trying to plant the wire in Tony's house and there's that hideous song that's playing the whole time that's some sort of mash-up of "I'll Be Watching You" by the Police and the music from some spy movie, can't remember if it's the Bond theme or what, but whatever it was I hated the way the songs were mashed together.
Absolute, absolute worst: "Chasing It", can't believe no one mentioned this, I'm surprised it even got made 10X worse than "In Camelot" or anything else mentioned here Even the camera work was 100% different from anything else in the show, unexplainable shaky camera, plus close shots that don't exist in any other episode. Let alone how bad the episode was with Tony's sudden unexplained gambling addiction and his inexplicable argument with Carmella. Hesh's rushed storyline with his girlfriend, etc. Nothing can compare to how bad this was
nah I don't feel like the gambling addiction is "unexplained". I think, like many episodes in in Season Six, that it's supposed to shock the viewer with how reckless Tony is at his age, and in his very dangerous position. His entire life is one big gamble, anyway, despite the veneer of control he has as a mob boss. The freak circumstance of his shooting is proof of that. And it's horrifying to his wife that he would frame his own future in chronic gambler's terms, when he has already survived a near-fatal shooting at the season's beginning. His experiences up to this point should have made him more pensive. Instead they have showed that there's never been any real reckoning with the consequences of his own actions, which is what Melfi's been trying to pound into his sociopathic skull from the series' beginning. To me, "Chasing It" is very brilliant, especially in the context of his increasing beef with New York. Can't remember the name of the episode, but the one where he's contemplating murdering Paulie is another window into his moral insanity. You really believe in the early seasons that Tony's charisma and leadership skills have made him the king of any room that he steps into, that his other family means the world to him and that explains why they treat him like a coach. But the last season just lets you know he's remorselessly antisocial and a massive hypocrite, who trusts nobody; who sees his own pleasure, thrill-seeking, and self-preservation as the supreme aims in life. A gambling habit of a millionaire mobster, who only stands to lose his marriage, his pride and all his belongings by rolling the dice, is the perfect way to underscore that shift in the series' Tone.
I couldn't disagree more. Chasing It was perhaps one of the most powerful episodes. It's what made the writing so brave; having the leading man descend into such repugnant behaviour challenged viewers to face more uncomfortable truths about Tony Soprano. No other show has done this.
The Sopranos is the only show where I can stand “dream episodes”, but I still dislike them the most out of all the episodes. Dream episodes are like the water levels of tv-shows/ movies. Fuck ‘em.
It’s how they can bring back actors who were killed off. I noticed other shows are copying that style or have the living characters speaking to the ghosts while awake.
I agree, "In Camelot" is the one I'd say is the weakest episode but it's by no means a bad episode. It's just nowhere near as good as other shows in that season alone!
I don't think Fean was necessarily using Tony for his money. She missed Tony's father greatly and was pretty much re-living her youth through Tony. But still she was a golddigger.
She discovered the burial date of Livia then staged a visitation to Johnny Boy's grave with the hopes that Tony would visit his grave and see her. She played him. It was all a set up to get the money for the race track. She was a hustler and she hustled Tony.
I’d go with “Christopher” or “A Hit Is A Hit” as the worst episode. Both feel like the writers forgot what show this is. And both are incredibly awkward from an editing and dialogue standpoint. “In Camelot” is just really uncomfortable but not a poor episode.
I thought the same thing. Gandolfini was making a name for himself as an excellent character actor. Then again his final role he did with Julia Louise-Dreyfus was, IMO, his best role. He nailed that part.
He was definitely at "Oh yeah, THAT guy!" status. He had large roles in at least two huge hits (Get Shorty, Crimson Tide) and a handful of cult classics (True Romance, Fallen, 8MM). Honestly, I still think of him as "Bear" or "Virgil" lol
@@edwardwood6532 nearly every episode has call backs or call forwards. It just made Chris look stupid and had a plot line with a cousin of Chris’s we never heard about in future episodes. It does have the prettiest female in the entire series, Alicia Witt.
Polly Bergen was amazing in that scene wearing that creepy old dirty Kennedy sailors hat sideways and pointing at the end to Tony with that spiney old finger. It was one of the most memorable creepy scenes in television history
I agree, In Camelot actually does a lot to move the series forward. Much of Tony’s self worth, such as it is, comes from having Johnny Boy Soprano as his father and living up to Johnny Boy’s legendary status. At the end of this episode we see Tony still bragging to his guys about how amazing Fran is even though we know he is thoroughly disillusioned with her, because he is trying to maintain the Johnny Boy mythos that has always been a big part of his identity. This episode also shows where the bad blood between Phil and Tony starts- Tony getting Johnny Sack to side with him on a $40,000 ruling and then running Phil off the road and roughing him up were some pretty big humiliations that Phil wasn’t going to let go of. And the Christopher and JT storyline shows us that sober Christopher is still a scumbag, and that Christopher is not likely to stay clean as recovery is about getting honest with yourself and others and Chrissy is still committed to his selfish, narcissistic and abusive behavior.
It wasn't a coincidence Fran was there intentionally She knew Tony just lost a relative.. And she sat there waiting for. Him to psy. His. Respects to. Johnny. Boy. So. She could get her. Cut
This episode is really important in Tony's realization his dad is actually to blame for his bad upbringing. The more time he spent with Fran, the more he realized his dad gave his mom reason to be mad by spending time with this annoying bitch rather than being with his real family. You see over time his mom had a reason to be mad, and this episode really helped show that.
He was trash while livia was having a miscarriege he decided to stay with his mistress,what wife wouldn't be mad and to make it worst he had Tony lie for him
Yep. I can't stand that episode either. And that song that plays throughout the entire episode is terrible too--its a mash up of I'll Be Watching You by The Police and some spy sounding music that I can't think of the name of.
"A Hit is a Hit" is pretty bad, too. Again, it had terrible music too with that hideous band "Visiting Day." And the whole Hesh vs. Massive Genius storyline that went nowhere was awful, too. And one of most cringe scenes was Adriana dancing with Massive Genius essentially raping her with his eyeballs the entire time.
@@JadeDelphi completely disagree, but if you think that, that’s probably what the other people who didn’t like them think too. I guess I just find the dream stuff really interesting
@@JadeDelphi Do you even enjoy the show then? The more time I spend in The Sopranos community the more I realise that viewers don’t even really enjoy the show that much. The dream sequences provide a role and it’s not like they were complete filler, it’s a look into what Tony would’ve been had he not gone on the path he’d gone on.
@@cambodianbreastmilk2980 Yes, David Chase and many of the writers were fans of Twin Peaks, you’re literally spot on. Maybe it was a nod, as Chase said he wouldn’t have created The Sopranos without Twin Peaks. This doesn’t take away from the fact that they serve a purpose.
That's exactly why the episode is way better than many fans rate it - it's quieter, more specific and incredibly psychologically acute: making Tony confront the death of the myth of Johnny Boy Soprano. And the 'happy birthday Mr President' song isn't cringe because it's bad and so therefore doesn't work. It's deliberately awful to highlight how tacky the mistress is - and the tackiness of the reality behind the myth of JFK and the 'Camelot' White House.
"A hit is a hit" is personally my least favorite episode man. Camelot was cringey, and a bit dull... But the episode , in terms of lore, is really good
Great video. The uncomfortable feeling in In Camelot is there for a reason. And it is a big part in Tony’s worship of the old mob his dad was in being based on lies and romanticism.
I had no idea people thought this was a bad episode. In my opinion, the christopher columbus episode where they get into beef with the native americans is the worst and possibly only bad episode in the show. It really didn't add much value to the narrative or characters and felt really out of left field. It kind of made sense when I found out that Michael Imperioli wrote the episode.
It’s not supposed to dive deep into one particular character it’s supposed to critique the relationship Americans have with Christopher Columbus I don’t understand how anyone would find that to be a bad episode unless they unironically agreed with what Silvio and Tony thought of Columbus
@@kingkai9582 The entire episode stuck out like a sore thumb. The writing style was totally different from every episode, almost as if they were trying to make a comedy. Plus it really beats you over the head with the overt social commentary which you dont see in other episodes
@@XoldnewsX “overt social commentary” wtf do you think the Sopranos is at it’s a core? A show about the Mafia or a critique of the male ego through the lens of its main character who is accompanied by several other characters that go through problems such as depression, drug addiction, heartbreak, adolescence, the dynamic between parents and their children, what ambition for a lustful life can push a person to do? You think this episode sticks out like a sore thumb without acknowledging how Meadow explicitly condemns the Bush administration for going to war in Iraq. Or when Anthony Jr adopts a surface level version of Albert Camus dissertation on existentialism through his novels
@@XoldnewsX the sopranos is one big overt social commentary and if you watched all 6 seasons and your conclusion was simply ahaha unnecessarily funny mafia show then you completely missed the point. I don’t see how that episode could be seen in a bad light by any fan of the show unless they actually side with the Italians and their view of Columbus
@@XoldnewsX So clear it up for me and don’t beat around the bush, do you like Christopher Columbus? Are you in anyway against the idea of the eradication of the Holiday?
If I had to choose a least favorite Sopranos episode (like you, I don’t think there are any bad ones, just some not as good), it would be “Christopher” S4Ep3. David Chase feels like a very disciplined storyteller; The Sopranos usually never rambles or drags because I think Chase always knew where he wanted it to go and everything in the show is deliberate. The “Christoper” episode , however, feels like a rare indulgent misfire. Chase doesn’t seem to be a fan of what’s often called “identity politics” and it seems like he uses this episode to soapbox about it. Many of the leads’ behavior seems out of character and there is a rambling scene in the end that sort of drags and hits the audience over the head with a point about identity politics that doesn’t feel connected to the overall themes of the series.
Agreed. The only stretch of an alternate take I can grasp at is if Chase were using the episode to laugh at his many "anti-defamation" critics. But he already covered that ground with Melfi's husband/ex.
I love Ralphie's maliciousness though. He takes real joy in messing with people, a credit to actor Joe Pantoliano. He brings an evil joy in Ralphie when he's pranking someone.
There is always a “worst” of something...even The Beatles have a “worst” musician (Ringo). That doesn’t mean any of The Beatles are BAD musicians! D-Girl may be the worst episode of The Sopranos in my opinion. However it’s cool to see a younger John Favreau simply because he has moved on to become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.
Honestly, the series only consists of great episodes, exceptional episodes, and near perfect episodes. There were too many great storylines going on at once for an ENTIRE hour long episode to be noticeably worse than any other
Tony watches the History Channel incessantly, loves old timey pop music and longs for the times of "the strong silent type", Gary Cooper. In other words, the more unhappy he becomes in his drab 90s existence, the more attracted he is to the good old days. So it would make total sense that he develops a weakness for the real or imagined glamour of his father's girlfriend. I was actually dreading the "Happy birthday Mr. President" moment in my recent re-watch, because the memory of how cringe it was, was still vivid from watching it years ago. I'm not so sure that he is only lying to his buddies in that final scene. I find it possible that he is also reshuffling the cards of his own memory, because he is desperate for meaning and some grand gangster mythology in his life. BTW, does it make "Massive Genius" more palpable to anyone that Bokeem Woodbine, the actor who plays him, went on to be Mike Mulligan?
Fran's version of Happy Birthday was exactly as cringe-worthy as Marilyn Monroe's version. I thought the juxtaposition between a drug addled, out of her mind aging (for the time) actress and the way over the hill Fran and her manipulations / delusions was perfect. I remember the first time I saw the video of MM from 62' singing that to Kennedy and thought why on earth did they let someone so obviously messed up do that?
1.Johnny cakes 2.mayham 3.D girl 4.mergers and acquisitions 5.In camelot 6.Christopher 7.Luxury lounge 8.A hit is a hit 9.Second opinion 10.The fleshy part of the thigh
My least favorite was when Tony went to Vegas after Christopher died and he hung out with Sonya the stripper played by Sarah Shahi. My feeling was the the episode was born as a way to get Sarah a decent sized role in an episode as a favor to her. I often wondered if she knew David Chase in real life and it was a favor. It was just an odd episode to me and I didn’t enjoy watching it
James Gandolfini's Dad lived here in Henderson and he was also visiting him. He showed up at the pizza place I go to, was lovely to everyone and a big tipper.
Spoilers Ahead: On surface level, it doesn’t seem to add much to the plot, but to me it was very impactful in a frustrating way. Tony just killed his own nephew, and what does he do? Trips I’m the desert, parties all weekend and cheats on his wife. Though Chris was a liability, it just shows that after all that time Tony has no capacity or desire to truly change
I disliked that episode because by that point in the series, Tony meeting some chick, fucking her (or at least there's sexual tension), and then navel gazing had become old and boring. It had been done several times. Gloria, the one-legged Russian woman (forget her name, Irina's cousin), the acting female mob boss in Italy, etc. Actually, that's one of my criticisms of The Sopranos as a whole. The way beautiful women fall head over heels for him when they don't, at that point, know who he is or what he does for a living, when Tony is a fat balding middle-aged man. The women are often intelligent and accomplished on some level too. They're not bimbos working at the Bing.
@kittylemeu 👍🏼 My husband and I were just saying the same thing. A lot of people knew of him from movies before Sopranos. He was pretty memorable in even small roles... not the least of which was True Romance. He was also in 12 Angry Men (97 remake), Terminal Velocity, and Crimson Tide, all before Sopranos. More than that but they're the ones that I clearly recall.
Regarding the episode where Melfi had that incident in the stairwell, the only disappointing thing about that episode was that she lied to Tony about what happened to her. The viewers almost certainly wanted Tony to kill that guy.
That's what makes The Sopranos stand out from most TV series, films, soap operas, etc. What happens in the plot is seldom what you want to happen, least of all expect. It's like the nonce football (soccer) coach at Meadow's school who is abusing her friend, you expect Tony and the boys are going to have him clipped, but he gets reported to the police and arrested instead, while other characters are killed for less. Chris Moltisanti was a main character from the pilot episode who had various storylines, he's unexpectedly and unceremonously killed off early in one of the last episodes (I legit thought that was just a foreshadowing dream at first - it was obvious Tony was going to kill him at some point, but not like that), a major character being killed off is usually the climax of an episode.
Nobody's commented on the association of Fran with death. Tony finds her sitting in a cemetery. Dressed in orange with orange hair. We all know the reference point of oranges in The Sopranos. Also, think about what happened to JFK after Marilyn Monroe's singing happy birthday to him. That getting closer, getting closer, getting closer view of Fran vamping and singing, concluding with those weird horns she made with her fingers, the concluding grimacing grin and creepy cackling laugh... she's the Devil personified mocking Tony, letting him know it's not going to end well for him. The episode also serves to reveal to Tony how it has always worked in the mob. Johnny Boy's bequest to Fran was his silent share in the race track that Hesh and Phil cheated her out of. Tony demanding Phil pay up and knowing that Hesh cheated Fran (and by extension, his father) helped turn Tony against Hesh and added to the dysentery between New York and Jersey. This episode is way more significant than critics are acknowledging.
I don't think In Camelot was bad, but Fran is by far the absolute worst character of the entire series. She is definitely the reason the people don't like the episode. Such a terrible and hate-able character. Hated her!!!
I'm a little bit triggered that "A Hit is a Hit" is that widely panned, as it holds a special place in my heart. I feel the show is at it's best when the show interwines pop culture and how the mob lifestyle effects people with ordinary lifestyles. Even if the music angle wasn't for you(even though it so crucial to making Chris/Adriana's relationship feel real and relatable) the main arc of Tony trying to fit in with the common folk is the real meat of the episode. It really gives a lot of insight into the best part of Tony's personality. He's a proud man and he wasn't going to let a bunch of yuppies make him feel less then. That story about bungalow bar/Gotti was a riot. Also contains Hesh's best line in the entire series and rings so true in the music biz. Their is good tv and their is bad tv, and this episode is just danm good tv. Perhaps at the time with the budding war of 99' people thought someone was going to get whacked? Joke is you guy's who were duped 😉.
1:25 WHAT?! People DISLIKED the dream sequences? The depiction of dream sequences in The Sopranos was, in my opinion, MASTERFULLY executed. It actually caught me off guard when I watched the whole series for the first time the fact that The Sopranos dreams were genuinely the best and most "believable" dream sequences in any media I've seen. Movies and shows usually make dreams completely unnoticeable until they eventually pull the "It was just a dream!" trope, OR they go so over the top in dream sequences like the character or situation exists in some perpetual acid trip but just the oddness, the subtleties, the way people speak, the actions people do; it's hard to really define but it's simply just the best, most interesting, and most entertaining portrayal of dreams in any movie or tv show I've watched. Personally these are my more preferred episodes!
I never really disliked a single episode. Maybe the dream sequences were a bit out there but I found the more I watched them the more reference points I found and then I was impressed by the artfulness of Chase.
I disliked "Chasing It" not because of the story, but mostly because of the sudden shift in directing style. The shaky cam seemed so random and out of place.
Wow, I legit thought I was one of the only ones. That scene dragged on so long to tell so little story. And the song medley was just really unpleasant musically.
As per me, I think the one thing that can be attributed towards Tony's admiration of his father's mistress was the fact that it justified his own actions. His father's debauched infedility really blurred the lines between them. Earlier he never thought anything of about his own adultery, but when he met his father's mistress, he saw his actions as the peak of Sigma male authority. Everything he said in his father's defence and in the glory of his infedility, were intended for him.
The last few seasons of the Sopranos sucked because it focused to much on his love life and personal life where is I wanted to see more drama involving the inner workings of La Cosa Nostra which is actually interesting not boring like his love life and personal life. That is hollyweird for you!!
Fairs that's your view but I would say that The sopranos is not meant to be about mob drama. It's more a show about psychology, morality, well and most other things tbh!
And here I am thinking that the dream sequences are some of my favorite moments of the entire series. We get to learn so much about our characters and the dreams are so much like real dreams that it’s almost creepy.
What do you think is the “worst” Sopranos episode if there even is one?
And let me know your thoughts about the always controversial In Camelot!
Let me know down below 👇🏻
Employee of the month bar none
In Camalot was excruciatingly cringy and bad tho
@@filthyketchup5933 Lol, stop.
The Worst Episode is called: The many Saints of Newark.....
When Adriana was killed off, she was one of the best female characters.
This has one of my favourite ever moments in it though… Juniour working his funeral scam.. going to funeral after funeral just so he can get out and eat/ socialise and then finally becoming depressed and breaking down in tears because he’s going to so many funerals. That’s some high comedy right there.
There is a wing of the Sopranos fan base that really only really likes the core mafia plot and get bored by the therapy or domestic life stuff, I know how they feel as I always was more interested in Mad Men’s advertising business scenes and grew tired of Don’s family troubles which began overshadowing it more as the series progressed. That said Sopranos does every element of the series so well from the comedy to therapy scenes I can’t really say there is a bad episode among any of them. Mad Men was a great show too but it dragged in certain areas that keeps it from being the pantheon of re-watchable TV.
@@mikeg2491 I agree with you every episode feels like watching a movie. My father lost his interest in it because it was too confusing for him, and I had to rewatch the whole thing and now I'm understanding a lot of things I didn't catch up at first.
Mmmmm.. chickens nice and spicy - Juniour🤣
Right when people talk about the worst sopranos episodes they only think about the a story usually and not the b or c stories. And even then in Camelot reveals a lot of fascinating stuff about Tony's father. It's an episode you don't really want to skip for that reason alone.
@@mikeg2491yeah the guy from sopranos autopsy calls them the hits and tits crowd.
I don't understand why the dream sequence where Tony figures out Pussy is an informant is so hated. It was one of the most memorable episodes in the entire series.
Because its obnoxious
Ppl are dumb
It was hilarious. It's the episode that really made me stick around.
Thats was the first episode I ever seen..I almost didnt comeback after that
@@katiepop3442 well no shit watching an episode of a bunch of characters you know nothing about have a dream sequence where we find out Tony Knows about Pussy being an informant, is important IF you have been watching with the show. Random episode of any show makes no sense. Come on now
My favorite part is when it's revealed that Fran kept smoking all these years, Livia quit smoking so it wouldn't aggravate Johnny's lung cancer.
Yep and yet his father still chose to spend time with this annoying selfish bitch Fran instead of his loyal wife Livia. This episode is important in showing his mom wasn't to blame as much as his dad was for Tony's bad upbringing.
She had his dog lmao
I actually really like "In Camelot" honestly. It's one of the only times we ever see things a little bit from Livia's side and it's one of the few times where Tony shows any sort of negative feeling towards his father, even if it is short-lived.
And it makes perfect sense to me why Tony would be so nice to Fran, it never really bothered me. Not only does he feel a degree of duty towards his father's mistress because of how he idolizes his father, not only is she a gateway to connect with his father (who, at a different point, he even questions "where he stood" with him) but she represents a sort of "what if" to him. What if he'd had a nurturing and loving mother who made him feel good? She misreads his desire to be around her completely and tries to make it sexual. And the smoking thing just completely breaks the illusion that she was some sort of "better" alternative.
100% agree. Livia may have been a black hole, but her husband definitely didn't help.
Well I hated the episode. But when he discovers what happened to his dog Tippy 😆 that was pretty good
I agree. Livia wasn't showy and wouldn't be so vaccuos as to judge those who don't wear Bottega Veneta
Final scene of In Camelot is great
Uncle June's best was at funerals.
"When is the after party?"
"Chicken's nice and spicy!"
"Gravy's good tonight."
"She gave me my first handjob." [Then knods to elderly lady in casket. ]
@@keldonmcfarland2969 no spit or Sriracha needed!
@@keldonmcfarland2969 He realizes quickly how improper that comment was. What I found funny that he recalled the location of the handjob too, if I remember correctly. Junior is always funny. Voluntarily or not.
"Jesus Christ what am I saying at this poor woman's wake?!"
I liked this episode because it was a delve into Tony's (and even Junior's) past that as a character aside was quite enjoyable for me. Fran is cringe but she is meant to be cringe, she is a fraud a myth like Camelot so to speak. Livia too, who we are taught to hate, has a sympathetic scene in this. Junior going to the funerals to get out the house was also comedy gold.
Chicken is nice and spicy
@@spanishflyevh9606 loved it 😂 "We should go",
"We just got here!"
It was titled Camelot because some would call JFK adminstration that, the perceived perfectness of the USA at the time. Fran does the Marilyn Monroe bit, but also it's about dispelling nostalgia. Fran and Johnny weren't great people and Livia wasn't completely to blame. The best part is when it's revealed she never quit smoking, while Livia did to not aggravate Johnny's lung cancer.
Fran or Skylar, who did it best?
@@spanishflyevh9606 beat me to it, 3/4's of a year ago :_(
Her singing is genuinely the scariest fucking moment I've seen in a TV series. It's bad, it's weird, but most notably, it's scary. I've never shown such fear of something in my life.
Nah Skylar’s Happy birthday to beneke is even worse
Vito being caught in the gay club was scarier. Literally feared for his life lmao
@@jerryseinfeld5713 that was more funny than scary
That scene of her singing alone would made Marylin Monroe turn in her grave
@@PeekaBooo24 Frankly, it may just be because it’s from a time before I was born and, thus, don’t really understand, but even Marilyn’s original “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” was cringeWORTHY (not “cringe” - WTF, video-man?)… The original may be less cringeworthy, but only by degrees.
Tony didn't just find out about Fran in this episode, it had just been years since he'd heard about her. When Tony ran into her at Johnny Boy's grave, he even remembered what store she worked at, right down to the specific counter she worked, the perfume counter.
Which is funny because when he breaks up with his Russian (Reen?) and is talking to her about modeling, I believe Tony says something along the lines of “you don’t want to end up working in some department store at the perfume counter”
David Chase knew how to write
@@empac8631 Irina. I forgot about that. I'm disappointed Fran wasn't in TMSON
Maybe she worked with Ginny Sack, isnt that where John said he met her?
Fur department...
@@harveyhagar Whatevah happened dere.
“In Camelot” isn’t exactly a terrible episode, but now that we’ve seen Johnny Boy Soprano in the prequel movie, it’s hard to believe that he was knocking down one of JFK’s mistresses.
It's not a bit hard for me to believe. The only difference between JFK and Johnny Boy is Johnny Boy was a fictional scumbag while JFK was an historical scumbag. If women love real life scumbags it's not at all unrealistic to put them in bed with fictional scumbags.
It’s not about him being a scumbag, it’s just that he appeared rather unimportant.
@@roscoedash6673 Maybe not to Bobby Kennedy's Justice Department at the time, and who knows, one thing could have led to another.
She didn’t really bang JFK … that was the point
@@MGBillionaire That's another very distinct possibility. But it's not unreasonable to suppose otherwise.
wtf that episode was great, it was the only moment Tony doubted his dad lifestyle
Yeah i dont get this video because it makes the episode sound better than it was (and it was already great)
Tony was weirded out that his dad lived with his mistress.
@@kpimkpim349 I think the maker of the video is saying that the general fan agreement is that this episode sucks, rather than him thinking it’s not good.
@@kpimkpim349 "as in my opinion this episode is important, and isn't as bad as critics say"
The ending of this episode was iconic.When Tony lies about the old lady and Artie is like niccee huh? And he downs a shot and hits his cigar as it zooms in on his face while the strippers dance and that song is playing..super awesome!
And Silvio pretends to be interested in the story haha
@@TheValhalla1989 yeah that was such a weird flex like my dad smashed someone JFK smashed and then he had to keep adding to the story to make it more unbelievable…just quit while you are ahead tone
Sil always knows when Tony is bullshitting lol
@@Darth_Mom_2 yeah the moment he said “jackie kennedy thought the marriage was ova” sill was like 😱…and went back to counting his money 😂
I was in middle school when this came out. Unable to watch of course, but I heard this song come on as my parents were finishing their tape recording. I was so into Linkin Park at the time, and couldn't believe I was hearing it from Sopranos!
We all know why this episode is the most hated...
"Happy birthday, Mr president"
🥶🤢. Ughh yup you’re right
100%
@@DdotRay86 it’s not just creepy or uncomfortable. I feel physically ill by that scene lol
That’s exactly right. And Eddie, you’re like an albacore around my neck, just wanted you to know that…😂 (one of my favorite lines in the series)
It’s like that scene in breaking bad that you watch once and then skip it every time
Not enough is said about Polly Bergen’s fantastic performance. Having to do that extremely uncomfortable song and dance as a real character and not a satire is extremely difficult. She really added a texture to Fran that made the episode so effective.
she is a phenomenal actress. She can flash a gaze and make you feel anything she wants you to feel. Really, a performer of the very highest calibre. And I'm a Brit so you can trust me!!! haha
Polly did her work well, because I was definitely disgusted with the whole affair after that. It's like watching your Nana try to seduce one of your friends.
100%
Absolutely 💯
Yep. This content creator is too young to even know who Polly Bergen is. He misses this by a mile. The Happy Birthday song was supposed to be cringe & she pulled it off. Brave.
“In Camelot” is one of my favorite episodes. Fran reminded me much of the Baby Jane Hudson character from the movie “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”. In Camelot is my favorite because I always liked seeing flashbacks of Tony’s upbringing.
I don’t think that there is a “worst episode” per say but I really disliked the Noah Tenenbalm character and the “University” episode because the creepiness of him.
Had similar thoughts about Fran.
Tony was lucky Noah didn't kick his ass!
@@Emp6ft10in Yeah LOL According to Noah himself!! Too bad really. They could have made a more poignant stance with the subject matter, but Noah was a douche..
I didn’t like the Finn character either
Forget about Fran, lol, any episode with J.T. Dolan is great. "I will not fuckin enable you," lmao.
Tony was finessed by that granny just like his dad, SMH.
I agree. I think he wanted to banger
If you feel that " Employee of the Month" is one of the worst episodes, then you shouldn't be watching the Sopranos.
I’m on my semi annual rewatch and just got to Employee of the Month last night and I agree, that episode and the acting is just off the charts. The last scene where Melfi cries suddenly at the thought of Tony leaving, now that she feels vulnerable and afraid of someone and sees Tony as a protective type (something she earlier chastises Richard for) and the way Tony immediately goes to comfort her and show how gentle he can be….even Gandolfini’s walk back to the chair and the pausing to look at her again to see if she’s actually alright and the believable confusion and worry at Melfi’s short breakdown is so well done. When he asks if she wants to say anything to him, and her resounding “No” is one of the best endings in the show if not all television series. Not to mention Bracco’s acting in the scene where she’s telling Elliot how she won’t have Tony go after him, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love the thought that *she* could have him “squished like a bug” is breathtaking.
I think it’s hard to watch because of SA scene, because it is so real, it’s graphic and disgusting. Also as fans I think most of us genuinely love Dr Melfi as she’s not only the moral compass of the show but also, the perfect representation of empathy as even when everyone else is telling her to cut off Tony she prolongs it for years. Sure there’s hints of her own selfishness (being excited by the danger, being scared after the assault, even just her reputation professionally and obligation to not abandon a patient) but you can see in their complex relationship, that she cares for him. She knows he does horrible things and lashes out at her constantly, but she describes him once as a scared little boy. To see any woman be hurt and violated is repulsive, but as a viewer to see such a loved, respectable and powerful woman be hit, dragged and violated while she pleads for it to stop…. it makes me tear up and feel sick everytime. It’s a fantastic episode with some amazing dialogue, themes, shots, topics and acting but I think most people who would rate the episode low for so because of the scene and how hard it is to watch
@@empac8631 I love your thoughts on this ep. I personally hate Employee of the Month. I see no added value to the show. . I know this episode is a foil for Tony. He knows something is wrong and hes the Don, he could have pushed Melfi a little to find out exactly what happened to her. He kind of set boundaries on himself with Melfi. I think Bracco and Gandolfini brought some of their best acting, but I don't see how her rape added value to Melfi's character development. Tes she touches on it when shes lowkey starts to hate her patients and tells Elliot during her session. However, we never really see past that for the character. For that reason I hate the episode.
Personally, I think that it was gross for the writers to have Melfi get raped by a stranger, only to concoct a situation where she's stumped by an ethical dilemma of whether or not to ask Tony to kill her rapist. It was a real stretch to even get there, they had to invent some reason that the rapist would get off scot-free to enable this situation to even happen. Plus, showing Melfi's rape in all its excruciating, horrific detail just cheapened the act, in my opinion. It was something to gawk at, and it was used as emotional manipulation of the audience to justify a pretty convoluted series of events following thereafter. If you're gonna show the act of sexual assault or rape, I think it needs to be for a good reason. Like, you have to be making a statement about sexual violence, not just using rape as a plot point, a domino that needs to fall in order for other plot points to occur. I've never liked how Melfi's rape was treated, especially since it is seldom mentioned after this episode, only a couple times in the Kupferberg scenes.
@@empac8631 - One of the main themes of the show is how Tony and his lifestyle end up corrupting everything and everyone that’s in his orbit. There’s too many characters to even mention that had a relationship, even a minor or casual one, with Tony and crew but then ended up being used or exploited by them. They were a little heavy-handed in the execution of showing Melfi’s morality and ethics being tested but I think it still stays within the bounds of what the show was trying to get at thematically.
@@HandsUp12100 it does add to the character, she was almost ready to cut Tony out at this point and move him to behavioural therapy; she saw no use in continuing with Tony not only professionally but personally. The rape gives her a reason to feel weak and actually dread the thought of losing the power she could have by association with Tony. Also, rapists go scott free all the time. It then brilliantly shows how Melfi and her husband break up again; his obsession with the reputation of being Italian and that he’s so quick to point a finger at Tony and say he’s ruining their cultural image but then be stunned that an Italian would rape someone. That his obsession with getting her to leave Tony consumes their conversations up until his wife is violated, and it portrays how a victim can feel ignored by the justice system, abandoned by our so called protectors in this world, and that - like Elliot says later on in the season when he sees Tony at Columbia in a parking garage- Melfi and others immediately jump to say she shouldn’t have been walking to her car so late instead of the right a person has to walk to their car and not be raped.
This episode did say things, it’s just not everyone has the disadvantage of knowing the message. As a SA survivor I didn’t feel it was glorified, I think for the most part it’s handled tastefully and actually touches on the subject that we all still face today and always will. And to see Melfi’s moral dilemma of gaining her power back by knowing she could have Tony kill him is one of the best scenes of dialogue in the series; and that says a lot
Worst episode is easily “A Hit is A Hit.” In Camelot is a great episode because it makes the viewer uncomfortable. It shows Tony that the good old days were not all he makes them out to be. Moreover, it adds soooo much depth to Livia as a Character. We learn that Melfi was right in hypothesizing that Tony’s father was not the Saint he made him out to be given Livia’s resentment toward her family.
Definitely, but why is "A Hit is a Hit" so bad? It's a bit low key for sure, but still found it entertaining.
Who's welfare cheque do I gotta cash to get a burger around here?
@@spanishflyevh9606 yo hairnet central what am I back here Mark Fuhrman ?
@@maxeyre2024 👐 meooooow
@@maxeyre2024 What came from A Hit is A Hit? Nothing. It was pretty fucking boring too
I actually really liked the dream sequences in the Sopranos. They were done very well.
They’re very enjoyable if you can understand what they’re trying to show you
The Happy Birthday Mr President scene was fifty shades of gross.
It also likely inspired the Breaking Bad happy birthday which meant it caused double the damage
This episode did so much character building for Livia and made me pity her. I'm by no means saying she was a good person. She became a shrewd wretch who hated the world and most everyone in it. But it does show the trauma she went through that helped make her (or perhaps, tear her down) into the person she became. There are parallels in my own life growing up to go with this. I won't go into detail, but I'll just say a miscarriage (or in my own mothers case, several) can do a lot to a woman's psyche.
Any episode in season 5 or 6 that heavily focuses on Aj, is probably more deserving of worst episode lol
Man, I don’t know if I’ve ever hated a character more than AJ Soprano. Meadow is a complete twat as well. But at least she’s nice to look at.
@@jpmnky She’s not exactly likable but Meadow at least grows up somewhat as the series progresses and unlike with Aj, I do think she has some pretty good scenes with Tony.
Aj wasn’t to bad in the early seasons but by Season 5 my god...were we supposed to be horrified every time Tony smacked him cuz I had the exact opposite reaction 😂
@@mtb5431 Carmela pissed me off wayyyy more
I couldn't stand that kid.
The scene where AJ botched his suicide was kinda funny cuz he was such a loser who couldn’t do anything right. With the plastic bag over his head lol. And suicide is not supposed to be funny.
AJ snapped out of his depression asa they bought him a new BMW lol. They spoiled and enabled his bad behavior wether they realized it or not
I think the character analysis of Fran was oversimplified here. She’s not just after money. She’s after the glamour and self-esteem she derives from being wanted by high status men.
Totally right. Like when Tony brought the money to her, she said “Oh, that’s nice.” But she really craved Tony’s attention more.
@@GiftSparks And when she got the money she didn’t even pay her phone bill but instead bought some expensive shoes. Shows that material security isn’t as important to her as feeling as if she’s still young and attractive
Season 5 was running on all cylinders. This episode included. Great insight with Johnny Boy and Silvia. Our first sight of Tony and Phil feuding, and watching Tony take in all this info and reacting the only way tony would. Classic episode. Highly re watchable.
Silvia?
The flashbacks were amazing in this. I still can’t get over how good that actress was at portraying a young Livia.
It really bothered me that tony didn’t give Fran an ounce of his anger after finding out she didn’t stop smoking around his dad who was sick. And then proceeded to still get her the money she was after, knowing that’s all she ever cared about. I get he loved his dad but wow
Theres isnt a bad episode in the whole series, but "Christopher" is easily my least favorite
You’re insane the end of that episode is genius. The car ride where Tony is yelling at Silvio
David Chase in the background of the opening shot of the hitmen in the airplane.
In my opinion 'In Camelot' rates so poorly due to the sheer cringeworthy nature of the Happy Birthday scene. The episode did a great job in both moving the story forward and explaining Tony's psychology, but that scene is incredibly difficult to watch.
And, yes, I get that it's supposed to be difficult to watch. That's the point of the comment.
Good points Paul
It’s supposed to be difficult to watch, tbh. Skylar’s rendition to Beneke in Breaking Bad is just slightly worse or better, depending who you ask.
@@empac8631 The breaking bad scene with Skylar singing happy Birthday to Ted is way worse IMO
I really liked, in Camelot it was brilliant episode that shows tony that his father wasn’t a great guy and it makes him show a little sympathy to his mom
This guy gets it
Feldstein was working Tony ,she probably was at the cometary hoping Tony would show and she could establish a relationship .It did not take long for her to get around to her getting screwed by Phil and Hesh.
idk why people would hate the dream sequences, its crazy to me that a huge drama can have great surreal dream sequences that also flesh out the characters and their emotions, def some of my favorite episodes, especcaily all the kevin finnerty stuff was wild
RIP Polly Bergen. Her portrayal was quite memorable as Fran Felstein
Fran was played by the wonderful Polly Bergen who starred along side Gregory Peck in the original Cape Fear and -dare I mention it-along side Fred MacMurray in Kisses for My President.
It was a great episode. Clearly parallels the fantasy world of allure and grandeur of the Kennedy Camelot which was also mostly a false perception.
If there's a Hell, it's being tied to a chair with your eyed pried open, with Fran Feldstein and Skylar White singing Happy Birthday Mr. President to you over and over for eternity.
Fran is so hard to take in this episode but i do like othr parts of it and i love the song that Jackie Gleason wrote that plays at the end. thank you for the video bro!
I don't mind In Camelot. For me, I think A Hit is a Hit and Boca stand out as the weak episodes for most of the series. The second half of season 6A also, hard to pin point single episode there, but I found most of those on the weaker side as well.
I thought this was a really good episode. It was a little coincidental how they met at the grave, but I thought that that the arc of the relationship was really interesting and the ending was awesome. It also showed you what Livia had to deal with. I really liked it.
I never believed Fran that it was an ‘accidental meeting’, she was too wily for that. There are no ‘innocent’ people in the game. She sure knew how to play Tony🎻
Agree with everyone else. That singing “Happy Birthday “was truly cringeworthy.
I would say “a hit is a hit” is the worst one because it adds little to no substance to the show. We never hear about any of the subjects in the show again, and it contains more cringy scenes than In Camelot. I will admit, the mr president scene in In Camelot is the cringiest scene of the whole show. I just binged Breaking Bad, and when Skyler White did the same thing, the wounds in my brain left from Fran Felstein were cut deeper again, i will never recover and i will probably suffer PTSD from watching those scenes. But In Camelot has classic scenes and one liners like the Tony chasing the Shah of Iran while Rock the Casbah is playing the background, and juniors iconic one liners like “chickens nice n spicy eh” and “i can pay my respects from the afterparty”
Hey, whose fuckin' welfare check you gotta cash to get a burger around here?
Fran Felstein is what happens to women who are extremely good looking in their prime, but never learn to grow as a person, because their looks were once all they needed to get what they wanted from life, but once they age out of it, they've really got nothing left to offer. She's still trying to use her sexuality to get what she wants, even if it's in the past through bragging about being with JFK and being Johnny's mistress. It works with Tony until he sees through her.
Women like that are loathed. By their contemporaries (there's a sense of schadenfreude, from the men - the Uncle Juniors - who never had a chance with her, and women who weren't as attractive, especially if they did well for themselves in the long run), and younger generations, who just find them cringe.
What's notable is that she's basically ended up alone. Her son has moved to another country (possibly hinting at a strained relationship), no husband, etc.
Happy Birthday dear MG happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuu
D girl is worse than this episode. this episode shows how the goomars are leeches
I actually really enjoyed this episode.
This is my take: Tony has serious mommy issues (or at least needs to find a maternal figure, as he had a father one with Dickie). Johnny’s Goomar, Feldstein, initially fills that mother figure (that Livia sucked at). So, I’m his mind, this woman is all Livia wasn’t, and even Johnny chose her over that maniac. But then the realization that she’s simply a Goomar / lover rather than a real mother (critiquing Livia, telling stories about being “slutty” around JFK) brought that fantasy of wishing that woman was actually Tony’s mom, to ashes.
What’s sadder is that Anthony knew about it all along. He knows what a “Goomar” is and how a lover will never be a spouse.
Great recap. You're right that the episode is about illusions. Besides Tony and Fran, there's also the Kennedy myth in the episode's title and Chris' ill-fated illusion that he can be both friend and loan shark to J.T. Dolan.
The biggest illusion, though, is about television itself. J.T. tries to pawn his Emmy and is told that it's near-worthless--"If you had an
Oscar, maybe I could give you something." It's like David Chase knew that this was both an important episode and going to be the least loved by the audience.
I think Fran was there on purpose. Its not that far fetched, old people read the obituaries all the time.
"A Hit is a Hit" from Season 1 is pretty bad. Again, it had terrible music too with that hideous band "Visiting Day." And the whole Hesh vs. Massive Genius storyline that went nowhere was awful, too. And one of most cringe scenes was Adriana dancing with Massive Genius essentially raping her with his eyeballs the entire time.
I also can't stand the first episode of Season 3, "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood," where the FBI is trying to plant the wire in Tony's house and there's that hideous song that's playing the whole time that's some sort of mash-up of "I'll Be Watching You" by the Police and the music from some spy movie, can't remember if it's the Bond theme or what, but whatever it was I hated the way the songs were mashed together.
Yeah! That tune was irritating as hell
The ending for ‘In Camelot’ is a work of art.
Absolute, absolute worst: "Chasing It", can't believe no one mentioned this, I'm surprised it even got made
10X worse than "In Camelot" or anything else mentioned here
Even the camera work was 100% different from anything else in the show, unexplainable shaky camera, plus close shots that don't exist in any other episode. Let alone how bad the episode was with Tony's sudden unexplained gambling addiction and his inexplicable argument with Carmella. Hesh's rushed storyline with his girlfriend, etc. Nothing can compare to how bad this was
nah I don't feel like the gambling addiction is "unexplained". I think, like many episodes in in Season Six, that it's supposed to shock the viewer with how reckless Tony is at his age, and in his very dangerous position. His entire life is one big gamble, anyway, despite the veneer of control he has as a mob boss. The freak circumstance of his shooting is proof of that. And it's horrifying to his wife that he would frame his own future in chronic gambler's terms, when he has already survived a near-fatal shooting at the season's beginning. His experiences up to this point should have made him more pensive. Instead they have showed that there's never been any real reckoning with the consequences of his own actions, which is what Melfi's been trying to pound into his sociopathic skull from the series' beginning. To me, "Chasing It" is very brilliant, especially in the context of his increasing beef with New York.
Can't remember the name of the episode, but the one where he's contemplating murdering Paulie is another window into his moral insanity. You really believe in the early seasons that Tony's charisma and leadership skills have made him the king of any room that he steps into, that his other family means the world to him and that explains why they treat him like a coach. But the last season just lets you know he's remorselessly antisocial and a massive hypocrite, who trusts nobody; who sees his own pleasure, thrill-seeking, and self-preservation as the supreme aims in life. A gambling habit of a millionaire mobster, who only stands to lose his marriage, his pride and all his belongings by rolling the dice, is the perfect way to underscore that shift in the series' Tone.
I agree, i did not like when Tony became a degenerate gambler.
I agree 100%. I actually think that episode was made for one reason, as an excuse to cast Sarah Shahi in a guest star role
I couldn't disagree more. Chasing It was perhaps one of the most powerful episodes. It's what made the writing so brave; having the leading man descend into such repugnant behaviour challenged viewers to face more uncomfortable truths about Tony Soprano. No other show has done this.
Also the hand held camera work in this episode was intentional. It presented Tony's lack of control.
The Sopranos is the only show where I can stand “dream episodes”, but I still dislike them the most out of all the episodes. Dream episodes are like the water levels of tv-shows/ movies. Fuck ‘em.
:) They are about as interesting as listening to real people's dreams.
It’s how they can bring back actors who were killed off. I noticed other shows are copying that style or have the living characters speaking to the ghosts while awake.
I enjoyed this. Livia wasn’t the way we know her for no reason.
I agree, "In Camelot" is the one I'd say is the weakest episode but it's by no means a bad episode. It's just nowhere near as good as other shows in that season alone!
I don't think Fean was necessarily using Tony for his money. She missed Tony's father greatly and was pretty much re-living her youth through Tony. But still she was a golddigger.
She discovered the burial date of Livia then staged a visitation to Johnny Boy's grave with the hopes that Tony would visit his grave and see her. She played him. It was all a set up to get the money for the race track. She was a hustler and she hustled Tony.
I’d go with “Christopher” or “A Hit Is A Hit” as the worst episode. Both feel like the writers forgot what show this is. And both are incredibly awkward from an editing and dialogue standpoint. “In Camelot” is just really uncomfortable but not a poor episode.
James Gandolfini was not a no name actor. He wasn't an "a list" but I knew of him and he was in a decent amount of movies
I thought the same thing. Gandolfini was making a name for himself as an excellent character actor. Then again his final role he did with Julia Louise-Dreyfus was, IMO, his best role. He nailed that part.
@@tedwojtasik8781 from what I've read he is NOTHING like tony. Hes one of the most unselfish people that an actor could work with
He was definitely at "Oh yeah, THAT guy!" status. He had large roles in at least two huge hits (Get Shorty, Crimson Tide) and a handful of cult classics (True Romance, Fallen, 8MM). Honestly, I still think of him as "Bear" or "Virgil" lol
@@dreamquesttv that's true. He was on get shorty and had a reliable career
He also played winston in once upon a time in mexico, and he was unbeliavably believable in that role, too
D Girl is the worst, a waste of time and always a chore to get through with every rewatch
When you do a rewatch, why not just skip D Girl?
It’s pointless except to show these gangsters are small time outside their small universe.
I love the ending scene with Puss crying on the toilet, and Chris on the steps.
Strangely enough, that was one of my favorites. There were some good subtle jokes there. Opinions can vary.
@@edwardwood6532 nearly every episode has call backs or call forwards. It just made Chris look stupid and had a plot line with a cousin of Chris’s we never heard about in future episodes. It does have the prettiest female in the entire series, Alicia Witt.
Polly Bergen was amazing in that scene wearing that creepy old dirty Kennedy sailors hat sideways and pointing at the end to Tony with that spiney old finger. It was one of the most memorable creepy scenes in television history
I agree, In Camelot actually does a lot to move the series forward. Much of Tony’s self worth, such as it is, comes from having Johnny Boy Soprano as his father and living up to Johnny Boy’s legendary status. At the end of this episode we see Tony still bragging to his guys about how amazing Fran is even though we know he is thoroughly disillusioned with her, because he is trying to maintain the Johnny Boy mythos that has always been a big part of his identity.
This episode also shows where the bad blood between Phil and Tony starts- Tony getting Johnny Sack to side with him on a $40,000 ruling and then running Phil off the road and roughing him up were some pretty big humiliations that Phil wasn’t going to let go of.
And the Christopher and JT storyline shows us that sober Christopher is still a scumbag, and that Christopher is not likely to stay clean as recovery is about getting honest with yourself and others and Chrissy is still committed to his selfish, narcissistic and abusive behavior.
The happy birthday mr president was so similar to happy birthday ted from BB
Kinda ironic how two of the greatest TV shows of all time cringiest scene is the attempt to replicate that Happy Birthday mr president song
The one with Chris and the rapper felt unnecessary
It wasn't a coincidence Fran was there intentionally
She knew Tony just lost a relative.. And she sat there waiting for. Him to psy. His. Respects to. Johnny. Boy. So. She could get her. Cut
This episode is really important in Tony's realization his dad is actually to blame for his bad upbringing. The more time he spent with Fran, the more he realized his dad gave his mom reason to be mad by spending time with this annoying bitch rather than being with his real family. You see over time his mom had a reason to be mad, and this episode really helped show that.
He was trash while livia was having a miscarriege he decided to stay with his mistress,what wife wouldn't be mad and to make it worst he had Tony lie for him
'' I can pay my respects from the after party .''
Uncle Jun
I disagree completely,I think In Camelot is up with some of the best episodes.
i have to admit that the old lady scared me with the nautic hat dance
My least favorite is probably the one where fbi plant a wire in the basement, it just made me want to watch another hbo show about planting wires.
Yep. I can't stand that episode either. And that song that plays throughout the entire episode is terrible too--its a mash up of I'll Be Watching You by The Police and some spy sounding music that I can't think of the name of.
"A Hit is a Hit" is pretty bad, too. Again, it had terrible music too with that hideous band "Visiting Day." And the whole Hesh vs. Massive Genius storyline that went nowhere was awful, too. And one of most cringe scenes was Adriana dancing with Massive Genius essentially raping her with his eyeballs the entire time.
Pls keep these videos coming. They make me feel as if The Sopranos would have not ended
People really didn’t like the dream episodes? Those were my absolute favorites because of how well they captured the weirdness of dreaming
They were pointless and boring. The writers needed to fill space, that was all. Small wonder Chase ended the series shortly thereafter.
@@JadeDelphi completely disagree, but if you think that, that’s probably what the other people who didn’t like them think too. I guess I just find the dream stuff really interesting
They just seemed like the writers were fans of twin peaks and wanted to somehow pay homage in some way.
@@JadeDelphi Do you even enjoy the show then? The more time I spend in The Sopranos community the more I realise that viewers don’t even really enjoy the show that much. The dream sequences provide a role and it’s not like they were complete filler, it’s a look into what Tony would’ve been had he not gone on the path he’d gone on.
@@cambodianbreastmilk2980 Yes, David Chase and many of the writers were fans of Twin Peaks, you’re literally spot on. Maybe it was a nod, as Chase said he wouldn’t have created The Sopranos without Twin Peaks.
This doesn’t take away from the fact that they serve a purpose.
That's exactly why the episode is way better than many fans rate it - it's quieter, more specific and incredibly psychologically acute: making Tony confront the death of the myth of Johnny Boy Soprano. And the 'happy birthday Mr President' song isn't cringe because it's bad and so therefore doesn't work. It's deliberately awful to highlight how tacky the mistress is - and the tackiness of the reality behind the myth of JFK and the 'Camelot' White House.
"A hit is a hit" is personally my least favorite episode man. Camelot was cringey, and a bit dull... But the episode , in terms of lore, is really good
Great video. The uncomfortable feeling in In Camelot is there for a reason. And it is a big part in Tony’s worship of the old mob his dad was in being based on lies and romanticism.
I had no idea people thought this was a bad episode. In my opinion, the christopher columbus episode where they get into beef with the native americans is the worst and possibly only bad episode in the show. It really didn't add much value to the narrative or characters and felt really out of left field. It kind of made sense when I found out that Michael Imperioli wrote the episode.
It’s not supposed to dive deep into one particular character it’s supposed to critique the relationship Americans have with Christopher Columbus I don’t understand how anyone would find that to be a bad episode unless they unironically agreed with what Silvio and Tony thought of Columbus
@@kingkai9582 The entire episode stuck out like a sore thumb. The writing style was totally different from every episode, almost as if they were trying to make a comedy. Plus it really beats you over the head with the overt social commentary which you dont see in other episodes
@@XoldnewsX “overt social commentary” wtf do you think the Sopranos is at it’s a core? A show about the Mafia or a critique of the male ego through the lens of its main character who is accompanied by several other characters that go through problems such as depression, drug addiction, heartbreak, adolescence, the dynamic between parents and their children, what ambition for a lustful life can push a person to do? You think this episode sticks out like a sore thumb without acknowledging how Meadow explicitly condemns the Bush administration for going to war in Iraq. Or when Anthony Jr adopts a surface level version of Albert Camus dissertation on existentialism through his novels
@@XoldnewsX the sopranos is one big overt social commentary and if you watched all 6 seasons and your conclusion was simply ahaha unnecessarily funny mafia show then you completely missed the point. I don’t see how that episode could be seen in a bad light by any fan of the show unless they actually side with the Italians and their view of Columbus
@@XoldnewsX So clear it up for me and don’t beat around the bush, do you like Christopher Columbus? Are you in anyway against the idea of the eradication of the Holiday?
The most cringe moment in the history of television was that woman singing Happy Birthday Mr President to Tony... it's hard to watch
If I had to choose a least favorite Sopranos episode (like you, I don’t think there are any bad ones, just some not as good), it would be “Christopher” S4Ep3.
David Chase feels like a very disciplined storyteller; The Sopranos usually never rambles or drags because I think Chase always knew where he wanted it to go and everything in the show is deliberate. The “Christoper” episode , however, feels like a rare indulgent misfire.
Chase doesn’t seem to be a fan of what’s often called “identity politics” and it seems like he uses this episode to soapbox about it. Many of the leads’ behavior seems out of character and there is a rambling scene in the end that sort of drags and hits the audience over the head with a point about identity politics that doesn’t feel connected to the overall themes of the series.
Agreed. The only stretch of an alternate take I can grasp at is if Chase were using the episode to laugh at his many "anti-defamation" critics. But he already covered that ground with Melfi's husband/ex.
I love Ralphie's maliciousness though. He takes real joy in messing with people, a credit to actor Joe Pantoliano. He brings an evil joy in Ralphie when he's pranking someone.
@@mrrodriguezHLP oh he's great! I really like how he acted in Christopher when talking to that Native American actor.
I love how your channel is completely focused on The Sopranos
There is always a “worst” of something...even The Beatles have a “worst” musician (Ringo). That doesn’t mean any of The Beatles are BAD musicians! D-Girl may be the worst episode of The Sopranos in my opinion. However it’s cool to see a younger John Favreau simply because he has moved on to become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.
D Girl is the worst episode ever. That red head was so annoying and Chris is hooking up with her when he’s got that angel among us at home? Sickening
Honestly, the series only consists of great episodes, exceptional episodes, and near perfect episodes. There were too many great storylines going on at once for an ENTIRE hour long episode to be noticeably worse than any other
It was pretty cringeworthy watching that old bat singing "happy birthday Mr president".
A Hit is a Hit. Is the worst episode ever from the Sapronos.
the worst sopranos episode was "join the club" and all that Kevin finerty bullshit
Tony watches the History Channel incessantly, loves old timey pop music and longs for the times of "the strong silent type", Gary Cooper. In other words, the more unhappy he becomes in his drab 90s existence, the more attracted he is to the good old days. So it would make total sense that he develops a weakness for the real or imagined glamour of his father's girlfriend. I was actually dreading the "Happy birthday Mr. President" moment in my recent re-watch, because the memory of how cringe it was, was still vivid from watching it years ago. I'm not so sure that he is only lying to his buddies in that final scene. I find it possible that he is also reshuffling the cards of his own memory, because he is desperate for meaning and some grand gangster mythology in his life.
BTW, does it make "Massive Genius" more palpable to anyone that Bokeem Woodbine, the actor who plays him, went on to be Mike Mulligan?
Fran's version of Happy Birthday was exactly as cringe-worthy as Marilyn Monroe's version. I thought the juxtaposition between a drug addled, out of her mind aging (for the time) actress and the way over the hill Fran and her manipulations / delusions was perfect. I remember the first time I saw the video of MM from 62' singing that to Kennedy and thought why on earth did they let someone so obviously messed up do that?
The one about the Italian Pride protests. I think they visited a casino in it as well. Worst episode but had its moments
Agreed, it was relatively pointless for the Sopranos.
The Christopher episode, glad to see im not the only one
1.Johnny cakes
2.mayham
3.D girl
4.mergers and acquisitions
5.In camelot
6.Christopher
7.Luxury lounge
8.A hit is a hit
9.Second opinion
10.The fleshy part of the thigh
Someone that gets it👊🏾
My least favorite was when Tony went to Vegas after Christopher died and he hung out with Sonya the stripper played by Sarah Shahi. My feeling was the the episode was born as a way to get Sarah a decent sized role in an episode as a favor to her. I often wondered if she knew David Chase in real life and it was a favor. It was just an odd episode to me and I didn’t enjoy watching it
That chick was so 🔥🔥🔥 and i love casinos so i liked it
James Gandolfini's Dad lived here in Henderson and he was also visiting him. He showed up at the pizza place I go to, was lovely to everyone and a big tipper.
Spoilers Ahead:
On surface level, it doesn’t seem to add much to the plot, but to me it was very impactful in a frustrating way. Tony just killed his own nephew, and what does he do? Trips I’m the desert, parties all weekend and cheats on his wife. Though Chris was a liability, it just shows that after all that time Tony has no capacity or desire to truly change
I disliked that episode because by that point in the series, Tony meeting some chick, fucking her (or at least there's sexual tension), and then navel gazing had become old and boring. It had been done several times. Gloria, the one-legged Russian woman (forget her name, Irina's cousin), the acting female mob boss in Italy, etc.
Actually, that's one of my criticisms of The Sopranos as a whole. The way beautiful women fall head over heels for him when they don't, at that point, know who he is or what he does for a living, when Tony is a fat balding middle-aged man. The women are often intelligent and accomplished on some level too. They're not bimbos working at the Bing.
Every episode with Tony’s wife and kids!
James gandolfini a no name actor? How old are you? Ppl new JG before the sopranos.
Not really...just from his role in Get Shorty.
@kittylemeu 👍🏼 My husband and I were just saying the same thing. A lot of people knew of him from movies before Sopranos. He was pretty memorable in even small roles... not the least of which was True Romance. He was also in 12 Angry Men (97 remake), Terminal Velocity, and Crimson Tide, all before Sopranos. More than that but they're the ones that I clearly recall.
Watch his role in Angie with Gina Davis he's basically playing season 1 Tony
@@calebflub oh yeah! I remembered him from A Civil Action starring Travolta. Forgot about 12 Angry Men.
@@JoJoJoker And he was in "The Mexican."
Regarding the episode where Melfi had that incident in the stairwell, the only disappointing thing about that episode was that she lied to Tony about what happened to her. The viewers almost certainly wanted Tony to kill that guy.
That's what makes The Sopranos stand out from most TV series, films, soap operas, etc. What happens in the plot is seldom what you want to happen, least of all expect.
It's like the nonce football (soccer) coach at Meadow's school who is abusing her friend, you expect Tony and the boys are going to have him clipped, but he gets reported to the police and arrested instead, while other characters are killed for less.
Chris Moltisanti was a main character from the pilot episode who had various storylines, he's unexpectedly and unceremonously killed off early in one of the last episodes (I legit thought that was just a foreshadowing dream at first - it was obvious Tony was going to kill him at some point, but not like that), a major character being killed off is usually the climax of an episode.
Nobody's commented on the association of Fran with death. Tony finds her sitting in a cemetery. Dressed in orange with orange hair. We all know the reference point of oranges in The Sopranos.
Also, think about what happened to JFK after Marilyn Monroe's singing happy birthday to him. That getting closer, getting closer, getting closer view of Fran vamping and singing, concluding with those weird horns she made with her fingers, the concluding grimacing grin and creepy cackling laugh... she's the Devil personified mocking Tony, letting him know it's not going to end well for him.
The episode also serves to reveal to Tony how it has always worked in the mob. Johnny Boy's bequest to Fran was his silent share in the race track that Hesh and Phil cheated her out of. Tony demanding Phil pay up and knowing that Hesh cheated Fran (and by extension, his father) helped turn Tony against Hesh and added to the dysentery between New York and Jersey. This episode is way more significant than critics are acknowledging.
My least favorites are "Skinny Guinea" and "The Manicotti Mixup". They really expect us to believe that crap?
I don't think In Camelot was bad, but Fran is by far the absolute worst character of the entire series. She is definitely the reason the people don't like the episode. Such a terrible and hate-able character. Hated her!!!
I'm a little bit triggered that "A Hit is a Hit" is that widely panned, as it holds a special place in my heart. I feel the show is at it's best when the show interwines pop culture and how the mob lifestyle effects people with ordinary lifestyles. Even if the music angle wasn't for you(even though it so crucial to making Chris/Adriana's relationship feel real and relatable) the main arc of Tony trying to fit in with the common folk is the real meat of the episode. It really gives a lot of insight into the best part of Tony's personality. He's a proud man and he wasn't going to let a bunch of yuppies make him feel less then. That story about bungalow bar/Gotti was a riot. Also contains Hesh's best line in the entire series and rings so true in the music biz. Their is good tv and their is bad tv, and this episode is just danm good tv. Perhaps at the time with the budding war of 99' people thought someone was going to get whacked? Joke is you guy's who were duped 😉.
1:25 WHAT?! People DISLIKED the dream sequences? The depiction of dream sequences in The Sopranos was, in my opinion, MASTERFULLY executed. It actually caught me off guard when I watched the whole series for the first time the fact that The Sopranos dreams were genuinely the best and most "believable" dream sequences in any media I've seen. Movies and shows usually make dreams completely unnoticeable until they eventually pull the "It was just a dream!" trope, OR they go so over the top in dream sequences like the character or situation exists in some perpetual acid trip but just the oddness, the subtleties, the way people speak, the actions people do; it's hard to really define but it's simply just the best, most interesting, and most entertaining portrayal of dreams in any movie or tv show I've watched. Personally these are my more preferred episodes!
For me Kennedy and Heidi The episode where Tony kills Christopher was my least favorite.
I never really disliked a single episode. Maybe the dream sequences were a bit out there but I found the more I watched them the more reference points I found and then I was impressed by the artfulness of Chase.
I disliked "Chasing It" not because of the story, but mostly because of the sudden shift in directing style. The shaky cam seemed so random and out of place.
Good scene when Tony runs Phil into the boars head truck ,hilarious
Season 3 Episode 1...The Every Breath you take parody in the background while the Feds were watching the family was annoying
Wow, I legit thought I was one of the only ones. That scene dragged on so long to tell so little story. And the song medley was just really unpleasant musically.
Yeah that went on way too long. It could've been shorter and still gotten the point across.
As per me, I think the one thing that can be attributed towards Tony's admiration of his father's mistress was the fact that it justified his own actions. His father's debauched infedility really blurred the lines between them. Earlier he never thought anything of about his own adultery, but when he met his father's mistress, he saw his actions as the peak of Sigma male authority.
Everything he said in his father's defence and in the glory of his infedility, were intended for him.
The last few seasons of the Sopranos sucked because it focused to much on his love life and personal life where is I wanted to see more drama involving the inner workings of La Cosa Nostra which is actually interesting not boring like his love life and personal life. That is hollyweird for you!!
And we did not need to see Tony with his shirt off!! Gross!!!
Oh yes and the dream sequences sucked just focus on crime and murder please
Fairs that's your view but I would say that The sopranos is not meant to be about mob drama. It's more a show about psychology, morality, well and most other things tbh!
@@Sion67Productions I disagree, it became that but it was not supposed to
And here I am thinking that the dream sequences are some of my favorite moments of the entire series. We get to learn so much about our characters and the dreams are so much like real dreams that it’s almost creepy.