Season one was awesome! I don’t think it can be understated how funny this show is. Paulie and Silvio are some classic cut ups.
Watched this episode today. It's funny how much these American wiseguys don't fit in to Italian life.
Well, I just finished my first run through of the show and you might as well call me AJ Soprano because I'm fucking depressed
s1ep8 has one of the worst single-episode plots in the show, as it’s the first episode that really makes a big deal about Italian identity and, like the Columbus episode, falls into characters just explaining things that the other characters would already know But it also has one of the best plots, which is Chris’s first big existential crisis. His conversation with Tony in the car (also where the “regularness of life” quote comes from) is particularly devastating because Tony clearly relates to what Chris is talking about, but can’t/won’t articulate it and help him through it in any meaningful sense. I could imagine a more optimistic version of the show where they gradually overcome that emotional hurdle and both come out the better for it (I don’t believe it’s until s2 that Chris actually gets into drugs at all — at this point he’s just the new young immature member of the crew, so his arc could have potentially gone a million different ways), but from this ep is feels like Chase clearly knew from the start that Chris was always going to be doomed. in conclusion, the sopranos is a land of contrasts
The show is ultimately very nihilistic, isn't it? Livia was right about it all being a big nothing. And Tony recognizes that during his last visit with Uncle June; he realizes his son is just understanding life earlier than he may have. When Tony tells his therapist he was born into this, it becomes clear that no matter how close he comes to changing, he will always default back to self-destruction. And it's not just him - most of the characters follow suit. It all feels very deterministic. Even the ending, which I want to interpret as Tony continuing to enjoy life with his family while he waits to be indicted, or whacked, has pretty much all but been confirmed to be his death scene. An amazing show with an amazing ending, but I'm not just sad it's over. It's genuinely depressing.