The Sopranos review
9.1 / 10 — CineScope score
Overview
A New Jersey mob boss starts therapy after panic attacks, and spends six seasons discovering that the family business and the family at home are the same problem.
The short verdict
The series that made television literary — a domestic drama that happens to be about organised crime.
Story
The show's real subject is inherited damage: Tony's mother, Tony's children, Tony's crew, all running the same program with different names.
Direction
David Chase's writers' room invented the modern antihero and then refused to redeem him, which is why the ending still argues with people.
Performance
James Gandolfini's Tony is the most complete portrait of a man on television; Edie Falco gives the performance the show could not exist without.
Cinematography
Unflashy by design — New Jersey basements, kitchens and strip-mall offices shot like documentary truth.
Music
An eclectic needle-drop policy plus a theme that became instantly inseparable from the show.
Pros and cons
What works
- Career-defining ensemble
- Six seasons of genuine ambiguity
- The definitive TV ending debate
What does not
- Some seasons meander
- A few late additions to the crew never land
Final verdict
Essential. Start with season one and accept that you will be thinking about the final scene for years.
9.1/ 10