An accurate statement, reconfirmed by me this week, thanks to HBO programming HBO2 with a weeklongSopranosmarathon.
David Chases drama has aged like fine wine stolen from Pennsylvania motorcycle thieves.
The late James Gandolfinis performance as Tony Soprano looks more than ever like a profound he-built-the-Pyramids feat of acting.
Credit: Everett Collection; Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
(RIP forever.)
(Immediately consultTodd VanDerWerffs seminal AV Club recap exegesis, and buyThe Sopranos Sessionsfor all your friends!)
Major characters died, of course, and seasonal antagonists expired withBuffyBig Bad semi-regularity.
And the passage of time pushed Meadow Soprano (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) from SAT subplots toward law school.
But the contrast between earlySopranosand lateSopranosis less obvious and structural, more of a general vibe.
Steeped in psychological concepts, the show was indulging surreal instincts early on.
(Tony hallucinates a foreign exchange student!)
So LateSopranosis the WeirderSopranos, maybe.
you could still imagine some of the other characters are on a better road.
But I very fuzzily classify the season 4 finale as the end of EarlySopranos.
Weiner went on to createMad Men, while his fellowSopranosstaffer Terence Winter createdBoardwalk Empire.
And the later seasons aredark.
So many people die that theres a joke about having two supporting-cast funerals in one day.
And even then, hesbeautiful a man in full, witnessed without blink or fragile facesaving agenda.
Instead, it patiently observes them in their habitat.
But lateSopranosdoesnt have Vincent Pastores Big Pussy or Nancy Marchands Livia Soprano.
But, earlySopranosonly really hints at the surprising emergence of Bobby Baccalieri as the local everyman.
The legion of AJ haters can never forgive Chase for pushing Tonys son forward.
As aSopranosviewer, which way do you lean?
Tony going to Naples for mob stuff, or Carmela going to Paris to look at statues?
