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Did a run down of The Sopranos as a nightly ritual to cleanse myself of work related burnout and, it being the first time I have seen the series in totality, it really is quite an ambitious work that should be a template for any series wanting to remain consistent in tone. There are flights of fancy here and there and experimentation, but the groundwork for said extensions was built into the premise from day one so the diversions (aside from the choppy, somewhat experimental editing at times) feel naturalistic.
The comedown has been a bit more protracted than I had expected, where a lot of the offspring of it just pales in comparison and overall potency as a complete work. Add to that the abundance of anti-hero main characters populating many spaces to the detriment of contrasting character interaction (the conundrum of the homogenous character voice), it seems a daunting task for anyone wanting to follow that act and I understand a bit more fully why television has gotten to this point of pretense to something more nuanced (when many times the work only scrapes the surface and in rote scenarios written by committee and writer rooms that do not have the benefit of strong direction and the amount of cut teeth that Chase and the like had undergone before tackling such a project).
Apologies for the ramble, but even twenty plus years removed from breaking ground on such an endeavor, it is just as strong a work as viewers (again from an outside perspective) seemed to share upon the original air dates.
The ending works so well when taking in the whole breadth of the show but I expect without the initial expectation and removal of the extreme passions that ruled the day it ended, the intent and execution of it is so crystal clear and perfect I could not imagine a more fitting conclusion to the show.
TL;DR: The Sopranos was a good show. I liked the good show. Thumbs up and hit the bell for notifications.
The comedown has been a bit more protracted than I had expected, where a lot of the offspring of it just pales in comparison and overall potency as a complete work. Add to that the abundance of anti-hero main characters populating many spaces to the detriment of contrasting character interaction (the conundrum of the homogenous character voice), it seems a daunting task for anyone wanting to follow that act and I understand a bit more fully why television has gotten to this point of pretense to something more nuanced (when many times the work only scrapes the surface and in rote scenarios written by committee and writer rooms that do not have the benefit of strong direction and the amount of cut teeth that Chase and the like had undergone before tackling such a project).
Apologies for the ramble, but even twenty plus years removed from breaking ground on such an endeavor, it is just as strong a work as viewers (again from an outside perspective) seemed to share upon the original air dates.
The ending works so well when taking in the whole breadth of the show but I expect without the initial expectation and removal of the extreme passions that ruled the day it ended, the intent and execution of it is so crystal clear and perfect I could not imagine a more fitting conclusion to the show.
TL;DR: The Sopranos was a good show. I liked the good show. Thumbs up and hit the bell for notifications.
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