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Posted by CK-Auctions When David Chase first envisioned The Sopranos, he conceived it as a four season story. The show was a hit both critically and with the viewing public, and by the time the fourth season rolled around HBO didn't want to loose the jewel of their original programming crown. They threw a bunch of money at Chase, and he decided that maybe there were six seasons worth of stories to tell. So now we come to season six, with is actually more like season six and seven. HBO aired the first 12 episodes of the season in 2006 (each season is usually only 13 episodes long) and then will be showing the second half in 2007. This elongated and chopped up season has caused some fans of the show to proclaim that this group of episodes is padded and that not a lot happens. While it is true that the series stumbled slightly at the beginning, taken as a whole this set is just as strong as the earlier shows. The Sopranos is the story a Tony Soprano, a man, like many of us, has trouble balancing his home and professional life. The difference is that he's in the mob, the head of his own family in New Jersey, and his work involves illegal gambling, prostitution, and other activities that have him targeted by the feds. As the tag line for the first season goes, if one family doesn't kill him, the other one will. This season starts off with a bang as Tony gets seriously wounded in a plausible yet unexpected way that sends the series spinning off in new directions. As Tony lays near death, his officers all plot and try to position themselves so that they'll be ready to make their move when the boss man dies. Meanwhile Tony is going through a more than people realize. Laying in a coma he dreams that he's a regular business man on a trip who's accidentally changed wallets with another traveler. As he tries to get home, things start to get a bit strange and unreal. Another major plot line involves Tony's captain Vito. When a friend-of-a-friend sees the made man dressed in leather dancing in a gay bar in New York, word gets around and he flees. This only confirms the rumors, and Tony finds himself in the middle of things again. Vito's wife is the sister of a made man in the New York mob, and he wants the man killed for dishonoring his sister. Many in Tony's crew think that he should be killed too, but Tony has a new outlook on life after his brush with death. His live-and-let-live philosophy doesn't go over well with the people in New York who demand that either Tony kills his captain or they will. This season also reveals some things about Paulie's history that are better left unrevealed, shows how growing up Soprano has affected AJ, and Christopher finds himself in LA pitching a script idea to none other than Ben Kingsley. So, how does this season stack up against the previous ones? Pretty well over all. The season does have some weak parts however. Tony's coma-dream takes over two episodes and though that event sets up the rest of the season, it really went on for too long. The same can be said of Vito's exile in New Hampshire. While it was interesting seeing him in another environment and how he acted there this story line didn't progress as fast as it should and was ultimately not that meaningful. If you have any questions about this review please contact us at contact@ck-auctions.com Posted by CK-AuctionsRead full review
t's lonely in the ranks that believe that season 6 of The Sopranos was as good, if not better, than the seasons before it, but I am convinced that the first 12 episodes of season 6 are amongst the bravest, best written, and most telling episodes of the series. The Sopranos has long been a show with the most complex, multi-layered characters on television, but by using the mantra of "Who am I, where am I going" as a rallying point, season 6 probed the nature of what drives its family, and gets in intense focus of who each of them is. The problem, I think, was that it did its job TOO well this season - it's not that there wasn't action (the death count this year was as high as any other, and Tony does, after all, nearly die himself), but that because the show wanted so much to get the specifics of the ordinary right, it's easy to overlook the rather consternated implications of their everyday events. What I mean is that in showing each character at his/her essence, we get what really drives them, but we don't necessarily get that explained to us - we, for example, identify with Carmela's sense of longing and uncertainty staring off at the Eiffel Tower, or we register that Paulie is adrift in guilt and anxiety over his actions in life, but we get it in the details of their everyday action and, these characters experiencing these implications alone, get little of that wrapped up for us. To me, that speaks to a level of characterization and examination that doesn't exist in television and barely exists in film - it probes the specifics of its fictional characters so precisely, it winds up speaking to the heart of what drives Americans and the materialism of American culture that makes things like mobs possible. In that, it brings forth insurance agent, real estate claimsmen and salesmen, actors, and (in one unforgettable shout-out) Dick Cheney - comparisons of the same urges. Yet this season does more than critique the impulses, it allows them to exist, allows all of their very real virtues to be present, and lets them arise from its characters distinct, full-bodied personalities - money helps keep AJ out of jail, gets him laid, repairs Tony's relationship with his sister, keeps Carmela from probing too deeply into Adriana's murder, gets Tony reasonable health care, and nearly spares Vito's life and stops a cross-river gang war. I may be alone in the level to which the Sopranos makes me think, but I do think David Chase's intentions are to use his astonishingly vivid characters to go into depth about the American mentality (or, they're not, and it's just a product of three dimensional writing). However, even if it weren't, the season gives you extraordinary moments to savor - Paulie's confrontation with mortality ("The Ride"), Carmela crying at Tony's bedside ("Join The Club"), Christopher's gut-shaking relapse ("Kaisha," with a fearless guest turn by Juliana Marguilles), AJ's inability to carry out his "big plan" against Junior ("Johnny Cakes"), and, unforgettably, Philly's cold stare as his machinations to kill Vito are achieved ("Cold Stones"). They're moments of magnificent acting that fulfill characters even as it surprises you with their humanity and personality. And, in the premiere, "Members Only," it gives you it all in an hour - a suicide, heart attack, and gun shot that seem to tell you everything you've ever needed to know about the mob life, about why they - if not you - do what they do.Read full review
The only thing keeping me from giving this a full 5 stars is the fact that I know this phenomenal series is about to end.Keeping that thought firmly in mind I think the writers don't want us to miss these characters once it leaves for good.The characters are all starting to get what's coming to them-as in karma.They've always been well written and this is no exception but now the cast is just plain despicable and loathsome. There was a time when you kinda felt sorry for some of them,that is no longer the case. The other thing that grates my cheese is the fact that HBO always splits up the final season of all it's best shows to make us wait an insufferable amount of time to finally see the outcome...which usually ends up being rather tame and unshocking.What can possibly happen to these people that hasn't already happened? I learned a long time ago not to become too attached to anybody in this series as you never know when their "uppance" will come. Let's hope it goes out with an unanticipated bizarre ending that even the most seasoned TV junkie would never expect.I'm not saying don't buy this (I own all the seasons) but wait for it to come out as a complete season 6 box set-that way you don't miss a beat on this mob tale as it unfolds before your eyes.Read full review
t's interesting that the 2nd review is by someone that just started watching the sopranos-- because they are giving a glowing review to season 6 without considering where the Sopranos has come from. Having watched every episode myself, I can say season six "part 1" is sub par at best. I read the review about how each character is simply being delved into extremely deeply, I agree and I don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is boring anti-climactic lazy story telling. This season is just that. There is a great nuance in Vito's personal life that is exposed in season five and resolved in season six, but some of the episodes were just so slow and uninspired that I wonder if they are even trying anymore. I am guessing that this is the calm before the storm, as it has been stated that season six is the last season. I am hoping that the elements removed from part one are doubled up in part two!Read full review
It's interesting that the 2nd review is by someone that just started watching the sopranos-- because they are giving a glowing review to season 6 without considering where the Sopranos has come from. Having watched every episode myself, I can say season six "part 1" is sub par at best. I read the review about how each character is simply being delved into extremely deeply, I agree and I don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is boring anti-climactic lazy story telling. This season is just that. There is a great nuance in Vito's personal life that is exposed in season five and resolved in season six, but some of the episodes were just so slow and uninspired that I wonder if they are even trying anymore. I am guessing that this is the calm before the storm, as it has been stated that season six is the last season. I am hoping that the elements removed from part one are doubled up in part two!Read full review
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