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The Sopranos
- Thread starter Xarpolis
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Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Horrifying, but true.
So on youtube theres an account, borko that uploads only clips of Sopranos and some dumb spanish cartel show. The guy has been so prolific he developed a little shit posting community around the comment section of his uploads(its hilarious the sopranos people will go into the cartel peoples video and shit talk them even though its all in spanish). Eventually he created a discord to go with the community that sprung up around his uploads.
I joined thinking it would be entertaining. As soon as I joined I made a very obvious comment from the sopranos. Well some fat faggot discord mod who has zero life was just waiting for someone new to say something took offense to what i said. His fat faggot jimmies got rustled so naturally I responded with another line from the sopranos "Who made you captain of the good ship lolipop?", he immediately banned me for saying that.
My jimmies where rustled for quite some time after that. While modern culture fucking sucks in a nutshell.
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Brikker
Trump's Staff
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Re-elect Frank Sobotka
The s2 dock guy's girlfriend had better tits than anyone from the sopranos
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Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
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Aaron
Goonsquad Officer
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Into season 5 now and it's apparent that the show's directors/writers have no idea what to do any longer. The original motif of a mob boss who needs therapy is long gone. Entire episodes come and go without any interaction between the two, and when he does see his shrink, they chat for 30 seconds. The only real overarching plot at this point seems to be the beef between the Jersey and NY families, and Tony and Carmella's separation. Maybe trying to get TJ into Uni too.
There are lots of what seem to be semi-aborted attempts at plot points that for one reason or another didn't make it, or got re-written or something. For example, that whole thing with the old geezer mobster who was let out of jail, went full aggressive mode, got into that spat with Paulie over lawn contractors, then he was back in jail and written out. Another is Steve Buschemi's character, very interesting take, guy learns a trade in prison, wants to go civilian, works hard, earns the trust of his Korean boss, passes the exam, is about to open up a massage parlour and we're introduced to this hot Korean chick, then out of the blue he goes apeshit, it all goes down the toilet and we have another gangster on our hands. You're left asking "what? why?" Then there was Carmella and Furio, that seemed to be heading somewhere, then bam! He's gone. Meadow also seems to have been mostly written out of the show, showing up to strut around in pajamas or a bikini once in a while.
What I'm getting at is that seasons 1-3 (and a bit of 4), all seemed to know what they wanted to say. What story was to be told. Now it's just Mob Quarrel of the week type thing. Well, I'll still finish it all, but seems a pity. Lots of missed opportunities here.
There are lots of what seem to be semi-aborted attempts at plot points that for one reason or another didn't make it, or got re-written or something. For example, that whole thing with the old geezer mobster who was let out of jail, went full aggressive mode, got into that spat with Paulie over lawn contractors, then he was back in jail and written out. Another is Steve Buschemi's character, very interesting take, guy learns a trade in prison, wants to go civilian, works hard, earns the trust of his Korean boss, passes the exam, is about to open up a massage parlour and we're introduced to this hot Korean chick, then out of the blue he goes apeshit, it all goes down the toilet and we have another gangster on our hands. You're left asking "what? why?" Then there was Carmella and Furio, that seemed to be heading somewhere, then bam! He's gone. Meadow also seems to have been mostly written out of the show, showing up to strut around in pajamas or a bikini once in a while.
What I'm getting at is that seasons 1-3 (and a bit of 4), all seemed to know what they wanted to say. What story was to be told. Now it's just Mob Quarrel of the week type thing. Well, I'll still finish it all, but seems a pity. Lots of missed opportunities here.
jayrebb
Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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There's a lot of hatchet job story arcs like that in Soprano's. Jackie Junior was another hatchet job as early as Season 3.
Chase has basically admitted that he gets stumped with story decisions. What you picked up on is sort of his writing MO throughout a lot of the series. It adds a sort of trademark stamp since it's consistent throughout all seasons.
The abruptness and "well that's enough of that" is a big part of Soprano's appeal because you never really knew what was going to be done with a particular story arc no matter how big or small it was. It added at first glance an unpredictability to the show. It left people wanting more of the show as seemingly interesting storylines were constantly dispensed of and disposed of before any real satisfying conclusion.
"Forgettaboutit"
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Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
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The first 4 seasons are certainly the best, but I rather like how they do the sub stories for most of it (not you Vito), because it somewhat reflects more real life and prevents soap opera creep.
Steve Buscemi's character backslides from trying to "go straight" to saying "fuck it", all this shit sucks and hurting people is much easier money; just like the majority of criminals reflected in the high recidivism rate. I think they set up the building animosity and frustration rather well for someone that used to have "respect" on the street and a criminal mindset before going to prison.
The "old guy" that beefs with Paulie about the lawn routes is set up to show Tony thinking creatively on how to take care of a problem without falling back on his tendency to kill people. Research on therapy for criminals shows that it often tends to make them better criminals, not better members of society, which the writers allude to here. Tony killing him would have caused many more problems.
Finally, the show set's up Furio to be smart and ambitious. Him choosing to leave fully serves this narrative, with enough tension that emotions might get the best of him, to make it interesting without setting up the "fucking the boss's wife" trope. Hollywood was big into sticking with tropes when this show was written, which may play a part in why Furio's story came off better then, than now (since modern Hollywood is all about subverting expectations).
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Penance
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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My favorite episode is the Paulie and Chrissy in the snow chasing down the Czech.
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Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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iirc it was supposed to end after 4 seasons which is why season 5 was all over the place
Chukzombi
Millie's Staff Member
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Bondurant
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Aaron
Goonsquad Officer
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Well, just finished it. Makes sense from what I read above that it was supposed to end after 4 seasons. It definitely did drop off after that.
The last few episodes were a bit of a let down. You were anticipating this big gang war, and possibly Tony getting offed, but then it fizzled out like so much else. All in all, though, it was pretty decent, above average, and I can see how it changed things back then. But now we have a shit ton of newer shows that are better. The time period also gets a plus for nostalgia's sake.
Acting and story telling wise, it was pretty solid. Most of the acting was top notch. In the end, I think that Chrissy's story arc was the absolute best, and if anything, it's a show about him, not Tony. I don't know if the actor got any awards, but he made that character. Holy shit. Went from a character you loved to hate, to one you hate to love. Those last episodes with him, where they make fun of him, you can see the pain in his eyes, but he's loyal to the end. Fucking amazing. Most else pales in comparison.
You have a lot of the smaller story arcs that are mostly decent. I won't go into detail here. The major let downs, however, were Meadow and AJ. I just feel as though they had no idea what to do with them. Had them going all over the place. Meadow had a decent arc until she went to college, and then, she was there mostly for eye candy I think (not that I complained). A.J... I seriously thought at the start that they were going with some sort of a latent genius who just didn't get school character for A.J. Turned out they made him into a moron. He gets shit on the entire time, and finally when in the end he finds something worth while doing that he's passionate about, joining the military and stuff, he gets shit on again and told to go make shitty movies. I just feel they missed a lot of good stuff they could have done with the kids.
Well, all in all, decent first four episodes, thankfully short enough that chugging through the last two were not too much of a chore. Worth a watch with some great moments in, but probably not worth a re-watch.
The last few episodes were a bit of a let down. You were anticipating this big gang war, and possibly Tony getting offed, but then it fizzled out like so much else. All in all, though, it was pretty decent, above average, and I can see how it changed things back then. But now we have a shit ton of newer shows that are better. The time period also gets a plus for nostalgia's sake.
Acting and story telling wise, it was pretty solid. Most of the acting was top notch. In the end, I think that Chrissy's story arc was the absolute best, and if anything, it's a show about him, not Tony. I don't know if the actor got any awards, but he made that character. Holy shit. Went from a character you loved to hate, to one you hate to love. Those last episodes with him, where they make fun of him, you can see the pain in his eyes, but he's loyal to the end. Fucking amazing. Most else pales in comparison.
You have a lot of the smaller story arcs that are mostly decent. I won't go into detail here. The major let downs, however, were Meadow and AJ. I just feel as though they had no idea what to do with them. Had them going all over the place. Meadow had a decent arc until she went to college, and then, she was there mostly for eye candy I think (not that I complained). A.J... I seriously thought at the start that they were going with some sort of a latent genius who just didn't get school character for A.J. Turned out they made him into a moron. He gets shit on the entire time, and finally when in the end he finds something worth while doing that he's passionate about, joining the military and stuff, he gets shit on again and told to go make shitty movies. I just feel they missed a lot of good stuff they could have done with the kids.
Well, all in all, decent first four episodes, thankfully short enough that chugging through the last two were not too much of a chore. Worth a watch with some great moments in, but probably not worth a re-watch.
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