Sopranos Season 5 & 6 (spoilers)

THE SOPRANOS SEIZOEN 5



Ik heb nu 2 afleveringen gezien van seizoen 5 en ik moet zeggen, het gaat weer heerlijk.

Ik vond de scene met Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) waarin hij die vrouwelijke bookmaker/loanshark aanpakt erg goed. Dacht al "wat vreemd dat hij dat telefoonboek meedraagt", prachtig als die kogel maar tot de "R" komt. Ook prachtig dat dat vrouwtje voorstelt zich eruit te pijpen.

En Johnny Sack is echt voortreffelijk. Echt mijn favoriete karakter. Lekker opvliegend. Hij begon rustig maar nu, en vorig seizoen. Nee daar gaan wij als kijkers weer van genieten.

Even een paar nieuwe karakters voorstellen:

Tony Blundetto:
Wordt gespeeld door Steve Buscemi. Is in de serie een neef van Tony Soprano. Toen hij 28 was werd hij gearresteerd en belande hij in de gevangenis. 15 jaar later (2004) komt hij vrij. En blijkt dat hij in de gevangenis is veranderd. Mijn mening over hem: Ik weet nog niet wat ik van hem moet denken (heb afl. 4 nog niet gezien). Het lijkt mij wel leuk als hij eens lekker mee gaat doen met Tony en zijn bende ipv zijn massagedroom te verwezenlijken.

Michele "Feech" La Manna:
Wordt gespeeld door Robert Loggia. Een levende legende in de New Jersey maffia. Was een gerespecteerd capo in de 70er jaren. Is nu (2004) na 20 jaar vrijgekomen uit de gevangenis. Mijn mening: Zeer geweldadige vent. En tja zo iemand moet je wel waarderen (op TV dan)

Phil Leotardo:
Wordt gespeeld door Frank Vincent. Capo in de Lupertazzi familie. In de jaren 80 de gevangenis ingegaan en nu pas vrijgelaten. Zou al 27 mensen hebben vermoord (HBO site), kortom een pracht vent. Kan bij mij niet meer stuk na de "telefoonboek" scene.

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Op dinsdag 30 maart 2004 23:47 schreef Capetown het volgende:

Meesterlijke scene inderdaad, maar dat was toch echt in aflevering 3 hoor.

What about the big T himself then. Over opvliegend gesproken.... Zoals hij reageerde op Uncle Junior toen hij voor de derde keer achter elkaar die opmerking over de Varsity maakte.

Inderdaad afl 3, heb alleen 2 en 3 gezien. 1 ben ik nog aan het downloaden. Heb er dus twee gezien.

Tony was inderdaad opvliegend. Maar dan zie je hem later toch weer lekker gezellig met Uncle June heel sentimenteel doen. Dat zie ik Johnny Sack niet zo een twee doen. Maar ja inderdaad ze zijn eigenlijk allemaal opvliegend.

Nouwww, kan me nog herinneren dat ze er flink van langs kreeg (verbaal, dat dan weer wel) toen hij zag dat ze stiekem uit de snoeppot snoepte. Dacht dat dat in seizoen 4 was. Maar heb die zo lang geleden gezien dat ik het mis kan hebben, maar ik denk het niet. Die scene staat me nog helder voor de geest.

quote:

Op woensdag 31 maart 2004 01:40 schreef Capetown het volgende:
(Mis Ralphie trouwens best wel een beetje, ook al was ie compleet onuitstaanbaar. Joe Pantoliano is geniaal).

Net trouwens aflevering 4 gezien. Erg goed. Ik zal nog wel even wachten met spoileren.

Hou je niet in joh. Dat houdt die topic levend. Ik heb hem bijna gedownload, dus ik zal straks ook mijn mening geven over afl 4.

Ralphie was inderdaad leuk. Toch vond ik Richie beter. Zijn ook bijna 2 dezelfde karakters, allebei op de Soprano wereld gezet om Tony te ergeren. Jammer dat Janice het niet meer pikte, jammer vooral voor Bacala die nu met haar opgescheept zit. Bacala vind ik echt een van de mindere karakters. Weinig gezichtsuitdrukkingen, weinig interessante verhaallijnen (alleen Uncle June en Janice en de kinderen). Nee als Janice nu weer moordneigingen krijgt mag Bacala eraan.

Hoe denk ik dat het af zal lopen, uhm nou ik denk (hoop) dat al dat werk van de FBI beloont zal worden. The Sopranos zijn zeer realistisch (alhoewel, kom ik zo op terug) en dus vind ik dat Tony Soprano of dood of in de gevangenis of in het getuigenbeschermingsprogramma van de FBI moet aan het eind. Dood lijkt mij niet echt een leuk einde, voelt heel erg voorspelbaar ook, om de een of andere reden. Tony is geen rat/verklikker (alhoewel) dus het getuigenbeschermingsprogramma lijkt mij ook geen optie. Dus denk ik dat de FBI hem zal pakken. Ik denk dat er een grote "bust" komt waarin een heel stel van Tony’s groep wordt opgepakt. Nadat de FBI wat druk uitoefent zal Christopher een getuige tegen Tony worden. Dit lijkt mij prachtig, denk vooral aan de scenes in de rechtbank tussen Tony en Chris. Er moet dan wel wat gebeuren in seizoen 5 en 6 want zoals het er nu uitziet likt het erop dat Christopher een "stand up motherfucker" is.

Net afl. 4 gezien. Was weer een prachtige aflevering. Maar 1 ding zat me dwars. Hoe Tony Feech in de val zette. Het is niet echt realistisch volgens mij. En het zou ook niet de juiste manier van zakendoen zijn. Feech ZOU een getuige kunnen worden, lijkt mij niet echt mogelijk maar je weet het maar nooit. En voor Tony en zijn groep van 3 die het weten (waaronder Silvio en Christopher) zal het alleen maar ellende onderling brengen want zij weten van elkaar dat ze een ander zullen verklikken als ze in het nauw zitten.

En verder vind ik het natuurlijk flink kut dat Feech er (tijdelijk) uit is. Was echt een pracht karakter.

Walk like a man, kill like a 'Soprano'

Frankie Valli joins HBO show as hit man


Valli with Ray Abruzzo, who plays the son of now-deceased mob boss Carmine Lupertazzi.

(AP) -- For the better part of two decades, Frankie Valli rode the pop charts as a hitmaker with such songs as "Sherry," "Walk Like a Man," "Rag Doll" and the theme song from "Grease."

Now, he's joining another brand of hitmakers -- as a bad guy on "The Sopranos," hanging out with mob types similar to some he grew up with.

"Coming from Newark, New Jersey, I've certainly been around a lot of that," Valli said by phone from his home in Southern California. "Growing up pursuing a singing career, all the little bars and clubs were the places where these guys would congregate. In a lot of cases they owned them.

"I never got to know exactly what each guy was doing, but I did know several guys. I mean, they didn't call me in and say, 'Hey, this is what we're doing this week,' ya know. There are probably a couple of them in my character."

Some "Sopranos" characters are so authentic "I think back to being a kid and these guys," he said.

"There's a lot of familiar-looking people in 'The Sopranos.' "

Joining the cast of HBO's "The Sopranos," now in its fifth season, fulfills a dream for Valli that began four years ago when he first read for the show's creator, David Chase.

"After seeing the show a few times, I really wanted to do it," he said. "I just loved the way David Chase was writing it. He seemed to be pleased with my reading, but at the time he didn't feel as though the part I was reading for was right for me, but said he would look for the right thing for me.

"In most cases, that's a nice way of making you not feel bad about not getting cast. But David is a man of his word."

'They may give you a call'
Valli first appears in the series Sunday, and will be in three more episodes, barring changes. (It airs 9 p.m. EST.)

While the shooting has wrapped up for this season, Valli said nothing is certain on the set of "The Sopranos."


Valli had many hits with his old group, the Four Seasons, and as a solo artist.
"If they want to insert anything, they may give you a call. They're constantly critiquing. David Chase is a meticulous writer."

Valli plays a captain in the New York faction of the mob, in the family of Carmine Lupertazzi, who has just beat the mob odds by dying a natural death. Valli is allied with the stroke victim's son, Little Carmine (Ray Abruzzo).

Valli said it seems that his character will survive to a sixth season, but added: "You just never know."

Should Valli the actor be grimly reaped, Valli the singer has a project in the works -- a jazz album.

"It's the thing I always wanted to do," he said. "I never thought in a million years that I would end up doing pop music. It wasn't anything that I really wanted to do. I kind of grew up at the tail end of the big band era. I have grown to like pop."

Doing what he wants
He also is reviving the Four Seasons -- though only Valli, his trademark falsetto and his music director remain from the original group that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Most of its hits came in the '60s and '70s.

"I stopped for a while. It had come to the point where I thought I'd had enough. I found out that I hadn't quite really had enough. I just decided I'm going to be on the road less. There are other things that I want to do.

"I'm at a point in my life where I've had a lot of hits. It's not so much that I'm sitting here at this time in my life with stars in my eyes hoping that I have another No. 1 record. I've had my share of No. 1 records. I really want to do things that I really want to do. I have enough on my plate as it is."

Along with music and acting, Valli, 66, has three sons -- twin 9-year-olds and a 16-year-old -- "to stay on top of."

"I like being home and doing location work," he said. "That was another really wonderful thing about doing 'The Sopranos.' You didn't have to travel every day."

His previous sporadic acting stints have included 1998's "Witness to the Mob" starring Nicholas Turturro and Tom Sizemore, Robby Benson's "Modern Love" in 1990 and the 1978 feature "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

"I certainly want to do more acting if I have any opportunities to do it," he said. "I want to do roles that are challenging. It's a creative part of me that really has to be a little bit more active."

Nou ik vond afl. 5 helemaal te gek. Ik ben het niet met je eens trouwens. Ik vond de acties van de karakters (behalve adrianna dan) precies passen bij ze. Kijk het is natuurlijk wel zo dat het gedrag van Tony in afl. 5 niet past bij het gedrag van Tony in seizoen 1. Maar Tony is veranderd. In seizoen 4 zag je al hoe hij veranderde in een miezerig persoon (was hij natuurlijk al wel, maar hij had nog regels en een bepaald stukje eer). Waar ik dan aan denk zijn alle wijven waarmee hij Carmela bedroog, hoe hij die ene vent met zijn riem sloeg omdat die vent een relatie had met zijn ex minnares, en het vermoorden van Ralphie vanwege een paard. De tekenen van het verval waren er al en in afl. 5 kwamen die allemaal naar voren. Tony ging maar aan de coke en kwam erachter dat Adrianna ook een kut had. Het paste gewoon precies.

Christopher deed zoals hij altijd deed. In seizoen 5 nog sprak hij waar hij had moeten zwijgen in de belangrijke vergadering tussen Johnny Sack en co. Daardoor verpestte Chris die vergadering. En dan is er ook nog die situatie in seizoen 1 waarin Chris zoiets zei van "I got to question your leadership T.". Dus Chris deed zoals altijd.

Na afl. 5 is natuurlijk echt alles veranderd. Tony had Chris moeten vermoorden. Nu lijkt hij zwak tegenover iedereen die de roddel kent. En nog belangrijker Christopher zal hem nog steeds willen vermoorden. Het kan alle kanten uit maar het ziet er in ieder geval zwart uit voor Tony en Christopher. En ik zeg het nog maar eens, ik vond afl. 5 echt een van de beste afleveringen van seizoen 5.

quote:

Op woensdag 14 april 2004 11:16 schreef HarigeKerel het volgende:
Aflevering 6 viel mij wat tegen, het stukje met die Koreaan was wel even geweldadig... jammer dat die niet Steve in mekaar ramde...
Die Koreaanse chick was wel om van te smullen bij de weg!

Die Koreaanse was inderdaad heel lekker. Mag van mij terugkomen, maar dat zal wel niet nu Tony B. (waarschijnlijk) alle banden met zijn koreaanse baas heeft verbroken. Ik vond afl. 6 ook tegenvallen. Dat gedoe met Carmela kon echt niet boeien, voelde ook wat gehaast. En dan die "father" Phil (heet zo dacht ik) wat een kotsvent. Die vent verdient echt een Tony B. "massage".

Net ook afl. 7 gezien. Ik vond hem leuk. Even leek de ineenstorting van Tony Soprano compleet te worden: ik dacht heel even dat hij met zijn vaders ex liefje ging neuken. Maar waarschijnlijk vonden ook de schrijvers dat Tony S. die seks heeft met een bejaarde iets te ver ging. Ook leuk dat Hesh weer (even) terug was. Vind ik toch ook een van de leukere personages.

Afl 8 was weer geweldig. Phil met dat gezeik over zijn auto. Haha vond ik wel grappig om te zien. Het grappigste was nog Tony’s gezicht toen Johnny Sack uitlegde waarom zijn vrouw nog niet in zijn nieuwe auto had gereden. Prachtig. Uncle Junior had ook weer een geweldige actie toen hij het feestje verklapte.

Ik vond het prachtig toen ze Joey Peeps’ grafsteen lieten zien en daar "PEEPS - Joseph Jon" opstond. Iemand zei nog: "Peeps is his nickname" Hahaha prachtig. Johnny Sack maakte ook weer een goede indruk. Dat wordt me straks toch een oorlog als Johnny Sack bewijs krijgt dat Tony B. achter de moord op Peeps zat. Dat latina vrouwtje mag van mij terugkomen, gewoon puur voor de beeldversiering. Vind haar erg lekker. En verder was daar natuurlijk nog Vito die lekker "bezig" was. Weer een goede uitzending vond ik.

TV wisegay

'Sopranos' fella hits the other way

By MICHELE McPHEE
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF


Joseph Gannascoli, aka Vito Spatafore on 'The Sopranos,' talks about new plot twist.

It's a first for "The Sopranos" - a gay mobster.
On last night's episode, capo Vito Spatafore was caught in a compromising position with a male security guard - definitely not the kind of behavior that would go over well with the oglers at the Bada-Bing.

"It adds a lot of depth to the character," actor Joseph Gannascoli, who plays the newly outed mobster, told the Daily News.

In the real mob, being gay can add real depth - about 6 feet underground.

Vincent (Vinny Ocean) Palermo, former boss of New Jersey's DeCalvacante family, said to be the model for "The Sopranos," testified last week there is one way to handle gay gangsters: Kill them.

"What's the rule ... about this?" federal prosecutor John Hillebrecht asked the mob turncoat on Wednesday.

"You die," Palermo replied.

That was the punishment meted out to DeCalvacante wiseguy John D'Amato in 1992, whom Palermo ordered whacked after being told his underling had rendezvoused with another man at a swingers club.

Over lunch at a Brooklyn restaurant, Gannascoli took pains to point out he is not gay - adding just as quickly, "Not that there is anything wrong with it."

"My problem is, I love women," he said.

Gannascoli did say he relished the challenge of playing a homosexual. "It was my idea many years ago to have my character be gay, having read and known about gay wiseguys," he said. "I want to be effeminate but knockaround."

Still, Tony Sirico, who plays Paulie Walnuts on the show, grabbed Gannascoli by the arm last week and asked: "You okay with this? You want me to have a talk with [the show's creator] David Chase?"

Gannascoli knows he's in for a little ribbing or worse.

"I'm going to have to deal with a lot of grief in the neighborhood. I'm a little worried about how my family is going to react," Gannascoli said, just as his elderly father walked by a window of Paneantico, a bistro on Bay Ridge's bustling Third Ave.

"But I wanted to really act," he added. "I don't want to just play mob guys for the rest of my career."

Gannascoli refused to reveal whether Vito will face repercussions, saying only, "In the mob, it's about money."

Originally published on May 3, 2004

Wat een goede aflevering zeg (afl. 12). Adrianna is dood. Het was natuurlijk onvermijdelijk. Adrianna was ook niet koelbloedig genoeg om het er heelhuids vanaf te brengen. Ik vond het wel raar dat de FBI Adrianna zomaar naar Christopher liet gaan. Zij wisten och ook wel dat Ade de kans liep vermoord te worden? Maar goed dat doet niets af aan de aflevering. En dan is het vanaf nu ook officieel: Tony S. en New York zijn in oorlog. Heerlijk. Seizoen 5 is echt geweldig geweest. Ik vond Seizoen 4 niet zo super (heb die ook online bekeken) zelfs slecht, maar Seizoen 5 vond ik echt geweldig.

Hit shocks 'Sopranos' fans

By MARISA GUTHRIE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


Fatal Admission: Adriana (Drea de Matteo) revealed to Christopher (Michael Imperioli) that she's talking to the feds.

The ghastly whacking of Adriana left "Sopranos" fans reeling and online message boards abuzz yesterday.
HBO went to great lengths to keep the most dramatic plot twist of the season under wraps, deleting pages of the script and trusting no one with advance screeners of the episode, "Long Term Parking."

It paid off, because fans were blindsided when Adriana [Drea de Matteo], after revealing to Christopher [Michael Imperioli] that she was talking to the feds, was rubbed out by Silvio Dante.

Still, many fans yesterday wrapped themselves in the fantasy that Adriana somehow escaped Silvio's bullets.

"We didn't actually see the bullets enter her body. I'd love to think that Silvio let her go," wrote one fan on HBO's "Sopranos" bulletin board.

Indeed, one of the sticking points for fans was the absence of body disposal, leaving plenty of room for conjecture.

"Ade crawled away and the wounded Russian is taking care of her now," wrote one fan referring to the famed "Pine Barrens" episode, where Paulie Walnuts [Tony Sirico] and Christopher battled with a mobster and eventually lost track of him.

Some fans also found comfort in the possibility it was all a dream.

"Is it possible she is really on the lam and dreamed what would have happened if she stayed," asked a fan.

Wishful thinking.

Adriana's demise had been rumored since news surfaced that de Matteo had been signed to co-star opposite Matt LeBlanc in next season's "Joey," NBC's "Friends" spin-off.

But the languid pace of the last few episodes of HBO's mob drama and Adriana's emergence this season as a star player rendered the dénouement of "Long Term Parking" all the more shocking.

But just as many fans were gratified to see Adriana go.

"No more whining about Ade being dead," wrote a fan. "She was a rat. She got it in the back of the head begging for her life ... that's exactly what she deserved."

And many conceded that it was inevitable.

"It may be hard to stomach, but let's face it, no character is safe from being whacked on that show," said another. "No character."

In the end, wrote a viewer on the "Sopranos" forum on NJ.com, "Adriana suffered from IBS: Irritable Bullet Syndrome."

With only one episode left ("The Sopranos" is off next week and returns June 6 for the season finale), fans are feverishly deconstructing everything from the odds of video surveillance at Newark Airport catching Christopher ditching Adriana's car, to the identity of the (rumored) second confidential informant (Tony B, Meadow's fiance), to the possible deadly results of Tony's rift with Johnny Sack (bullets for Chris, Carmela, A.J.).

But for all the hypothesizing on the Net, the "Sopranos" still manages to shock.

And the season finale in two weeks is sure to pack another round of gut shots. (EINDE)

LAND, HO!

By BARBARA HOFFMAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sopranos" fans are blasting Carmela for reconciling with Tony in exchange for a $600,000 piece of property.
- Abbott Genser/HBO

May 25, 2004 -- ADRIANA'S gotten the ax - and now "Sopranos" fans seem ready to whack Carmela. In what aficionados of the HBO drama see as an unveiling of "the real Carmela," the well-manicured Mafioso hausfrau agreed to let Tony return to their home provided he remains faithful - and shells out $600,000 for some land she can build a house on.
Carm (Edie Falco) called it a creative project.

Outraged viewers called her a "mercenary," a "using bitch" - and worse.

Not since that tryst with her son's guidance counselor have the "Sopranos" faithful been so incensed.

"I dunno about the rest of you, but I think Carm is worse than Tony," fumed one "Sopranos" bulletin board poster.

"The fact that she is now sacrificing her 'morals' for a piece of real estate really shows what kind of person she is."

Cracked another: "Apparently, infidelity has a price - $600K in undeveloped land."



Naturally, therapists tend to be more understanding.

"This is a tit-for-tat relationship," contends Manhattan couples therapist Diana Adile Kirschner. "[Carmela] gets power and an upper-middle-class life by putting up with him. That's why this couple is so believable."

In fact, Kirschner says, she's seen it herself:

"This kind of bartering goes on all the time with upper-middle-class couples," she says.

"The man has the money and power, and the woman compromises - looking the other way from his infidelity to maintain her status and power."

Nevertheless, she adds: "Carmela also loves him, and he loves her very much - to the extent that they can love anyone."

Lynn Harris, an advice columnist and specialist in relationship issues - she runs the breakupgirl.net site - is more concerned about the other side of the couple's bargain: Tony's pledge to be faithful.

Or, as he cannily told Carm last night: "I swear to you on our children that my midlife-crisis problems will no longer intrude on you anymore."

Analyze that!

Harris has, and she says it doesn't look good. "I don't think he's being insincere, but I just don't think he can stick to it."

Still, viewer enchantment dies hard. As the postings show, Carm and Tony and the kids aren't the only ones affected by their breakup: We're involved, too.

"There's a little Carmela in all of us," says Manhattan marriage therapist Sharyn Wolf. "We don't want to think that, but it's there.

"We all make certain trade-offs, and what might make it so repulsive for us is that we've empathized with her throughout the series and it's hard to see the other parts of her - to see she's not just a victim, but a player.

"We've developed relationships with these people; we have deeper feelings for them. So it seems like a personal affront when Carmela shows other parts of who she is and who she's always been."

And at least one viewer wasn't ready to write the "Stepford wife" off completely:

"I don't think Carmela is really reconciling with Tony. Once the lot closes with her name on the deed and his name on the mortgage, she's all set ...She's smart and looking out for herself and Tony be damned."

quote:

Op dinsdag 25 mei 2004 23:19 schreef HarigeKerel het volgende:
Toch had ik niet verwacht dat Silvio de moord zou plegen, die heb ik nog nooit zien moorden en kwam altijd meer over als een adviseur dan iemand die dergelijke zaken uitvoert.

In seizoen 1 vermoord Silvio Jimmy Altieri (sp). Die dikke capo. Christopher is daarbij aanwezig. Je weet wel in dat hotel, als ik het me goed kan herinneren wordt Jimmy later gevonden met een vogeltje in zijn mond gepropt.

quote:

Op woensdag 26 mei 2004 09:08 schreef RoK het volgende:
DE FBI hoopte ook Christopher als getuige te krijgen, vandaar. Klopt het dat er nog één aflevering komt en dat het dan alweer afgelopen is?

- edit: laat maar, lezen is ook een vak -

Dat kan de FBI wel hopen maar daar zouden ze niet Adriannas leven voor wagen. Maar ach het is een TV serie en ze mogen wel eens een keertje niet zo realistisch zijn. Ach je kan de FBI in deze zaak ook gewoon heel dom noemen. Of dat ze het niet zo nauw nemen met de regeltjes. Het werd in ieder geval leuk gebracht.

Over 2 weken is de laatste aflevering van seizoen 5, dat wordt afl. 13.

quote:

Op woensdag 26 mei 2004 23:36 schreef HarigeKerel het volgende:
Even een vraagje aan de kijkers/fans hier:
Wat vinden jullie nou eigenlijk van Tony? heb je medelijden met hem bij iedere tegenslag?
of overheerst toch de haat jegens hem?

Zelf zit ik tussen haat en liefde in

Ik heb geen medelijden meer met hem. In het begin nog wel toen het leek alsof hij een ander leven wilde maar de laatste tijd is hij tevreden (lijkt het). Verder is het toch wel mijn televisie vriend, hij vermaakt mij prima. Ik zou zeggen meer liefde dan haat, maar het zit dicht bijelkaar. Vooral toen hij bijv. ervoor zorgde dat die zwarte agent zijn baan verloor.

De laatste Sopranos aflevering van dit seizoen wordt uitgezonden op 6 Juni

Onderstaande is het verhaaltje dat een beetje beschrijft wat er gaat gebeuren in afl. 13. Niet echt een spoiler dus maar ja wel een stukje over hoe het verhaal begint. Het komt van de officiele Sopranos site van HBO.

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door Dada op 02-06-2004 22:20:54 ]

LAST SHOT



By ADAM BUCKMAN

June 3, 2004 --
Who do you think will be whacked on the season finale of The Sopranos? Vote now!

ALL is forgiven. Not that the makers of "The Sopranos" should care one way or another, but this season has been so good, I'm willing to forgive and almost forget Season 4.

I threw in that "almost" because I cannot quite forget that nearly two years ago, Season 4 almost derailed "The Sopranos" irretrievably with storylines that either went nowhere or made little or no sense to begin with.

This season - the show's fifth - the detours (including Tony's friendship with his father's old girlfriend in episode 7 and Tony's meandering dream in episode 11) have been kept to a minimum and the series has barrelled ahead on a more or less straight track toward this weekend's highly anticipated season finale (Sunday night at 9 on HBO).

And what a season it's been - possibly the best season of "The Sopranos" since the series' first in summer 1999.

Not only have the show's writers steered the season's main plotlines toward a finale brimming with potential for multiple showdowns, but some of the season's individual episodes rank as some of the most explosive in the show's history.

Two of them in particular involved Tony (James Gandolfini), Adriana (Drea De Matteo) and Christopher (Michael Imperioli) - episode 5, in which Christopher went gunning for Tony following the rumors that Tony and Adriana were involved in a sex act when Tony's SUV flipped over and injured Adriana; and episode 12, when Adriana confessed to Christopher that she'd been talking to the FBI and Tony arranged for Silvio (Steve Van Zandt) to kill her in the woods upstate.

And for my money, the moment in episode 9 when Meadow's (Jamie-Lynn Discala) boyfriend, Finn (Will Janowitz), discovered Vito Spatafore (Joseph Gannascoli) is gay ranks as one of the all-time great moments in "Sopranos" history.

I have a feeling a few more great moments are on the way this Sunday.

Lull before the storm

This so-so 'Sopranos' season - the last but one - could end tonight with a bang


The Terrible Tonys: James Gandolfini, l., & Steve Buscemi; Drea De Matteo as doomed Adriana (boven).

When it comes to high notes, "The Sopranos" this year has been more like the Altos.

The HBO series hasn't hit many in the top range, and from this side of the screen, it feels like they haven't reached for them as often.

Now we say that partly because we're spoiled. "Sopranos" fans have become as bad as Yankee fans, so accustomed to total victory that anything less feels disappointing. We compare all writing to the Pinelands episode. We measure all rubouts against the head of Ralph Cifaretto.

Still, this season has by any standards felt uneven.

The theme has been family, and on TV, as in life, that turns out to be something we can get too much of. Dearly as we love Polly Bergen, her drive-by as Tony's father's mistress was the long way of letting us see how Tony's dad forced him to tell terrible lies to his mother.

Tony's dream sequence was a near-complete waste of time - not because it didn't have interesting moments, but because it told us nothing the show hadn't already said.

The prominence given Steve Buscemi's Tony Blundetto took playing time and story lines from several old friends. Uncle Junior has become the guy who does something wacky to entertain the audience between acts, and Meadow has simply gone walkabout. One minute she's in denial about her family, the next minute it feels like someday she's going to run it.

In the bigger sweep, though, Tony B. embodies "The Sopranos'" dilemma. Early in the series we were fascinated by murderous psychopaths. Now it's more like "Okay, Tony, take a number."

It even works against "The Sopranos" that HBO follows it with the superb "Deadwood," which inevitably has a fresher look because it's new.

All that said, "The Sopranos" also did a lot of things right this season. The way evil constricted Adriana's world was brilliant. We heard her gasp for breath. We felt the dark chill. For writing and performance, Adriana's farewell episode two weeks ago was as good as "The Sopranos" gets.

DEATH AND CHOCOLATE

And has anyone ever used music better on a TV show than "Sopranos" creator David Chase used Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" in that episode?

When Christopher told Tony early in the show that he was late to a meeting because "the highway was jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive," Tony heard it as a smart-mouth wisecrack. By the time Springsteen band member Steve Van Zandt took Adriana to the end of the line, it was clear Chase had way more than that in mind.

Born to run.

No place left to hide.

No episode was too slow to have moments. Tony's shrink, Dr. Melfi, admitted she felt some of the same attraction to Tony's power that won him Carmela and now keeps him supplied with stacked, neurotic bimbos. Dr. Melfi did not take a number.

Tony's sister, Janice, finished anger-management class. Tony smiled and prodded her into a profane rage.

Christopher filled Tony in on a murder, then asked for the uneaten half of his chocolate bar.

Like most good shows, "The Sopranos" has over time eased back toward the pack. As it positions itself tonight for next year's run to the wire, don't bet against a strong finish.

Answers please

Realizing "The Sopranos" loves to imitate life by raising matters and never resolving them, here are five questions we'd still like to see at least addressed on tonight's fifth-season finale:

1. Is there any way Tony Blundetto can make it to next season without getting fed into the wood chipper?

2. Will Meadow's street-stupid fiancé, Finn, somehow last long enough for us to see a mob wedding?

3. Will Johnny Sack's beloved new car survive the upcoming unpleasantness?

4. Does reupping with Tony mean Carmela is taking her myopia pills again, or is she angling to build up her own cash reserves?

5. Okay, we know this is a long shot, but what did happen to the Russian?

De aflevering viel mij niet echt tegen. Ik verwachtte ook niet veel. De laatste paar finales waren niet revolutionair. Vooral de seizoen 4 finale vond ik heel weinig aan. Dat Tony B. door Tony S. werd vermoord vond ik toch nog verrassend. Had het echt niet verwacht. Ik dacht echt dat Tony B. het seizoen wel zou overleven. Jammer dat hij weg is maar ja zijn rol was toch een beetje onhoudbaar geworden, misschien gewoon dom van mij dat ik niet wilde zien dat Tony B.s tijd gekomen was.

Wat ik jammer vond aan de laatste aflevering was dat ze de Johnny Sack verhaallijn "afmaakten". Dat had naar mijn mening toch het gebeuren moeten zijn van het laatste seizoen. De oorlog met New York had moeten losbarsten. Nu Johnny Sack en zijn crew in de gevangenis zijn beland is het wel zo’n beetje afgelopen met de oorlog. Tonys gesprek met Johnny Sack was ook al van zo’n aard dat het leek alsof alles opgelost was. Ben wel benieuwd wie ze als vevanger voor Johnny Sack hebben. Zoals ik het nu zie is Johnny Sack gewoon niet te vervangen, fantastisch karakter en geweldige acteur.

Verder zeg ik het nog maar eens: dit seizoen was geweldig. Heb echt genoten. Alleen de "carmela neukt de leraar" aflevering vond ik niets voor de rest was alles geweldig.

Tonys go out with a bang


James Gandolfini severed a family tie on 'The Sopranos' finale.

THE SOPRANOS. Season finale, HBO.

If former President Ronald Reagan's was the death that saddened us the most this weekend, Tony Blundetto's was the one that surprised us the least.

Still, the shotgun blast that took out Tony B. provided the surprisingly complex moral centerpiece for a strong finale to the fifth season of "The Sopranos."

Combined with Adriana's execution in the previous episode, the Tony B. scene should also whack any suspicion that "Sopranos" creator David Chase had cut back on "action" - that is, unapologetic lethal violence.

Last night's show must hold us, because the sixth and final season may not air until 2006. But Chase skillfully did two things in the finale.

After Tony Soprano's season-long campaign to convince himself family was the core belief on which he built his life, Chase forced him to face the truth, which turned out to be somewhat different.

Cousin Blundetto, the most dangerous loose cannon on a deck full of rolling artillery, had killed an untouchable in Johnny Sack's rival New York mob. Sack warned that unless Tony S. handed over Tony B., the killing had only just begun.

Tony defied the warning. But soon even his own guys started pressuring him - a good reminder that there's no "family" when you're the guy at the top.

So he decided to compromise. He'd kill Blundetto before New York found him.

Tony rationalized this as a mercy killing, but he also knew he was killing what he considered the noblest piece of himself - the piece that would defend blood to the death.

The practical benefits of killing Tony B., naturally, were wiped out before the corpse was cold.

Even as Tony and Johnny toasted a new age of harmony, Johnny was busted by the FBI. This gives Chase a bloody battle for control of New York as a plot option for the final season.

Chase also teed up a few other subplots last night, including Carmela's giddy delight at getting to build her tacky Dream House; Carm and Tony's ongoing myopia about their punk kid, A.J.; the glib, unquestioned lies with which the late Adriana is shrugged out of everyone's life, and yet another high wire on which Christopher must walk.

The finale was light on music, but didn't forget the in-character humor, like Christopher's moving eulogy to Adriana: "She was willing to rat me out because she couldn't do five f------ years. I thought she loved me."

Enjoy your time off, guys. See you in ought-six.

Dit staat er op de officiele Sopranos site van HBO:

quote:

The Sopranos is set for a sixth season. The ten-episode sixth season will begin production in early 2005. No date is available for when the season will premiere.

Heb ergens gelezen, weet niet meer waar, dat seizoen 6 misschien pas in 2006 in Amerika op de buis komt. Kan een mens zolang wachten?

quote:

Op dinsdag 8 juni 2004 23:51 schreef marruuuk het volgende:
welke serie is er nou op nederland 3 elke week

Op Ned 3 wordt Sopranos Seizoen 3 uitgezonden. Over dat seizoen (en 1 en 2) kun je praten in het topic: The Sopranos - Deel 2

[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door Dada op 09-06-2004 09:35:03 ]

'Sopranos' bumped to '06

By JAMES ENDRST
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


Vincent Curatola (l.), James Gandolfini in "Sopranos." Final episodes will air in '06.

LOS ANGELES - It's gonna kill 'em to hear it, but fans of HBO's mob drama "The Sopranos" will have to wait until 2006 before they see the final episodes of the series.
And exactly when in 2006 is unclear, according to HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht.

That's the bad news.

The good news?

HBO officials are talking to show executive producer David Chase to perhaps produce 13 episodes, rather than the previously announced 10, in the final season.

For now, though, Albrecht isn't losing any sleep over the long wait for fresh "Sopranos" episodes.

"It's like the Harry Potter book," he told TV writers at the Television Critics Association yesterday. "You'll wait for the sequel and be very happy to get it."

He's not much concerned about the risks of another network, perhaps Showtime, coming up with its own "Sopranos," either.

"I think it will be well worth waiting for," he said.

"Look, this past season was going to be the last season," Albrecht said, referring to his discussions with Chase. "We said it doesn't have to be unless you think that it is. And he got into it and arrived at the place himself where he said, 'You know what? I have found that there's more stuff to tell here. There's more things I can say about these people and these situations.'"

Chase and HBO then agreed on 10 episodes in the final season.

"But I have said to David, 'Especially if you're making the audience wait a while it would be great to do as many as you thought you could do with the same quality that everyone has come to expect of you,'" Albrecht said. "And no one holds a higher standard for the show than David does.

"So we've talked to him about it," Albrecht added. "He hasn't said no. And with David, that's always a very good sign."

Meanwhile, the HBO exec also praised the cable network's new comedy series "Entourage," which after last Sunday's debut and less-than-stellar ratings, has already been picked up for a second season.

Originally published on July 23, 2004