Carmella and Tony with Dr. Melfi was kind of interesting. The actors who play Tony and Carmella are the strongest in the series, and giving them time to bounce off each other is always a good choice.
The story with the cop was fine. It showed Tony can feel guilt, that he criticizes black people for committing crime when he himself is a mobster and the most moral guy he's encountered so far is a black police officer. It's all a little on-the-nose, but it works well enough.
The clash with Ralphie and Gigi over getting made capo are interesting enough. You can tell things are simmering that are going to boil over soon enough. Same with the FBI losing their bug.
Which brings us to the best and worst parts of the episodes. Let's start with the worst. What the hell was the Artie Bucco storyline. I mean, it was as cliche and rushed a midlife crisis story as you're likely to find. I mean, I get the idea that Artie envies the life his mob buddies lead while he scrapes by as a chef, but it's all just laid on so thick.
The best, however, was the story with Bobby Bacala, Sr. What a great, visceral scene it was to see him take out Mustang Sally. There was a lot of good thematic material in people hitting a point in their life when they want to feel useful still, when they worry about what comes next, and the coldest part of it all was Junior revealing that his concern was just superstition rather than genuine concern for Bobby Jr.'s dad. Overall, it was a pretty middling Sopranos episode, but that storyline elevated it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-07-10T02:07:05Z
Alright, let's take this story-by-story:
Carmella and Tony with Dr. Melfi was kind of interesting. The actors who play Tony and Carmella are the strongest in the series, and giving them time to bounce off each other is always a good choice.
The story with the cop was fine. It showed Tony can feel guilt, that he criticizes black people for committing crime when he himself is a mobster and the most moral guy he's encountered so far is a black police officer. It's all a little on-the-nose, but it works well enough.
The clash with Ralphie and Gigi over getting made capo are interesting enough. You can tell things are simmering that are going to boil over soon enough. Same with the FBI losing their bug.
Which brings us to the best and worst parts of the episodes. Let's start with the worst. What the hell was the Artie Bucco storyline. I mean, it was as cliche and rushed a midlife crisis story as you're likely to find. I mean, I get the idea that Artie envies the life his mob buddies lead while he scrapes by as a chef, but it's all just laid on so thick.
The best, however, was the story with Bobby Bacala, Sr. What a great, visceral scene it was to see him take out Mustang Sally. There was a lot of good thematic material in people hitting a point in their life when they want to feel useful still, when they worry about what comes next, and the coldest part of it all was Junior revealing that his concern was just superstition rather than genuine concern for Bobby Jr.'s dad. Overall, it was a pretty middling Sopranos episode, but that storyline elevated it.