THE SOPRANOS PILOT EPISODE

A few days ago we sadly lost James Gandolfini. In memory of him, I'm going to review the pilot episode of the show he's best known for called...

 

"The Sopranos" is what I'd like to call the modern day "Godfather" of TV shows. A mobster of the DiMeo family in New Jersey named Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) has been having panic attacks and now has to secretly see a psychiatrist (Lorraine Bracco). Throughout the episode, we see Tony having problems with his family and problems with his crime business, as well as seeing the people around him having problems as well.

Let's start with the intro before I review, the episode.

THE INTRO
 

After seeing some shots of New York City thinking that the the show is going to take place in New York, we actually find out that our protagonist is actually driving through the New Jersey turnpike to go to New Jersey where the show takes place in. Throughout the intro we see famous New Jersey landmarks and fictional places where the characters are, see very little of our main character and it ends with him arriving to his home and we finally get a good look at our character as he leaves his car. The song "Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3 is very cool, very badass and really pulls you into the show with it's style. A great intro to the show and it pulls me in every time making me feel like that I'm riding shot-gun with Tony.

THE EPISODE
 

Our main character Tony is kind of a mix between Vito and Michael Corleone. He's a mobster but he loves and cares for his family and never ever wants to lose them. Of course unlike Vito and Michael, instead of being calm and wise, he's tough, he's brutal and cheats on his wife. Again like many gangster films, he's a bad guy doing terrible things but we still like him, root for him and care about him. Watching James Gandolfini playing our main character, I can't help but feel that he is naturally playing the character. He's naturally tough, he's naturally being upset and sad, he's naturally interacting with the characters and that's what makes his performance so great and memorable. It just never feels staged. Oh and for those who know the show, Tony's voice is a lot different compared to future episodes. That's because the actor later on got a dialect coach to sound more like a mobster from Newark, New Jersey.

The characters are all great too. His psychiatrist is very likable, the chemistry between Tony and her is great and just like Gandolfini's performance, Bracco is naturally playing the character. Edie Falco as Tony's wife Carmella is really great as this character with her dramatic performance and her character is just as likable as all the other characters. The kids played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler are suitable for there roles and I can't wait to see more of them on the show. Nancy Marchand as Tony's Mother, again  theperformance and character is just as great as all the other characters I just mentioned. Dominic Chianese as Tony's uncle Junior is perfect as this aging mobster and relative and I have a strong feeling that more conflict is going to come out of this character. Michael Imperioli as Tony's nephew Chris is outstanding as this young aspiring gangster and I can't wait to see how this character moves up through the ranks. Other performances from Vincent Pastore, Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Jerry Adler and John Ventimiglia are all really well acted like all the others, I can't wait to learn more about them as the show moves on.

What I really like about the episode is that it never runs out of plot, none of it feels like filler and on top of it I just love seeing the problems and interactions between each character. Like I said, the plot isn't just about Tony's life and his panic attacks, it's also about the world and people around him. His Mother doesn't want to go to a nursing home, Chris has to kill a member of another mob that's trying to move in on the family business, a gambler won't pay Tony's partner Hesh, the relationship between Carmella and her troubled daughter Meadow, and Junior plans to whack a guy at Tony's friends restaurant that Tony has to prevent from happening, so it doesn't damage his friend's business. With so much plot going on, it sounds like all of this could be all put into a two hour movie but no, it's all part of a one hour show and to put all this into one episode actually works. It flows really well, juggles all these different subplots perfectly, and doesn't at all feel so cramped in that it's a mess. I also love how the theme of losing family is symbolized here, but I won't give away how it is.

What I notice about this episode are the references to gangster films like "Godfather" and "Goodfellas". Notice that half of the cast members appeared in those two films. Tony Sirico and Vincent Pastore made a cameo as mobsters in "Goodfellas". Lorraine Bracco played Henry Hills wife Karen in "Goodfellas".Dominic Chianese played Hyman Roth's right hand man Johnny Ola in "Godfather Part 2". And  Michael Imperioli played a kid who got whacked by Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas". The characters also remind me of the characters in "The Godfather Saga". As I said earlier Tony is like a mix between Vito and Michael, Carmella is Kay, Big Pussy is Luca Brasi, Chris is Sonny, and Uncle Junior is Hyman Roth. The episode itself even talks about these films as well. The style of the show also resembles a Martin Scorsese flick with it's shots, rock and blues soundtrack, language, nude girls and violence.

It's an incredible start to the show that beautifully sets-up its world and characters, and who knows, maybe I'll review the first Season next year.

RATING 5/5

REST IN PEACE JAMES GANDOLFINI