#thebluecomet

The episode of the series that’s probably the hardest to watch, “University” is somewhat of a companion piece to “College”, the legendary episode from the first season. This episodes two storylines involve young women on completely opposite ends of the spectrum: Meadow’s story is told from the perspective of a girl from an upper middle class family while Tracee, a young Bada Bing stripper who is truly the episodes star, is told from the perspective of a dirt poor individual trying to make ends meet for her and her young son. Both storylines end with women being broken up with but in completely different ways. While the pretentious ass Noah Tannenbaum ends things with Meadow over her being “too negative” and the overbearing weight of her roommate Caitlin on their relationship, what’s remembered most about this episode is how Ralph brutally murders Tracee after she tells him she’s pregnant with his child. Ralph is a wild card throughout the series, but nothing compares to the absolute terror we witness here in the back of the Bada Bing. Not only is the story in this episode written gorgeously, but the editing is truly what makes this episode hit home. The intersecting scenes depicting the difference between these young women's lives leaves us in an unsettled and devastated sense of mind. While this episode is probably the toughest to get through, it’s also a master achievement in storytelling. 

While I was putting together this list, I compiled my top 30 favorite episodes of the series and strung it together from there. I know there’s a ton of episodes not included in my top ten that people would argue need to be up there, but there’s so many brilliant pieces to this story it’s nearly impossible to make everybody happy. Before we reach #1 on our top ten list, here are the other 20 episodes that rounded out my top 30: 

Whoever Did This (Season 4, Episode 9)

Long Term Parking (Season 5, Episode 12)

Employee of the Month (Season 3, Episode 4)

Kennedy and Heidi (Season 7, Episode 6)

I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano (Season 1, Episode 13)

Calling All Cars (Season 4, Episode 11)

The Second Coming (Season 7, Episode 7)

Boca (Season 1, Episode 9)

Another Toothpick  (Season 3, Episode 5)

The Ride (Season 6, Episode 9)

Soprano Home Movies (Season 7, Episode 1)

College (Season 1, Episode 5)

Army of One (Season 3, Episode 13)

Meadowlands (Season 1, Episode 4)

All Due Respect (Season 5, Episode 13)

The Strong, Silent Type (Season 4, Episode 10)

Proshai, Livushka (Season 3, Episode 2)

The Sopranos (Season 1, Episode 1)

Irregular Around The Margins (Season 5, Episode 5)

After four full seasons of slow building tension between them, Tony and Carmela’s marriage finally comes to a head in this devastating and intense season 4 finale. Directed by the late John Patterson, this episode is essentially the episode the audience has been dreading since the pilot. For the first four seasons of the series, Carmela has turned a blind eye to what Tony really does with his time, but it’s a drunken call from his former goomar Irina who tells Carmela about Tony’s recent rendezvous with her cousin Svetlana that sets Carm off. The confrontations between Tony and Carmela throughout this entire episode puts the brilliant work of both James Gandolfini and Edie Falco at the forefront as both deliver blow after blow of things they’ve been keeping from each other over the years, primarily Carmela’s reveal of her intense romantic feelings for Furio. Other plots come to a head in this hour of television as well, including the conclusion to the disagreements New Jersey has been having with the Lupertazzi’s of New York over the esplanade project, the possible assassination of their boss Carmine Lupertazzi, Sr. spearheaded by his own underboss Johnny Sack, and the harassment of the man Tony was buying the shore house from (the shore house being titled “Whitecaps”, where the episode pulled it’s title) when he declines to give Tony his deposit back after everything happens with Carmela. 

The episode that essentially dawned the era of Golden Age television and what could be possible within the medium, “Knight in White Satin Armor” is one of the most shocking episodes of The Sopranos and possibly one of the most important and influential episodes of television ever made. The tension between a freshly released from prison Richie Aprile and Tony Soprano was about to come to a head after an entire season of struggle between them. Up until this point, the viewer could make the obvious assumption that Tony would either personally clip Richie or have one of his many family members take care of it for him, but also created a wonder of how Tony would be able to handle Richie’s looming membership of his actual family as he and Janice, Tony’s older sister, were engaged to be married. The real shock came when it was Janice herself who ended Richie’s life, steering expectations and assumptions into the dirt. This event gave television the jumpstart it needed to be taken as seriously of a medium as film is. The shocking twist that it was and always would be Janice that would end Richie’s days helped lend the blueprint of shock value that many popular series that came after it would borrow. 

What is there to be said that hasn’t been said about this finale? “Made in America” has become a blueprint on how to end a series without answering every question while at the same time presenting new ones. Directed by series creator David Chase, this episode has been analyzed by every critic and blog writer covering television and compelling arguments have been made for both sides of the “is Tony dead?” debate. I don’t often see this episode on lists of the top ten best episodes of the series and it’s somewhat perplexing to me. There is no doubt about the fact that upon airing, this episode was divisive: one side of the fandom blown away by the abrupt ending while the other side upset they’d be denied seeing the fate of the patriarch they’d spent years invested in. What makes it the best episode of the series is that “Made in America” is refreshingly and unapologetically Mr. Chase: an exquisite blend of Lynch and Hitchcock undertones with dark and moody color palettes and out of the ordinary editing techniques. Chase had quite a unique approach to directing that was somewhat unseen throughout the series run (he only directed this episode and the Pilot) and it benefitted the finale greatly. What better way to see the ending of a legendary series than through the eyes of its maker? There is no doubt about it, “Made in America” is an absolute masterpiece. 

The penultimate episode of both season and series, “The Blue Comet” provides us with some of the saddest moments of the shows run. Things between the Soprano Crime Family and Phil Leotardo’s Lupertazzi Family out of New York come to a violent head and some of the most beloved characters are in harm’s way. Lovable giant Bobby Bacala is gunned down inside a train store while contemplating purchasing a Blue Comet train (where the episode gets its title, and not to mention this very blog as well!), while Silvio and Patsy are ambushed outside the Bing which leaves Silvio in a coma for the remainder of the series. It’s the sudden happenings of these scenes that leave us completely shellshocked by the time Tony informs Carmela at the Soprano house about what has happened. While we all were aware that the show would end in a situation like this one, it is completely heartbreaking to see characters we’ve grown with like Bobby and SIl have such tragic endings. At the same time, this is what makes The Sopranos so brilliant. There was almost no way that the series would end with everybody intact, and its Shakespearean ways helped remind us that nobody is safe in the mob world. As Tony sits alone in the bedroom of his safe house, he clutches the AR-10 assault rifle Bobby gifted him for his birthday and remembers the conversation they had on the boat: “You probably don’t hear it when it happens, right?”. The shows seventh season (or 6B as HBO made David Chase and the gang call it, although Chase prefers to refer to it as season 7) was completely built on these themes. Since the premiere “Soprano Home Movies” there have been little hints about the idea of death and the mystery surrounding it. The other significant event in this episode is the falling out between Dr. Melfi and Tony. Finally, after 84 episodes before it, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg has gotten to Jennifer and convinced her that treating Tony was only making him a better criminal. Granted, exposing her in front of esteemed colleagues was not the nicest way to go about it, but it was the only way for her to realize that her time with Tony needed to end. This episode is packed to the brim, and it helps put the pieces in place for one of, if not the greatest series finale of television of all time.