ooh ladies some more sopranos fans, marvellous!
Poopdeck - thanks so much for your kind offer to lend the tape. i know people somehow get in touch with eachother without posting contact details on the site but have no idea how this happens. anyway, thanks for the offer, but i will go to sopranoland and read up - thanks again! i tried the hbo website but for some reason it was focusing on series 2, maybe they are repeating it in the us at the moment.
ks - thanks for being prepared to type out the summary, i'm touched that someone would be prepared to go to this trouble, isn't mumsnet great?
sorry it has taken me a while to get back to this thread but i went back to work on thurs after 8m mat leave
i have been a fan right from the start and agree with tik tok writing, acting, characterisation are all excellent. i love the postmodern intertextual elements - such as the numerous references to goodfellas and the godfather. i even love the theme tune and soundtrack! we have the cd in fact!
series 3 is a very welcome return to form after (IMO) a rather disappointing series 2. as you have mentioned, tiktok and ks, the key dramatic element is tony's internal conflict between the good and evil sides of his personality, and it is his attempt to reconcile these elements which is so engaging. i felt in series 2 we only saw the evil side and i lost interest in him, and therefore the entire program, as a result. there were also some rather ho hum celebrity cameos, as the subplot around chris's screenwriting ambitions disappeared up its own derriere. as well as tony's characterisation faltering, i think we also saw the same with dr melfi in series 2, especially the alcoholism. no wonder you missed it, salalex, it was handled rather perfunctorily, and to me seemed rather unconvincing. i find the sexual tension between tony and dr melfi more believable, together with her role as a symbol of the successful and law abiding section (no doubt majority) of the italian american community. i also found the episode in series 3 where dr m. is raped rather jarring - it seemed she had to suffer rather too much just to demonstrate to the audience that her conscience was sufficiently robust not to seek revenge by exploiting her mob connections. having said i'm such a fan i have written rather a lot of criticism! it's just that series 1 was such a tour de force, my expectations for series 2 were very high!
series 3 has restored my faith with many excellent episodes. salalex, i also loved the episode with chris and pauly lost in the snowy forest - it was the classic sopranos mix of matter of fact evil, humanity and humour (incidentally directed by steve buscemi). interestingly, we also had an unequivocal condemnation of tony and carmela's way of life - in the episode where carmela seeks her own therapist and he refuses to take her "blood money" and tells her - so that she can never say noone told her - that in conscience she must leave, if only for the sake of the children. one of the interesting themes of this series has been the increasing "contamination" of meadow and aj by the environment in which they live, e.g. meadow's relationship with jackie jr and aj's panic attacks. tony's relationship with gloria was also well done, as was his guilt over the killing of pussy. the increasing visibility of the fbi lends an air of impending doom. tiktok, as you have pointed out, ralphie is awful, evil with no redeeming features. i wonder if he is being lined up as tony's nemesis. livia soprano - sadly missed. last but not least, thank goodness we have seen less of the awful janet.
ks, like you, i fear that, in dramatic terms at least, the only "resolution" will be tony's death. i hadn't seen dr melfi as a threat to tony - i think she is fascinated by him and would protect him as far as possible. i think gloria may be a candidate, also ralphie, as mentioned above, or will the fbi get to him first?
looking forward to hearing your views!
PS - uncle junior gets the best lines - "tony is just a hair away from control of northern jersey - and i am that hair!" - priceless!