April 12, 2004

The Carmela Show

Judging by immediate reactions -the five or six friends I discuss it with every week, a message board or two, and the weekly Slate column- this past Sunday's episode of "The Sopranos" was far and away the least acclaimed of the season so far. Why's that? Two reasons: 1) No whackings, and 2) Way too much focus on the lower case "family," i.e., the female characters.

Yes it was, as quite a few newsgroup posters wrote, "The Carmela Show," the apparent kiss of death for any "Sopranos" episode. The same people who dismissed last season's finale because it ended in the death of a marriage rather than the death of any people slammed Sunday's show for much the same reason. Guess what folks: that's what the show's about, the family and the Family, and we've gotten some of the show's better episodes out of the former as well as the latter.

That said, this week's episode didn't quite live up to last week's Tony/Adriana show, but the Carmela/David Straithern worked for a three-episode arc, sort of like what Noah Tanenbaum the black Jew was for Meadow. And speaking of Meadow, where'd she go? I'd sort of like to see her in an episode for more than two minutes one of these weeks.

Also, great to see Steve Bucsemi finally getting back to his "Fargo"/"Miller's Crossing"/"Reservoir Dogs" self, and after losing the loot in the snow in "Fargo" it's nice that he finally got it back. By why am I afraid that he'll once again end up in the wood chipper? Either that, or the meat-slicer thingy at Satriale's that was used to dispose of Richie Aprile.

Coming next week, judging by the preview: four whackings (maybe), and a funeral (definitely).

Posted by Stephen Silver at April 12, 2004 11:42 PM
Comments

I actually liked last night's episode, I think Bob was dead-on with his assessment of Carmela's intentions, and I loved the teachers "Fredo" line.

I was saddened by Tony B., I was hoping that they would present us with one character who was able to rise above his base instincts and become a productive member of society.

Posted by: Bill McCabe at April 13, 2004 04:23 PM
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