25
by Garth
Well I noticed I commented on many other posts but never put some of my faves. I noted some that are already mentioned as well, just to reiterate their greatness.
Season 1
The Sopranos -- This had the great pan from the Soprano house to the pool while guests walk in, and kids ran shooting each other with squirt guns and the lights dropped to "The Beast in Me." SO good!
Denial, Anger, Acceptance -- While watching Meadow sing in the choir, different scenes of mob justice against Chris and Brendan are acted out. We see the shift on Tony's face, as different moods and thoughts come over him...and the music plays on despite the Chris's terrorism and Brendan's murder.
Boca -- Tony comes home drunk off his head, to which Carmela comes to help him, and he asks for reassurance that he did the right thing [by not murdering the soccer coach], all the while Meadow watches on, and at the last minute, Carmela looks up and they share eye contact.
Season 2
D Girl -- While not a stellar episode, this ending, which again intersperses cuts of different Sopranos clan works staggeringly well. Chris sits outside smoking, deciding whether to walk back in the house or turn his back on organized crime and pursue his movie career, while Pussy cries in the bathroom about betraying his close-friends, and the Soprano family posing for pictures at AJ's confirmation, finally ending with Chris walking back inside.
Full Leather Jacket -- This episode feels the most like a cliffhanger that we had ever experienced thus far in the series. Perhaps only rivaled by Junior's shooting of Tony in season 6. Watching Chris laying in a pool of blood on some steps of a diner was simply heartbreaking.
Knight in White Satin Armor -- As Tony sits with Carmela she explains she needs to get away and tells him she is going on vacation and he will have to take care of the house duties, after he JUST spent all night disposing of Richie Aprile. An exhausted Tony stressed beyond belief has the camera fade to black as "I Saved the World Today" by the Eurythmics plays.
Funhouse -- This is perhaps my favorite episode ending of all time. Once again we get an epic presentation of the Sopranos web. Though this time, the montage is much longer and not just showing scenes that were a part of the episode we watched. Instead these scenes call back to episodes from both this season as well as the first, as the camera zooms in on Tony smoking a cigar in slow motion. A stoic look on his face and then fades to the ocean which Tony just buried his best friend in. All to the Rolling Stone's "Thru & Thru", simply brilliant!
Season 3
Employee of the Month -- If you don't know why the end of this episode is so great, seriously--go watch it again. Despite the emotionally charged performances by Gandolfini (so wanting to help Melfi, perhaps in one of his only selfless moments of the series) and Bracco (displaying such vulnerability, while also trying to hold things together). What I REALLY love is the pause while Melfi considers her options, and then the snap to black (unlike our usual, calm fade) and "No" immediately thereafter.
Season 4
For All Debts Public & Private -- Chris pasting the money on his mother's fridge after killing his dad's own killer (maybe?) as "World Destruction" by Time Zone plays. Just always seemed like the epitome of an excellent Sopranos episode to me. Tony using his power to influence those around him, while also just being a regular guy in many ways (his dinner with Bobby) and it ending with the impact of Tony's choices and decisions long after he has stopped thinking about it. Similarly is the extra long and extra deep zoom in on the bill.
Pie-O-My -- As Pie lays sick in her stable, Tony pays her a midnight visit, and strokes her lovingly. Just such a simple ending to an episode, yet so amazing.
Watching Too Much Television -- What an abrupt ending. Tony, driving home, hears a song on the radio, when he then impulsively drives to Zellman's house and whips him with a belt in front of Irina. It is this kind of ending that is so out of left field, yet completely makes sense to those that love Sopranos. Was anyone expecting it? Doubtful, but it still seemed very appropriate based on what we know of Tony.
Whoever Did This -- The last 30 minutes of this episode are simply fantastic. No music or anything to lighten the mood. As Tony stumbles through the Bada Bing, a picture of Tracee, the dead stripper catches his eye, a flash of Meadow appears on-screen, and Tony forces his beat-down, exhausted body out of the pitch black strip club into the sunny, outside light.
Whitecaps -- Tony's influence stretches out to the lawyer who has made his life very unpleasant regarding the house by the ocean. As innocent people at a party try to eat their dinner, Sinatra booms over a loud-speaker on a boat. Terrorizing them, the fourth season fades to black.