SPOILER ALERT!
With Junior (Dominic Chianese) out of the way and Mikey (Al Sapienza) gone, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) seems to have his life on track. The gang’s all here and Tony has business to take care of--both in the fields of waste management and family. When Tony’s sister, Janice (Aida Turturro), comes to town and he’s forced to communicate with his mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand), things become topsy-turvy once again. Lives are in danger and relationships on the verge of falling apart, the life of The Sopranos and all who they associate with will be changed forever.
Season one of The Sopranos seemed to wrap up nicely, with little left for Tony to do, and viewers --myself included--ultimately unsure of what to expect of the second season. In episode one, Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist’s Office, things have changed drastically and they are truly unlike anything that viewers saw in the first season of the highly-regarded show.
What I desperately needed as a viewer was to see Tony develop more than he did in the first and for Carmela (Edie Falco) to change. One of my biggest issues with the first season was the fact that Tony, the man who many look to for advice, was inconsistent in his development. In some scenes he was the all-powerful boss who was capable of handling any situation, and in others he was so emotionally fractured that it became difficult to appreciate him any longer. While this trend continues into and through the second season, the reality is that the series of writers--including David Chase and Jason Cahill--Tony becomes far more dominant in this season, and the show is better off as a result. Carmela’s role in the first season was to support Tony, and while she did that well, her character seemed nearly pointless from time to time. She, too, develops throughout the course of this second season. In the episodes Full Leather Jacket and The Knight in White Satin Armor see Carmela change immensely, and for the better. She finally becomes her own character, contributing more to the show than ever before.
These two characters needed desperately to be developed in the second season, and that development occurred throughout. Now, I’m conflicted by some of the other characters in the second season due to the fact that they are so infuriating. Characters such as Janice and Richie Aprile (David Proval) are intentionally antagonistic and viewers struggle to appreciate who and what they are--and that’s sort of a testament to the strength of the writers. The Sopranos’ writers know that these two individuals are going to be disliked, but they write them in a way that viewers are able to understand that their flaws are fully intentional--and I can certainly appreciate that.
This leads me to my next point--the writing in season two is far stronger than the writing in the first season. Relationships grow and are tested, new (and old characters) serve new and important purposes, and the characters that viewers already love grow even stronger. While the second season of The Sopranos certainly isn’t perfect, most of what viewers had hoped for comes to fruition in terms of writing and viewer engagement.
Metaphor plays an integral role in how viewers watch and understand The Sopranos. Viewers surely remember the all-important ducks that physically existed in the series’ first episode, and they remain prominent in the show’s narrative through the second season. The strong and relatable metaphors that exist throughout the course of the show become even more important than ever before and draws viewers deeper into Tony’s story.
In general season two has taken massive steps in the right direction and improved greatly over the things that I struggled with in the first season of The Sopranos. Season two is more fun, more emotional, invigorating, and relatable. From the writing to the acting (which is as good as ever), season two of The Sopranos blows the first out of the water and is sure to entertain anyone that has invested time into the series. With the various twists and turns throughout, viewers are sure to expect nothing but great things to follow, and this twisted family is sure to get even crazier in the future.
Directed by Lee Tamahori, Tim Van Patten, John Patterson, Allen Coulter, Henry Bronchtein, etc.
Written by Frank Renzulli, Terence Winter, David Chase, Todd A. Kessler, Robin Green, etc.
Starring James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore, Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Robert Iler, Jamie-Lyn Sigler, Drea de Matteo, David Proval, Aida Turturro, Nancy Marchand, Peter Bogdanovich, Dominic Chianese, Sofia Milos, Frederico Castelluccio, Kathrine Narducci, Lillo Brancato, Chris Tardio, Oksana Lada, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
Comments