10. Pilot
The episode that started it all. In this brilliant pilot episode we are introduced to Tony who is presented as a well respected yet troubled mobster, we see his family life and his 'family' life giving us a great insight into the character while also introducing his family members and colleagues. We also see Tony begin his therapy sessions with Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), a very risky move for such a high ranking member of the mafia. The episode shows us many sides to Tony, the brutal criminal, the hard working father and husband and the troubled man beneath it all, in one episode the show has given us a fantastic and captivating antihero. The pilot did a very nice job of setting up the universe of The Sopranos, we meet Tony, his wife Carmella (Edie Falco), his vicious mother Lyvia (Nancy Marchand), his aging uncle Corrado 'Junior' Soprano (Dominic Chianese) and a number of his fellow mobsters, opening up a world of possibilities for every character and their respective stories. It was certainly a brilliant way to kickstart the series.
9. College
As I already mentioned, a big part of early episodes of The Sopranos was Tony's balancing between his family and the family, especially when it came to hiding his operations from his children. In this episode we see that balance disrupted during a college road trip with Tony and his daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) who begins to question her father on his criminal activities. To make matters worse, Tony discovers a former FBI informant in the witness protection programme during the trip and attempts to take care of some unfinished business. This episode was one of the first to further Tony's relationship with Meadow, he begins to realise that she is not a little girl anymore and that he can't hide his business from her forever. It has some great scenes between Sigler and Gandolfini and the two share a very convincing father-daughter relationship onscreen, some of my favourite Tony scenes were those where he connects with his kids. The episode also has an interesting subplot involving Carmella and Father Philip Intintola (Paul Schulz) where she finds herself almost cheating with him on Tony. There is this immense sexual tension between the two throughout the episodes and it acts as the first of Carmella's many temptations and moral dilemmas.
8. Employee of the Month
As it is a show about the mafia, The Sopranos is bound to get very dark from time to time, and the fourth episode from season 3 is a prime example of this. This harrowing episode focuses on Dr. Melfi after she is brutally raped on her way to her car after work, she is then faced with a moral dilemma when she contemplates asking Tony for help when the justice system fails. This is by far one of the most disturbing episodes of the show and the scene where Melfi is assaulted is horrible to watch, things don't get much better for her though as not only does her rapist get away but she also spots him later on in his workplace. The episode really highlighted Lorraine Bracco's acting talents, she gives a truly powerful and convincing performance in this episode that makes it much more emotional to watch. By the end of it however, Melfi decides to not get Tony involved and I'll admit I was a bit disappointed by this as I really would have loved to see him beat the eponymous employee of the month to death, then again that would've been a bit out of character for the good doctor who tends to stay away from that sort of thing. Still though, the episode gave Bracco a chance to show off the true extent of her talents as an actress, it even got her an Emmy nomination.
7. Kennedy and Heidi
From the beginning of the show it looked as though Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) was set to become Tony's successor, Tony had taken him under his wing and offered him guidance since the beginning and the two shared a very close bond. However, Christopher's drug problems became a big problem and despite Tony's desperate attempts to get him clean, Christopher just could not escape his addiction. But it was not the drugs that got Chris in the end, instead it was Tony. After crashing his car while driving Tony home, a heavily injured Christopher confesses that he will not pass the drug test when he is found, this prompts Tony to abandon his 911 call and kill Chris himself. This was a shocking and rather unexpected scene yet I can't say I didn't see Christopher making it out of season 6 alive. The tension between him and Tony had risen too much as the series progressed that it seemed almost obvious that one would eventually kill the other, but the scene just came out of nowhere making it incredibly surprising. The rest of the episode sees Tony coping with his death and eventually accepting what he did, collapsing to the floor in a fit of laughter in the middle of a Vegas casino. The lesson here, don't do drugs kids.
6. Whoever Did This
Ralphie Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) was never the most popular character on the show, he had gotten on Tony's bad side one too many times but his status as a made man prevented anyone from taking him out. His abusive nature, horrible personality and excessive Gladiator references had gotten on everybody's last nerve and it was only a matter of time before Ralph said farewell once and for all. However, this episode initially presented another side to Ralphie after his 12 year old son falls into a coma, he shows genuine emotion for his child which prompts him to make things right with many of those he once wronged. For a second it looked as though he was turning over a new leaf and that he truly redeemed himself, but things are never so simple in The Sopranos. When Tony concludes that Ralph started a fire to kill their racehorse in order to collect the insurance he confronts Ralph, attempting to get a confession from him. Tony eventually loses it and strangles Ralph to death, slamming his head on the floor as he does so. This was a big moment in the shows fourth season, Tony had built up such rage and hatred towards Ralph over the course of the third and fourth seasons and this was his breaking point, this was the last straw. Many believe that when Tony screams to Ralph about killing a 'beautiful innocent creature' he is not referring to the horse but instead a stripper who Ralphie beat to death in the previous season. It was a very powerful episode that brought about one of the most anticipated deaths of the series.
5. Sopranos Home Movies
The beginning of the second half of season six saw Tony and Carmella head to Bobby (Steven Schirripa) and Tony's sister Janice's (Aida Turturro) lake house to celebrate the latters birthday. What begins as a friendly vacation soon turns sour during a game of Monopoly however as a drunken Tony proceeds to mock Janice repeatedly. This prompts her husband and fellow mobster Bobby to punch Tony which results in a fight between the two. We really fear for Bobby in this episode as Tony has killed many a man for much smaller offences than punching him, along with the fact that Bobby's loyalty and innocence made him one of the shows most likeable characters. There was such tension waiting to see what Tony would do to punish Bobby, it soon became a case of not would Bobby die but when would he die. Thankfully Tony decided against killing his brother in law but he wasn't letting him off that easily, instead Tony went for a much more psychological punishment and forced Bobby to commit his first hit. This was much more important than you may think, like I said Bobby was much more innocent compared to some of the other characters so making him kill a man for the first time tainted that innocence in a way. It was a very dark moment for a generally lighthearted character and set the dark tone for the series' end.
4. Long Term Parking
In the beginning of the show, Adriana La Cerva was merely Christopher's love interest, but as the show progressed her role expanded and she became much more integral to the plot. After being blackmailed by the FBI, Adriana was continually pressured into becoming an informant which she resisted as much as she could, in this episode the pressure became too much and she found herself telling Christopher everything. I always felt sorry for Adriana, she was harmless and Christopher was never exactly the worlds greatest boyfriend, being targeted by the feds was just the icing on the cake. Telling Christopher was a very risky move but it looked as if he would cooperate with her and that the two would run away together and start anew, unfortunately this just did not happen. Under the impression that Chris attempted suicide, Adriana finds herself being escorted by Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) to the hospital, but as they drive through the woods it soon becomes clear that Adriana isn't going to get her happy ending. In what is one of the shows most shocking death scenes ever, Adriana is dragged from her car into the woods where she is killed by Silvio offscreen. This was incredibly unsettling to watch even though we don't actually see poor Adriana die, nevertheless the acting and mere sound of her screams make the scene very effective, along with the fact that it's Silvio of all people who carries out the hit. To me this is by far one of the most shocking and tense episodes of the series.
3. Funhouse
If it isn't obvious from the last entry, getting involved with the FBI is never a good move in The Sopranos, something that Pussy Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore) would learn in the finale of season 2. Unbeknownst to his friends Pussy had been an informant for quite a while, they knew there was an rat just not that it was him. Tony was suspicious however, deep down inside he may have known all along, but his strong friendship with Pussy led him to a state of denial where he just didn't want to believe it to be true. In this episode Tony suffers with a case of severe food poisoning that causes him to have a number of bizarre dreams and hallucinations including one where he sets himself on fire and one where Pussy is a talking fish. Eventually these surreal dreams lead Tony to confront his suspicions, taking Silvio, Paulie (Tony Sirico) and Pussy out on his yacht to set things straight. Aboard the boat Tony pressures his friend into admitting his involvement with the feds which, as expected, results in him getting shot to death and dumped in the sea. This was a very emotional moment for Tony as Pussy was one of his closest friends, there was definitely a reluctance in him but at the same time he could not risk having a rat in the mob. In the following season, Tony would continue to dream about Pussy which shows that he still felt guilty long after this episode.
2. The Blue Comet
The penultimate episode of The Sopranos is by far the most intense and most nerve-racking episode ever as tensions rise between the New York and New Jersey crime families. Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) of the New York family puts hits on Tony, Silvio and Bobby due to their high ranking statuses and after hearing this they put a hit on Leotardo himself. Things go wrong after a case of mistaken identity however and Phil makes the first move, having Bobby killed in a model train shop. Much like Adriana's death in the previous season Bobby's was very surprising and upsetting, of all people who deserved to die in the show Bobby was not one of them. To make things worse an attempt was also made on Silvio's life which resulted in him going into a coma, things were not looking well for the DiMeo crime family in this episode and the sheer sense of tension throughout is almost too much. Along with all of this, the episode also marks the final appearance of Dr. Melfi who sternly ends her sessions with Tony, believing him to be a sociopath. I felt this was a strange way for the duo to part and I would've loved to have seen more from Melfi but I suppose there was just so much going on in this episode and not much left for her to do. This was by far the most suspenseful episode in the shows history and its emotional ending set things up for what turned out to be a very divisive finale.
1. Pine Barrens
Amidst all the death and despair seen in The Sopranos, the show maintains a certain sense of dark humour that makes it a lot more enjoyable to watch. There is no better example of this than in my favourite episode, Pine Barrens. The episode begins like any other with Paulie and Christopher making a collection for Tony from a member of the Russian mafia, however things go awry and the duo wind up on a wild goose chase in the New Jersey Pine Barrens in pursuit of the Russians. The two then become lost and the tension and paranoia between them increases, making for comedy gold. The duo's relationship was already strained as it is so when they both become paranoid they begin to suspect that the other is going to kill them. There are so many memorable quotes and moments from this episode and it was refreshing to see such a humorous episode, the writing is clever and the acting is fantastic making Pine Barrens one of the strongest episodes ever. Every scene with Paulie and Christopher is so rich with humour that you sometimes forget that the show isn't a comedy, their dialogue is brilliant throughout. The episode was directed by future cast member Steve Buscemi who was responsible for throwing that steak at Tony in the scene where he leaves Gloria's (Annabella Sciorra) house, just an interesting piece of trivia there. It has no major deaths or plot developments but it has some of the shows best writing and to me it is the greatest episode.
So those are my choices for the top 10 episodes of The Sopranos, there are loads of brilliant episodes over the shows six seasons so if you've got favourites that I've left out let me know in the comments. In my next post I will finally be taking the time to discuss The Room, the best worst film ever made...
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