Don’t get me wrong - I don’t claim that The Sopranos has jumped the shark. Season 4 really was, on the whole, weaker than the others, but I think Tony and crew have their beat back with this season.
But Sopranos is, IMHO, starting to show its age. The gambling deal between Christopher and his friend, in the 4-18 episode, is something we’ve seen before - the story hadn’t changed much, even though the names have. There have been a handful of really memorable moments, mostly from the one really memorable episode we’ve seen so far this season.
The separation between Tony and Carmella should be allowing the show to explore a lot of new ground. Yet the story about Carmella and the school guidance counsellor came off, to me, as rather bland - especially compared to Carmella and Furio, and Carmela and Fr. Intintola.
Tony is getting introspective - that’s part of the point of this season - but I think one thing that Sopranos isn’t delivering as consistently well is the relationships between characters. It’s been weeks, and we still haven’t been given a clue on where Christopher stands with Adrianna. Paulie’s absense is conspicuous. How are Tony and Chris getting on at this point? Don’t know… even though Chris and Tony do. I’m going to be annoyed if next week there isn’t enough fallout from the Tony/Carmella incident this week.
Like I said, I thinkSopranos is still far better than nearly anything we’ve ever seen on network TV. But I find that for the last couple of weeks I’ve looked forward to Deadwood more than Sopranos. One thing it’s got going for it is that it’s brand new, so we haven’t gotten used to the show’s bag of tricks. I don’t know if it’s even possible to compare dialog and story between the two shows, because they’re too different. But I do think Deadwood has at least the depth of character as Sopranos at its best.
I do like moral complexity, and understanding what drives people who have done bad things before to continue doing bad things. Deadwood offers more of that than I think Sopranos ever did (but YMMV).
Very interested to hear your thoughts on this, from those of you who do watch both shows every week.
Last thought re: numbers of seasons - I’ll reserve judgment until I see it, and even have had a couple of years to digest it, but I’m very skeptical about Sopranos actually needing a season 5 1/2 to wrap everything up.
Deadwood, on the other hand, looks like it will probably die at the right time. I think Deadwood will have done its work by the end of this season, but perhaps somebody out here knows what HBO has planned for future seasons (if any).
Deadwood wins hands down. I still like the Sopranos, but nowhere near as I used to. It seems to me that they are introducing minor characters only to delay the development of the major ones. only hope that they are saving up some really good bits (Adriana has a breakdown or has to get whacked, Carmella goes to the feds, Tony goes into witness protection) for the series finale.
Deadwood, no contest. I like The Sopranos but it’s getting old and feels like the show is just going in circles. There are minor changes, but nothing too exciting. I know Deadwood is actually going somewhere, and that has me genuinely excited.
Also, the characters on Deadwood are so wonderfully complicated and many are really likeable. Most of the characters on The Sopranos are just senseless assholes who seem to fuck up things to a point where they have to fix them over and over again. Deadwood has more of a complicated Good versus Evil theme.
If I had to put my excitement in order it would be:
I look forward to both, but I really like this season of Sopranos. It is quite compelling.
I’m praying Adriana (Drea de Mateo)will do a nude scene before she gets whacked.
Maybe she will do playboy after the Sopranos? I guarantee she shows a little boobage and ratings for that episode will go through the roof.
I love all the HBO series, but with Deadwood, I watch each episode three or four times.
I’ve never been compelled to do that with Sopranos, Six Feet Under, or Carnivale.
There’s something about the way it looks, as well as the quality of the writing and the characters – I never get tired of looking at it.
Carnivale has good production values too, but I’m always conscious that it’s not real, it’s make-believe. With Deadwood, it’s like I’m watching history, and I wonder what Seth and Sol and Trixie and Ellsworth (“I’m expensive”) are doing when they’re not on my TV.
Still, if I had to compare it to watching early sopranos, I’d say my exitement level is about the same. But, sitting around Sunday, I’m definitely more interested in what will be haeppening on Deadwodd than what will be happening on the Sopranos.
I’m with the others on Deadwood. I think Sopranos has been good so far this year, but Deadwood is fresh and has great characters that you love to hate (or maybe hate to love?).
Not having HBO, I’m with Chastain86: The only TV drama I watch is The Shield.
I wish I had HBO, but since I very rarely get into a TV show, I just can’t see that it’s worth it. But I have no doubt that it produces some of the best TV, period, from what I have seen and what I read about it.
