Just thought I would mention it so those of you who are fans don’t forget, and those of you who are thinking about getting HBO still have time to call your local rip-off cable company and get set up.
I just read the review of the first episode in the Hollywood Reporter, and it sounds like this season oughta be a doozy.
I am so psyched about the new season. Other people say The Sopranos had declined, but I still enjoy it immensely and am looking forward to watching how the Tony/Carmela divorce shakes out. I have a feeling it’s going to get quite ugly.
Some questions I have been pondering in the (very long) hiatus:
[spoiler]
–Is Furio really out of the picture?
–Is Adriana going to tell about her FBI issues? To what effect?
–Will Paulie defect to Johnny Sack’s group?
–Will Tony ever get any action from his psychiatrist?
–Can Carm and Tony ever work things out?
–Will Meadow and AJ ever stop being such titanic brats?
[/spoilers]
Looking forward to next Sunday!
I am just so glad they are coming back on. I just want to see something new I am sick of reruns.
Just saw that Steve Buscemi is joining the cast as Tony’s cousin! WOOT!! WOOT!! I hope he plays a major role instead of just a guest star for one or two episodes…I also can’t wait to see what gruesome and horrible death befalls him. 
KGS,
Buscemi will indeed be a regular character (for this season at least, can’t tell about the future). If you haven’t seen the season’s new poster (which is fucking awsome) it features Buscemi among the rest of the regular cast (disapointingly sans Johnny Sack, but I guess that’s because he’s in New York, not Jersey).
Speaking of Buscemi, he directed the classic Pine Barrens episode, dinnie?
Ah the Sopranos hiatus is over. This silly world makes sense again.
—Yes, Buscemi directed Pine Barrens.
—According to Chase, no, we’re not going to see Furio again.
—And before anyone asks, not the “interior decorator” either.
I’m interested to know how long it will be before Adriana’s house of cards falls apart. It seemed to me that last season, the Feds were demanding too much of her time, to the point where other people were going to notice, and wonder, what exactly was going on with her. I imagine a lot depends on if, and when, she and Christopher break up. (Likely: relationships tend not to survive rehab.)
Mods…fogive the “bump” but just wanted to remind people.
(I promise I won’t do this again, but I think a few people will be pissed to find out they forgot it was on.)
By the way, I just found out one of the attorneys at the law firm I work at has a cameo role this season, with his father. They are, surprise, playing attorneys. He let me in on a couple of plot points, and I can hardly wait to see that happen!
DMark, I actually just found out I have a friend who knows someone who’s gonna be on the premiere. If I found out who, I’ll post it on the boards.
[QUOTE=Rilchiam]
—Yes, Buscemi directed Pine Barrens.
—According to Chase, no, we’re not going to see Furio again.
QUOTE]
wtf? I loved Furio. This guy was no-nonsense and the “crush” on Carm was a good thing to work with. Man, I’ll miss Furio.
Oh on the Steve Buscemi character…
I read in the paper, that his character is named Tony B. He’s not going to die, or so Buscemi says.
There was also something of a snippet of Chase saying that he was influenced by a recent “real-life” (not sure) of a mafia family that was jailed 20yrs ago, and are now being released back into the public slowly. This event, triggered Chase to do something in the same lines and bring back so-called mafia members from jail back into the show. This is what Steve Buscemi’s character is I think. Someone coming back to normal life after a stint in prison. I hope they work Buscemi’s character well. He’s supposed to be the polar opposite of Joe Pantaliano’s character, someone laid back and easy going, not high strung.
I hope that stuff didn’t need to be in spoiler tags.
I purchased HBO yesterday. I’m ready. 
Yes the Sopranos are actually fairly accurately based on the Decalvalcantes crime family in Jersey. Every Sopranos fan should read the book Made Men by Greg B Smith. It tells the whole story of the rise and fall of this family. Plus shows the similarities (many many many similarities) to the show.
I’ll be fine with not seeing Furio again as long as they tie up the loose end somehow. Did he actually go back to Italy, or did Tony have him whacked? Did he go back to Italy at Tony’s urging, or did he go on his own fearing Tony’s eventual wrath? It makes sense that we’d never hear what happened to the interior decorator, but Furio (or at least Carmella’s crush on him) was fairly central to last year’s plot.
I’ll be downloading the episode later–all my friends with HBO appear to be otherwise occupied.
Dr. J
I’ve got my cocktail and I’m ready. Let’s get it on.
Woke up this mornin’ got myself a gun
Got my Maker’s Mark chilling down in the freezer, bourbon on the rocks feels like the proper accompaniment to the show.
I liked the Furio character, though the potential romance with Carmella never played right to me. Just as well to have that aspect over, IMO.
Last season’s finale was a bit disappointing. I had hoped to see some loose ends tied rather than the separation introduced. That said, the show banked much goodwill with me over the first three seasons, I’m primed to hear the theme later tonight.
Well…it’s nearly two in the morning on the East Coast, types the insomniac, so who needs fuckin’ spoiler boxes? Go ahead, keep reading, you go and get surprised by spoilers, learn to tell time, no sympathy here in da Bronx.
Furio is in hiding if he knows what’s good for him, and he does apparently. I feel so sorry for him, the sweet, sensitive, good cook, until I remember, oh right, stone killer. So, he’s in Italy avoiding ‘certain people’. I myself feel no need to see him again, and as fun as it was with Carmela I’m glad she didn’t sleep with him, so she still has some moral high ground with Tony.
Speaking of which, does Tony’s explosion at Melfi at the end imply that he still can’t bear to hear anyone insult Carm, even obliquely?
We only got a glimpse of Meadow, but AJ was hilarious. MOMMY!! Poor bear, it’s only a matter of time before he’s pumped full of lead in ‘self-defense.’ Tony’s reaction was great: “An Eastern black bear?” And I think that really was one, too.
Speaking of bears, poor Bobby Bacala (and the kids). I guess one way to lose weight is to marry Janice, since she can’t cook worth a damn. I had roast tonight too, coincidentally, mmmmm.
Cooking seems to be Feech’s specialty, though. I liked him, although Loggia’s laying down the goombah act a little thick, but he’ll settle down. Hope this doesn’t mean Junior’s on his way out. When Junior’s on his game nobody’s funnier or scarier. But he seems to be…drifting…and I don’t think they showed his tumble on the steps and the doctor’s diagnosis in the previews just for fun. I know he was faking a lot of it, but now–yikes. And if he was acquitted why is he still under house arrest?
Did Chris and Adriana get married yet? We already saw her pick out the gown, and it’s 2004 in the Tonyverse too.
As soon as I can remember who’s who in the NY mob I’ll comment on poor Carmine’s stroke. The HBO website has a family tree I have to study for awhile. I like Johnny Sack and Carmine Jr.
Paulie and Chrissy–whoa–somebody’s not making it out of the season alive. The waiter (who really ought to know not to wheedle wiseguys, even if they stiffed you like assholes) was just a symbolic sacrifice.
I hope the Melfi/Tony ‘romance’ kind of ends there, although of course they’re hot together. But she is absolutely right that the values mismatch in a major way, and they have too much history to just have it be a steamy brief affair. And oh yeah, now the rest of the country has joined me in seeing Bracco’s breasts (I saw them on Broadway in THE GRADUATE, and for somebody nearly fifty she looks just fine, thank you; her performance in tht rather shallow play was perfection) although from what I remember I think the butt was a body double 
Next week, Buscemi live on camera without 70s hair!! That hair was the goddamn scariest thing in the whole show.
I like what I saw tonight, having the older wiseguys guys back on the scene should be interesting. Bummed that Buscemi’s character didn’t make his first appearance, the pre-show teaser had him looking very '80s (pushed-up sleeves on the sportcoat included). It had just the right quantity of Meadow – almost none.
The last shot of Tony, sitting poolside with a stogie and an assault rifle, was perfect.
Here’s my prediction for the season finale: A group of kids discover a brand new pink Cadillac, and inside we find the bodies of Furio, the Russian guy, and Melfi’s rapist. Oh, and the bear. With Clapton’s “Layla” playing in the background.
Chase had me very, very, VERY worried that Tony & Melfi would wind up “a hot item”, as they say. Thank God Melfi had the cajones to turn him down! Something tells me we haven’t seen the end of that plot thread, though…
My, but A.J.'s quite the simpering little pansy, ain’t he?
Dammit! No Buscemi until next week!! Oh, well…Robert Loggia was cool, though.
Junior wasn’t aquitted. The judge declared a mistrial.
Pash
Liked it. Liked it very much. Especially the last half hour, and the first couple minutes (the tour of the outside of the house, lapsing into decrepitude).
I hope Buscemi’s character doesn’t end up being the psychopath of the season. I think the Richie/Ralphie thing is played out… sure, Tony needs a new foil, but I’d rather it were somebody like Paulie. Or Johnny Sack. Or both.
IMHO, the series has always been about Christopher. This season starts with Christopher looking up another long ladder, with himself at the bottom (having to foot these massive dinner tabs for everybody else). Paulie, I think, is about to fall off… and CM might be the one to give Paulie the final yank.
Anybody else think Kupferburg also has a thing for Melfi?