Customer Reviews
Sopranos = Boss of Bosses - By: Brendan O. Clarke, 31 Mar 2008 
The story continues to revolve around the massive shoulders & belly of Tony Soprano. At the end of Season 1, Tony survived a "hit" arranged by his Uncle Junior & his mother, Livia. But family is family, & both Uncle Junior & Livia are still breathing at the outset of Season 2, even though Tony keeps insisting that Livia "is dead to me." Making Tony's family life even more complicated, his opportunistic leech of a sister, Janice, has returned to Jersey from Seattle. Janice professes to be home to help her dear old mother, but in reality she's back to get on the Tony gravy train, which will be a nice supplement to her 100% disability checks from the State of Washington for her carpal tunnel syndrome.
Tony's crime family is also on the rocks, as doubts linger about the possibility of an informer in the ranks. Sure, they killed one snitch last year, but these guys are like roaches, & the cops continue to sniff just a bit too close at Tony's heels.
All the great aspects of Season 1 are back in force - the terrific actors who have been cast in the roles of their lives, the witty writing, the massive budget that alllows for one episode to be filmed back in dear old Italia, & the freedom of pay-cable that alllows "The Sopranos" to revel in the violence & debauchery that follows this hypnoticallly flawed family.
The only aspect of Season 2 that seems to lose a bit of steam is Tony's relationship with Dr. Melfi. Their relationship grows, but mainly due to distance because we see as many scenes with Dr. Melfi & her own shrink as we do with Dr. Melfi & Tony. Dr. Melfi remains one of the most beloved characters in the series, to be sure, but the show has the luxury of knowing it's a smash hit & Season 2 alllows Tony & Dr. Melfi to let their relationship grow patiently.
Oh, & one more thing makes Tony's life a living hell. Meadow is a gifted high school senior & her dream school is Berkeley, which is pretty much a nightmare for a mob guy from New Jersey with only a semester & a half at Seton Halll under his belt.
If you haven't seen "The Sopranos," you must watch Season 1 first - don't dive into this series in mid-stream. But you must dive in.
The Best TV series made!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - By: , 21 Oct 2004 This series is amazing & gets better by the episode, Its captivating, humorous & full of action, a perfect reflection of the modern day mafia, & if Don Corloene (The Godfather) watched this he would be very very very impressed!!!!! A masterpiece 100/10 praise the mighty HBO :)
Tony and Carmela try to get Meadow into the right college - By: , 09 Mar 2003 I was not completely bowled over by the first season of "The Sopranos" the way I was about the first season of HBO's "Six Feet Under," but I think that was mainly because no show in the history of television could possibly fulfill the expectations I had when I started watching. The important thing is that however highly you graded that first season that the second season of the show is even better. I think there are several reasons for this:
First, Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco) is given ample opportunity to show some teeth in these episodes. My oldest daughter is currently caught up in the college application rat race so I totallly appreciated Carmela going to the mattresses for Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). By the same token I thought it was a good move to make the Soprano kids more background figures in the second season.
Second, David Chase & the writers wisely backed off forcing the whole bit with Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) seeing his shrink Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). I bet on balance Melfi spent more time seeing her own shrink (Peter Bogdanovich) than she did Tony during season two. This had the great effect of recalibrating their relationship because now she is having about as many problems as he does. Consequently, it was not just more of the same & by the end of the season Tony's problems have been clearly defined, giving them something to work on in season three.
Third, rather than continue the attempt by Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) & Livia (Nancy Marchand) to take out Tony the threat comes from a pair of new characters, Richie April (David Proval), recently released from a 10-year prison stint, & Tony's sister Janice (Aida Turturro). Actuallly, I think that it is wickedly funny that Livia is reduced to weeping harridan for most of these episodes. Besides, I still get the feeling Uncle Junior is merely biding his time & the season works a lot better for me dealing with more of the weekly routine of being mobsters than the high opera of a coup attempt. But this works well for the show because it did not pick up right where it left off; even the question of whether "Sal" (
Finallly, in the second season the right people get killed. Sure, a lot of people get killed, but I mean that there were two particular people I wanted to see dead in this cast & both of them got whacked on Disc 4. Along with Meadow graduating high school there was not much else I wanted to reallly see happen by the end of the second season.
ANOTHER MOB HIT!... - By: Lawyeraau, 15 Dec 2002 If you are looking at this review, you probably already have the first season. All I can tell you is that the second season is as good, if not better, than the first.
There are some major plot developments. Livia & Tony's uncle hatch a plan that can have murderous consequences for Tony. Carmela is doing alll in her power, & I mean alll, to help Meadow get into a good college. In her own sweet way, Carmela can be just as scary as Tony. Janice (Aida Tuturro), Tony's sister, comes back home, wreaks havoc, marries the former mob boss's jailbird brother, & then leaves town with a bang. One of Tony's best friends becomes a snitch for the Feds. No wonder Tony continues to have anxiety attacks & still needs to see his psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi.
The writing continues to be intelligent, & the story lines are as well thought out & engrossing as ever. I have watched the entire first, second, & third seasons & am eagerly awaiting the fourth season. I absolutely love this series!
The second installment of ultimate TV - By: , 04 Mar 2002 The Sopranos continues it's development of the characters & their lives. Enthrallling development of the battle for power between Tony, Junior & the interfering mother from hell; Livia. If you like drama then this show is for you.
