I rewatched season 6A recently as well, and I noticed something that I didn't before. At the latter end of the season Tony begins to phase out Paulie and Christopher from his inner circle. He views Paulie as incompetent and Chris seems to care about his movie career.

This is where Carlo and Bobby take their places to Tony. They make their way into his inner circle. Remember when he likes shitting on Bobby in previous seasons? Giving Carlo Vito's Esplanade construction site? This is an underlining plot for the season almost in the same way the battle for Michael's 2nd in command in Godfather, Part II.


PS. Have you gotten a chance to read episode 10 yet?


Regards,
BDuff

For my AP English class, I did a presentation on the three episodes "Member's Only, Join the Club, and Mayham," comparing the Finnerty storyline to Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown as magic realism.

Capo, I agree on the Phil thing, but just a bit differently. I think Phil got his dick sucked in the can(He looks like that type of fag) so that's why he explodes in a fit of rage about the whole thing. Bringing up memories of times he'd hate himself for.

Yes, I thought that was one of Chase's finest strokes (no pun intended). I remember reading BB member's reactions to those scenes and finding it quite ironic that they shared the same feelings that most of Tony's crew did. Brilliant stuff, Mr. Chase.

6A is without question my favorite. The Kevin Finity and Vito's sexuality story-lines represented Chase taking the narrative to another level. We were all waiting for the show to absolutely floor us, and season 6A did!!!

But I have a special fondness for it b/c of personal reasons. My dad went into the hospital about 3 days before season 6A began. His condition was uncertain at the time, and I could feel every emotion exhibited by Carmela and the kids while Tony hung on for life. I found a great solace in the hospital episodes, and it was almost as if God had willed the timing of the whole thing to correspond with my dad's illness. And then Tony recovers (about a week after my dad did) finding a new outlook on life -- I did too.

And I cried along with Carmela when she held Tony's hand and played Tom Petty's "American Girl" (she read somewhere that music helps coma patients). It was their song when they first started dating: 'She was.. an American girl.' I fucking love that.

Season 1...
because i just started to watch...:D

Welcome, D_G! A word of advice: as tempting as it is, don't visit this part of the forum too often, because it's laden with spoilers. One of the best features of this show is its ability to surprise. Happy viewing!

As I'm nearing the end of my current retrospective, I think season 6B cuts too many inexcusable corners to be counted as the best, most coherent corners - it certainly warrants another three or four episodes, for me. It does, however, boast some of the greatest single moments and scenes the show has ever produced: the drunken Monopoly game at Tony's birthday party ("Soprano Home Movies"); the entire sequences of scenes between Tony and Paulie in Miami, culminating on the boat with Tony frustrating himself because he has no good reason to kill Paulie ("Remember When"); Tony's further alienation of others around him, Chrissy ("Walk Like a Man" is a great episode), Carlo, Hesh and even Carmela (think of "Chasing It", and Tony's his unwarranted, cruel backlash to the first during a car ride, the humiliation and intimidation of the second over a loan, and the callous explosion of violence with the latter over a lost bet); AJ's suicide attempt and Tony's subsequent rescue; Tony almost killing Coco over the latter approaching Meadow; Phil's death (the most satisfying of the show); Agent Harris finally helping Tony; the final scene (best ever).

So many good memories. I love this show,

After finishing another retrospective, new season rankings:

6A
6B
4
3
2
1
5

In my classes, I show the final scene off of YouTube. I then show the Clinton parody of it to illustrate to my students the melding of election campaigning and the popular culture.

As time goes by, I intend to use other scenes from the Sopranos to illustrate other points about government.

What do you teach, Olivant? At the college or high school level?

6B was choppy and rushed, 6A dragged on, less Vito, more corners please.

But, for being choppy and rushed it also had a lot of great moments like you mentioned.

College government.

After watching the entire show over 4 days ( I've been sick so no work) this is my new list for fav seasons:

3
2
6b
1
4
5
6a

Damn! Did ya pull any all-nighters? lol

If only the rest of us were lucky enough to be that sick...

I have only seen up to Season 3

and I think it is the best season so far

Yeah, I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me. Not complete all nighters, but basically, I'd sometimes fall asleep at about 5am. I could get through a season and a half in a day easy depending on when I started for the day. It's great watching it from start to finish over a short time. So many things you pick up and little bit's that Chase has thrown in, that are obviously meant to be seen in a row. Great show.

1. 2
2. 1
3. 3
4. 5
5. 6B
6. 4
7. 6A

the best season was season 2.

ds

Whatever your thoughts are on the show, it's quite obvious that Chase intended 6b and 6a to be the best. The difference between 6 and the rest is like comparing algebra at the high school level to a college level course -- one is relatively an overview of the subject, while the other continues the mode of thought in it's naturally progressive state -- and that's what we see with Chase's arc as a writer. He and the show seek to be a progressively intricate, complicated, contemplative work, one that's always improving and evolving...Such is the nature of life, such is the nature of art. The same can be said about the character arcs in the show.

6b was intended as Chase's crowning piece, followed by the penultimate 6a, while 2 and 3 represent the classic, vintage era of the show when it first took off with American audiences and was at it's peak in terms of viewers. Of course, there's no telling where the show might have gone had "Lydia" not died.

Nancy Marchand's death forced, I think, a creative impetus onto the writers. But it's interesting watching it evolve after they kill Livia off - and with it, ostensibly, the entire opening premise of the show... But at what points does Livia crop up again, in Tony's therapy? In relation to what? When is her presence most noted, after-death?

6A and 6B are amazing; for me, the peak of television drama, along with season 4 of The Wire.

Or maybe Phil is so angry because the thought of homosexuality had crossed his mind but he still went without for the duration of sentence.Thus if he can resist temptation for such an act whilst being so desperate, theres no way he'd be able to understand Vito.I didn't get any feeling that Phil had felt sexually confused in this way.As for clutching the bedsheet, it's just suggesting how in a rage he really is.He wants to be beating the life from Vito.It's he's family dis-graced.