Junior's legal fees are starting to hurt the Soprano family and a sense of impending doom is felt by all.
This is a strong start to the fourth season that establishes an even darker tone than usual and sets the scene well for all characters.
The plot is quite minimal as it focuses on a number of characters and shows them contemplating financial and existential crisis. There are a number of scenes portraying characters in a dark place that hit hard. The underlying themes of money and death come through strongly in the dialogue and imagery.
Tony, Carmela, Christopher, and Junior in particular have good screen time. It is the first episode post 9-11 and effectively conveys the dread they associate with certain lifestyles or even life itself possibly coming to an end.
Tony is about as aggressive and tetchy towards the people around him as he's ever been and the stress and tension come out in virtually every image and sequence associated with the character. James Gandolfini still manages to be entertaining in a fairly intimidating performance.
Junior is in an equally dark a place and, in addition to his legal problems, his age and the events of previous seasons are now a stark realisation. Dominic Chianese has many superb moments and delivers great dialogue with his usual epic timing. It's testament to his performance as a selfish, cantankerous, nasty old mobster that he can be so enjoyable to watch.
Carmela is shown worrying about the future. Both the writing and Edie Falco's performance is great as ever. Her exchanges with Tony are compelling and she is believably portrayed as someone frustrated by her inability to take control of her own destiny.
It is an important episode for Christopher, but I won't say anything that will spoil what happens. However there is some good character history revealed, interesting signs of what might be coming, and Michael Imperioli is excellent as always.
Generally the dialogue is as sharp as ever and delivered to perfection by the cast. There are some moments that are very funny, others that are quite uncomfortable, foreboding, and it does a great job or establishing that there are dark times ahead.
Visually it is strong with some great symbolism in scenes using money and animals. The cinematography and editing is great as ever and the use of popular music enhances everything.
This is a strong start to the fourth season that establishes an even darker tone than usual and sets the scene well for all characters.
The plot is quite minimal as it focuses on a number of characters and shows them contemplating financial and existential crisis. There are a number of scenes portraying characters in a dark place that hit hard. The underlying themes of money and death come through strongly in the dialogue and imagery.
Tony, Carmela, Christopher, and Junior in particular have good screen time. It is the first episode post 9-11 and effectively conveys the dread they associate with certain lifestyles or even life itself possibly coming to an end.
Tony is about as aggressive and tetchy towards the people around him as he's ever been and the stress and tension come out in virtually every image and sequence associated with the character. James Gandolfini still manages to be entertaining in a fairly intimidating performance.
Junior is in an equally dark a place and, in addition to his legal problems, his age and the events of previous seasons are now a stark realisation. Dominic Chianese has many superb moments and delivers great dialogue with his usual epic timing. It's testament to his performance as a selfish, cantankerous, nasty old mobster that he can be so enjoyable to watch.
Carmela is shown worrying about the future. Both the writing and Edie Falco's performance is great as ever. Her exchanges with Tony are compelling and she is believably portrayed as someone frustrated by her inability to take control of her own destiny.
It is an important episode for Christopher, but I won't say anything that will spoil what happens. However there is some good character history revealed, interesting signs of what might be coming, and Michael Imperioli is excellent as always.
Generally the dialogue is as sharp as ever and delivered to perfection by the cast. There are some moments that are very funny, others that are quite uncomfortable, foreboding, and it does a great job or establishing that there are dark times ahead.
Visually it is strong with some great symbolism in scenes using money and animals. The cinematography and editing is great as ever and the use of popular music enhances everything.