Just finished my fifth (!) go watching The Sopranos since the early 2000s. Some thoughts ...

Criminally under-appreciated for how funny it is.
[Upon finding out Russian mob target fought in Chechnya as part of Interior Ministry]
Paulie: You’re never going to believe this. He killed 16 Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.
Chris: His house looked like shit.

People always debate if the Coen Bros. like their characters. David Chase and co. unequivocally love their characters. But they’re also self-aware enough as writers to recognize how complicit they are. They’re sociopaths and the show knows it. It also doesn’t valourize.

Never has a series so mastered subverting storytelling expectations (Richie Aprile, anyone?). But subversion comes from people behaving the way we do in RL (not the violence, but the petty stuff — like Carmela’s quick exit upon finding out Hunter made it into med school).

Some uneven seasons but I contend it’s still best overall series ever.
Rankings: s2-s1-s3-s6-s5-s4.
I’d happily concede argument in favour of Mad Men — created by a The Sopranos executive producer. Same existential threads are in both series. Finished MM rewatch recently, too.

Also can’t emphasize enough what an exquisite companion reading “The Sopranos Sessions” by @mattzollerseitz and @sepinwall has been since August. Profound breakdowns of every episode — I picked up so much more from the series five times in by gleaning their insights.

Finale is definitive to me. Even from the moment I watched it (a few wks after airing ... made it home spoiler-free after backpacking in EU), conclusion left little to question. I don’t blame Chase for playing coy. But no argument about Tony’s fate, right?