The Sopranos Podcast

The scope of what Season 4 is going for becomes much more apparent after this deep and introspective hour. We break down why "No Show" is a sleeper favorite for our hosts. Meadow's regression has deeper and darker undertones that boil to the surface, Tony is forced to reckon with how his life as "Mr. Mob Boss" has affected his children, and a dangerous game is played between Christopher, Silvio, a...

Season 4 begins with "For All Debts Public and Private", a more reflective and deliberate hour than we're used to for "The Sopranos" premieres, but nonetheless an episode with plenty of interesting stories and developments. More than ever before, this episode and the beginning of this season is centered around money. This comes with a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in a post-9/11 world, as the ide...

Our break down of Season Three continues! In this half of the Retrospective, Chris, Paul & Jordan talk about a slew of topics ranging from Peter Bogdanovich, to how Tony's therapy is going, to the state of the Mob Family, the women on the show, the haunting presence of Big Pussy, and - for the first time ever - we respond directly to some listener mail! You all sent us some fun stuff! PLUS, we con...

Three Seasons in, and The Sopranos is running at all-time creative highs with no signs of slowing down, but Season 3 remains the most unique of the three so far. Chris, Paul, and Jordan are here to talk about how and why. In Part 1 of our retrospective, we discuss Nancy Marchand's death, the legacy Livia left on the show, and how the show might have been different had she survived. We discuss Tony...

"The Army of One" is by far the most reflective, somber, and inconclusive season finales of The Sopranos so far, and yet it's a quiet, unsettling masterpiece. Chris, Paul, & Jordan discuss how this episode simultaneously closes the emotional threads on Season 3, but also leaves many intriguing possibilities for Season 4. A lot happens in this hour, but the big questions that loom over the head of...

They've done it again! Three seasons in a row, The Sopranos have delivered a 10/10 penultimate chapter, and "Amour Fou" may just be the best of the bunch. Chris, Paul, and Jordan discuss this electric hour that delivers scene after scene of scintillating drama and incredible payoff to the season's various storylines. Jackie sticks up the wrong card-game, Carmela learns to set some personal boundar...

Chris, Paul, & Jordan have been waiting for three seasons to cover this episode! "Pine Barrens" is an all-time classic, and a perpetual fan-favorite in the Sopranos canon! Tony finds himself at the center of a pin-wheel of chaos as stress from home, stress from Gloria, and stress from work culminate when Chris and Paulie get lost in the woods after botching a shockingly simple task. It's a comedy...

Ho Ho Ho! It's a Sopranos Christmas special! (Sort of). Chris, Paul, and Jordan break down "To Save Us All From Satan's Power" in which Tony, Paulie, and Silvio struggle through their first Christmas without Big Pussy. There are some truly fascinating moments in this hour in which our characters learn that that day on the boat, and the years preceding it, will continue to haunt them one way or ano...

Happy New Year! This week, Chris, Paul & Jordan analyze Michael Imperioli's second outing as a writer with Season Three's "The Telltale Moozadell".  On the surface this is a much quieter episode than we've been getting, but it's just brimming with intrigue and growing tension! Jackie Jr. steps up his role in both families, and things heat up in a big way between Tony and Gloria after a sensual dat...

Merry Christmas everyone! This week, Chris, Paul, & Jordan keep in the spirit of the holidays by dissecting the exciting season three episode "He Is Risen", centered around Thanksgiving. The rivalry between Tony & Ralphie is the talk of North Jersey and something has to give. Things escalate even further when Johnny Sack "sticks his beak in" to try and settle the beef. While this is happening, Mea...

Chris, Paul, & Jordan are past the halfway point of Season Three, and have a blast breaking down the dynamic "Second Opinion". In this hour, Christopher deals with cruel hazing amidst his "probationary period", Tony uses his gangster cunning to perform a heroic act for Junior, and Carmela is forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about her life when she gets a "second opinion" of her own fro...

Lily is back on the show this week to discuss the controversial episode "University" with Chris, Paul, & Jordan! We discuss the sharp nuance and vivid brutality of this script which masterfully tells parallel stories of two young women in two very different circumstances. It's a rough hour, but an impactful one. Ralph Cifaretto, played by the brilliant Joe Pantoliano, finally gives us a peek behin...

Chris, Paul, & Jordan share a lot of spirited, laughter filled minutes together breaking down "Another Toothpick", one of Season Three's more wild and hectic hours. In this episode we meet two new characters in Bobby Baccilieri Sr. and Mustang Sally, Junior struggles with an unfortunate diagnosis and some rabid superstition centered around the "Rule of Three", and after a tumultuous therapy sessio...

Chris, Paul & Jordan welcome Lily back to the podcast to help break down "Employee Of The Month" one of the most impactful, intense, and beautiful episodes in the Sopranos canon. In this hour Melfi is victimized by a terrible act of sexual violence, and Lorraine Bracco gives a tour de force performance as the story unfolds. Our hosts discuss how this episode does a masterful job of depicting this...

Huge episode for Christopher Moltisanti! He finally becomes a Made Man! Chris, Paul, & Jordan break it down, along with the rest of the Season Three classic "Fortunate Son". This hour of television sees AJ become a star football player, Jackie Jr. becoming a wheelman, crucial flashbacks to a traumatic day in Tony's life, and Christopher learns that being a "made man" aint all it's cracked up to be...

Goodbye Little Livia. With "Proshai Livushka" The Sopranos says goodbye to actress Nancy Marchand, who passed away in between seasons two and three, with a very unpleasant but powerful hour of television. Chris, Paul, and Jordan break it all down including a discussion about the 1931 film "The Public Enemy", a discussion about Livia's legacy as relates to her family and the world of the show as a...

We're back! Season Three of The Sopranos is off to the races! Chris, Paul, & Jordan share many laughs breaking down the most unique season premiere we've seen so far!  In this episode we break down why "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" might play better in a modern "binge watch" format than it does on week to week viewing. We catch up with the "Bing" family, see what everyone has been up to since the...

We're back for the second half of our Season 2 retrospective! This time the conversation centers around the women and the elderly characters of season 2, particularly Livia, Junior, Dr. Melfi, and Carmela. Plus, we finish off our "Top 3" categories with our favorite moments, favorite characters / performances, and favorite episodes. We close out season two of our podcast with a lot of laughter, fo...

There's no "Sophomore Slump" for The Sopranos! David Chase and company have given us another groundbreaking season of television and we can't wait to talk about it. Chris, Paul, Jordan and Lily have a laughter filled conversation as we discuss Season 2 as a whole, Tony being cast as "brother", what Janice and Richie brought to the show, the tragedy of "Big Pussy", and Meadow growing up and finally...

The season 2 finale of The Sopranos, entitled "Funhouse", is a gift to analytical podcasts like ours. Hosts Chris, Paul, & Jordan can't wait to jump into the deep water on this one. Dream interpretations galore as we dissect one of the most inventive and imaginative episodes yet. As the Big Pussy storyline reaches its tragic and inevitable conclusion, Tony's subconscious screams at him through a s...

Bang! "The Knight in White Satin Armor" is  one of the most shocking and emotionally resonant chapters of The Sopranos yet, and our hosts Chris, Paul, & Jordan couldn't be more excited to talk about it. Pussy is at the end of his rope, Tony's extramarital affair bleeds into the Soprano home, and after a long day of plotting to kill Tony, Richie and Janice have a lovely dinner together. It's an epi...

Only a show like The Sopranos could make an episode about boredom so damn captivating.  Chris, Paul & Jordan break it down this week with a lot of laughter and joy. In this episode where characters are forced by their circumstances to stagnate and be "still", we get to see how the stress and sociopathy of mob life inflicts deep permanent wounds on these characters. Meanwhile, as Tony and Junior ar...

Wheel in the sky keeps on turning! The Season two episode "Bust Out" is all about hypocrisy, cycles, and planning for ends that may or may not ever come. This week Chris, Paul & Jordan break down the Scatino bust-out, Tony's frustrating therapy sessions, the fallout from the Bevallaqua murder, and Carmella's brief affair with a wallpaper man. The show is pulling out all the stops as they race towa...

"From Where to Eternity" is such a special episode of The Sopranos that Chris' wife Lily had to join the boys this week to break it all down. The show uses Christopher's precarious medical condition to tackle some really big universal questions. Is there a God? Heaven? Hell? What are the cosmic consequences of the life these characters have chosen?  What kind of "fuckin' ghouls'" are these charact...

"Full Leather Jacket" may be the shortest episode of The Sopranos, but it's one of the more entertaining and  impactful chapters in Season 2! This episode sees many of our characters giving up various offerings - A ricotta pie, a treasured jacket, an engagement ring, a tray of food, even murder!  But very few of these offerings bring results that our characters understand or could have predicted,...