Messing with 'The Sopranos'

Can one of the best shows on television be better? Bite your tongue.

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By ERIC DEGGANS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 20, 2001

It's an idea that could get you whacked in some segments of the TV industry.

Still, it's an observation I've made since The Sopranos' first, rule-breaking run on HBO, and must make again, just before tonight's final episode in the show's third season.

Despite some truly entertaining and quality episodes this season, The Sopranos needs work.

I know it's TV business heresy to say such a thing. This is a series that got 18 Emmy nominations last year, praise from heavyweights such as The Washington Post's Tom Shales and a list of guest stars that includes Charles S. Dutton, Annabella Sciorra and that crazy guy from The Matrix (Joe Pantoliano in a bad red-hair dye job).

Beyond that, the show has notched some serious creative milestones this year. Who could remain unaffected by analyst Dr. Jennifer Melfi's decision to avoid telling mob boss-patient Tony Soprano of her recent rape -- knowing that a sentence or two could buy the rapist a well-deserved cement overcoat?

Watching Tony reveal his racist side (I had to chuckle at fans who could accept him philandering and killing people, but not tossing around racial epithets) and decided lack of parenting skills was also a plus.

And wife Carmela's realization that she can't walk away from the "blood money" Tony's activities provide was a seminal moment for the series and the character.

But there's room for improvement in this most excellent series, already one of the best on television. And with news that the series likely won't reappear with new episodes until April 2002 or later, there's time.

Although I know series creator David Chase is more likely to walk naked through downtown Newark than listen to the advice of a humble scribe (TV critics didn't even get an advance copy of tonight's finale), here are a few suggestions:

Resolve more continuing storylines.

I know, real life doesn't work like that. And leaving crucial plot developments unresolved lends an unpredictability that Chase values.

Still, viewers invest too much time digesting the small details to leave them unrewarded. And The Sopranos has turned over too many interesting rocks this season not to explore what lies beneath.

There's the growing conflict between Sopranos lieutenants Paulie Walnuts and Christopher Moltisanti. Ongoing efforts by federal investigators to nail Tony and his Uncle Junior (the season's initial episode on efforts to plant a microphone in the Sopranos' household has to rank as the biggest waste of viewer attention since The Geena Davis Show).

Melfi's attempts to cope with her rape. A growing tension between Pantoliano's Ralph Cifaretto and James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano. Tony's unease over how he treated a black state trooper played by Dutton. All worthwhile, meaty ideas that have yet to go anywhere -- and with one episode to go, how many of them will?

The greatest strength of The Sopranos' first season was its structure -- Tony's slow realization that his mother, Livia, had initiated his planned murder was an overarching framework that provided a powerful climax in the 13th episode.

Chase's resistance to providing a similarly important backdrop this year remains The Sopranos' biggest weakness.

Let the women be strong again.

The Sopranos has exhibited a serious penchant for violence against its female characters this season.

The incidents include: Melfi's graphic rape, Tony's sister Janice taking a slap in the face from a Russian gangster, Tony nearly choking to death his lover Gloria Trillo (Sciorra) and the brutal fatal beating of a stripper by Cifaretto.

Pundits made hay over the message this sent about violence to women; Chase and others close to the production said it was a plausible and effective way to shock viewers.

But the cost of that violence is that it has made the show's women weaker.

My own affection for The Sopranos' first season came, in part, from its strong women. Unlike so many other female characters on television (Ally McBeal, are you listening?) The Sopranos' women took no mess from their hoodlum husbands -- whether it was Carmela chewing out Tony for his serial adultery or Livia manipulating Uncle Junior into trying to whack her son.

But the death of Nancy Marchand removed Livia from the mix. This year, Carmela, Melfi, Janice and even Tony's tough-talking daughter Meadow have all fallen a few pegs.

My advice: bag the easy shock value of slapping women around and let them kick some behind again.

More humor. Please.

When The Sopranos first premiered three years ago, it offered liberal doses of humor to offset the heavy stuff (my favorite bit: a bouncy '50s rock tune playing while Tony chases down a deadbeat debtor).

But the black humor that fueled early episodes has subsided a bit in recent times. (A notable exception: the recent episode showing Paulie and Christopher lost in a wintry New Jersey forest. The shape of Paulie's hair -- stuck out like an unkempt haystack in a windstorm -- was priceless.)

Why not bring that stuff back on a regular basis? That's bound to make the horrifying stuff more horrifying, while adding an extra layer of enjoyment that's been missing for too long.

Let the old people shine again.

Another important element of the first Sopranos season was the vitality of its senior citizens.

Uncle Junior, aging patriarch of the family, was Tony's biggest rival -- an old school paisan he wanted to respect, but needed to circumvent. Livia was a force of nature, able to control her son and brother-in-law with a few sharp words or a suggestive question.

Flash forward to this season. With Livia dead and Uncle Junior incapacitated by stomach cancer and house arrest, the series' older characters are nearly down for the count.

Perhaps it's time for Uncle Junior to go into remission and consider a grab for real power in the Soprano family (or maybe even turn state's evidence, as a recent episode hinted he's considering).

Aside from Diagnosis Murder, it may be the only hope the AARP has for a character its members can root for in prime time television.

At a glance

The Sopranos season finale airs at 9 tonight on HBO. Rating: TV-MA (Mature Audiences).

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