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The Sopranos - The Complete Second Season Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 31 Reviews)

The Sopranos- The Complete Second Season
The second season is my favorite season even though I kind of saw it out of order but not the first disc,the first disc was the first episodes I ever saw.second season dvd's have a cool menu.And the second season has the best stories.Lillo Brancato Jr. from A Bronx Tale is in the second season so thats good I was glad to see him in there.This is the only season I want to own.

Continuing to be a great "television event"
There aren't many television shows in the 50+ years of television history that can be categorized as a "weekly event". A "weekly event" show basically has everyone talking about the episode the next day. In the 1980s, shows such as "Dallas" and "Dynasty" were "weekly events". In the 1990s, "Seinfeld" would take emerge as the show that would become a "weekly event". As Seinfeld wound up, another show would soon take that title into the 21st century - that show being HBO's "The Sopranos". "The Sopranos" would be different in that it was a show that appeared on a premium (pay) cable station and would prove that premium cable stations can produce high quality shows that provide high levels of enjoyment. I'm not someone who subscribes to HBO so I felt on the "outside" on the "talk" would surround the episodes of "The Sopranos". However that didn't stop my curiosity about wanting to watch the show. Once I watched "The Sopranos - The Complete First Season", I not only got an appreciation for the show - but I now understood where all of the hype came from on this show. I was pleased when for the most part, "The Sopranos - The Complete Second Season" basically picked up with Season 1 left off.

The show focuses on an organized Italian-American crime family that is based in North Jersey. The main character of the show is Tony Soprano played brilliantly by James Gandolfini. Tony is the head of the fictional DiMeo crime family. On the show, we see Tony try to balance his "work" in the DiMeo crime family with his home life. Tony also suffers from panic attacks and depression and therefore sees a psychiatrist - Dr. Jennifer Melfi (played by Lorraine Bracco).

Here are some of the key storylines from Season 2:
1-Tony is now the head of the DiMeo crime family. We see the pressures of this responsibility begin to eat at Tony, raising signs of aggression and depression. This makes a strong testament to how great an actor James Gandolfini is.

2- We are introduced to two new characters, Tony's sister Janice (played by Aida Turturro) and Richie Aprile (played by David Proval), the brother of former DiMeo Crime Boss Jackie Aprile. Throughout the season, we see both Janice and Richie become involved with each other. Both will drive Tony crazy throughout the year.

3-Sal Bonponsiero (played by Vincent Pastore) is working for the FBI and his job is to get information on Tony in order to help the Feds proceed with an indictment. This is a very good storyline that will last throughout the entire season.

4-Dr. Jennifer Melfi begins to battle alcoholism as well as feelings for caring for Tony. This storyline continues to drag from Season 1. The alcoholism and Melfi's visits to her own psychiatrist do give more insight to her character than in Season 1, but overall I found this storyline not very interesting.

5-Christopher Moltisanti's (played by Michael Imperioli) continues to explore his dream of becoming a writer while at the same time trying to become a "Made Man". There are only about three episodes that really highlight Christopher's character - I would have liked to have seen more.

6-David Scatino (played by Robert Patrick), an old friend of Tony's becomes indebted to Tony and Richie following some gambling debts he accrued in a high stakes poker game. David's life slowly unravels as he deals with the financial stress he is under. This was a good storyline.

7-Uncle Junior (played by Dominic Chianese) is under house arrest as he awaits his day in court to battle the Federal Charges he is facing. At the same time, he is battling health problems. There is really only one episode that showcases Uncle Junior and during the rest of the year he is more of a supporting character.

8-Tony is still at war with his mother Livia (played by Nancy Marchand) over her attempt on Tony's life. At the same time Livia is battling her own set of health problems. Livia's role is not as prominent as in Season 1.

9-Meadow Soprano is trying to decide on a College to attend as her graduation is pending.

10-Anthony Soprano Jr. (played by Robert Iler) continues to try find himself as he begins to enter his teenage years. The episode surrounding his confirmation is one of his best.

11-Carmela Soprano (played by Edie Falco) begins to face the problems of her marriage and family - including Tony's infidelity as she begins to be attracted to another man.

Here are some other points to consider from Season 2:
- Overall, I thought the season started slow, but gained momentum by mid-season. By season's end, the show reaches heights beyond Season 1- including two terrific episodes to close the season.
- I was disappointed that Silvio "Sil" Dante is not a prominent character during Season 2. This is probably because he was touring with Bruce Springsteen during filming of this season.
- There is one episode where Tony goes to Italy with Paulie Walnuts and Christopher Moltisanti. The episode was filmed in Naples. Paulie's visit to the "mother land" provides some great comical moments, but more could have been done with Christopher's visit.
- Paulie Walnuts continues to be one of the better characters. His visit to a psychic is classic.
- The episode "From Where to Eternity" features a terrific scene between Tony and Melfi where Tony explains to Melfi why he is a soldier and does what he does - great stuff.

I called Season 1 to be "the most exciting 60 minutes on television". Despite the slow start, I still feel Season 2 continues to back this claim I make. As for the DVD packaging - besides the usual extras, one thing I really liked was how there was a brief textual synopsis provided on the screen before playing the episode. Overall, this is a very good and entertaining set - highly recommended.

Season 2
Having recently gotten into "The Sopranos," after I finished watching the first season; I rushed to get this. Let me just say, I loved the first season; But I love this more. This is a great season of a great show. Not only are the jokes funnier, the acting stronger, the plot twists more surprising, but they also made a couple good decisions. First off, Livia Soprano (Tony's mom) was a big part of the first season (and frankly, she wore out her welcome several times). Here, her character is decreased and when she does appear...It's not bad. Anyway...Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his family, including wife Carmela (Edie Falco), daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), and son A.J. return with a whole array of family and business issues. Tony is still seeing Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), his shrink. Christopher (Michael Imperioli) tries acting. Adreanna's (Drea De Matteo) uncle Richie shows up in the beginning of the season, becoming a main character and ends up dating Tony's sister Janice; Despite a personal-and-business feud between them. Oh, and there's a rat in the family. I don't want to say too much, because I think with any show, it's better to watch each episode without any real knowledge of what's going to happen. But, rest assured, if you like the 1st season. You'll definitely like this one. Here's the list of episodes and a few comments:

1. Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office-The first episode of the 2nd season picks up basically where the first one left off. Tony's uncle Junior is in jail, which makes Tony new boss, he's severed ties with his mother, and his psychiatrist won't see him. In this episode his sister Janice shows up.
2. Do Not Resuscitate-Nothing really significant occurs in this episode, but it is pretty entertaining. It's not the best, but it's not the worst.
3. Toodle F**king Oo-This episode is pretty funny, except my interest in Tony's mother in the hospital goes down everytime there's a scene that takes place there.
4. Commendator-In this episode, Tony goes to Italy without Carmela or the kids for business purposes and Pussy's wife wants to divorce him. The episode is written by series creator, David Chase...So, it's one of the better episodes even though it's different from the other ones.
5. Big Girls Don't Cry-This is the most entertaining and cool episode so far and features Christopher joining an acting class and letting out some of his inner demons as well as Tony returning to therapy.
6. The Happy Wanderer-This episode has an array of cool things. Guest appearances by Frank Sinatra Jr. and Robert Patrick; And you hear the song "Down" by Stone Temple Pilots played in the background in one scene. The season is getting a lot better later on, because this is a really great episode.
7. D Girl-This episode is extremely close to perfect. Guest appearances by Jon Favreau, Janeane Garofalo, and Sandra Bernhard.
8. Full Leather Jacket-A surprising (and funny...kinda) ending makes this episode one of the best this season.
9. From Where to Eternity-This episode is written by Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher, and deals with what happened in the previous episode. Very dramatic, very funny, and very entertaining. The classic R&B score works really well.
10. Bust Out-In this episode, Carmela comes close to having an affair with a painter. It's an entertaining episode.
11. House Arrest-This episode is very funny and you also get to see a sensitive side to Uncle Junior.
12. The Knight in White Satin Armor-This episode wasn't my favorite, but the last 20 minutes were great. One of the main characters may or may not die in this episode.
13. Funhouse-When an episode of a show is written by it's creator (especially when it's the season finale) it's usually really good. This is one of the strongest episodes.

GRADE: A

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