Meet Tony Soprano. He lives in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City, has two teenage children, a demanding wife and a mother whose years of controlling manipulation have caused him to see a psychiatrist. He likes to sleep until noon, feed the ducks that nested in his pool and watch old screw-ball comedies. And in his spare time, he is an under boss in the New Jersey Mafia.
This is the set-up for the television show that has superceded all its predecessors and taken its place at the pinnacle of television artistry. Creator David Chase’s masterpiece follows Tony is his travels through his three worlds: family, work and therapy. The plot arcs are simultaneously short and long-ranging, as resolution is found in each episode and also builds toward the series being one giant entity. Each episode leaks into the other, but amazingly can stand alone as an autonomous work of art. The end result is a television show with the grand scope of a novel, while not forgetting to lead viewers along with weekly payoffs.

Season One deals with three main issues. The first is the power struggle between Tony and his Uncle Junior, as they battle over control of their Mafia family. Second is Tony’s mother’s deteriorating physical and mental capacities and his decision to place her in a nursing home (or as he calls it “a retirement community”). Lastly, the season’s spine is Tony’s relationship with his therapist. Much of what the viewer knows about his work and his family comes from therapy sessions with Dr Melfi, as he opens up about the turmoil all around him.

As much as the series hinges on the many supporting characters, the show IS Tony. Women love him, men fear him and viewers are captivated by him and all his complexities. James Gandolfini dazzles in his performance as one of the greatest characters ever seen on stage, television or film. Shakespeare would have been proud of such a creation.

Many love the show for the sex and violence, but there is so much more to this series. Yes, it entertains, but it also provokes thought. The show comments on the merits of the therapy, addresses both sides of Italian defamation, and constantly deals with the difficulties of raising children in modern times. Nothing produced by the entertainment industry in the past thirty years is more thoroughly satisfying than The Sopranos, and Season One may be the height of its creative appeal. It is a show not to be missed by anyone.