Soprano Home Movies

Tony and Carmela go for a weekend at Bobby and Janice's lakeside cabin.

This is a classic episode with great black humour and character moments.

'The Sopranos' does awkward character interaction incredibly well and some of behaviour on display during this family weekend is outrageously memorable. I will not spoil and reveal details but it's safe to say the way it unfolds from happy families to its end result is brilliantly done.

Some moments are darkly funny, particularly in the various antagonistic situations that boil over. You recognise the toxic masculinity and difficult brother-sister dynamics on display.

It all leads to an exceptionally sad and reflective final few moments that deeply effects one character. Never has a hug between a father and daughter been so loaded with pain and regret.

As ever with the writing of the stories, it links back to previous episodes and arguably foreshadows certain events in later ones.

Technically it's one of the best episodes of the show's run, particularly how it mixes the beautiful landscapes with the studio shots. There is an action sequence that stands out as brutal and realistic.

James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Steve Schirripa, and Aida Turturro all do great work. Schirripa in particular does some of his best.

The opening sequence alone justifies the huge acclaim The Sopranos has gathered since its debut in 1999. After a brief flashback which shows Tony as he throws away his gun while running away from the meeting that resulted in Johnny Sack's arrest, we cut to the present day, with Tony getting arrested because someone saw him throw the gun. As the cops knock on the door, Carmela asks: "Is this it?". Obviously it isn't (the gun charge is too weak, especially since there was a three-year gap between the fact and the arrest), but in a way Mrs. Soprano has a point: this is it - the last selection of episodes produced for the finest drama in television history.

With the charges dropped, Tony has another preoccupation coming along: his birthday, which is celebrated by paying a visit to Janice and Bobby at their lake house. While the women discuss parenthood and other normal stuff, the brothers-in-law alternate fishing, discussions about death and preparations for an upcoming business deal. It all goes very well until Tony makes some off-color remarks about Janice one night and a quiet evening turns into a fistfight between alpha-males. Part Two of Season Six goes through one heck of a start...

Soprano Home Movies doesn't really count as a season premiere, but feels like one anyway for how it slowly yet brutally brings forward the grand theme of the last nine episodes of the show: death. Sure, many characters have carked it over the course of the previous 77 episodes, but the beautiful conversation Tony and Bobby have about what they think happens when you die is big enough a clue in regards to what the main concern of the final season will be. Moreover, having such a soulful sequence followed by a down-and-dirty fight sums up the series in the most perfect way: a poetically violent masterpiece.

Tony and Carmela pay a visit to Janice and Bobby in their new digs way up north. AJ throws a party at the Soprano house in their absence. The high point of the episode has Tony constantly needling Janice until Big Bad Bobby's had enough. He proceeds to beat up Tony real good. Watching these two aging grizzly bears go at it is a bit scary as the fight is staged like all fights on this show: no-holds barred and uber-realistic. Having the two women screaming for their men to stop only adds to the sense of danger. Also, it is a shocker to see Tony laid out on the floor, semi-conscious, only a few episodes after watching him almost die after being shot point-blank.