Sopranos Season 5 Preview!
The Sopranos creator David Chase is famously tight-lipped about upcoming plotlines. He's even got his badass cast whipped like kittens when it comes to secrecy. Perhaps they fear sleeping with da fishes — á la Big Pussy Bonpensiero — if they spill a spoiler? Fortunately, Chase recently spared a few hints about Season 5 (starting March 7 on HBO) at the Television Critics Association press tour in Hollywood. Here's what we learned...
"The ticking off point of the fifth season is based on an article that I read in the Newark Star Ledger, about the highly publicized RICO cases of the '80s," Chase said. "They put a lot of guys away back then — it was when they really 'broke the back of the Mafia' is what they said. I read that a lot of those guys are now getting out of jail. They've served their time and they are hitting the streets again. So the show begins with what we call the Mafia, Class of 2004, hitting the streets. That's the departure point."
Enter sometime Sopranos director Steve Buscemi in the role of Tony Blundetto — who is Tony Soprano's cousin, on his late, hated mother Livia's side. "Steve is one of the guys [released from jail]," Chase revealed. "[The cousins] were sort of partners in crime 17, 18 years ago."
Asked if his character will still be alive by the end of this season, Buscemi laughed. "I keep my head, if that's what [you mean]," he wisecracked, then quickly changed the subject. Hmmm...
What about fave returning characters? Will we ever see Carmela's crush, Furio, who suddenly left town? And what about that Russian guy from the Pine Barrens? "He's gone" was Chase's terse response to questions about both men.
Chase also dismissed the idea of a big-screen Sopranos movie. "I mean, I probably wouldn't say no to that completely," he said, "but I think [the] last 10 episodes [which Season 6 comprises] will be that movie. That's the plan."
But let's not jump ahead of ourselves, Sopranos aficionados. First, we get to enjoy the fifth season, which Chase attempts to sum up thusly: "I'd say it has to do with limitations of family and friendship in a materialist world. And also the fact that Tony Soprano is sort of a mature boss. He's been doing this for quite awhile now, and it's about what it takes to be a leader, I suppose, despite your feelings."
