A Tangled Mob Web No one said being a Soprano was easy
When you're living among The Sopranos, death is the easy way out.
Just ask Christopher, Tony's hot-headed protégé. He nearly pays with his life after publicly threatening Tony, who he believes cheated with his fianc&aacue;e, Adriana. "I gotta live in this world," Chris bleakly mutters, looking none too happy about it.
Meanwhile, Tony frets that anyone would believe him capable of such a transgression (which only circumstance kept him from committing). "Am I that horrible? Really?"
Yes, Tony, you are. Horribly fascinating.
In this great fifth season, The Sopranos reclaims its title as TV's most diabolically entertaining, psychologically rich and emotionally provocative drama. More than ever, the show presents mob life as a terrible trap, a spiritual dead end.
Sounds like a downer, but the characters are so full of conflicted, frustrated life that it's a painful joy to watch.
Tony's estranged wife, Carmela, is locked in a loveless domestic prison she can't escape-even after throwing the bum out and starting a short-lived affair.
Tony's ex-con cousin, played with scraggly pathos by Steve Buscemi, dreams of going straight until he collapses in an explosion of self-destructive rage.
Perhaps the saddest Soprano of all is Uncle Junior, lost in dementia and lashing out at Tony with repeated taunts. "Why's it gotta be something mean? Why can't you repeat something good?" Tony wonders.
Because that wouldn't be the Sopranos way.
