My Top Twenty Episodes of The Sopranos

It's a little cliché to pick this as my favourite episode, but I couldn't help myself. Nothing exemplifies this show more than this episode here, we get a perfect insight into Tony's lives. And we also get a hilarious story focusing on Paulie and Christopher lost in the woods, it's dark comedy at its finest, expertly directed by Steve Buscemi.

Another episode that can perfectly exemplify what the show is about, and only five episodes in. It's perfection, we see several dimensions to Tony's character, his moral code, his devotion to both his family and THE family. One of the best episodes of TV ever made.

This episode was a surprising one to me. It leads on to Tony's lies, and how it affects everyone in his circle, but in this episode, he's innocent and truthful. It's fantastic writing, and the performances, specifically from Drea de Matteo and Michael Imperioli are sublime.

I've always thought that this show has had very intense moments, but nothing comes close to Tony and Carmela's marriage. It was nearly gut-wrenching watching these two, it was brilliant. My favourite season finale on the show.

This comes close to being my favourite season ender in the show. It shows Tony conflicted, does he put his morals or his friendships above one another? It's riveting stuff.

This is the episode that had the biggest gut punch in my opinion out of any of the episodes. The tension just piles up and up, things are getting drastic for everyone and it culminates in the most depressing death in the show. No spoilers of course, watch it for yourself.

Doctor Melfi is one of my favourite characters in the show. This is an episode that gets to explore her strengths and her weaknesses. Focusing on subject matter that resonates with me, having known someone who's experienced what Melfi did. Lorraine Bracco is the star of this episode. And the ending is one of the most powerful in the show's history.

Richie Aprile is a loathsome character, played to perfection by David Proval. He's an intense, raw, ruthless animal of a character, and this is the episode that best shows how his volatile nature conflicts with others, specifically those close to him. The direction from Allen Coulter, the writing from Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and the performances, especially from David Proval and Aida Turturro, are simply awe-inspiring.

The one that started it all. This is one of the best pilots ever made, up there with the pilot for Twin Peaks. It brought in a distinctly cinematic look to television never before seen, David Chase's genius shines through here. The dialogue, Chase's assured and playful direction and the performances, make this one of the best starting points for a TV show.

The penultimate episode of the show made me realise how quickly things were coming to a close. I absolutely adored the build-up of tension, the escalation between the rival families, and the conclusions it brought. Admirable.

I don't feel this episodes gets enough love. It's most likely the most experimental episode of the show. It's rich in symbolism, parallels of Tony's characters are being shown through David Chase's detailed script and David Nutter's direction. Edie Falco gives a brilliant performance as Carmela in this episode and James Gandolfini shows many sides to Tony in this one.

Ralph Cifaretto is one of the most evil bastards in all of fiction. Worse than Richie. I love to hate him, and this episode is my favourite showcase of Ralph's character, he may be evil and a freak, but he has a softer side. And the episode goes in a direction that I never expected.

Tony's relationship with his mistress, Gloria, throughout season 3 was one of the best things about that season. It brought to mind Fatal Attraction, except I think this episode did that better, because it was more real. People like Gloria exist and when they conflict with people like Tony, it's just bound to go together like a match and nitro-glycerine. James Gandolfini and Annabella Sciorra perfectly play off each other, it's brutal storytelling.

Christopher was one of my favourite characters in the show, he wasn't a good person but he was a great character. This episode was an episode that surprised me when I saw it for the first time. The writing and the directing were so good. It's hard to explain why this episode work unless you see it.

Another episode that I feel doesn't get enough love. The rivalling families are twisting each other up, a former boss has realised he has not got much time left. What really makes this episode for me is the writing by Terence Winter and the performances, specifically by Frank Vincent who embodies the rage that Phil Leotardo is going through and Vincent Curatola who shows a tear-jerking side to Johnny Sack.

I don't usually say this, but on the show there's not many who can outclass Gandolfini when it comes to acting, but Robert Iler's performance in this episode is simply astonishing and heartbreaking. This episode shows that despite Tony's faults, he does indeed deeply care about his children, and with this episode being third-to-last, it shows that they might be the only thing keeping him human.

This episode, knowing that the show would continue on for one last season, didn't shock me as much as it should have. But regardless of that, this is still a stunning episode. The ending is particularly great.

I've honestly had worse Monopoly games with family. This is an episode that shows Tony's pride in his role as the boss, finding his emasculation at the hands of another to be too much as he manipulates things further. I love this one.

There's been aspects of The Sopranos that are beautiful, and the more dream-like and somewhat magical aspects were brilliant. They were usually rich in themes, and it was expertly portrayed.