The Sopranos

Guide Note

The critically acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos, starring James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, first aired on January 10, 1999 and closed out its sixth and final season on June 10, 2007. The series was created by David Chase.

The Sopranos revolves around a fictional Mafia boss named Tony Soprano (played by James Gandalfini, who runs an organized crime operation in New Jersey. The show focuses on the psychological, philosophical and social issues Tony has to deal with in confronting the nature of his work and his family.

In Season 1, Tony begins seeing a psychiatrist named Dr Melfi (played by Lorraine Bracco), after he starts having panic attacks and passing out. Also, Tony's manipulative mother (Nancy Merchand) and uncle (Dominic Chianese) plot to have him killed.

In Season 2, Tony's sister Janice falls for a volatile gangster named Richie Aprile, who she ultimately winds up killing before Tony has a chance. Meanwhile Tony discovers that one of his friends, "Big Pussy" (Vincent Pastore), has flipped and is now informing the FBI.

In Season 3, Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) arrives and gets involved with Janice. He also guides Jackie Jr towrads a life of crime, even though Tony specifically said not to.

In Season 4, Tony murders Ralphie for killing his racehorce, "Pie-Oh-My" (and also one of Silvio's strippers in Season 3). Also in this season, Carmella leaves Tony.

In Season 5, The head of the New York gang, Carmine Lupertazzi, dies without naming a successor. Tony's cousin Tony Blundetto arrives and kills the brother of Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent), one of the higher ups in the New York organization. Also, Christopher (Michael Imperioli) discovers his girlfriend Adriana has become an informant, and Tony orders Silvio to kill her.

In Season 6, Tony is shot by Junior, whose dementia has gotten worse. Things degrade between Tony and Phil Leotardo when Tony fails to handle one of his men Vito Spatafore, who is outed as a homosexual. Johnny Sack dies in prison, and Phil takes over the New York crew. Christopher tries to break away from the family by getting into show business, but he is ultimately sucked back in. He gets into a car accident with Tony, and Tony winds up suffocating him. Phil kills Bobby Baccallieri and puts Silvio into a coma. The two families fail to reconcile, and both Phil and Tony go into hiding. Tony tracks down Phil with the help of the FBI, and has him executed. The series ends ambiguously with the Soprono family going out to dinner.