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The Fourth Season of the Sopranos: trouble everywhere, and not a bit of relief
Date of Review: Jul 21, 2004
The Bottom Line: Still good, and better than most of what's out there on television, but it's lacking somewhere.
I was really surprised to see that no one had bothered to review this compliation of the fourth season of the HBO series, The Sopranos. This modern soap opera about the troubles, laughs and conflicts of a modern day Mafia family has built up a devoted following in the last few years.
But in this, the fourth season, things take a much darker turn. There's very little humor, and there's a hard, ugly edge to things. Habits that were tolerable in earlier episodes become dangerous things, and nearly all of the relationships are strained to the breaking point.
For All Debts Public and Private
This episode gives a sort of recap of the previous season, and introduces the on-going troubles that are plaguing the Sopranos. There's Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese), who's facing a long trial that may put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Tony (James Gandolfini) is getting over Gloria, not that it would take very long to do so. Janice and Ralphie's (Joe Panteliano) love life is going into new territory. And Paulie (Tony Sirico) is in jail himself, and passes along a joke that soon grows completely out of proportion. Most important, there is Christopher (Michael Imperioli) and Adriana (Drea de Matteo), who have very different problems, but soon find themselves in places where there isn't going to be much escape, especially from Tony.
No-Show
While Paulie is in jail, Tony makes Christopher the acting 'capo' or head of the Gaultieri crew. Sadly, not only does Christopher lack the experience of running things, his social skills aren't that good either, even if he wasn't using heroin. Which he is. If things weren't crazy enough, Carmela (Edie Falco) is getting more worried about a financial future without Tony, and starts to be a bit more pushy in promoting 'security.' And Meadow is reconsidering college choices and wanting to wander off to Europe for a while.
Christopher
It's nearing Columbus Day and the family is taking no prisoners as they plot to take down a Native American rally that intends to protest. But things soon are running out of control, and Tony is furious. He wants things to be nice and quiet, especially now that Uncle Junior's trial is about to start. But tragedy strikes when Bobby Bacala's (Steve R. Schirripa) wife Karen is killed in an accident. Ralphie, the louse, decides to dump his current girlfriend and move in with Janice. Who, for once, shows uncommon good sense by kicking him down the stairs and out of the house. And Ralphie, it seems has managed to let slip a poor joke which has gotten back to Johnny Sacks, who would love to waste Ralphie over it. But alas, these are modern times.
The Weight
The controversy over the joke about Johnny Sacks' wife's backside is growing into a monster of monumental proportions. Johnny is furious, and know that the joke started somewhere in Tony's crew, but can't find the offender. Johnny's peeved enough to start a war, and wants to be allowed a couple of hits to avenge his wife. But his boss, Carmine, disallows it, knowing that a war will led to trouble that no one wants. To makes it even more difficult, Carmine and the New York Bosses want a cut of the big land deal that Tony is running, and turning a large profit from. Say, forty percent. In the meantime, the heat between Furio and Carmela is rising, and even Tony is noticing when he sees her changing her hair and taking more care over herself. All of this culminates when Furio invites everyone to a housewarming to celebrate, and he and Carmela dance.
Pie O My
Tony finds himself bonding with his horse, Pie O My. The fact that Ralphie is a co-owner is conveniently forgotten by Tony. Janice (Aida Turturro) is setting her sights on the heartbroken Bobby Bacala, seeking a much more closer relationship, and shows that she can be just as ruthless as Tony -- or Livia in her heyday. And the FBI is putting the squeeze on Adriana to come up with some juicy tidbits about the family.
Everybody Hurts
There's plenty of bad news, especially for Tony when he finds out about Gloria's eventual fate. Worse still, a tragedy hits even closer to the heart when a terrible accident happens and Tony loses a newfound love. This triggers an outburst towards Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) that goes too far. More trouble piles up when Artie Bucco lends 50K, and the money vanishes, leaving him in debt to Tony. All sorts of emotions are running high in this one, and things are quickly becoming a powderkeg.
Watching Too Much Television
Paulie Walnuts is finally out of jail, and seeking to raise the stakes. Seems he took the news about Chris being made a capo a little hard, and it's enough to make him want to switch allegances. Carmela is busy eating her heart out over Furio. And Adriana finds a way that just might get the FBI off her back.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Tony finds himself attracted to Ralphie's latest girl, Valentina. In addition to bouncing about the bedroom, Valentina also lets Tony in on some of Ralphie's secrets, news that Tony finds very unsettling. Furio is in Italy for a family emergency and knows he has to do something about his attraction to Carmela. Carmela meanwhile has been steathily tracking down Tony's little stash o' cash for herself, and manages to convince herself that not only can't she trust him, but also that he's holding out on her -- news that will have catastrophic implications later. And Paulie decides that no one is paying enough attention to his dear mama, so he takes matters into his own hands.
Whoever Did This
If you're squeamish, I suggest that you may want to skip this episode. Tony has discovered the money is starting to not add up, and he's regarding Ralphie is turning into a liability. A big liability. Uncle Junior takes a fall down the stairs, and this just might be the break he needs to get his legal troubles done with. Of course, the idea that he just might be losing it mentally doesn't enter anyone's mind, especially the FBI's. But it's Ralphie that goes too far, when confronting Tony about the loss of Pie, he tells him that it was just an animal. We know that someone isn't going to be getting up from the ensuing conflict, and the audience is pretty sure it isn't going to be Tony. This one gets rather grisly towards the end, but everyone is breathing a sigh of relief.
The Strong, Silent Type
Chris's drugging habits finally spiral out of control and the family comes together to do something about it. On top of that, the New York bosses are getting twitchy about the land deal. And of course, there's still a few lingering doubts about Ralphie and where he's gone off to, but Tony manages to come up with an answer that satisfies -- New York.
Calling All Cars
The hassle over the land deal is rising, and Tony is scrambling to find a way to keep a bigger portion, and get Carmine off his back. Junior's legal troubles aren't solved yet. Janice continues in her underhanded courtship of Bobby, and seems to have scored a hit. Unhappy, and feeling out of control, Tony cuts what may be his most stable relationship -- that with Dr. Melfi.
Eloise
Carmela and Meadow continue a mother-daughter tradition by meeting at the Plaza for afternoon tea on Meadow's birthday. But even this one pleasure goes awry and Carmela sinks farther into her depression over Furio returning to stay in Italy and uncertainty about her marriage being able to survive.
Whitecaps
In the hope of bringing the family closer together, Tony makes an offer on a house on the beach. The kids and Carmela love it, but when there's a squeeze on the cash flow, Tony has to back out of the deal. Unhappily, the seller has other ideas about the hefty deposit. But viewers should know by now that with Tony, when money is involved nothing will stand in the way. But there's a bigger problem -- a former girlfriend calls Carmela with the sordid details, and as they say, Hell hath no fury... Can the Sopranos' marriage survive? Guess we'll have to wait until next season to find out.
While this has just as much involvement and interaction as the previous seasons, there was something lacking. While a few of the episodes had plenty of interest and conflict, there was something about them that I could not get involved as deeply with the characters as I had on earlier encounters. The humor while remaining steadily black, is not quite there either, and the grimness of just trying to survive is eating away at the underpinnings of the series. No one knows who to trust, and even the most stable of relationships are unraveling.
On the other hand, by the last few episodes of this season, you have to know what will happen next. I was certainly hooked, and have decided that watching the next season will be a necessity. HBO has managed to pull it off again, and while the characters have some very questionable morals, you can't help but watch them as a series of colliding trains, and with a sick fascination.
