Boardwalk Empire, and all of the parallels to the Sopranos, go me thinking about the Sopranos. So here are my 10 favorite episodes of the original must-see HBO show.

I did my best to narrow the list down to 10, but I couldn’t omit two extra episodes from the conversation. So this is really a top 12, but for search-able reasons (you know, people dont search top 12, 10 seems to be the number), I have 10, and 2 runners up. Also, this is just my opinion, if you are a Sopranos buff, you may have a completely different list. However, this is my list.

Runner up #2- Commendatori Season 2, Episode 4 (#17)

Why I love it- This is the episode where Tony goes to Naples to meet with the local mafia about importing stolen cars. There is some great interaction with Paule Walnuts and the local mafioso who view him as a buffoon (they laugh at him when he tries to order some pasta with “gravy”). Clearly the New Jersey mobsters are fish out of water in the old country. While the guys are in Italy, Carmela and the ladies are doing their thing, and at a lunch, Angie Bonpensiero lets the ladies in on the secret that she wishes her husband (Big Pussy) had never returned. She tells them that her heart sank when she heard Pussy come come in the door for the first time. The wives of the gangsters are not ignorant to their husbands antics, but I am pretty sure this is the first time that one of them talks about it openly. What makes this episode great for me is the use of music. Two times during the episode when you are seeing Carmela, you here “Con te partiro” in the background. It is such a beautiful song, but of course it is Italian. The English translation is “time to say goodbye”, very apropo. In the future, Carmela will toil with why she stays with Tony in spite of his philandering. At the very end of the episode, when Tony comes home, Carmela hears him enter and the song plays for the third time in the episode as it fades to credits. Of course the insinuation is that she feels the same way as Angie did when Pussy came home. Of course, it takes a while for Carmela to say goodbye, but this is the start, and a really effective use of music as an enhancer.

Runner up #1- The Strong Silent Type Season 4, Episode 10 (#49)

Why I love it- For me, this episode comes down to one scene, the intervention for Christopher. Maybe one of the best scenes in the shows history. Silvia and Paulie, not know for being gentle are both abrupt and short with Christopher. It comes out that Christopher accidentally killed Aidriana’s dog, Tony (still emotional after the death of Pie-O-My), loose it. When Christopher calls his mother a whore, Sil and Paulie can take it no more and beat the crap out of him. It Sopranos comedy at its best.

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