re: Just finished The Sopranos- a few thoughts

He never had the makings of a varsity athlete.

A couple years ago, I did my first rewatch since the original run in preparation for Many Saints. Totally loved it all over. So many things I forgot or didn’t catch the first time. You forget how damn funny the show is.

I’m in the same boat….have always loved mafia/crime related movies, shows, and docs but for whatever reason never watched this one. I’ve been going through it for the first time over the last month or so and am halfway through the 4th season. I think Bacala’s wife dying is the first time I’ve felt true sympathy for any of the characters outside of Melfi getting attacked in the parking garage. Steve Schirripa does such a great job playing this character as a big teddy bear type that he ends up being one of the only likeable characters in the show.

Janice is easily the most despicable character IMO. Passing off the sympathy dishes as her own cooking is just cruel, and the way she inserts herself into everyone else’s business….Everybody has a relative just like her

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I actually wished Chris' story would have turned out better.

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I agree with OP that tony soprano is arguably the greatest tv character of all time. However, I'd also argue that Christopher 's story arc/development may have been even better than Tony's.

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Just finished The Sopranos- a few thoughts - It’s behind The Wire and maybe GOT

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No. Good lord, no. tGOAT is forever The Sopranos.

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AJ was such a fricking loser, god I hated every scene with him

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He gives off a Millennial vibe. Acts like an entitled pussy throughout the show. Still, he's one of the many characters on The Sopranos and he contributes to the story line a great deal. The scene with Tony and Dr Melfi where he talks about how his "rotten, fricking, putrid fricking genes" laying the blueprint for AJ's depression. Still, there were other good scenes with AJ and how Tony plays off of AJ's issues that make for excellent TV.

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Paulie was a badass…but also kind of a pussy?

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frick no. He killed (we think) the Russian that was the interior decorator that killed 16 Chechen rebels single handedly.

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Tony’s mom is maybe the most unlikable character ever

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During my first watch many years ago, I thought the same thing. I'd say after probably my 2nd or 3rd rewatch I grew to love the scenes with Olivia. Her sourpuss is fantastic. She's still crying about her missing loaf of bread all the while carrying a Virginia ham under her arm.

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Ralphie was a pain in the arse but he was funny as hell

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I wished he could've stayed on the show a little longer. Loved his character.

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I really grew to despise Tony. It wasn’t the murder and womanizing and theft that got to me, it was how he treated Hesh and how nasty he was to Carmella.

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You need to realize that at the end of the day, Tony was all about Tony. When he bled his friend's business dry and he told Davy about the frog and the scorpion. Tony was all about Tony.

I envy you people watching The Sopranos for the first time. There will never ever be another show as fantastic as The Sopranos. Ever.

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Ralphie was a pain in the arse but he was funny as hell

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“Speaking of 98 pounds, I hear Ginny Sack's getting a 95-pound mole taken off her arse”

Best line of the show IMO. Who knew that line would be the starting point of their beef with New York and a turning point in the series.

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I'm still waiting for it to get "edge of my seat" good

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I'm halfway through season 4 and I think it's safe to say it's just not that type of show. It doesn't need to be "edge of my seat" to be in the GOAT conversation.

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-AJ was such a fricking loser, god I hated every scene with him

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any moment of AJ sucking is worth what we get from him in the last episode

Tony Soprano:
How many f***ing times I've told you it's an SUV watch where you park off road the Cadillac converter and the dry vegetation

Anthony 'A.J.' Soprano, Jr.:
I didn't see the leaves

Tony Soprano:
You can grill f***ing steaks on that converter, I told you!

Carmela Soprano:
If there was children playing in those leaves, you'd run them over?

Anthony 'A.J.' Soprano, Jr.:
I guess?

Tony Soprano:
You're going to get cute now?

Anthony 'A.J.' Soprano, Jr.:
I was just answering her question

I think there’s a scene Melfi is talking to a friend, relative, or her shrink about how she could get Tony to kill the rapist but didn’t want to become like him or something to that effect.

That's fair I think. I'm not saying it isn't good, but I think it's different than my expectations going in were.