Fun for the whole ‘family’

You’ve heard the hype: “‘The Sopranos is the best show on television. Blah, blah, blah. It’s funny, it’s serious, it’s … It’s not TV, It’s HBO.’ Blah, blah, blah.” But in all honesty, it’s simply a great show. After a wait of almost a year since a new episode has aired, it’s back with a third season. Judging by the first two episodes, shown back-to-back, it looks like it’ll be another great one. Yes, it’s hyped up, but “The Sopranos” continues to prove itself every episode as a fine piece of television deserving of the praise it receives.

As with the seasons one and two, the first episode is primarily set-up. But, with two years under it’s belt, there is a lot less to introduce. While the second season jumped right into setting up complicated plot threads and introducing characters, this season eases in slowly. In fact, the first of the two episodes followed the entire Soprano family in their day-to-day routines.

As with the best episodes, more time was spent on Tony (James Gandolfini) and his family than on Tony and “the family.” The first episode followed the FBI tracking the Soprano clan so that they could place a bugging devise in the basement. Tony did have several meetings with the mob, introducing a little bit of internal conflict, but the other members of the family were given equal screen time. The FBI observed Tony’s daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) adjusting to college (in a typically spacious dorm room), his son A.J. (Robert Iler) hanging out with his friends and cutting classes, and his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) taking tennis lessons.

The second episode brought the “family” a little closer to home as Tony’s mother Livia passed away. Nancy Marchand, who played Livia, died last summer, so her final scene was done with a computerized stand-in. Marchand’s presence on the show will be missed, but her character was given a fantastic send off with a memorial service scene that perfectly captured the way everyone felt about her character.

This episode also returned to Tony’s psychological problems, which were the focus of season one. Tony once again entered the office of his psychiatrist Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) after he had a spell and passed out on his kitchen floor … which was the result of Tony meeting Meadow’s new male friend who was half black and half Jewish. Scenes like that keep Tony only a few steps away from being likeable.

While the first two episodes only serve as a small taste of what is to come in the third season, they are both enjoyable TV on their own. Creator David Chase seems to be giving the show a bit more breathing room than last year, taking a few hours to focus on the characters. Still, it introduces a few plot threads and deals with the death of a major character. Chase proved once again why “The Sopranos” is one of the most heavily praised shows on TV and is well on his way to delivering another tour-de-force season.