The Sopranos: The Complete Fourth Season

Carmela to Tony: "Everything comes to an end." True enough, Mrs. Sope, but on The Sopranos, the end comes sooner for some than others (rest in pieces, Ralph). While for some the widely debated fourth season contained too much yakking and not enough whacking--an emphasis on domestic business over "family" business--what critic James Agee once said of the Marx Brothers applies to The Sopranos: "The worst thing they might ever make would be better worth seeing than most other things I can think of." And in most respects, The Sopranos remains television's gold standard. The fourth season garnered 13 Emmy nominations, and subsequent best actor and actress wins for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco as Tony and Carmela, whose estrangement provides the season with its most powerful drama (the season finale, "Whitecaps," was a long-time-coming episode, in which she at last stands up to "toxic" Tony). The season's--and one of the series'--most shocking episodes was "Whoever Did This," which marked the grisly swan song of Emmy winner Joe Pantoliano's psychopath Ralph. Other narrative threads include Christopher's (Emmy nominee Michael Imperioli) descent into heroin addiction, Uncle Junior's (Dominic Chianese) trial, an unrequited and potentially fatal attraction between Carmela and Tony's driver Furio, and a rude joke about Johnny Sack's wife that has potentially fatal implications. These are pivotal chapters in television's most compelling saga. DVD extras include audio commentaries on four episodes. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)