Goat Season

Phil and Alex discuss the flashback-heavy, AJ heavy episode Down Neck, exploring the sliding scale of annoying television progeny, their trepidations about the continuation of The Sopranos legacy in The Many Saints of Newark, whether Livia always has one in the chamber in case you're pondering (she does) and the forgotten Fox dinosaur drama Terra Nova.

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On this week's episode of Goat Season, Alex and Phil discuss the silky smooth direction of Alan Taylor, the once rising star of HBO epics who became the name affixed to such misbegotten tentpoles as Thor The Dark World and Terminator Genisys, before (hopefully) making a comeback with the soon-to-be-released Many Saints of Newark. In addition to pondering the ever-evolving relationship between Tony and Dr. Melfi, they go on many, MANY tangents about such varied topics as Tilda Swinton's inherent lack of chill, whether or not Boardwalk Empire was the flagship drama HBO hyped it up to be, and casting directors' brief but fiery love affair with Jai Courtney.

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Here it is folks, the first undisputed classic episode of The Sopranos, "College." Alex and Phil investigate this episode's outsize impact on the tv landscape, including the absolute fire directing of Allen Coulter, the amazing performances from the SUNY Purchase mafia affiliates Edie Falco and Paul Schulze, the shocking ending that HBO didn't want to air, how that relates to the excellent HBO show Barry, the bizarre and archaic process of getting nominated for an Emmy, and other, even more tangential nonsense.

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Today on Goat Season, Phil and Alex discuss the conclusion of The Sopranos' first mini-arc in the episode "Meadowlands," including the first of the show's indelible dream sequences, the disgusting and possibly tragic Vin Makazian, a great needle drop that these characters would never listen to, the finer points of handling the N64 controller, Uncle Junior's quixotic bids for respect, and much more!

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Phil and Alex go through the Kubler-Ross stages of grief with the third episode of The Sopranos' first season "Denial, Anger, Acceptance." They discuss the highs and lows of an episode with some great directing and some cringe-worthy stereotypes, wax rhapsodic on the outstanding performance of Lorraine Bracco and her career prior to this iconic role, and correct a great injustice perpetrated in the episode prior, all while investigating the evolving question of: is this truly the goat season? Can a season have weaker episodes and still be the goat? Or has the goat not yet revealed itself?

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Alex and Phil break down the second episode of The Sopranos, "46 Long," and discuss the challenge of making a great second episode, the changes in production with the move from pilot to series, the greatness of The Sopranos' opening credits sequence and that bizarre cold open that the show would never repeat. They also introduce a new segment that totally isn't a meta-joke: the non-sequitur cold open!

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In the debut episode of Goat Season, Phil and Alex discuss The Sopranos and its impact on the future of serialized television, kicking off a golden age of antihero dramas and turning a small pay-cable network into a prestige tv juggernaut. Analyzing the first season starting with this classic pilot episode, they discuss the long, torturous road it took getting to our screens and our shiny dvd box sets. They delve into the history and creative process of the show's cantankerous auteur David Chase, and discuss the casting and construction of this first hour of one of the all-time television greats.

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