This week, Chris, Lily, Paul, & Jordan cover the monumental "Long Term Parking", which is dubbed by many fans as the best episode in the whole series. Impactful and devastating, this penultimate episode of season five won both Michael Imperioli and Drea De Matteo their Emmys. The Tony B situation boils over into "do or die" territory, Tony and Carmela negotiate the terms of a reconciliation, and the three seasons of storytelling with Christopher and Adriana culminates to its brutal and shocking, but inevitable conclusion. One family is made, while another family is unmade. All this, plus some "Born to Run" discussion, suitcase talk, eggs, and the FBI, right after we replace Paul's colon with a semi-colon...

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We've waited a long time for this! It's time to break down "The Test Dream". This iconic season 5 showing is an episode that divided the fanbase when it aired. Does it play well today? What is it all about? Was this pretentious "filler", or genius storytelling? Are Chris, Paul & Jordan "prepared" for the task at hand? We'll find out, right after we have a nice tinkle with Mr. Detrolio...

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"Cold Cuts" is in a tough spot sandwiched between two particularly stand out episodes, but it still manages to hold its own and provide a fascinating look at rage in the Soprano family as we ramp up toward the end of season 5! Janice has to undergo anger management after getting into a fight at a youth soccer game, the situation with New York is sitting on the edge of a knife as tensions escalate between Tony & Johnny Sack, and Chris & Tony B get some time to bond in the countryside digging up the past (in more ways than one). Plus! Post 9/11 terrorism anxiety, "talking politics", Osama Bin Laden on a Vespa scooter, and another legendary Georgie beatdown. All this and so much more, right after we call Tony B Ichabod Crane...

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This episode prompts a robust discussion about masculinity in Sopranoland as Chris, Paul & Jordan break down the classic "Unidentified Black Males", a packed and entertaining hour in which the show deconstructs it's own use of the black male scapegoat. Tony Soprano has a dramatic breakthrough about his guilt around his cousin Tony, the war in New York gets taken to the next level, and Meadow & Finn's relationship takes a wild turn after one of the crew gets outed as gay. An episode packed with humor, nuance, grotesque violence and startling revelations manages to ask the question: in a world where everything is built on lies, will the truth really set you free? All this and so much more, right after we get out our suitcase...

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It's "the sweet life" here at the Sopranos Podcast because this week our "cultured Italians" Chris, Paul, & Jordan get to cover  "Marco Polo", a beautiful and charming episode riddled with awesome cinematography, festivity, and Shakespearean envy! Tony B is growing resentful of the life his cousin built while he was in prison, and it boils over in a big decision that puts Tony S in a bad spot. Meanwhile, the Soprano family celebrates Hugh's 75th birthday in a sequence that is both fun, and genuinely sweet, which stands out in a show with so little sweetness. Plus, Phil Leotardo has to deal with the indignity of off-kilter car seats and non-brilliant paint. It's a veritable Midsummer Night's dream in Sopranoland, and we're savoring every minute of it. All this and so much more, right after we twirl our sausages...

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Chris, Paul, and Jordan have a spirited discussion about the controversial "In Camelot", an episode that tends to rank lower on fan lists, but contains some interesting new territory for the show while deliberately making its viewers a little "queasy". Tony meets up with an old goomar of his fathers, Junior is funeral hopping in hopes of getting out of the house for a few hours, and Chris is using his 12 step program to enrich himself. It's a "cringey" hour about debt, and deconstructing the myths of the past. We dig deep into the nitty gritty about Kennedy, Camelot, and Livia Soprano being painted in a new light. All this and more, right after we rock the casbah...

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"Sentimental Education" is a fascinating hour of the show in which the absence of Tony Soprano somehow looms larger than his actual presence. This week Chris, Paul & Jordan break down this episode in which Tony Blundetto desperately fights to open a massage business while resisting the temptations of gangster life, while Carmela explores an exciting romance with Dr. Wegler. Both characters fall into heartbreaking and all too familiar patterns amidst an episode that is a slowdown from last week, but a funny and compelling character exploration nonetheless.  Plus, some discussion about grade changes from our resident educator Jordan, some interesting cultural differences between now and the early 2000's when this aired, and more hatred of "Monsignor Jug-head". All this and more, right after we find Paulie's missing tupperware...

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It's a veritable wildfire in Sopranoland this week as Chris, Lily, Paul, & Jordan cover "Irregular Around the Margins", a top to bottom thrill ride of an episode! No "B" or "C" plots this week, just an insane unfolding of events that spell personal disaster for all involved. As Tony and Adriana come very close to breaking a dangerous "margin", all hell breaks loose as rumor of the affair sweeps North Jersey. The fall out is "can't miss" television with electric scenes, mesmerizing acting, the highest possible stakes, and powerhouse writing. All this and so much more, right after we get the "jim-jams"...

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We're a happy family this week on The Sopranos Podcast, because we get to cover this awesome hour of storytelling! Season five is on fire with no threat of cooling down anytime soon. In "All Happy Families..." we bear witness to AJ's disrespect of Carmela, Carmela's loneliness, and a hell of a swerve in the Feech LaManna storyline! All sorts of fun discussion to be had here about literature, finally meeting Mr. Wegler (of season 4 Billy Budd fame), some really hilarious celebrity cameos, a wedding robbery, a laugh out loud Melfi scene, all while telling a profoundly sad story of a disintegrating family, leaving it's nurturing matriarch to wander an immaculate mansion by her lonesome. All this and so much more, right after we unglue our faces from the rug...

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It’s a wide range of emotions this week as we cover “Where’s Johnny?”, an episode that provides some deeply sad moments, some thrills, and plenty of laughs altogether.  It’s a rich episode about selfishness, old wounds, and lonliness. Junior’s mental state is starting to slip further away from reality as he wanders through Newark looking for his deceased brother. Tony struggles to stay out of the escalating violence in New York, and Paulie goes head to head with Feech over landscaping. Plus! Jordan looks up “half and half” for us on Urban Dictionary. All this and so much more, right after we shit in our hats…

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