Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

On January 10, 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrist's office and changed TV history. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell,The Sopranoslaunched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants asMad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad, andGame of Thrones. As TV critics for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, New Jersey'sThe Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz were among the first to write about the series before it became a cultural phenomenon. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show's debut, Sepinwall and Seitz have reunited to produceThe Sopranos Sessions, a collection of recaps, conversations, and critical essays covering every episode. Featuring a series of new long-form interviews with series creator David Chase, as well as selections from the authors' archival writing on the series,The Sopranos Sessionsexplores the show's artistry, themes, and legacy, examining its portrayal of Italian Americans, its graphic depictions of violence, and its deep connections to other cinematic and television classics.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• The Foreword (p. 1)
• You Get What You Pay For
• The Introduction (p. 5)
• It Goes On and On and On and On
• The Recaps (p. 9)
• Season One (p. 9)
• Woke Up This Morning (p. 10)
• S1/E1
• "Pilot"
• A Soy's Best Friend (p. 20)
• S1/E2
• "46 Long"
• Protocol (p. 24)
• S1/E3
• "Denial, Anger, Acceptance"
• The Casual Violence (p. 27)
• S1/E4
• "Meadowiands"
• The True Face (p. 30)
• S1/E5
• "College"
• Like a Mandolin (p. 36)
• S1/E6
• "Pax Soprana"
• White Rabbit (p. 39)
• S1/E7
• "Down Neck"
• Spring Cleaning (p. 42)
• S1/E8
• "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti"
• The Devil He Knows (p. 46)
• S1/E9
• "Boca"
• Mystery Box (p. 48)
• S1/E10
• "A Hit Is a Hit"
• The Other Forever (p. 53)
• S1/E11
• "Nobody Knows Anything"
• Tiny Tears (p. 56)
• S1/E12
• "Isabella"
• Skyscraper Windows (p. 59)
• S1/E13
• "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano"
• Season Two (p. 63)
• A Very Good Year (p. 64)
• S2/E1
• "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office"
• Pot Meets Kettle (p. 70)
• S2/E2
• "Do Not Resuscitate"
• Old School (p. 73)
• S2/E3
• "Toodle-Fucking-Oo"
• Con te Partirò (p. 76)
• S2/E4
• "Commendatori"
• Total Control (p. 79)
• S2/E5
• "Big Girls Don't Cry"
• This Game's Not for You (p. 82)
• S2/E6
• "The Happy Wanderer"
• God the Father (p. 85)
• S2/E7
• "D-Girl"
• The Last of the Arugula Rabe (p. 88)
• S2/E8
• "Full Leather Jacket"
• The Admiral Piper (p. 91)
• S2/E9
• "From Where to Eternity"
• The Scorpion (p. 94)
• S2/E10
• "Bust Out"
• Alexithymia (p. 96)
• S2/E11
• "House Arrest"
• Pine Cones (p. 98)
• S2/E12
• "The Knight in White Satin Armor"
• Temple of Knowledge (p. 101)
• S2/E13
• "Funhouse"
• Season Three (p. 107)
• The Sausage Factory (p. 108)
• S3/E1
• "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood"
• Miles to Go (p. 110)
• S3/E2
• "Proshai, Livushska"
• The Hair Apparent (p. 113)
• S3/E3
• "Fortunate Son"
• Attack Dog (p. 116)
• S3/E4
• "Employee of the Month"
• Witness Protection (p. 120)
• S3/E5
• "Another Toothpick"
• Work-Related Accident (p. 123)
• S3/E6
• "University"
• Blood Money (p. 129)
• S3/E7
• "Second Opinion"
• Early Retirement (p. 133)
• S3/E8
• "He Is Risen"
• Each Child Is Special (p. 136)
• S3/E9
• "The Telltale Moozadell"
• Ho Fuckin' Ho (p. 140)
• S3/E10
• "... To Save Us All from Satan's Power"
• Rasputin (p. 143)
• S3/E11
• "Pine Barrens"
• A Mofo (p. 147)
• S3/E12
• "Amour Fou"
• The Garbage Business (p. 151)
• S3/E13
• "Army of One"
• Season Four (p. 155)
• The Haifback of Notre Dame (p. 156)
• S4/E1
• "For All Debts Public and Private"
• Mr. Mob Boss (p. 159)
• S4/E2
• "No Show"
• Reservations (p. 161)
• S4/E3
• "Christopher"
• All of Her (p. 164)
• S4/E4
• "The Weight"
• My Rifle, My Pony, and Me (p. 166)
• S4/E6
• "Pie-O-My"
• Reflections (p. 168)
• S4/E6
• "Everybody Hurts"
• All the Girls in New Jersey (p. 170)
• S4/E7
• "Watching Too Much Television"
• The Boss's Wife (p. 172)
• S4/E8
• "Mergers and Acquisitions"
• Straight Arrow (p. 174)
• S4/E9
• "Whoever Did This"
• Intervention (p. 178)
• S4/E10
• "The Strong, Silent Type"
• Versales (p. 181)
• S4/E11
• "Calling All Gars"
• Meeting's Over (p. 183)
• S4/E12
• "Eloise"
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Mook? (p. 186)
• S4/E13
• "Whitecaps"
• Season Five (p. 191)
• Class of 2004 (p. 192)
• S5/E1
• "Two Tonys"
• Tony Uncle Al (p. 195)
• S5/E2
• "Rat Pack"
• Small Strokes (p. 198)
• S5/E3
• "Where's Johnny?"
• Steamrollers (p. 200)
• S5/E4
• "All Happy Families"
• Telephone (p. 204)
• S5/E5
• "Irregular Around the Margins"
• Fish Out of Water (p. 206)
• S5/E6
• "Sentimental Education"
• Happy Birthday, Mister President (p. 210)
• S5/E7
• "In Camelot"
• Truce and Consequences (p. 214)
• S5/E8
• "Marco Polo"
• Arch-Nemesis (p. 216)
• S5/E9
• "Unidentified Black Males"
• On the Farm (p. 219)
• S5/E10
• "Cold Cuts"
• Three Times a Lady (p. 222)
• S5/E11
• "The Test Dream"
• Take Off and Drive (p. 228)
• S5/E12
• "Long Term Parking"
• Glad Tidings (p. 231)
• S5/E13
• "All Due Respect"
• Season Six (p. 237)
• The Noose (p. 238)
• S6/E1
• "Members Only"
• Heating Systems (p. 241)
• S6/E2
• "Join the Club"
• Complicit (p. 244)
• S6/E3
• "Mayham"
• Kung Fu (p. 247)
• S6/E4
• "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh"
• Jackals (p. 251)
• S6/E5
• "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request ..."
• Deep in the Valley (p. 254)
• S6/E6
• "Live Free or Die"
• The Haves and Have-Nots (p. 257)
• S6/E7
• "Luxury Lounge"
• Imitations of Life (p. 259)
• S6/E8
• "Johnny Cakes"
• A Pair of Socks (p. 263)
• S6/E9
• "The Ride"
• The Totality of Vito (p. 265)
• S6/E10
• "Moe 'N Joe"
• City of Lights (p. 267)
• S6/E11
• "Cold Stones"
• Least She's Catholic (p. 270)
• S6/E12
• "Kaisha"
• Season Seven (p. 273)
• Boardwalk Hotel (p. 274)
• S7/E1
• "Soprano Home Movies"
• Spinning Wheels (p. 277)
• S7/E2
• "Stage 5"
• Take Me Home, Country Road (p. 281)
• S7/E3
• "Remember When"
• A Pebble in a Lake (p. 285)
• S7/E4
• "Chasing It"
• Heltfighters (p. 289)
• S7/E5
• "Walk Like a Man"
• Comfort's End (p. 293)
• S7/E6
• "Kennedy and Heidi"
• They Are the Bus (p. 296)
• S7/E7
• "The Second Coming"
• Leadbelly (p. 300)
• S7/E8
• "The Blue Comet"
• No Enoore (p. 303)
• S7/E9
• "Made in America"
• The Debate (p. 314)
• Don't Stop Believin' You Know
• Exactly What Happened at the End of The Sopranos
• The David Chase sessions (p. 327)
• Session One (p. 328)
• Session Two (p. 344)
• Session Three (p. 350)
• Session Four (p. 360)
• Session Five (p. 371)
• Session Six (p. 382)
• Session Seven (p. 396)
• Bonus: "Pine Barrens" (p. 408)
• The Morgue (p. 415)
• The Eulogies (p. 459)
• Acknowledgments (p. 471)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Twenty years after The Sopranos debuted on HBO and mob boss Tony Soprano became a household name, TV critics Seitz and Sepinwall offer the ultimate postmortem of the show that revolutionized television and ushered in a wave of small-screen antiheroes. They approach their subject with the rigor of a literature professor expounding on Madame Bovary, or Tony's psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi probing the depths of her troubled patient's psyche. Episode by episode, lively essays mull symbolism, unearth obscure references, and pose existential questions. Casual viewers may tire of the meticulous analysis (and copious footnotes), but devotees will be awestruck. Just as The Sopranos elevated the medium of television, Seitz and Sepinwall raise the status of TV writing to new heights. They debate the ambiguous final scene and engage in insightful interviews with creator David Chase, who makes clear his disdain for closure and his delight at subverting audience expectations. A collection of the authors' Sopranos coverage for the Newark Star-Ledger caps off the book. VERDICT For uberfans who still argue over whether Tony made it out alive, wonder what became of the Russian, and eagerly await the prequel.-Mahnaz Dar, Library Journal © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Here is a perfect illustration of too much of a good thing. In this laboriously detailed book, the authors take us through the entire run of the hit television series The Sopranos, one episode at a time, sharing with us their reactions to the episodes as well as behind-the-scenes stories and interesting trivia. The authors, television critics for a New Jersey newspaper, are clearly devoted The Sopranos fans, and the book definitely enriches the viewing experience, but the level of detail becomes a bit overwhelming every once in a while. The text takes us deeply and often perceptively into the stories and themes of The Sopranos, but readers looking for an enthusiastic celebration of the series may be a bit put off by the professorial, film-school style. Even so, for hard-core The Sopranos fans, of whom there are many, it's probably still a must-read.--David Pitt Copyright 2019 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Everything you ever wanted to know about America's favorite Mafia serialand then some.New York magazine TV critic Seitz (Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion, 2015, etc.) and Rolling Stone TV critic Sepinwall (Breaking Bad 101: The Complete Critical Companion, 2017, etc.) gather a decade's worth of their smart, lively writing about New Jersey's most infamous crime family. As they note, The Sopranos was first shot in 1997, helmed by master storyteller David Chase, of Northern Exposure and Rockford Files renown, who unveiled his creation at an odd time in which Robert De Niro had just appeared in a film about a Mafioso in therapy. The pilot was "a hybrid slapstick comedy, domestic sitcom, and crime thriller, with dabs of '70s American New Wave grit. It is high and low art, vulgar and sophisticated." It barely hinted at what was to come, a classic of darkness and cynicism starring James Gandolfini, an actor "obscure enough that, coupled with the titanic force of his performance, it was easy to view him as always having been Tony Soprano." Put Gandolfini together with one of the best ensembles and writing crews ever assembled, and it's small wonder that the show is still remembered, discussed, and considered a classic. Seitz and Sepinwall occasionally go too Freudian ("Tony is a human turd, shat out by a mother who treats her son like shit"), though sometimes to apposite effect: Readers aren't likely to look at an egg the same way ever again. The authors' interviews with Chase are endlessly illuminating, though we still won't ever know what really happened to the Soprano family on that fateful evening in 2007. "It's not something you just watch," they write. "It's something you grapple with, accept, resist, accept again, resist again, then resolve to live with"which, they add, is "absolutely in character for this show."Essential for fans and the definitive celebration of a show that made history by knowing the rules and breaking every one of them. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.