Season 5 of The Sopranos is a weird one for me. I feel like I should hate it, as it takes some of the soapiest and most contrived turns in the whole show. However, it ended up being one of the most well-crafted seasons of the bunch, building up to a phenomenal climax.
Season 5's main storyline is about Tony B, Tony's cousin whose attempts at leaving crime end up resulting in disaster for Tony's crime family. At first, I was kinda concerned about Tony B's inclusion. He has never been mentioned prior to this season and Tony have a cousin of the same name felt a bit contrived. However, I actually ended up really liking him. Steve Buscemi was great as Tony B, and his idiotic decision-making was pretty entertaining to watch. Meanwhile, the conflict with the Lupertazzi family from Season 4 gets bumped up a notch when Carmine (the main antagonist from last season) dies and a bunch of its members leave prison, creating a big power vacuum. I already wrote about how much I like the Lupertazzi stuff in my last review, and it's mostly just as fun to watch them near an all-out war. As for the more character-driven storylines, Tony and Carmela being separated was a fun change of pace for the series, and Adriana's issues with having an FBI informant become way more prevalent this season. All of the plotlines I just mentioned converge in the penultimate episode, which ranks as my personal favorite episode of the whole show.
Similarly to the fourth season, Season 5 feels like a long build-up, which can always lead to a satisfying ending. The general episode quality is consistent outside of a few exceptions, to the point where it gets hard to pick highlights because they all feel equally strong, but it leads to some great pacing that rivals the first season. However, I do have some issues with this season that prevent it from becoming my actual favorite. I already mentioned the inherently contrived nature of Tony B's appearance, but it's not the only soap opera-esque twist this season included. There's also a minor subplot about Tony having feelings for Adriana that surfaces in the episode Irregular Around The Margins. Look, this is a fun episode and all, but I could not suspend my disbelief that they would suddenly be attracted to each other for a single episode. In addition, while The Sopranos uses anti-climax liberally, Season 5 is the only time where it really falls flat for me. Coming after my favorite episode in the series, the finale All Due Respect was fairly lackluster with its minimal character moments, sluggish pacing, and underwhelming plot resolutions. I didn't hate the ending, it's still one of the better episodes of the season, but as a finale, it left me feeling kind of cold.
Still, there were quite a bunch of episodes that I liked this season, one of which is easily my favorite in the series:
Two Tonys: As questionable as Tony B's sudden appearance is, I think this episode at least tries to poke fun at it, especially through its name. Frankly, as a premiere, this is actually one of The Sopranos' funniest episodes. Paulie and Chris's funny dynamic from Pine Barrens returns in an extended reference to the episode, Carmela dealing with a bear in the backyard is both hilariously bizarre and pretty symbolic of Tony's role in the family, and Tony dealing with being divorced results in him finally trying to ask out his therapist (and failing, of course).
Cold Cuts: As a whole, this is mostly just another great episode of the season, progressing the Tony B and Tony/Carmela storylines at a fairly solid rate. The real highlight for me, though, was the "Soprano anger" subplot. Janice finally gets anger management, but Tony is so skeptical that it would work (or jealous of the possibility that it could) that he provokes her into snapping again in another really memorable instance of black comedy.
Long Term Parking: This episode made the season for me, Season 5 wouldn't be nearly as much of a success if all of its plot points didn't pay off in Long Term Parking. Adriana being a rat is found out, resulting in her heart-wrenching death (and Chris's equally devastating realization). Tony B's actions make the tension with Johnny Sack so bad that Tony finally sticks up to them, and Tony and Carmela get back together. Every single Chekhov's Gun, every single subplot, it all converges in this unpredictable yet inevitable climax that stands out as the high point of The Sopranos.
All Due Respect: Despite my criticisms of this finale, I still thought it was worth highlighting since it does do some things well. All Due Respect has a pretty dread-inducing atmosphere to it, paying off in the final ten minutes where Tony B is killed and Johnny Sack is arrested. I also think the circular nature of the season is worth noting even if it meant nothing really ended up changing since Season 4.
Overall, Season 5 is a really well-plotted and consistently strong season with some fun storylines and a pitch-perfect climax, even if some of its plot points didn't quite hit home with me.
4/5 Stars
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