Every Season Of The Sopranos Ranked Worst To Best

One of the most influential television shows ever, "The Sopranos" is generally credited with ushering in the so-called Golden Age of TV in the 2000s. 

We could argue this Golden Age of TV — essentially referring to a renaissance of hour-long cable dramas — ended with Daenerys Targaryen burning down King's Landing. We could also suggest that it remains ongoing, and will continue for at least two more seasons of "Succession." Regardless, premium cable's potential as a platform for high-quality serialized storytelling was not fully appreciated until David Chase and James Gandolfini entered the zeitgeist in 1999.

There are no bad seasons of "The Sopranos," but every batch of episodes has its own distinct themes and, in many cases, characters. It's probably fair to say the show becomes a perpetually refined version of itself over the course of its roughly seven and a half years on the air. Some folks will tell you it isn't quite fully "The Sopranos" until Season 3. On the other hand, Nancy Marchand stans would claim Season 2 is when the show went downhill. It's all a matter of perspective! 

Because it's important for readers to know where we stand on such matters, we're ranking the seasons of "The Sopranos" according to our own admittedly subjective and unscientific opinions. 

What's that? You say you still haven't gotten around to watching "The Sopranos?" Well, because we don't want to discourage anyone from experiencing an important piece of American television, we'll go light on spoilers this time. 

Tony starts visiting Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), hoping to cure the panic attacks he's experienced since childhood. Meanwhile, Tony's mother Livia Soprano (Marchand) plans her revenge from the nursing home in which she does not believe she belongs. In the untouchable Episode 5, "College," Tony's work life clashes with his daughter Meadow's (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) academic ambitions. 

Naturally, the first season of "The Sopranos" blew minds back in 1999. Previously, HBO was known principally as a channel where swearing, nudity, and graphic violence was permissible. While "The Sopranos" year 1 has plenty of f-bombs, topless women, and brutal executions, David Chase and his creative team opted not to treat their prospective audience like morons. In the process, they redefined HBO's reputation as a channel with original content for people who appreciated thought-provoking fiction, as well as nudity and blood.  

All that said, Season 1 loses a few points for teasing an affair between Tony's wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and the dubiously devout Father Phil Intintola (Michael Santoro/Paul Schulze) — a subplot that would have been too goofy to fly on the more fully realized version of "The Sopranos" that follows in later years.  

In the third year of "The Sopranos," Tony's headaches mostly originate from within the DiMeo crime family. Jackie Aprile Jr. (Jason Cerbone), the entitled scion of Tony's deceased predecessor, starts dating Meadow. If that wasn't bad enough, Ralph — one of television's all-time most loathsome dirtbags — returns to New Jersey. 

Christopher and Paulie's (Tony Sirico) slapstick hijinks make Episode 11, "Pine Barrens," probably the series' funniest hour, but if anyone in the audience still clings to some notion that these mobsters are fun, cool, admirable guys, then Episode 6, "University," should disabuse them of that idea. Ralph takes the show's omnipresent cycle of violence to a whole new nadir of casual atrocity. Tony briefly ruminates upon his indirect but essential role in Ralph's behavior; then Tony goes back to doing what he was doing before and makes no change. 

Season 3's darker direction, which carries on through the rest of the series, arguably begins with Episode 4, "Employee of the Month" — a profoundly upsetting story containing some of Lorraine Bracco's finest work on "The Sopranos." 

Cerbone is not the strongest actor, although his limited emotional range suits Jackie Jr.'s sociopathic, delusional sense of self-importance. It's only because circumstances force Jackie Jr. into the highly competitive category of "Sopranos" Big Bads  that Season 3 doesn't quite make our top three. 

Jackie Jr.'s a great villain, but he's not on Livia's level; he's not on Ralph's level; he's not even in the same league as Tony.

The confounding closing scene tends to gobble up the discourse surrounding the second half of the final season of "The Sopranos" (or, if you prefer, "Season 7"). However, that smidgin of ambiguity surrounding dinner at Holsten's is an exception to the rule of cold, decisive inevitability. 

Despite his limited enthusiasm for violence, Bobby Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa) can't escape the grim realities of his profession. After a period of relative domestic stability and sobriety, Christopher unravels — in one of the show's finest scenes, he storms into the apartment of screenwriter J. T. Dolan (Tim Daly) and blathers all kinds of information he definitely shouldn't repeat in front of a civilian. Meanwhile, Tony's son A.J. (Robert Iler) copes with his emotional inheritance of violence and mental illness.  

As for the infamous cut to black, it's not a perfect ending — but it might be the only possible conclusion that makes sense. 

Wrapping "The Sopranos" with Tony ripped apart by a hail of bullets would have felt sadistic. The idea of Tony going to prison feels moralistic and anti-climactic. Tony turning state's evidence would have meant "The Sopranos" and "Goodfellas" have the same ending. Meanwhile, by merely implying Tony's fate, Chase guaranteed we'd still be discussing the last moments of "The Sopranos" ad infinitum. 

Then again, maybe we put too much importance on the ending? if Tony dies, another mobster just takes over as boss and the murder business carries on as usual. From that perspective, it doesn't matter if Tony dies.