Is The Sopranos Still Worth Watching in the 21st Century?

It holds up brilliantly. Best thing ever on television.

Uniqueness and Timelessness

I just rewatched the entire series last year. Aside from some of the fashions and technology, which are minor things, it still felt current and fresh. In the first episode, Tony and Christopher deliver a beat down to a deadbeat gambler in full view of several witnesses, all of whom today would film the episode with their smartphones and upload it to social media within moments. The show didn’t anticipate that people would one day have powerful palm-sized video editing and recording suites and the near-instantaneous ability to connect with others worldwide. Big deal! No other show did either.

I took my time with it, rewatching all 86 episodes over the course of several months. I recommend pacing yourself, but it is still a great, rich, engrossing drama brilliantly conceived and executed. It’s essentially an 86-something hour movie that manages that length while sounding only a tiny number of bum notes. It’s like a baseball player who hits .900.

Worth Watching or Too Dated?

Very much worth watching. Like The Godfather, some aspects may be a bit dated, but like Seinfeld, Law and Order, or The Wire, it will stand the test of time.

A Touch of Subjectivity

Well that’s a subjective question. I still like watching it on occasion, but I was watching it when it came out. If you missed it because you were too young or maybe you weren’t even born yet, then I couldn’t say. Whatever the case, I’m sure you’ll probably like it, but until you’re sure, it will be tough to verify that you actually like it.

A Ride Through the Human Condition

The Sopranos will never be dated because it is a show about human nature. It’s not a show about the mob or trends or much of anything really; it’s about people and all the humor, pain, love, and dysfunction that comes with being alive and navigating the world. It’s about family psychosis, generational divides, greed, change, violence, addiction, revenge, illogical circumstances, and loose threads that never resolve.

The show has no musical score at all in the background and each episode plays like a movie, bringing a play to life with vibrancy. The main character is a mafia don, but he could just as easily be any CEO or manager of whatever. The nexus of the story across 86 episodes is his journey to accepting an inescapable fate with only a few grim conclusions to look forward to.

The Sopranos: A Divided Fandom

I watched it when it aired, and I remember the fandom being divided into two camps. There were those who solely watched it for the humor, which can be wickedly funny, the mafia threads, and the violence, and then there was another fandom that appreciated it for the absolute brilliance it was and knew that it was and will always continue to be possibly the greatest television series ever made and one of the classic stories of the 21st century. It’s that good.

With that in mind, this show does not translate well to binge-watching, which didn’t exist when it aired. The play-like nature of each and every episode, the unremittingly bleak situations, the “day-in-the-life” aspect of the episodes—many people stop after season 2 or 3 when watching one episode after the next. I found the same to be true with The Wire.

In conclusion, there is no denying the incredible depth and complexity of The Sopranos. While it may not be for everyone, its exploration of human emotion and the intricate details of a life lived through the eyes of its characters make it a vital piece of television history. It’s an authentic representation of the era and a timeless work of art.