Another potentially controversial one, as it seems unanimously agreed that the episode Christopher is the lowest The Sopranos ever got. Yes, that offering, centred around the characters opposing protests against Columbus Day was overly high on moralising and at times felt more like a history lesson than a show about mobsters, but there was enough high points to make it worth watching. The Sopranos is my favourite show of all time, and I can honestly say the only episode that really jarred with me was Chasing It. The A-plot of this episode is about Tony handling his gambling addiction. You know, that gambling addiction that was always mentioned throughout the past six seasons. Except it wasn't. It literally is thrown in for the purposes of this episode. And worse, it feels completely out of character for Tony. His hatred of degenerate gamblers had already been touched on - think back to The Happy Wanderer, where Tony manipulates an old school friend's gambling addiction and effectively destroys his life in the name of profit. Even when he became involved in horse racing, he gambles not for a high but because of his fascination with the horse itself. Crowbarring such a serious character trait such as gambling addiction, in one of the final handful of episodes no less, just feels lazy for such a usually high-quality show. Aside from the main plot-line, is there much about Chasing It to like? Not a lot. A good chunk of time is given to everyone's least favourite character AJ, which doesn't help, plus the sub-plot about Hesh (a character I do like) and the death of his girlfriend is a bit hum-drum considering this is the first time we've heard of or met her and she's only thrown in to kick the bucket anyway. Again, it's lazy writing from a show that's better than that. And the less said about Nancy Sinatra's bizarre cameo the better.
Northern Irish man living and working in London. Heroes include Ledley King, James Ellroy and whoever invented elasticated sweatshorts. Follow me on Twitter - @MJLowry23
