10 Bad Episodes Of Otherwise Perfect TV Shows

David Chase’s sprawling story of Tony Soprano and his two families remains a high watermark for television, but it’s fair to say the show did have a few blunders to its name. While the show was consistently engaging and thought-provoking, certain plot threads didn’t quite hit the dramatic mark the show had set for itself - Tony’s out-of-the-blue gambling problem, Vito Spatafore’s New Hampshire adventures and AJ’s flirtations with the New York clubbing scene. But outright bad episodes? The show only has one to its name, and that is Christopher.

The premise is this: it’s Columbus Day and there are a group of Native Americans planning to sabotage the festivities by protesting during the parade. Silvio gets wind of this and rallies some of the boys to break up the protest. It’s all done without Tony’s approval, and he spends the rest of the episode trying to clean up the resultant mess. Meanwhile all we’re left with are questions - why would the guys care so much about a parade? Would AJ really be sitting reading A People’s History of the United States at the dinner table? Why does every character’s piece of dialogue become an overwrought speech?

Maybe Christopher makes more sense if you consider the context of the episode. At the time, the show was getting a lot of criticism for it’s portrayal of Italian-Americans. Also, in the post 9/11 climate there was a lot of discussion about what it meant to be American, which is definitely assessed here. However take the episode on its own terms and you’re left with an episode that is heavy-handed, poorly written and represents the indisputable low point of one of the all-time greats.

Agree with this list? Have an episode of your own to add? Let us know down in the comments.