10 WTF TV Episodes That Came Totally Out Of Nowhere
9. "The Test Dream" - The Sopranos
Though The Sopranos has its feet planted pretty firmly in the literal world, the legendary season five episode "The Test Dream" saw creator David Chase channel his inner-David Lynch.
The episode is famous for Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) lengthy mid-episode dream sequence, in which Tony encounters numerous dead figures from his past such as the tragically doomed Gloria Trillo (Annabella Sciorra), his own father Johnny Boy (Joseph Siravo), and former associate Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore).
The sequence brilliantly captures the elliptical mood and tone of an actual dream, seamlessly drifting from one plane of logic to another, with characters changing into other characters at a moment's notice, and Annette Bening even showing up for a brief cameo as herself.
If dreams are so often a terrifying, fascinating mish-mash of our worries, our desires, and whatever else populates our unconscious, The Test Dream perfectly distilled that into a masterful 20-minute sequence, albeit one which undeniably divided the fanbase.