The Sopranos: 10 Most Disturbing Episodes

As well as family and crime, The Sopranos often tackled heavy matters of the spirit. For the majority of the series, mob wife Carmela conducts herself as though she is entirely distanced from her husband, and the gruesome way in which he makes his money. She’s a lady of leisure, embarking on this or that project to fill her time; for Carmela, ignorance is bliss.

In “Second Opinion”, the curtain is pulled down sharply by her one-time therapist Dr. Krakower. Unlike Dr Melfi, who can’t shake a certain grim fascination with the mob, Krakower is unequivocal. By staying married to Tony in full knowledge of his misdeeds, Carmela is every bit as culpable for her husband’s crimes.

Krakower is merciless in his appraisal of a shellshocked Carmela, who is shaken but unable to effectively argue against the truth the insightful therapist drops. He ends things by refusing payment, deeming it “blood money”.

True to form, Carmela forgets all this soon enough, but the ruthless dressing down the psychiatrist delivers is food for thought on what a person can know and put up with while still claiming innocence.