The Sopranos: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

For all of four’s thespian majesty and six(a)’s incredible scope, there’s little arguing with the sheer concentration and focus of season two. The primary thrust of this season: Tony’s best friend, Big Pussy, has turned FBI informant, and eventually Tony’s going to find out.

The season is bookended by two near-wordless sequences: the first, a table setting montage to “It Was A Very Good Year”, illustrating where the Soprano family and crew had ended up since last year’s coup. The last, a long held shot of waves way out to sea, the tranquil image a contrast to the violence wrought by Tony across 13 episodes.

Tony’s real evolution begins here. In season one he’s a brutish but capable and ultimately somewhat likeable mobster. Here, we see his true form: an endlessly destructive entity, incapable of causing anything but total ruination to anything that enters his orbit.

David Chase and his team would become ever more ambitious as the years passed, but season two strikes such a sweet spot, a honed, exciting, pacy plot alongside clear signs that this show was to be far, far more than another gangster drama.