Favorite Episode of Season 2

[Sopranogirl]

Just wondering what are favorite episodes from Season 2
this is personally my favorite season so it is tough for me to choose favorites, but here I go

The knight in White Satin Armor- good bye to Richie Aprille and
Janice in one swoop. I thought it was a great scene between Janice and Richie- I just loved in when Richie said "What are you gonna cry" and Janice's immediate response.

Funhouse-another fond farewell to Big Pussy this time. I really enjoyed the dream sequences during Tony's bout of food poisoning.

Big Girls Don't Cry- we are introduced to Furio's work ethic.
and I think Christopher in the acting workshop was hilarious.



</p>

[nick1500]

yeah it's tough ... season 2 has so many good episodes. I really like those episodes you mentioned, but I love Commendatori. Something with the fact that it's on location in Italy, and the music, etc. Paulie is classic in this, and I think my all time favorite line is, "Yo T! I gotta hoof it back to the Excelcior. I gotta take a WICKED s---." Chrissy in the car on the way back from the airport.

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandforum.showUserPublicProfile?gid=bakedz iti>BakedZiti</A> at: 3/4/04 11:05 pm

[Detective Hunt]

Well, I was a bit underwhelmed by the amount of participation in the season one poll (which is still ongoing, by the way) but as folks are just now perhaps seeing that season for the first time, I figured let's step forward to season two.

This poll will work exactly like the previous one in that we will keep it open and allow new and old members alike to vote on their favorites from this particular season. If possible, vote and then post here and let us know why you picked the episode you did. Discussion is no bad thing. :icon_wink:

I know right now that I am going to have to give this one some thought as there were many episodes I enjoyed from this season.

If anything, I hope this gives the members something to do until we get our 6b episodes. Have fun. :icon_biggrin:

[Pork Store]

I must say that this season has a ton of great ones but I've posted it before so I'll post it again..

“From Where to Eternity” has always been one of my favorites. I love the way the episode is structured; beginning and ending with the great Otis Redding's "My Lover's Prayer." It does a great job of highlighting the internal conflict of the mob life versus the Christian beliefs of several major characters. IMO, It has one of the best Tony/Melfi scenes, as Tony goes on a diatribe to justify the Mob’s place in American Capitalism as well as spuoting out his understanding of eternal justice. It’s just an incredible job from all parts of production.

[AJColossal]

Second the nominee for "From Where to Eternity". Great Melfi session where Tony explains why him and his "soldiers" won't go to hell. And the 3 o' clock reference has popped up several times throughout the series.

Also written by Michael Imperioli, who got some flack for some of the other episodes he wrote (namely "Christopher"), but this one was a gem.

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

Season 2 is my least favorite season . . . but that's like saying I like hot apple pie less than hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

The season's top tier episodes for me include "Guy Walks Into . . .", "The Happy Wanderer", "Bust Out", "Knight In White Satin Armor", and "Funhouse". I have a hard time picking from among those, but, at the water's edge, would go with "Funhouse". Obviously the resolution of the Pussy storyline was big, but the whole food poisoning thing produced unsurpassed hilarity.

One of my favorite lines in the whole series comes when Tony is sulking after whacking Pussy and Carmela asks whether he bought Meadow's computer yet for her graduation gift. He yells back at her in typical displaced emotional fashion and she replies, "Don't snap at me. [You'll] press your luck with this diarrhea."

Only on the Sopranos!

[Tennessee Moltisanti]

I'd have to agree and go with 'Funhouse', the culmination of events and the depressing inevitability of Pussy's demise was just too perfect. And the closing montage, Keith Richards and all, was the point when I realised this show was not just a great drama but something really special.
I can't remember the episode titles offhand, but other individual moments which stick in my mind are the whole business with Tony giving Richie's jacket to the cleaner's husband, and the card game in which Silvio calls Matt Bevilaqua's friend 'cheese-fuck', one of the most re-windably funny scenes in the entire series.
Great stuff.

[Detective Hunt]

I've thought long and hard on this one, and even went back and watched the season once more (as if that was some hardship) and I have to agree with you, Tennessee Moltisanti. Funhouse brings everything this season had together. In fact, the last four or five episodes were top notch even though I also agree with Fly that there was some weakness in this season, D Girl also being my least favorite episode (nor was I real crazy about the Vic Musto, wallpaperer extraordenaire stuff.)

But especially the dreams Tony had, and as mentioned, the great closing montage to Thru and Thru which echos the season opener and provides a nice bookend. I can easily say this is when I started watching on a regular basis, near the end of this season, and this was one of the shows that first made me realize just how incredible this program truly was.

So, Funhouse it is. :icon_biggrin:

[AJColossal]

Season 2 was, in retrospect, a little light on storylines. It was basically about Janice, Richie, and Pussy being a rat. I think you can say that it got off to the slowest start of any Sopranos season as well. It was only until the fifth or sixth episode where the season started to gain momentum.

Oddly enough, I could make the argument that it might be my favorite season. I was probably more emotionally invested in this season's storylines (Pussy's betrayal of the family, Richie's threat to Tony) than any any of the others. Yeah, it had so-so moments ("Do Not Resuscitate" comes to mind) but the highs were up there with any of them.

[jouster]

I chose "Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office..." I think the scene between Melfi and Tony in the diner stands as my favorite scene between the two of them even now, and also one of my favorite scenes in general. We also get the return of Pussy (they should do a spin-off called Tony's Basement - how many great scenes have there been down there?) and the first appearance of Janice, whom I found most compelling during season two. The ending scene is also fantastic, with Tony, rejected by Melfi, going home to Carmela (later echoed in the season five premiere). I also love the male psychiatrist telling Tony that he's "seen Analyze This." Probably the best season opener they've done next to Two Tonys.

Season 2 is my least favorite season . . . but that's like saying I like hot apple pie less than hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
I'm curious, Fly. Care to expand on why that is? It's most people's favorite season, I think (but not mine). I, personally, don't rank it any lower or higher than any other season.

[Detective Hunt]

7 votes on this season now. That's up from 5, but I know we have more fans than that. Any more votes?

And season 3 only has two votes so far (though I still need to vote myself :icon_rolleyes:) Head over there too. I'll probably be starting the season 4 poll in the next couple of weeks.

[Garth]

I voted for Funhouse. But to me Knight in White Satin Armor and Funhouse are essentially a 2-part episode. And if I could, I would have joint voted for them both. I will save my Knight in White Satin Armor review for the individual grading thread and focus on Funhouse for this post. But Funhouse is such an amazing episode. It really has everything that makes an episode great.

The dream sequences are simply amazing. I have never seen a movie, much less a television show that portrays dreams in such a realistic manner. (or maybe MY dreams are just like that, in which case, maybe I should seek therapy). I particularly enjoy the carnival dreams in which Tony sets himself on fire. Watching Silvio "slide" by and do his signature, "Our true enemy..." line is great, but it isn't just comic relief, as we soon realize Tony's subconscious is trying to get through regarding Pussy as a rat.

This episode also predominately features Tony. Hardly any other characters are given subplots. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. Especially for such an emotionally driven episode. I would have felt short-changed had one of the other characters taken the spotlight even in the least. Tony has some good moments with Melfi, which are similar to the ending of last season, however we get to see Tony acting in a completely different manner, which is great. Instead of fear of death or persecution, he simply brushes off his worries in what seems to me to be a fairly self-destructive bout of denial.

Meadow's graduation ties Tony back into his immediate family, and it all comes rushing to a conclusion with the intrusion of the FBI creating what quite possibly is the worst day in Tony's life. I also feel like the meeting between Tony & Livia is discounted. In reality, this is the last time we will truly see Livia (as well as Nancy Marchand, discounting the re-used footage from Proshai, Livushka). We get a great meeting between Dave Scatino and Tony, tying up the "Bust Out" on the sporting goods store.

The music is perfect. "Waiting on a Call from You", peerlessly fits the closing montage. The said montage is a perfect way to end the season (and even the series if the show would have ended after this episode). I love how slowly the camera pans around Meadow's party, as well as all the different business that the Soprano's life of crime has touched. And how the camera zooms in on a hardened (yet also softened) Tony blowing clouds of smoke from his cigar and then to the ocean, which plays obvious significance in this episode. A perfect episode overall.

[madribub]

While Season 2 had some great moments and some great ideas, the season on a whole is probably my least favorite, even moreso than season 6a and season 4. Stylistically, it just felt incredibly mellodramatic and a bit uneven. It didn't even feel like the Sopranos to me. It's difficult for me to explain.

As for my favorite episode, I have to say D-girl. Great, great, episode. Big Pussy in the bathroom at the end juxtaposed with Chris coming back in. I just thought the writing and the moments, everything about the episode, great.

[Universal Polymath]

"Funhouse" for me too, for reasons already mentioned too many times for me to repeat at length.

The dream sequence was amazing, and - being the most lenghthy, extensive one up to this point - was unlike anything I'd ever seen in "The Sopranos" before. And the resolution of the Pussy storyline that followed, while reaching an inevitable point that I'm sure everyone knew would come eventually, was handled so well that it was impossible not to feel emotionally crushed by his death. And the montage at the end, which I had forgotten about until Tennessee Moltisanti reminded me of it, was a great way to bring the season to a close. This was a fantastic episode, and perhaps the most satisfying season finale of the series. While both "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" and "Whitecaps" are great (with “Whitecaps” possibly being an all-around better isolated episode than “Funhouse”), this one brought with it a sense of closure that makes it the strongest season-ending episode, in my book.

[AJColossal]

Funhouse is a dazzling episode, especially the first 45 minutes or so. My one small critique of the episode is that everything seemed completely anti-climactic after the killing of Big Pussy (how could it not be), and the episode goes on for another 15 minutes or so.

But Funhouse is definitely a favorite of mine, and one of the great season finales.

[carpetbeggar]

I voted for "From Here to Eternity". There's not really much I can add to what others who picked this episode said. The Melfi session is my favorite of the whole series and although Paulie's visit to the psychic gets a lot of praise, which it deserves, I loved the scene with the Priest of his parish better for utter hilarity.
Now mind you I just finally got around to buying the second season on DVD last week and this was the last season I needed to complete the series, so I'm just getting around to watching it again after not seeing it for a couple of years. Well besides the odd episode on A&E, but that's a different experience IMHO(you don't get the complete Soprano experience watching it in syndication). I'm only at the end of "Bust Out" so I still have three or four episodes left to review so my feelings could change on this.
I find trying to pick my favorite episode of The Sopranos is like to trying to pick my favorite band, song or album. It can change on a daily...hourly :icon_biggrin: basis in relation to my moods. I'm sure my feelings will change within the next couple of days after I finish re-watching the whole season and will have another favorite...For a little while at least. :icon_wink:

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

I find trying to pick my favorite episode of The Sopranos is like to trying to pick my favorite band, song or album. It can change on a daily...hourly :icon_biggrin: basis in relation to my moods. I'm sure my feelings will change within the next couple of days after I finish re-watching the whole season and will have another favorite...For a little while at least. :icon_wink:

Great point. There's probably 15 or more episodes, any of which are my favorite depending upon the one I'm watching.:icon_biggrin:

[BobbyBacala]

My vote went to Commendatori. As much as I love Funhouse, Commendatori has that The Godfather Part II feel to it... only slightly because of location of course, but still enough for me to enjoy it just as much time after time.