Examples of Shitty Writing in The Sopranos

[Punished Dan Mullen]

As a fan of the series, this scene always embarrassed me.

Looks like my man got “iced” if you know what i mean

 

[alkiefuck2]

"another time, anthony" i liked the storyline but the way that was shot like a western felt out of place, not really a writing issue i guess
maybe i'm retarded but i hate the dream/coma sequences too, i get it but it's just boring to watch, didn't have to have multiple episodes dedicated to them (more annoying on re-watching), not tah mention the ep where tony takes peyote in vegas.

 

[MunchausenByProxy]

Nothing to do with writing, but I have to say this. The theme song is fucking atrocious. Seriously, listen to that garbage. Its late 90s cringe

 

[LingerLonger]

Tony’s gambling problem that lasted for only one episode after he spends the entire series calling anyone who gambles a degenerate. It was even one of his first real lessons from his father not to gamble.

Melfi getting raped and the guy just getting off for no reason.

The point is that his father said not to gamble....but we learn multiple times that his father was a degenerate gambler who literally gambled away entire properties like racetracks to other mafia members because he could not control himself. We also know that Johnny wanted to move to Vegas and Livia stopped him. Tony like a retard thinks that his father could have been a billionaire like Rocco Alatorre....but his father really would have been broke like David Scatino if they made the move to Vegas. Livia probably saved their family by stopping them from going to Vegas but Tony thinks his mother ruined their lives and prevented them from living like the Godfather.

Tony also gambles in a previous episode or two before the major gambling meltdown. He bets like $100K over the course of a week on literally meaningless mid-season baseball games. "Give me three dimes each on the Jays over the Cubs, Tiger over Yankees, Giants over Dodgers". And to say Tony never gambles is not paying attention on the show. Tony and his crew are constantly playing cards, shooting pool, and visiting casinos. Tony even says after Christopher dies that this is the first time he has ever been up money gambling. Meaning he was always a loser. Meadow Gold. What season is Tony not seen playing cards or going to a casino? None.

As for the rape it was supposed to show that Melfi would not stoop to Tony's level of not following the law. But in reality almost no one agrees with Melfi. She let some nigger/spic rapist walk free to rape again. And the police did literally nothing. Tony would have taken a violent rapist off of the street forever. A plus for society. A real man would have no problem with someone from the mafia whacking some mongrel rapist who attacks women. But the writers are writing from their faggy Hollywood lives so they did not understand why fans rooted for Tony to kill the rapist. Later when Coco just threatens Meadow, Tony practically kills him, and everyone rooted for him there.

Also the rape was to show that America is just violent. That Melfi is a normal office woman who just does a normal job. Yet even she is victimized by the multi-cultural society. The show even plays up that her attacker is non-white and that she is a white. With her husband being shocked that the attacker was Italian then relieved when he finds out that guy was a spic. "Rossi.....that's Italian....I thought he was Puerto Rican".

 

[JoeBrotheChildSpitGuzzler]

The point is that his father said not to gamble....but we learn multiple times that his father was a degenerate gambler who literally gambled away entire properties like racetracks to other mafia members because he could not control himself. We also know that Johnny wanted to move to Vegas and Livia stopped him. Tony like a retard thinks that his father could have been a billionaire like Rocco Alatorre....but his father really would have been broke like David Scatino if they made the move to Vegas. Livia probably saved their family by stopping them from going to Vegas but Tony thinks his mother ruined their lives and prevented them from living like the Godfather.

Tony also gambles in a previous episode or two before the major gambling meltdown. He bets like $100K over the course of a week on literally meaningless mid-season baseball games. "Give me three dimes each on the Jays over the Cubs, Tiger over Yankees, Giants over Dodgers". And to say Tony never gambles is not paying attention on the show. Tony and his crew are constantly playing cards, shooting pool, and visiting casinos. Tony even says after Christopher dies that this is the first time he has ever been up money gambling. Meaning he was always a loser. Meadow Gold. What season is Tony not seen playing cards or going to a casino? None.

As for the rape it was supposed to show that Melfi would not stoop to Tony's level of not following the law. But in reality almost no one agrees with Melfi. She let some nigger/spic rapist walk free to rape again. And the police did literally nothing. Tony would have taken a violent rapist off of the street forever. A plus for society. A real man would have no problem with someone from the mafia whacking some mongrel rapist who attacks women. But the writers are writing from their faggy Hollywood lives so they did not understand why fans rooted for Tony to kill the rapist. Later when Coco just threatens Meadow, Tony practically kills him, and everyone rooted for him there.

Also the rape was to show that America is just violent. That Melfi is a normal office woman who just does a normal job. Yet even she is victimized by the multi-cultural society. The show even plays up that her attacker is non-white and that she is a white. With her husband being shocked that the attacker was Italian then relieved when he finds out that guy was a spic. "Rossi.....that's Italian....I thought he was Puerto Rican".

I guess the difference was tony was always gambling but he never lost an amount that was significant, at least not to him. His main gripe with gambling seemed to be with people who lost control, like scatino. And then he goes on tilt and starts trying to win his way back. Another example of Tony's gambling- he wanted Carmela to put the profits from her house on the Jets in a "Sure Thing". Just believing in a Sure thing shows he was a problem gambler.

As for Melfi, I felt like the show NOT having Tony kill Rossi was more to show "look, these guys aren't heroes, they are not nice people, or even good". which I felt like was a valid point. Though that, AND the soccer coach not getting at least a beating was kinda annoying.

Another example of bad writing is all the stupid conversations Melfi has around the table with her Mezzo Medigan italian friends about Anti Italian prejudice and portrayal in the media. Just fucking cringe inducingly obvious that the writer was putting their words in the characters mouths.

 

[Mick_Mickerson]

On the other hand, a lot of the unrealistic writing made the show more entertaining.

Obviously shooting a waiter right in the parking lot directly next to the restaurant would be caught on camera / same with having a full shoot out with bikers directly next a building / paulie having a shoot out in an apt complex and leaving dna everywhere and still taking time to find and cart out a dishwasher full of money before cops show up

If stuff were too realistic, it would get boring. I think that happened in The Wire quite a bit

 

[Udders]

Melfi getting raped and the guy just getting off for no reason.

I was gonna speak on that but @LingerLonger really hit it out of the park with his post

My gripe is that Furio infatuation with Carmela. Yeah, this well built young man is going to fall for a wrinkled 40ish mother. Enough that Furio would contemplate killing Tony. But who am I to argue with David Chase, who understood it was such a brilliant idea that he used it in Many Saints, the most brilliant work of American cinema in the past 25 years.

I agree, I always hated that storyline. Badass ruthless killer Furio is all of a sudden smitten with Carmella? And so much so that he has a crisis of conscience about it and just leaves? Also, Season 4 Carmella was the worst she ever looked on the show. Ugh.

Overall the trope of 'this new person is the most important in Tonys life that he ends up killing' every season started to wear thin.

 

[satanssockpuppet]

Nah, can't rip on The Sopranos. It's just brought me too much entertainment over the years. Now "Sons Of Anarchy", I could goof on that shit-pile all day. The best SOA episode can't top the worst of The Sopranos.

 

[alkiefuck2]

Nah, can't rip on The Sopranos. It's just brought me too much entertainment over the years. Now "Sons Of Anarchy", I could goof on that shit-pile all day. The best SOA episode can't top the worst of The Sopranos.

i actually liked the premise of SoA but it ended up being a soap opera for closet cases, i did enjoy peggy's tits

 

[satanssockpuppet]

Tony shooting that guy on the boat in broad daylight (where he hides a gun in the fish).

Also, rewatching some scenes of Breaking Bad on YouTube, I've noticed how retarded a lot of scenes are. Like this one where his neighbor is so frightened she drops her groceries like a cartoon character.

The internet sucks "Breaking Bad"'s balls pretty hard but as good as it was, that final season really strained credulity. The stuff with Walt blackmailing Hank, Jesse being locked in a cage by Nazis, Lydia, it was not that great in hindsight.

The gun in the fish was extremely retarded, but I give season one a pash for that. "Sopranos" season one had quite a few dumb moments, but they toned that shit down as it went along. It was also the funniest of the big TV dramas, hands down, except maybe for "Oz".

 

[guest]

I think Carmela was pretty hot at 40, to be completely honest witcha SNIFFFFFF

that body was mad ripe. Also, edie falco was born in '63 and he was born in '64.

they're all old

Yeah Furio being into her didn’t bother me. I’m not into older chicks but some people are and she looked good for a middle aged lady. I did feel like he should have been able to get over it though without taking off, that part was dumb. A pro like him should have been able to just avoid her and do his job.

 

[RedHeadpw2]

I suppose. But that murder was just stupid looking. He wasn't that close to the snowbank when he got shot by the most recoilless gun ever created. The way Vito saunters into the car.

I thought maybe the gun was modified to not eject the casing, being good only for a close range, easy headshot. Or could have been a prop gun malfunction that the HBO faggots missed due to being afraid of guns.

 

[LingerLonger]

I thought maybe the gun was modified to not eject the casing, being good only for a close range, easy headshot. Or could have been a prop gun malfunction that the HBO faggots missed due to being afraid of guns.

Almost every gun on Sopranos was a BB-gun. No joke. They almost never used real guns and added in the flashes and ejected casings with CGI. The scene where Benny shoots the two blacks under the bridge you can see the gun has no moving parts when he pulls the trigger. Christopher hilariously throws the bullets in the scene where he kills Michael Palmice. For the extra velocity I guess.

 

[Riccardo Bosi]

My gripe is that Furio infatuation with Carmela. Yeah, this well built young man is going to fall for a wrinkled 40ish mother. Enough that Furio would contemplate killing Tony.

The actors are only a year apart but Falco was portraying a mother in her 40s. IIRC Tony tells Melfi he's 40 in season one, even though Gandolfini was like 36 when they shot the pilot and in his late 30s for the first two seasons.

The story should have been - hindsight and everything - that Furio and Meadow are secretly in love like Furio and Carmela were. It's of course a forbidden love which Tony would never allow, so Furio has to decide whether or not to kill Tony, to flee back to Italy by himself or with Meadow, etc.

But no, the badass wop with a heart of gold falls for the gaudy money-loving cunt with the annoying accent, NOT the hot compassionate daughter.

I'm really annoyed now.

 

[Riccardo Bosi]

I guess the difference was tony was always gambling but he never lost an amount that was significant, at least not to him. His main gripe with gambling seemed to be with people who lost control, like scatino.

One of Tony's character traits is that despite causing problems for himself (hooking up with crazy women, gambling, etc), he's actually very lucky. He gets away with everything. The FBI plants a recording device in his basement, and then Meadow takes it to college. Two black guys go to kill him, he survives it, and it put things in perspective for him and he comes out of his depressive slump. He's in two car accidents with Adriana and Christopher, they get injured or nearly die, and he's relatively unscathed.

Then in season six, he makes some bet in a casino, he loses, and the scene slows down and his expression is like... "I lost... my luck ran out..." and this ties in to the last scene of the series where he's finally killed (I think Carmela and AJ were, too) but didn't see it coming, and both Silvio and Bobby had told him things to the effect of, "it went quiet, the blood splattered on my face... but I didn't see it coming, and only heard the gunshot afterwards" and "I think when you go, you don't see it coming. It just goes black." Although I don't think they confirmed that Silvio died, Bobby definitely did.

The thing with Scatino was that Richie - a fucking psychopath - told him that he didn't want to see him gambling again until his debts were paid. Tony discourages David from gambling, but ultimately lets him, and then he goes another $40k in the hole. So, it's actually better to be involved with Richie than it is to be with Tony, who acts all friendly to you, but will brutally suck your livelihood from you. This is why Artie wanted to borrow money from Ralph, not Tony.

 

[AwfulManTitTankTop]

One of the best parts of The Sopranos was the way characters would randomly die in ways you never expected them to. But Gigi dying on the toilet was one of the most egregious examples of lazy writing that I can think of. They needed a way for Ralphie to get captain because Tony had no other option.

Massive Genius was a cartoon character.

Meadow does meth for an episode and never does it again. As someone who has abused crank extensively it's actually not that hard for me to believe that a normal person with self-control did it to study and then put it down again. But I lived on the east coast my whole life and was the only tweaker I ever met locally when I was using. Jersey could be different, though, especially during the 90's. But it felt odd to me just the same.

 

[Mick_Mickerson]

Probably the most unrealistic writing was that there was a white Roman Catholic priest under the age of 70

 

[LingerLonger]

One of the best parts of The Sopranos was the way characters would randomly die in ways you never expected them to. But Gigi dying on the toilet was one of the most egregious examples of lazy writing that I can think of. They needed a way for Ralphie to get captain because Tony had no other option.

Gigi dying of heart disease was foreshadowed. You see him asking the waitress for more water. Then complaining about indigestion to the crew after Thanksgiving. The point was that Ralph gets promoted for something other than merit or money. And Tony finds a way to ruin the promotion by insulting Ralph anyways.

Also guys dying of stuff other than being whacked was a major part of The Sopranos to show that these guys are paranoid about guns and car bombs then smoke and eat themselves to death anyways like idiots. Jackie gets cancer and dies. Junior gets cancer and lives. Tony has a cancer scare but smokes and does drugs anyways. Chris almost dies of drug addiction and does more drugs. Eugene kills himself. Furio runs off into nowhere. Phil almost dies of a heart attack then pushes to become boss. Johnny Sac becomes boss only to get locked up and get cancer and die within a year. Paulie freaks out over cancer. These guys lived horrible lifestyle filled with stress from all angles. Stressed about being whacked, stressed about their wives, stressed about their mistresses, stressed about money, but never about their health. Like literally every mistress Tony has causes him insane grief or stress. Eugene gets $1million in cash and stresses himself to suicide.

The point was that Gigi is looking over his shoulder every five seconds worrying if Ralph or Tony will kill him over being a weak earner. Yet instead he dies like a loser on the toilet due to poor health.

 

[JoeCumiawearsDIAPERS]

I always thought Paulie said "I need that money for my long range planning" a bit too much.

I noticed that characters would be on an episode and then disappear for two or three. You'd see Artie featured rather prominently and then Tony wouldn't go to Vesuvio's for a while despite rarely eating anywhere else.

 

[EraGodless]

The point is that his father said not to gamble....but we learn multiple times that his father was a degenerate gambler who literally gambled away entire properties like racetracks to other mafia members because he could not control himself. We also know that Johnny wanted to move to Vegas and Livia stopped him. Tony like a retard thinks that his father could have been a billionaire like Rocco Alatorre....but his father really would have been broke like David Scatino if they made the move to Vegas. Livia probably saved their family by stopping them from going to Vegas but Tony thinks his mother ruined their lives and prevented them from living like the Godfather.

Tony also gambles in a previous episode or two before the major gambling meltdown. He bets like $100K over the course of a week on literally meaningless mid-season baseball games. "Give me three dimes each on the Jays over the Cubs, Tiger over Yankees, Giants over Dodgers". And to say Tony never gambles is not paying attention on the show. Tony and his crew are constantly playing cards, shooting pool, and visiting casinos. Tony even says after Christopher dies that this is the first time he has ever been up money gambling. Meaning he was always a loser. Meadow Gold. What season is Tony not seen playing cards or going to a casino? None.

As for the rape it was supposed to show that Melfi would not stoop to Tony's level of not following the law. But in reality almost no one agrees with Melfi. She let some nigger/spic rapist walk free to rape again. And the police did literally nothing. Tony would have taken a violent rapist off of the street forever. A plus for society. A real man would have no problem with someone from the mafia whacking some mongrel rapist who attacks women. But the writers are writing from their faggy Hollywood lives so they did not understand why fans rooted for Tony to kill the rapist. Later when Coco just threatens Meadow, Tony practically kills him, and everyone rooted for him there.

Also the rape was to show that America is just violent. That Melfi is a normal office woman who just does a normal job. Yet even she is victimized by the multi-cultural society. The show even plays up that her attacker is non-white and that she is a white. With her husband being shocked that the attacker was Italian then relieved when he finds out that guy was a spic. "Rossi.....that's Italian....I thought he was Puerto Rican".

He wanted to move to Reno.