Sopranos

I never watched it while it was running, but now that it's over, and its departure elicited such terrific reviews, I began watching. And I'm addicted. The acting--Tony's wife, for instance--is awesome. The stories and incidents, so persuasive they must have been derived from true events. And there's subtlety. Tony's wife is almost giving up--a psychiatrist told her to. She tests Tony. Will he agree to give $50,000 to Columbia? He senses that he had better say yes.

Tony is no doubt the American male's hero. Fearless. Takes no shit from nobody. (So to speak.) A Russian tells Tony's Russian girfriend that she should have married a Russian. Tony teaches him a lesson. And does he ever sleep around! America's answer to James Bond.

But...Tony's so contradictory. Sometimes kind, sometimes cruel.

It's a business story. Running a business where bad employees don't just get fired. They get whacked.