I love The Sopranos. Perhaps not as much as Breaking Bad, but more than Fargo - the later seasons , that is. The original stands out alone.

I'd like to give an honorable mention to True Detective's first season here, given that I'm taking only reel-life crime shows shown as real life.

The series finale of The Sopranos is a busy episode. It seemed hurried.

Perhaps David Chase and team felt unsure about how to end the season (and/or the series), and so left it to us TV aficionados to wreck our heads!

Tony ends on a high, no doubt, dining out with his family; but he is also wary of each person who comes into the diner with each toll of the bell.

Is the last bell toll his daughter, Meadow, or someone more sinister?

We will never know because there will never be another The Sopranos, no matter what Netflix tries to churn out (The Many Saints of Newark? Ugh).

As the seasons progressed, more and more episodes became character-centric, focusing on the character development of one or two players.

In Season 6, Paulie Gaultieri comes into his own as a character. The actor, Tony Sirico, does justice to the part. He is an ex-convict (X-con), and has had an interesting life, to say the least. Family Guy S13 E7.

In the second half of the final season, he takes a road trip with Tony.

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a bit part in the "Remember When" episode!

Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini, RIP), the patriarch of the titular family, vacillates - a lot. This is most apparent during his therapy sessions with the all-too-human and constantly at-odds Doctor Melfi.

Foreshadowing, but unintentional - heart attack comment by Spatafore.

Positive vibes only - is this show the origin of the wildly popular phrase?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sopranos

The dream episodes - The Test Dream and __________ in which Pussy speaks through a fish.

First episodes of Season 6 show his brush with death - life on the other side of a near death experience (NDE).

Food is not important to the plot, but plays a big part - perhaps too big for James Gandolfini's taste, poor guy. He ate & drank with gusto while in character, and maybe that contributed to his untimely and sudden demise, RIP. The world lost a great thespian when he passed away. Axat.