Pine barrens is the most overrated piece of crap in history. Male the case for it boys. My case against:
-diversion from the red hot arc of that season, derailing the amazing momentum they had
-writing inconsistent with the paulie and Christopher characters
-the stupid Bobby bacala stuff
For me, the best sopranos and the best piece of television ever done is the finale of season 4 when Tony and Carmela split. Unbelievable tension, up there with any movie for me. Amazing.
I don't think "Pine Barrens" is the ultimate Sopranos episode like a lot of people do, but it would still be in my top 10 Sopranos episodes. -The Gloria relationship continued to show major cracks.
-It began the slight (but fairly unspoken) rift between Tony and Paulie that lasted until nearly the end of Season 4.
-It was just plain funny.
Also, saying it diverted from the arc of the season doesn't hold water when you consider that they often did that. Two other prime examples:
-In Season 1, just when Junior is made Boss, the next episode was "College," which didn't even have or mention Junior. It all got back to him, though, in the next episode and no momentum was lost.
-When Ralph and Tony had their falling out near the end of "University," everyone expected it to hit the fan in the next episode, but it didn't. In fact, it was barely even mentioned in "Second Opinion," aside from Junior asking Tony about it. "He is Risen" was next, which focused mainly on the Tony/Ralph feud, and, again, it never felt like any momentum was lost.
My favorite is "Simon Says".
John Cleese guest starred as a famous relationship psychiatrist in Boston for a conference who stops by for a drink. Diane recognizes him and gets him to assess the relationship between her and Sam. Of course, he tells them that they are totally incompatible and should break-up immediately.
Diane spends the entire episode stalking Cleese, desperate to get him to change his mind. Finally, he explodes (Cleese delivers an epically funny rant) and Long gives one of the funniest looks and lines to ever end the show: "See..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cq1Vx_2cj8
Diane (to Simon): You are the wisest man I know. Simon (to Diane, after glancing at Sam): High praise indeed.