It did drift in the middle but recovered strong down the stretch imo.
THIS.
man, season 2 with Richie Aprile and Uncle Joo and Livia and Janice all busting Tony's balls to no end ... greatest season ever for a tv show, imo.
Ralphie helped pick it back up after we lost three of those four, but after his demise it drifted off the rails quite a bit - the whole "Carm and Feee-Yawww" will they/won't they ill-fated relationship shtick was brutal ... and, what, he had a house in Nutley? ####### Nutley???!?
meh, i know Livia's house was there, too, but - at least they put Uncle Joo in Belleville (art imitates life is whati'msayin').
once things heated back up with NY it all came back on track like gangbusters ... Phil was as great a foil for Tony as any i mentioned, and definitely the most formidable (Richie couldn't sell the coup to the other Capos, Ralphie was too much of an idiot).
the final season was brilliant, the Tony and Baccala fight at the vacay bungalow might be one of the greatest scenes ever on HBO (
under the boardwalk/where Janice gives head) ... even all the A.J. quasi emo shtick was cool with me - it went out like a champ - and, yeah, i dug the ending.