I grew up in Mayfield Heights, Oh. Go check the demographics on that place and then continue reading this…

If anyone attempted to count how many times any single person was called gumba in that city, it would have been difficult to keep track of. Maybe there were Mafia folks around. Maybe not. It doesn’t really matter seeing as the culture was relatively revered, if only by kids running around with gold chains on their neck and throwing pennies at Jews. Yeah, that happened.

Either way, all of that probably kept me from watching The Sopranos when it was being aired on HBO. Well, that stuff and the fact that cable’s a tremendous rip off. But I recently made it through the entire series and found my self impressed with certain aspects of it all and repulsed by others.

That’s the point, though. And it always was.

Watching a man work crime to his family’s advantage, leaving a trail of bodies behind him should have been repulsive. But out of the huge cast, Tony became one of the easiest to like – well him and Little Stevie, who I couldn’t have ever recognized without his bandana on.

Either way, most viewers most likely felt their allegiances shift as quickly as characters in the show. It’s possible, though, that Tony’s therapist and her opinion of whatever was going on was meant to mirror viewer’s. Who knows, but that sounds smart.

Watching the show over a condensed period of time, as opposed to six years, allows for some aspects of the show to become more clear or at least surprising. Like, why were there so many car accidents? I can readily think of at least three – and that’s without trying too hard.

Despite that, most of the show is focused on its main character and his struggling with depression, which probably initially made the show something of a media darling – taking something ‘normal’ people do and coupling it with all that gangster stuff. And sure, it all made for some mildly humorous moments. But more importantly, the show dealt with the boring and mundane minutiae of everyday life that even Mafia dudes aren’t able to escape.

The end of the series, which was obviously meant to comment on the blandness of life – we watch the Sopranos order food at a restaurant while Meadow attempts to parallel park in a huge spot. From an entertainment point of view, that last show was closed extremely poorly, but again referenced how boring life is and can be. The fact that I’m still thinking about it, though, means it was probably supposed to come off like that. Too bad.