‘Sopranos’ heads for exit with quiet power

The most recent episodes of “The Sopranos” have been criticized for being too slow, too boring, too full of nothing, lacking what earlier episodes delivered consistently.

These episodes have not been without moments of violence, however. Earlier this season, for example, Silvio Dante was eating dinner at a restaurant with a candidate for boss of the New York family, who was graphically murdered.

As Silvio spoke, the volume dropped, and then suddenly everything shifted to slow motion. But this wasn't a digital cable or satellite feed hiccup. Instead, as Silvio talked and his mouth slowly opened and closed, his face was drenched with an almost graceful spray of blood. A few seconds later, everything returned to normal speed, and the shot shifted back to his dinner companions, Silvio — and viewers — finally realized that the other man was being shot repeatedly.

By slowing down the moment and focusing on Silvio alone, the editors perfectly captured his surprise — and viewers' surprise, too — by illustrating the way time slows during a horrific, unbelievable moment.

This week, the editors did something similar when Tony Soprano bet on a horse named “Meadow Gold.” As the announcer explained that the horse lost the race “by a nose,” the audio and video slowed down significantly and captured Tony’s face twisting into distress, conveying his horror at yet another gambling loss and disappointment that his bets in life weren’t paying off.

Season unfolding slowly, but remains fascinating
These slow-motion moments also work as metaphors for this, the final season of “The Sopranos,” which has been unfolding with the same lethargic speed, at least compared to the pace of earlier seasons.

While there have always been episodes that have been criticized for not delivering fully, the show has never offered non-stop action. What “The Sopranos” is capable of delivering in its best episodes, however, sometimes creates an expectation that could only be met if Michael Bay directed every episode.

This final chapter opened with not much more than talk between just four characters: Tony, Carmela, Bobby, and Tony’s sister Janice.  Eventually, that led to a brutal hand-to-hand fight between Tony and his previously demure brother-in-law, and later to Bobby’s first hit.

But those eruptions of violence were the exceptions during the hour, as much of it was conversation: Tony and Bobby in a boat talking about Tony’s future, Janice and Carmela sitting by the lake discussing the men in their lives.

That was the perfect way for “The Sopranos” to begin its exit: quietly, but with moments that tell us more than a pile of bodies ever could.

Some fans and critics were not thrilled with the slow pace of the first half of this final season, during which Tony spent time in a coma after being shot by a delusional Uncle Junior. Their complaints have been met by an even slower second half. But this pacing offers more of what HBO’s drama has always done best, and it’s in these moments—where someone isn’t being shot, or threatened, or having sex with a random stripper—that the series truly comes to life.

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