"Say hi to Don Ho!" — looking back on The Sopranos

Curtains for Tony?

I've just finished watching The Sopranos for the seventh time, and it's insane how this show stands up to repeated viewings, where you notice new foreshadowing every time. Sadly, some unintentional foreshadowings about James Gandolfini's weight, diet, and even dying of a heart attack (as warned by Christopher Moltisanti) came true. I'd go as far as saying I enjoyed it more this time around than ever before.

Here are 10 musings.

The Beatles are mentioned a hell of a lot. I count nine times, with the final mention being when Junior is watching a quiz show in the mental care facility when one of the possible answers is 'Ringo Starr'.
Let's say Adriana went to Christopher and Tony as soon as the FBI pulled her in. I wonder if they still would've clipped her? I think so, as the Feds would've found a way to grind her down if she refused to cooperate.
They are all brilliant, of course, but Edie Falco is a phenomenal actress. Especially in the scenes when Tony is in a coma. The prominent Tony vs Carmella argument is when she declares her love for Furio in Whitecaps. Yet there's an extraordinary row between the couple in Chasing It after Carmella refused to put a dead-cert bet on. I'm surprised she hasn't been in more big films.
Had she not passed, I think David Chase would've kept Nancy Marchand in the show until the end. I expect she would've testified against her son.
Had Furio shown his face again, I'm sure Tony would've killed him — even though he had no real evidence he felt the same way about Carm — bar him disappearing. Carmella pretty much wrote his death sentence when she told Tony she had been dreaming and fantasising about him.
It's interesting how soldiers and Tony's bodyguards popped into the DiMeo crime family and the series without any real backstory: Carlo Gervasi; Walden Belfiore; Dante "Buddha" Greco; Perry Annunziata. There's an air of mystery surrounding them becoming some of Tony's closest aides. Where did they come from, and how could Tony trust them not to be rats?
I feel Silvio and Christopher were the two people Tony trusted the most. He told them everything but kept certain other things from his captains and soldiers. Tony simply had to kill Christopher; his drug habit was too much of a liability.
Vito was one of Tony's top earners — possibly his highest. He told Dr Melfi "focussed" and "ambitious". Do you think maybe, just maybe, Tony would've kept him around had Phil not whacked him? I think Tony would've relocated him. He had a new outlook on life surviving his uncle's shooting. Tony didn't even seem bothered Vito was gay.
My top five episdoes: Commendatori; The Knight in White Satin Armor; Pine Barrens; The Weight; Made in America.
And finally, my favourite lines in the series have to be (with a warning of vey strong language):

"Junior, if there are any flies on you, they're paying f*cking rent! — Johnny Sach

"I'll leave you here, you one-shoe c*cksucker!" — Christopher Moltisanti

"And I should've f*cked Dale Evans, but I didn't!" — Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtiari

"You got an eye problem, Joey? Look like fuckin Stevie Wonder with your eyes rolling around like that!" — Phil Leotardo

"Maybe you should start sucking c*ck instead of watching TV Land, 'cause Vito brought in three times what you do on construction!" — Tony Soprano

The Sopranos is undoubtedly a work of genius and I just can't wait to watch it again.