The Sopranos Premiere

In the first of the nine remaining episodes of The Sopranos, we take a bit of a break from the mob scene and work our way up to the lakefront summer home of Bobby and Janice Bacalieri. The episode had very few of the main stars, and we only barely heard from Christopher as Tony slammed his phone shut when Chrissy wanted to wish him a happy birthday.

The episode was again perfect Soprano material as the show never wandered away from what it prizes most - the human drama involved. While Tony is facing an uncertain future within his ranks as boss, his enemies - and associates - seem to be a little disgruntled. In my opinion, look for Phil Leotardo to put pressure on Tony, but more importantly, look for an important development with Bobby. The last scene in the episode raises many questions as to the loyalty that Bobby has for Tony. After all, Bobby has treated Tony like crap for a lot of years. Could Bobby flip and go to the Feds? Could Bobby try to help put a hit on Tony? Or is Bobby still fine with his place in the ranks?

For the critics out there who like to complain about this show, I would like to remind them that it is still the best hour of television on each week. I'm sure some will complain that this first episode was slow, but if you look a little deeper into the characters, a lot happened. As an avid fan of the series, I can only wonder will Tony survive 8 more episodes? A.