The Sopranos Season 1

I have never finished the first season of The Sopranos before. This is, I think, my third time trying? My wife and I finished it, finally, after previously making it through about eight episodes and giving up. This time around, we took some breaks to watch other shows, but finally crawled over the finish line. We kept coming back to it because of how well regarded the show is, and you can see the IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings are all excellent. Regardless, as someone finishing it for the first time in 2026, I feel confident in saying this show is boring AF.

There isn’t even a consistent plot for the first season. Yes, Tony Soprano is a mob boss seeing a psychiatrist, but there is no one central theme to the season. We get to see Tony deal with depression, and Tony deal with being a mob boss, but that’s a premise not a plot. The characters aren’t likeable, and most of them aren’t that interesting. I’m intrigued by his kids, as they sort of know that their dad is different, but neither of them has a big storyline in the season.

This season also feels like it was made with no budget. The special effects look they were done by middle schoolers shooting a school project, and even the main lighting and camera work is just unappealing to look at.

I can see there being potential for a good season down the line, so I plan on continuing to watch on my own, but this season is mediocre at best. I checked repeatedly to see just how many more episodes we had to slog through. 4 out of 10.