6 Reasons Why ‘The Sopranos’ Is the Most Cynical Show Ever Made

The Sopranos redefined television as well as the way audiences think about morality, justice, power and the American Dream. It’s a series that took enormous risks by featuring a main character who was far from the virtuous heroes viewers were familiar with seeing. Tony (James Gandolfini), like his cohorts, was a diabolical and unprincipled criminal who was the very epitome of gluttony. In its focus on the domestic and professional life of Tony and his mafia family, audiences take a trip into the cynical world that they inhabit.

Unlike prestige television series that depict redemption arcs and significant moments of moral clarity, The Sopranos presents a worldview so bleak and brutal that it verges on nihilism. Therapy is weaponized, friends and family are regularly betrayed, and all attempts at growth and change are ultimately futile. The universe of The Sopranos is not one that is governed by morality and ethics, but by self-interest and entropy. Here are six reasons why The Sopranos is the most cynical series ever.

6. Despite Their Best Efforts, Most of the Characters Never Change

Throughout The Sopranos, viewers witness various characters struggling to make major lifestyle changes, but despite their best efforts, most of them never seem to succeed. Tony (Gandolfini) is the most obvious example of this. He initially goes to therapy where Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) offers guidance and assistance to help him with his panic attacks. At first, his work with her proves to be helpful. For example, in season 1, he lets the police arrest and charge Meadow’s soccer coach, Don Hauser (Kevin O’Rourke), instead of allowing Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) to wack him. For a time, Tony, a serial philanderer, also genuinely attempts to remain faithful to Carmela (Edie Falco).

But by the end of the series, Tony fully embraces his sociopathic nature and, in some ways, is even worse than he was before. In “Kennedy and Heidi”, one of the most essential episodes of the series, instead of helping his beloved nephew Chris (Michael Imperioli) stay sober, he murders him. Later on, Tony develops a gambling addiction and even goes back to cheating on Carmela. But Tony’s not the only one who fails at changing. Chris attempts sobriety multiple times in the series, but he never kicks his heroin habit; Carmela tries to cut ties with Tony and even considers divorce, but decides to stay with him and accept their luxurious lifestyle financed with blood money; and that animal Blundetto (Steve Buscemi), nearly gets his life together and opens up a massage parlor before completely throwing it all away and getting involved in the mob again. This reinforces Tony’s dark deterministic worldview which affirms that “you are what you are”.

5. Almost Everybody Is Self-Interested

In The Sopranos everyone seems to have an angle. One of the reasons why the series is so good is that the writers convey this to the audience using subtle subtext that makes it difficult to tell why some characters do what they do. But a closer look usually reveals that most of them are acting from a place of selfishness. Family bonds, friendships and oaths are regularly broken and betrayed by many of the characters.

When Tony makes Junior (Dominic Chianese) boss, it’s only to make him a lightning rod for law enforcement. When Carmela keeps asking questions about Adriana’s (Drea De Matteo) disappearance, Tony uses his connections to make it easier for her to build her spec house and get distracted. It’s not a gesture of goodwill but another ploy. Politicians like Ron Zellman (Peter Riegert) associate with Tony and his crew to participate in schemes like the exploitation of federal housing programs, and yet they have the temerity to present themselves as upstanding members of the community. Dr. Cusamano (Robert LuPone) pretends to be a friend to Tony, but he only invites him to play golf so that he and his mafia-interested friends can be entertained by him. Tony remains an outsider from Cusamano’s group. Cusamano sees him as nothing more than a “dancing bear”. In a show that’s filled with betrayals and manipulation, Cusamano’s treatment of Tony is just another drop in the bucket.

4. Religion Is Hollow

The emptiness of catholicism is a major theme in The Sopranos. The role that the Catholic Church plays as an institution is often examined through the Soprano family’s relationship to its representatives. This is especially evident early on in the series with Carmela’s relationship with Father Intintola (Paul Schulze), with whom she shares an emotionally intimate bond for a few episodes.

Carmela’s priest hangs out at her house pretending to care for the salvation of her and the family, but he’s really just a freeloader who gets off on the sexual tension they share. He comes over and eats their food and gives Carmela a sacrament and suggests that she encourage Tony to take a more proactive approach in his relationship with God and the church, but it becomes increasingly clear that Father Intintola’s just using Carmela, just like he uses other women like Rosalie Aprile (Sharon Angela). The neighborhood church also accepts money from Paulie (Tony Sirico), a known gangster, and even has the audacity to request more. The priest and the church’s involvement with Carmela and Paulie illustrates its moral bankruptcy and underscores its illegitimacy as a religious institution.

3. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Each time that one of the characters decides to do something remotely good, it seems as though they’re punished for it. Characters that tell the truth and attempt to change their ways always seem to suffer horrific consequences for it. In The Sopranos universe, there’s no shortage of characters who suffer from acts of kindness, honesty, or self-restraint.

When Adriana confesses to Chris that she’s been working with the FBI and pleads for him to join the Witness Protection Program, it seems as though the two are all set to start their new life. But after witnessing a disheveled and dilapidated family at the gas station, Chris decides to tell Tony the truth in a last-minute betrayal. Adriana is subsequently murdered for her honesty. Of course, this isn’t the only example of something like this happening. When Tony tries to reintegrate Vito Spatafore (Joseph R. Gannascoli) back into the family after members discover that he’s homosexual, it doesn’t take long for New York to wack him in one of the most brutal murders of the series, and start an all-out war. After Tony and Chris get into a near-fatal car accident in “Kennedy and Heidi”, Tony suffocates Chris in what was one of the show’s biggest betrayals, but only after he confesses that he was high on heroin and is incapable of passing a DUI. Chris, like Adriana, is punished for his honesty. Honesty and kindness are often met with betrayal and violence in The Sopranos, suggesting that the only way for people to get by is to remain duplicitous and unforgiving.

2. Therapy Is Futile

At the beginning of The Sopranos, Tony seeks Dr. Melfi’s expertise in hopes of resolving his panic attacks and understanding where they come from. For a while, the two of them engaged in an overarching dialogue that appeared productive despite numerous setbacks. Tony restrains himself from seeking vengeance on Meadow’s coach, Melfi, and he explores his childhood trauma, and Tony attempts to stop cheating on Carmela. The two of them even have a joint session. But in the end, Melfi abandons Tony after realizing that he fits the textbook profile of a manipulative sociopath.

Melfi realizes this near the end of the series after viewers witness multiple instances of Tony justifying criminal actions and awful decisions using Melfi’s advice. At times, Tony even quotes Melfi as a signal to audiences that her guidance is very much a driving force in his decision-making.

Tony’s implementation of Melfi’s advice within a criminal and unethical context underscores the futility of therapy and self-help in a corrupt world. It also didn’t help that Melfi’s own fascination with Tony’s criminal background may have skewed her professionalism a bit. Tony’s not the only person who fails to benefit from therapy. Dr. Melfi herself is depicted as being treated by a therapist who seems more interested in cracking jokes than he does in actually helping her. Despite dozens of sessions, Melfi is ultimately forced to come to terms with her inability to help her patient. Despite her strongest efforts, the only logical decision is to abandon Tony, letting audiences know that some people are beyond saving.

1. The Mob Is a Tragic Metaphor for Contemporary Middle-Class America

Unlike classic mob films, The Sopranos doesn’t depict mob life as anything luxurious. The mob is a lot like middle-class America in the sense that its employees are part of a middling bureaucracy in which most of the profits go to the boss of the family, who’s a lot like the CEO. The employees of the mob are subject to poor and abusive leadership, and deal with the same mundane existence that corporate employees are subject to. In fact, it’s a bit depressing and underwhelming compared to the thrilling and often lavish depictions we see in classic films like The Godfather and Goodfellas.

For many of the members of the mob, their jobs are simply not worth the trouble. Chris lives paycheck to paycheck and when he’s finally “made” (the mafia equivalent of a major corporate promotion) it’s nothing like the lavish upgrade he thought it would be. He’s routinely abused and exploited by Paulie and regularly forks over enormous amounts of cash. Paulie and Silvio’s situations are hardly different. Their New Jersey middle-class suburban homes are nothing to fawn over. Even Tony’s lifestyle is profoundly depressing.

Although he makes considerably more money than his underlings, his condition isn’t anything that’s especially impressive. He lives in a tacky McMansion, and is constantly hounded by the feds and dogged by workplace drama that keeps him in a state of perpetual stress. Despite all this extra cash, he’s always so stressed and depressed about his condition that he never really enjoys any of it for longer than a few hours. He longs for the bygone days of his predecessors who enjoyed a much more exciting version of his life. This is similar to the lives of many middle-class Americans who romanticize the past and struggle with the frustrations and limitations of the present.