According to Rotten Tomatoes, only one season of The Sopranos is perfect

Even after its abrupt end in 2007, viewers still believe The Sopranos to be one of (if not the) best shows on TV. in best TV show) ever made. The story of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) struggling to be the head of two very different families continues to be a standard that many hope to live up to thanks to his incredible performances and writing (the kind that other series have killed b to repeat). But which one season Is The Sopranos a cut above the rest? Well, according to Rotten tomatoesthere’s one chapter in Tony’s life of guns, gangsters and hoodlums that reigns supreme and currently has a perfect 100% critic score on the aggregator site.

Forget the divisive Season 6 run-up or Season 4 (featuring the collapse of Tony’s marriage), this is Season 3, which RT says has gone off without a hitch. Filled with dead bodies and characters making difficult choices that had viewers screaming at the TV, Season 3 also featured an episode that any Sopranos fan worth their frozen mustard will agree is one of the greatest hours in television history. Yes, this is going to be another article praising The Pine Desert, but there are a few other entries in Season 3 that deserve an honorable mention as well.

By season three, The Sopranos was in full swing, bringing in even more players – all looking for their own piece of New Jersey – to cause mayhem both outside and inside Tony’s criminal empire, even if it means having to eliminate your boss. Season 3 also begins with the death of Livia Soprano (due to the unexpected death of Nancy Marchand) in episode 2, “Please Livia”, setting the stage for the late Soprano to mentally haunt her son for years to come.

Anyway, let’s just get this straight: “Pine Wastes” is not only the highlight and highlight of Season 3, but it’s also a game-changing episode in its own right. Considered by some to be the bottle episode and directed by Steve Buscemi, the episode features Tony trying to put out a fire left by Christopher (Michael Imperioli) and Polly (Tony Sirico) after they run into an ex-Russian soldier and find themselves stranded in the titular permafrost. Hilarious at times thanks to the constant bickering between Tony’s inept captains, “Pine Wastes” marks a major shift in the boss’s view of who he can trust. It’s also one of the first episodes that leaves the audience with questions to answer, e.g whatever happens to the Russians that Polly considered an “interior decorator”.

That being said, there is one more episode of season 3 that deserves praise, even if its main focus is not to say anything about it all (as much as we’d like to).

While “The Pines” regularly registers as the best The Sopranos has to offer, “Employee of the Month” is perhaps one of the show’s darkest yet equally brilliant episodes — the one that best highlights the blurred boundaries. between Tony’s life and those connected to him, whether they like it or not. Indeed, this is an episode in which mob boss therapist Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) is sexually assaulted by an unknown assailant and tries not only to move on from the horrific incident, but also to find a better way to deal with it.

A brilliant testament to what makes her one of the best characters in The Sopranos in this episode Melfi does his best to maintain his moral compass (which Braco demanded)even when both she and the audience desperately want her to give in and pit the huge monster she sees every week against the other. The result is one of the most awkward plot threads in the entire show, tied up in a way that perhaps some didn’t want. Not only does Melfi refuse to order Tony to strike back at her attacker, she completely hides the truth from him. Instead, when he asks if there’s anything she needs to say to him, the good doctor, the most gentle, responds with a firm “No.”

The Sopranos series finale may be an iconic pitch, but this Season 3 episode, while short, was even more heartbreaking.