History Series / TheSopranos

* TheAmericanDream: One of many aspects of American life and culture that is critically examined in the show. Like most of the show's themes, it's dealt with in a manner complex and nuanced enough to defy a black-and-white answer.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Despite their dubious morals, the mafia members all appear to be Catholic and make occasional references to Literature/TheBible. Religion is also used as a plot point on occasion; for example, when [[spoiler: Christopher recovers from his shooting]] he mentions he had a vision of going to hell (or possibly purgatory), and in another episode, Tony tries to persuade A.J. that God exists when he loses faith.
** TruthInTelevision, as members of the real Mafia are Catholic.

* HookersAndBlow: The Bada-Bing is a magnet for this.

* NobleBigot: Tony believes he is doing the righteous thing when he abrasively confronts Noah -- [[DatingWhatDaddyHates Meadow's boyfriend and black-Jewish]] -- on race grounds. Noah even gets admonished by Tony because he thinks that Noah plays the race card, as he identifies himself only as black. Toyed with Tony's behavior can be seen as lashing back at what he feels to be Noah's patronizing classism, flaunting his bourgeois New York upbringing in front of the culturally middle-class Tony in ways that make him feel threatened. Played with even more in that shortly after this incident, Tony has a panic attack when he encounters a black face in a cereal box. The show leaves it intentionally ambiguous whether the cause is Tony's angst that his daughter is dating a black man or guilt for his racist or confrontational behavior.

* {{Shoutout}}: UpToEleven: [[http://davidlavery.net/Sopranos/intertexts_&_allusions.htm Loads and loads of them, and then more]]

* BlackComedy: A gritty portrayal of the mob life where the hypocritical nature and sociopathic deeds of the characters [[RefugeInAudacity generate humour, sometimes bordering on the absurd]] while keeping the realistic feel.
** The show places such an emphasis on humor that David Chase is quoted as once having said that sometimes he and the writers weren't sure whether they were making a drama or a comedy.

* {{Expy}}: Done in-universe. The nasty boss from ''[[ShowWithinAShow Cleaver]]'' is modeled almost verbatim after Tony, who fails to realize this at first. [[spoiler: It becomes a major wedge between him and Chris.]] Chris, terrified by the implications, strong-arms the nominal writer into taking credit for the character. He claims that [[SincerestFormOfFlattery he stole the character from another movie]], but Tony (who's on the fence about the thing) easily sees past the lie, checks the original movie [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and takes serious offense to the whole issue]].
** Steven van Zandt took Silvio on the road wholesale for the show ''{{Lilyhammer}}''

* NobleBigot: Tony believes he is doing the righteous thing when he abrasively confronts Noah -- [[DatingWhatDaddyHates Meadow's boyfriend and black-Jewish]] -- on race grounds. Noah even gets admonished by Tony because he thinks that Noah plays the race card, as he identifies himself only as black.
** Toyed with in this instance - one can interpret Tony's behavior as lashing back at what he feels to be Noah's patronizing classism, flaunting his bourgeois New York upbringing in front of the culturally middle-class Tony in ways that make him feel threatened. Played with even more in that shortly after this incident, Tony has a panic attack, and the show leaves it intentionally ambiguous whether the cause is Tony's angst that his daughter is dating a black man or guilt for his racist behavior.

* NonActorVehicle: As mentioned above, Steve Van Zandt is primarily a musician. Silvio is his only acting role. Van Zandt also served as music consultor for the show and picked songs for the soundtrack from time to time.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: The mobsters all have "legitimate" jobs, which they never show up for, and don't actually work when they do. Getting such "no-show" jobs is an important point during negotiations.

* RealitySubtext: Count how many actors in the show were arrested during the show's run. Their real crimes were not that serious though, certainly not at the level of their characters.
** With the exception of Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) who was allegedly a member of the Colombo crime family in the 70's and was convicted of robbery and weapon possession.
** Not to mention Lillo Brancato (Matthew Bevilacqua in the 2nd series) who was charged with murdering a cop in 2005, and although he was acquitted of that, was still sentenced to ten years imprisonment on a related burglary charge.

* WickedCultured: Zig-zagged. As mentioned above, depending on the occasion the mobsters dress sharply or casually. They often enjoy luxury items, refined cuisine and Artie's restaurant is one of the usual hangouts. On the other hand, below the surface they are somewhat glorified ruffians.

** Bobby Baccala is hateful and, cynical and outspoken in private towards Tony in his first appearances, in contrast with his GentleGiant[=/=]ExtremeDoormat usual behavior.

* The Mafiya: Makes a rare appearance, most notably in "Pine Barrens," in which a Russian mobster proves surprisingly difficult to kill.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. A lot of strange nicknames made up for it though.

** Also Tony puts Janice on a bus to Seattle, after [[spoiler: she shoots her fiance, Richie Aprile.]] Tony's solace is short-lived; [[TheBusCameBack she came back]] 'for good' on a plane (that Tony has to pay for) the next season... two episodes later.

* BreakTheHaughty: In Season 6 [[spoiler: Johnny Sack [[hottip:*: an antagonist, but not a heinous villain by the show's standards]] goes through hell once he's the big boss; arrested, incarcerated, embargoed and humilliated in front of his family and friends on the day of his daughter's wedding. He shames himself by breaking the ''Omertà'' code of silence to lower his sentence, only to die of cancer not much later.]]

* CreatorCameo: David Chase is the Italian man who ignores Paulie in "Commendatori". He also appears as an extra in "Luxury Lounge" and is the voice on the phone in "The Test Dream".

* MoeGreeneSpecial: Big Pussy uses that exact name after Brendan gets whacked.

* MusicVideoSyndrome: Averted. Almost all music has a source or reason.
* MyGreatestMistake: Villainous variety. [[spoiler:Tony Soprano]] eventually gets to evaluate [[spoiler:Christopher]] as this.

** Subverted during an episode after Tony believes the FBI is about to pinch him for executing one of the [[Mook Mooks]] who shot Christopher. While he doesn't get pinched, Tony's lawyer suggests he clock in at his trash collection company just to create the mask of "respectable businessman." The job bores Tony to tears and he even develops a rash from the change in routine. So he goes back to hanging out at his restaurant with his crew and [[StatusQuoIsGod everything goes back to normal]].

* RedemptionRejection: Phil Leotardo. After nearly dying from a heart attack and [[ManlyTears crying in front of Tony when he gave him advice]] at the end of Part 1 of season 6, it seemed like he was finally going to change his ways. And then Part 2 came out. This was arguably the reason why [[spoiler: Tony killed Christopher. Despite going to rehab and getting his act together, Christopher [[OffTheWagon still did drugs from time to time]], which resulted in the car crash with him and Tony.]]

* SiblingYinYang: Distingished Meadow and lazy airhead A.J..
* SilentCredits: After the infamous finale.

** The FBI has ADayInTheLimeLight episode where the procedure regarding how to plant a surveillance bug in Tony's house is shown in detail. Tony is a ProperlyParanoid boss who regularly sweeps his headquarter for bugs, relies on {{PayPhone}}s and avoids talking shop inside his house but he is vulnerable in the noisy basement. The bug eventually has a very limited use and the trope is subverted because the judge is adamant and the FBI is only given one shot at this method that is never used again.

* WakeUpMakeup: Subverted, Tony frequently rocks some impressive bed-head.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Christopher is this to Tony despite not technically being his father.

** As discussed above, this show opened the door for a lot of shows that tried to show "gritty" depictions of crime families. Most of those shows only copied the shocking violence, and not the great dialogue, wicked sense of humor, complex themes and excellent acting that made this show a success, which is why they're all gone. The show itself isn't subtle in it's attempts to pick up where ''{{Goodfellas}}'' left off in its demythologising of the Mafia. A truly impressive amount of the cast of this show had parts of varying significance in that film. In case it wasn't obvious enough, their first choice to play Tony Soprano was Ray Liotta.

* NobleBigot: Tony believes he is doing the righteous thing when he abrasively confronts Noah -- [[DatingWhatDaddyHates Meadow's boyfriend and black-jewish]] -- on race grounds. Noah even gets admonished by Tony because he thinks that Noah plays the race card, as he identifies himself only as black.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Very, very cynical.

* [[BornInTheWrongCentury Born in the Wrong Decade]]: A constant source of drama. Tony and his pals are well aware that the mob's heyday is long over with, but have a hard time coming to terms with it. Tony says it explicitly at one point.

-->'''Tony''': No, you got it wrong. Out there, it's the 90s. In this house, it's 1954. Got it?

* NietzscheWannabe: Anthony Jr. briefly becomes one in season 2. To his parents' dismay he suddenly starts espousing a nihilistic worldview, questions the purpose of life, name-checks Nietzsche, and declares that GodIsDead.

--> '''Mikey''': [[IncrediblyLamePun "Hijack, bye, Jack."]]

The series is noted for its high level of quality in every aspect of production and is particularly recognized for its writing, cinematic style, and the performances of its lead actors. The show is credited with bringing a greater level of artistry to the television medium and paving the way for many successful drama series that [[FollowTheLeader followed]]. It also won a multitude of awards, including twenty-one Emmys and five Golden Globes.

* SecretIdentity: Tony often conceals his real name to 'civilian' clerks and receptionists. This backfires soundly when he tries to use one of his usual aliases (Mr. Spears) with a new psychiatrist - aware of Tony's identity and line of work - who is GenreSavvy as he had seen ''AnalyzeThis''. Tony tries to argue that he is WrongGenreSavvy as "Analyze This" is a comedy, but gets rejected anyway.

* AnimalMotifs: Several used as symbolism through the series, e.g felines represent Adriana or Chris. A more concrete example is the parting gift Tony gives to his goomahs, a horseshoe-shaped jewel.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Played with. Tony mentions the trope often, argues that his greedy underlings have no idea how hard it is to be a boss, and warns his friend Johnny Sack about it several times. In season 6 [[spoiler: Silvio]] doesn't last more than a few days as regent because the responsibility quickly takes a toll on his health.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Carmela in the first season is a more of a gun moll than in later seasons. After hearing a noise in the night, she expertly locks and loads an assault rifle, ready to throw down. In later seasons she's more of a sheltered suburban housewife. A later episode has her again looking for a possible intruder in the house, and she's much less prepared.

* ContinuityNod: Many episodes reference very minute details from several seasons ago. Unemphatic ContinuityPorn. The [[CallBack Call Backs]] would need their own page. Some examples:

Created by David Chase, the PilotEpisode was shot in 1997, the show premiered on the premium cable network {{HBO}} in the United States on January 10, 1999, and ended its original run of six seasons and 86 episodes on June 10, 2007.

Now has a [[{{Characters/TheSopranos}} Character Sheet]] under construction. Due to the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters any and all contributions would be greatly appreciated.

* AbusiveParents: Tony is emotionally manipulated and terrorized by his difficult mother throughout his childhood and well into his adult life. One notable incident featured his mother threatening to stick a fork in his eye when he was only ten years old. Tony's father was outwardly friendly, but also a manipulative sociopath who indoctrinated his son into violent crime and the mob. It's implied that the various degrees of emotional manipulation and terror Tony suffered under his parents is what turned him into the violent sociopath that heads the New Jersey crime families. Oddly enough, Tony manages to become a better father to his kids than his parents ever were to him (despite being an aforementioned violent sociopath), and his children turn out relatively nice and normal, even if they have a few issues of their own.

* ActorAllusion:

* AnimalMotifs: Several used as symbolism through the series, e.g felines represent Adriana or Chris. A more concrete example is the parting gift Tony gives to his goomahs, a horseshoe-shaped jewel.

* TheArtOfWar:

* AsHimself:

** JaneaneGarofalo in a movie directed by Favreau.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Despite their dubious morals, the mafia members all appear to be Catholic and make occasional references to TheBible. Religion is also used as a plot point on occasion; for example, when [[spoiler: Christopher recovers from his shooting]] he mentions he had a vision of going to hell (or possibly purgatory), and in another episode, Tony tries to persuade A.J. that God exists when he loses faith.

* AutomobileOpening: Tony driving from New York to his home in New Jersey. His route is deliberately inefficient to provide more interesting visuals.

* {{Bambification}}: A minor character has a quiet moment with a deer. Then it runs away and Tony brutally garrotes him.

* BerserkButton:

** Tony's love of animals, while (theoretically) his big humanizing feature, loses a bit of its luster when [[spoiler: he snaps and kills Ralphie Cifaretto over the ''possibility'' that he might have been responsible for the death of their race horse.]] A reaction that seems even more extreme in light of the fact that Ralphie had previously beaten his girlfriend to death for no reason in a public parking lot, and Tony let it slide. Arguably the horse was the straw that broke the camel's back, but still. It's been theorized that the way Tony is talking about the horse as [[spoiler:he's beating Ralph to death]] is actually his reaction to the death of Tracee.

** [[spoiler: After a certain dream and resulting boat ride in "Funhouse",]] singing fish are this for Tony. "Take me to the river, drop me in the water."

* BreakTheCutie:

* BrokenAce: Tony. Top of the line in his profession, wealthy, charismatic, powerful, ruthless, a keen business acumen, a beautiful family and [[KavorkaMan drop-dead goomahs]]. Underneath it all, he suffers from some serious ParentalIssues and other mental problems, which cause him to have panic attacks.

* ButtMonkey:

** Chris references ''{{Bruce Springsteen}}'' in one episode even though Steven Van Zandt (Silvio) is guitar player in the E Street Band.

--> '''Paulie''': "You're not gonna believe this. He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

* ConfessInConfidence:

** Pussy Malanga, the enemy that Junior wants dead in the pilot episode, shows up again in Junior's mind in the first episode of the last season.

* CountryMatters:

* CrypticConversation:
** The mobsters actively avoid using incriminating words and have colorful euphemisms and TroubleEntendre for their illegal enterprises.

* CutHimselfShaving: After the "intervention" for Chris' drug addiction (where he gets the crap beaten out of him), he is taken to the ER. Tony explains to the nurse that he sustained his injuries "slipping off the kitchen counter while spraying for ants". At her skeptical look, Tony elaborates, "Well, he was wearing socks."

* DisposingOfABody: One of the 'professional challenges' that pop-up from time to time. CementShoes / BurialAtSea (after some body hacking) is the standard method of choice but straight ground burial is also used. It tends to generate problems in the long-term as the threat of unburial and discovery is always a possibility.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** A small comedic subplot involved Tony meeting a gangsta rapper in the next hospital bed over during his recuperation. One of the guys' entourage is a fledgling rapper who realizes that surviving a shooting is key to getting famous, to which he hires Bobby Baccala to do it. Bobby shoots him in the ass. If the connection wasn't apparent enough, they dress [[{{FiftyCent}} the character]] in [[MemeticOutfit white pants, a white tank top, and a white hat at the time.]]

* TheDon:

* DontExplainTheJoke:

* TheDragon: Abundant. Paulie, Sil, and even Christopher serve in this role for Tony. Johnny Sack was Carmine Lupertazzi's, and later on Phil Leotardo was Johnny's.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas:

* EvenEvilHasStandards:

* EverythingIsRacist:

* EyeScream:
** Mikey, before executing Brendan Filone:

** Bobby gets mugged and beaten up by a gang of kids in season 6. They don't kill him, but one of them shoots the pavement next to his face, which causes asphalt to shoot in his eye.

* FanService:

* FishOutOfWater:

* FollowTheLeader:

* HairTriggerTemper: Basically, you wanted to watch what you said around pretty much anyone in the cast. While there were a few exceptions that were a little more level-headed, they all had their BerserkButton.
* HandsOnApproach: Done by a lesbian tennis coach showing blatant favoritism towards Adriana when she and Carmella take up tennis. The reason why is all but spelled out, but Adriana herself doesn't get it.

* HospitalHottie:
** Jack Aprile is pranked with a HelloNurse who turns out to be an striper/prostitute from the Bing.

* ItsAllAboutMe:
** Livia Soprano. She's always complaining about how everyone's mistreating her and how her son does not appreciate her.

* LetMeTellYouAStory: Tony tells Junior the story of how Octavian became Augustus and ruler of TheRomanEmpire. The aesop about greed and generosity is unclear and it's lost on Junior, so Tony switches to a more mundane story about two bulls mating with as many cows as possible.

-->'''Richie''': [[CarFu I did]]. Then I put it in drive.

-->'''Little Carmine:'''

-->'''Tony:'''

-->'''Bobby:''' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi22suEHQfs Quasimodo predicted all of this.]]

** Season 3 ends with [[spoiler: Jackie Jr's wake]] and half the cast bawling to Uncle Junior's Italian song.

* MeaningfulName:

** The musical term "soprano" is derived from the Italian word "sopra", which means "above". This could be a reference to Tony's status as the head of the Jersey family.

* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong:
** One-legged and determined Svetlana remarks that Americans don't know what a real problem is and live an easy existence compared to the average miserable life in Russia/USSR, yet they are wimpy complainers.

* NiceToTheWaiter:
** Paulie and Chris kill a waiter who confronts them over a very low tip. They guy has a sudden seizure and Paulie, to resolve the issue simply [[MurderIsTheBestSolution shoots the poor bastard on the spot]].

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Well, pretty much all of the male gangster characters are quite politically incorrect and are (obviously) professional criminals. Phil might count in particular, as he is a more homophobic/generally unpleasant person than Tony (although not necessarily much more evil). Nicely illustrated during a conversation about [[spoiler: Vito's]] strayed son.

* PutOnABus:

* RealMenWearPink:

* RiddleForTheAges: What makes "Pine Barrens" such a well-known episode. What the hell ''did'' happen to that Russian mobster?

* RuthlessForeignGangsters: While the New Jersey ''home team'' is not made of NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters, Furio from the old country is introduced as a fiercer type of enforcer and the antagonist mobsters from New York have an even nastier vibe, especially Phil Leotardo. Several strategic hits are ''outsourced'' to ProfessionalKillers from Italy or to black [[GangBangers gangbangers]] to maintain PlausibleDeniability.
* SadClown:

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:

* SecretIdentity: Tony often conceals his real name to 'civilian' clerks and receptionists. This backfires soundly when he tries to use one of his usual aliases (Mr. Spears) with a new psychiatrist - aware of Tony's identity and line of work - who is GenreSavvy as he had seen ''{{AnalyzeThis}}''. Tony tries to argue that he is WrongGenreSavvy as "Analyze This" is a comedy, but gets rejected anyway.

* SpiritualSuccessor:

** ''GameOfThrones'' has been [[WordOfGod described by a series producer as]] ''The Sopranos [[StandardFantasySetting in Middle-Earth]]".

* StiffUpperLip:
** Ben Kingsley never loses his polite and calm demeanor when he is uncomfortably approached by some mafia men who are in fact deflected by his suave manners and refrain from further pressure. The mobsters however get frustated by it and they [[KickTheDog violently mug an 81-year-old Lauren Bacall]] so they don't leave their trip empty-handed.

* SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands:

* TheGamblingAddict:

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill:

** In season 2, two small players decide to try and kill Christopher in an attempt to please Richie Aprile, who despises him, with the hopes that they'll get promoted. It doesn't work.
** Then there's also Darwin Award winner Jackie Aprile Jr. who tries the same thing in season 3 by ''robbing Tony's gang''.

* UglyGuyHotWife: Almost every single male character is married or in a relationship with insanely hot women, while usually also cheating on them with other even ''hotter'' women. Subverted with Johnny Sack: due to his high rank in the New York crew, it's assumed that like all the others he has a hot wife with affairs on the side. In season 4 we see however that his wife is a rather large woman who he loves deeply and does not cheat on.

* VorpalPillow:

-->'''Tony''': "Uncle Junior and I, we had our problems with the business but I never should have razzed him about eating pussy. This whole war could have been averted. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbDL4rI4zu8 Cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this.]]"

* WhamLine:

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Adriana and Chris.

--> '''Phil:''' I know [[spoiler:Vito's]] bottom was impacted if that's what you're referring to.

* WouldHitAGirl:

* YourCheatingHeart:
** Tony's extramarital affairs are naturally explored and generate a great deal of problems.

* YouTalkinToMe:

* FatBastard: Downplayed. Salvatore is not morbidly overweight, but is shown to have quite a gut while talking to his underlings.

* ProfessionalKiller: Michael before his demise.

* XMeetsY: The movie is described as "''Film/{{Saw}}'' meets ''Film/TheGodfather''".

* CarFu: Tony and Richie viciously rely on the pedal to enforce his will ''over'' hirkers.

** Paulie is appointed manager of an amusement fair. He is such a cheapkatee that he cuts corners and security budget to the point one ride becomes hazardous and an accident ensues.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Paulie resents Chris for playing [[{{Nepotism}} the blood relation card]] too many times, but he is not above enforcing the trope shamelessly; [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3d_mqQzsxE his attitude towards Finn takes a radical turn once he learns he is Meadow's boyfriend.]]

''The Sopranos'' is a CriminalProcedural series centered around New Jersey [[TheMafia Mob]] [[TheDon Boss]] Tony Soprano, who after a panic attack secretly begins seeing a therapist. Hilarious RealityEnsues as his therapy coincides with him sending his troublesome, sociopathic mother Livia into a nursing home when it becomes apparent that she's no longer able to take care of herself.

The show focuses on Tony's dual families: his biological family -- long-suffering wife Carmela, his straight-A student daughter Meadow, underachiever son A.J., and his equally morally bankrupt sister Janice -- and the organized crime family he is involved in, who include his bitter uncle Junior, his 'nephew' (actually his wife's cousin) Christopher, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and more.]]

* BlackComedy

* CoolCar: Lots of them, as befits the lavish lifestyle of the mobsters. One of the primary ConspicuousConsumption objects. Examples with plot relevancy include:
** The Jersey crew steals high-end vehicles which are later sold to the Italian branch of the mob in Napoli.
** Gloria Trillo is a saleswoman for Mercedes.
** Johnny Sack buys a striking Maserati during his happy days. The car has to be sold later unofficially to Christopher and is finally impounded.

* DrugsAreBad: Chris struggles with heroin and cocaine addictions, and is berated and judged hopeless and unworthy by Tony and the gang. Paulie particularly.

* FoeCooties: Tony was more than happy to have sex with his rival Ralphie's girlfriend, Valentina, but refused to make her his permanent mistress until he found out she never had sex with Ralph (due to sexual tastes being for [[BDSM S&M]] rather than conventional sex).

* IdiotBall: LoanShark Tony tooks a [=SUV=] used by David Scatino's son as collateral from the busted-out Scatino, and then gives it to Meadow, who is a close friend of said son. Not surprisingly, a fight emerges between father and daughter.

-->'''Tony''': I thought I told you to back off, Beansie!
-->'''Richie''': I did. Then I put it in drive.

* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: Generally averted since the predatory nature of the mob is not hidden and the local business suffer regularly, but the Jersey mobsters throw a traditional Santa Claus party and occassionally organize activities for the community. One deconstructed example has Paulie as manager of an amusement fair. He is such a cheapstake that he cuts corners and security budget to the point one ride becomes hazardous and an accident ensues.

* RuthlessForeignGangsters: While the New Jersey ''home team'' is not made of NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters, Furio from the old country is introduced as a fiercer type of enforcer and the antagonist mobsters from New York have an even nastier vibe, especially Phil Leotardo. Several strategic hits are ''outsourced'' to ProfessionalKillers from Italy or to black gangbangers to maitain PlausibleDeniability.

* ThrowItIn: Tony putting his hands on a turned on stove at Ralph's house was an actual accident and his reaction is genuine.

''Cleaver'' is a ShowWithinAShow movie written and produced by Christopher Moltesanti in season 6, but who has been working on and off on the project since season 1. It is about Michael, a Mafia hitman who gets set up and killed by his associates. This is done at the instigation of Michael's boss Salvatore, who is lusting after Michael's fiancé. Michael is then resurrected as the eponymous "Cleaver", an undead zombie who kills off all his former enemies one by one, including his boss and former fiancé.

''The Sopranos'' is CriminalProcedural series centered around New Jersey [[TheMafia Mob]] [[TheDon Boss]] Tony Soprano, who after a panic attack secretly begins seeing a therapist. Hilarious RealityEnsues as his therapy coincides with him sending his troublesome, sociopathic mother Livia into a nursing home when it becomes apparent that she's no longer able to take care of herself.

The show focuses on Tony's dual families: his biological family -- long-suffering wife Carmela, his straight-A student daughter Meadow, underachiever son AJ, and his equally morally bankrupt sister Janice -- and the organized crime family he is involved in, who include his bitter uncle Junior, his 'nephew' (actually his wife's cousin) Christopher, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and more.]]

The series is noted for its high level of quality in every aspect of production and is particularly recognized for its writing, its cinematic style, and the performances of its lead actors. The show is credited with bringing a greater level of artistry to the television medium and paving the way for many successful drama series that [[FollowTheLeader followed]]. It also won a multitude of awards, including twenty-one Emmys and five Golden Globes.

* AbusiveParents: Tony is emotionally manipulated and terrorized by his difficult mother throughout his childhood and well into his adult life. One notable incident featured his mother threatening to stick a fork in his eye when he was only ten years old. Tony's father was outwardly friendly, yet also a manipulative sociopath who indoctrinated his son into violent crime and the mob. It's implied that the various degrees of emotional manipulation and terror Tony suffered under his parents is what turned him into the violent sociopath that heads the New Jersey crime families. Oddly enough, Tony manages to become a better father to his kids than his parents ever were to him (despite being an aforementioned violent sociopath), and his children turn out relatively nice and normal, even if they have a few issues of their own.

** Gloria Trillo really loves a song played on the radio, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk2g9FEtr4k Steve Van Zandt's Affection]]

* AintTooProudToBeg: Christopher in Season 1 when he suffers a [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets mock execution]] : [[DefiantToTheEnd Reversed]] later in Season 5 when Tony is about to kill him and Chris doesn't back down from an accusation.

** On a later Season, Paulie tries to emulate Tony and reads it in audiobook form. On one occasion he tries to boast about it but he can't even say the author's name properly [[{{Malaproper}} (he utters something like Soon-Tizoong)]] and gets mocked for being an obnoxious brown noser.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Tony asking "Don't you love me?" to Junior who is going through early stages of dementia and has behaved badly to Tony. Junior is left shaken, speechles and showing a SingleTear.

* AscendedFanboy: Many prominent New Jerseyans receive Cameos, often as themselves. including: Jon Bon Jovi, Lawrence Taylor (of the New York Giants), and Eric Mangini (of the New York Jets).

** JonFavreau plays a manipulative version of himself who screws Chris out of his ideas. JaneaneGarofalo in a movie directed by Favreau.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Despite their dubious morals, the mafia members all appear to be Catholic and make occasional references to TheBible. Religion is also used as a plot point on occasion; for example, when [[spoiler: Christopher recovers from his shooting,]] he mentions he had a vision of going to hell (or possibly purgatory) and in another episode, Tony tries to persuade A.J. that God exists when he loses faith.

* AuthorityInNameOnly: Corrado Soprano (Junior) is the oficial boss of the family but not the one calling the shots. Invoked by Tony in season 1, he sets up Junior as a fall guy to shield himself. The FBI tries to use it as wedge against them, but Junior denies it.

* BadassInANiceSuit : Zig zagged, the mobsters like to wear plain sportswear but they dress up according to their fancy businessmen status when the occasion requires it. Members of the Lupertazzi crew can usually be seen in suits, as befitting their more successful and refined nature compared to the Jersey crew. Carmine Lupertazzi also stated to Tony that "a Don doesn't wear shorts".

* BeingPersonalIsntProfessional: One notable concept that Tony never neglects. Particular examples [[spoiler: David Scatino, Tony B, Vito, Christopher]]

** Tony's love of animals, while (theoretically) his big humanizing feature, loses a bit of its luster when [[spoiler: he snaps and kills Ralphie Cifaretto over the ''possibility'' that he might have been responsible for the death of their race horse.]] A reaction that seems even more extreme in light of the fact that Ralphie had previously beaten his girlfriend to death for no reason in a public parking lot, and Tony let it slide. Arguably the horse was the straw that broke the camel's back, but still. It's been theorized that the way Tony is talking about the horse as [[spoiler:he's beating Ralph to death]], is actually his reaction to the death of Tracee.

** Tony doesn't take it well when he is remembered he never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
** [[spoiler: After a certain dream and resulting boat ride in "Funhouse"]]singing fish are this for Tony: "Take me to the river, drop me in the water."
** An affair with a one legged woman is the ultimate humiliation for Carmela; the woman was Livia's [[TheCaretaker nurse]] and [[WomanScorned the cousin of said woman and former lover of Tony calls the house]], with AJ present.

* BigBad: Not in the typical OnceASeason of many shows but season 2 had Richie Aprile and the final season had Phil Leotardo.

* [[BornInTheWrongCentury Born in the Wrong Decade]]: A constant source of drama. Tony and his pals are well aware that the mob's heyday is long over with, but have a hard time coming to terms with this. Tony says it explicitly at one point.

** Tracee, who gets no respect from anyone she tries to impress and gets beaten to death [[{{Jerkass}} by Ralphie]].
** Near the end of the show [[spoiler: Christopher, who after a long struggle and heavy personal sacrifices is now redeemed and happy, he is a captain, has a new and stable family and his long-awaited movie project is a reality. Then comes an ugly feud with Paulie, some disrespectful jokes and a general lack of empathy with Tony that combined makes him snap and relapse into his drug habits, with fatal consequences. [[hottip:*: he is not exactly "a Cutie" but since he attemps redemption he gets more sympathetical and is not a haughty]]]]
* BreakTheHaughty: In Season 6 [[spoiler: Johnny Sack [[hottip:*: antagonist but not a heinous villain by the shows standards]]... he goes through hell once he is the big boss; arrested, incarcerated, embargoed and humilliated in front of his family and friends on the day of his daughter's wedding. He shames himself by breaking the ''Omertà'' code of silence to lower his sentence, only to die of cancer not much later.]]
* BrokenAce : Tony, top of the line in his profession, wealthy, charismatic, powerful, ruthless, a keen business acumen, a beautiful family and [[KavorkaMan drop-dead goomahs]]. Underneath it all, he suffers from some serious ParentalIssues and other mental problems, which cause him to have panic attacks.
* BrokenPedestal: Chris and Tony, Tony with his father, uncle and other old schoolers. Zigzagged most of the time as things are never black or white and character's internal struggle is one of the dynamics of the show.

* BurialAtSea: [[spoiler:After Tony Soprano and his gang kill Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (a long-time friend who has betrayed them to the FBI), they wrap up his body and, with heavy hearts, give it a decent burial at sea.]] Overlaps with CementShoes, a common way of body dispossal during the series. Chains and actual concrete blocks are used as an anchor.
* BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie: Tony angrily mocks this when Janice asks hims what has been done with [[spoiler: Richie's remains]] :"We buried him on a hill overlooking a little river, with pine cones all around. C'mon Janice!, what the fuck? [[YouDoNotWantToKnow You want to know?]]

** AJ too, though this is only in the later seasons. He's one of the dumbest characters on the show, but lacks the ruthless spirit that a mobster needs, so he has no real place in the world.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Meadow calls Tony out a number of times on his [[{{Hypocrite}} hipocrisy]] and line of work. Tony calls her back, pointing out he is the one who puts food on the table and that [[MafiaPrincess everything she enjoys]] is based on that. She gradually becomes less [[IAmNotMyFather rebellious]] and more assimilated by the masquerade.
* CanYouHearMeNow: Poor telecommunication service is the source of problems in the episode Pine Barrens when [[HilarityEnsues Paulie and Chris get lost in a frozen forest]]. Tony gets gradually more and more agitated and has to give them orders [[NoIndoorVoice very loudly and full of profanity]] while his parents-in-law are in his house.

** Chris references ''{{Bruce Springsteen}}'' in one Episode even though Steven Van Zandt (Silvio) is guitar player in the E Street Band.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Played with. Tony mentions the trope often, argues that his greedy underlings have no idea how hard it is to be a boss and warns his friend Johnny Sack about it several times. In season 6 [[spoiler: Silvio]] doesn't last more than a few days as regent because the responsability quickly takes a toll on his health.

* ChronicVillainy: Played for tragedy in the case of [[spoiler: Cousin Tony]].
* CliffHanger: Notably averted, creator David Chase considered them a cheap narrative device and the sequences are never split between episodes. One very rare cliffhanger is used at the end of Season 6 opener [[spoiler: -- Tony laying on the ground with a bullet wound --]] and the end of the second to last episode could be interpreted as one, and/but then again the apparent NoEnding works as massive subversion for many viewers.

* CoolCar: Well lots of them as befits the lavish lifestyle of the mobsters. One of the primary ConspicuousConsumption objects. Examples with plot relevancy include:

** Johnny Sack buys a striking Maserati during his happy days. The car has to be sold later unoficially to Christopher and is finally impounded.
* ComedicSociopathy: While the series on the whole is aimed at creating disgust with the mob's brutality, the violence ''is'' often played for laughs. Particularly Paulie is a bit of a ComedicSociopath.

--> '''Paulie''' : "You're not gonna believe this. He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.
--> '''Chris''' : "His house looked like shit"

** Paulie during a dinner trying to appear cultivated:
--> '''Paulie''' : "That’s why dinosaurs don’t exist no more"
--> '''Goomar''' : "Wasn’t it a meteor?"
--> '''Paulie''' : "They’re all meat-eaters"
--> '''Christopher''' : "METEOR! METEOR!"
--> '''Paulie''' : "Take it easy."

** Subverted by Christopher when he punctures through a Young Earth Creactionist theory.
-->'''Christopher''' : "What's he saying? There were Dinosaurs back with Adam and Eve?"

--> '''Christopher''' : "No way. T-Rex in the Garden of Eden-Adam and Eve would be running all the time-scared shitless, but the Bible says it was paradise."

** Discussed early in the show, in theory everything said during therapy falls under doctor-patient privilege and out of reach from the law, but there are instances where this doesn't apply so Tony remains cryptic in many conversations, hindering the effectiveness of his treatment and fustating his doctor.
** The Doctor-patient privilege is also used to have meetings with Junior in his Doctor's office while he was on trial, since the government can't wiretap the Doctor's office.
* {{Confessional}}: Carmela requires it during one of her crisis of conscience.

* ContinuityNod: Many episodes reference very minute details from several seasons ago. Unemphatic ContinuityPorn. The {{CallBack}}s would need their own page. Some examples:
** In an early episode, Tony tells A.J. "there's an old Italian saying: you screw up once, you lose two teeth." Much later on, in season five, Tony has a lengthy dream and during it, he loses two of his teeth.
** Pussy Malanga, the enemy that Junior wants dead in the pilot episode shows up again in Junior's mind in the first episode of the last season.
** In the Season 1 finale, in a restaurant, Tony advices his children to "try to remember the times that were good" . A.J. brings the phrase back in another restaurant in the series finale, but Tony doesn't remember his own counsel.

* ContrivedClumsiness: Paulie Walnuts drops Valery's universal remote and gives a sarcastic ''oops'' after Valery tells him sternly, in his thick Russian accent, that "remote goes on docking station". Unsurprisingly the conflict escalates from there.

* CoolBoat: Tony's yatch, ''The Stugots''. Envied and praised by some characters, and a common place for Tony's escapades. The name is a derivative of ''stu cazzo'' the Napolitan term for "testicles" and also an insult.
* CorruptPolitician: Several expamples, most notably State Assemblyman Zellman who is Tony's equal partner in a major scam.

** Season 2 has a scene where Tony applies the word to Big Pussy's wife, causing Carmella to stop him mid-sentence and shut him up.

** "Come on, come on! Fuckin' cunt!" . Silvio's PreMortemOneLiner delivered to [[spoiler: Adriana]].
* CrazyJealousGuy: Christopher could be this way with Adriana

* CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure: In the first few seasons Dr. Melfi gradually gets distraught by her therapy sessions with Tony Soprano, leading to weight gains, [[DrowningMySorrows drinking]], and needing therapy herself. In Season 6, Dr. Melfi learns of a psychological study which discourages the use of traditional psychoanalysis with career criminals, as it too often validates the use of hypocrisy and deception for them; this is apparently a significant factor in her decision to end Tony's therapy.

** Parodied in the last season when Johnny Sack's 'civilian' brother-in-law gives a shot to this SpySpeak but [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZbd0xpP1Z8 his efforts]] comically complicate the conversations.
* CutHimselfShaving: After Chris' "intervention" for his drug addiction (where he gets the crap beaten out of him) he is taken to the ER. Tony explains to the nurse that he sustained his injuries "slipping off the kitchen counter while spraying for ants". Off her skeptical look, Tony elaborates, "Well, he was wearing socks".

* DeadpanSnarker: Many: Tony, Paulie, Tony B. among others.
* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler:With Ralphie, when Justin (his son) was shot in the chest with an arrow, he starts to regrets the bad things he's done, but is short-lived, when he was killed by Tony during a fight over Ralphie's "possible" involvement with killing Pie-O-My.]] Tony even had a dream about him that showed a caterpillar one moment and a butterfly the next all while perched on his bald head.
* DecapitatedArmy: Invoked by Phil in Season 6. [[spoiler: Killing Jersey's leadership would make its crew assimilable or at least easier and cheaper to deal with]]
* DemotedToExtra: Larry Barese, an important captain in season 1 who only makes punctual appearances later.
* DidYouGetANewHaircut: AJ's eyebrows.
* DirtyBusiness / NecessarilyEvil: [[spoiler: Tony killing Tony B to prevent a war with New York]] in the Season 5 finale.
* DisposingOfABody: One of the 'professional challenges' that pop-up from time to time. CementShoes / BurialAtSea after some body hacking is the standard method of choice but straight ground burial is also used. It tends to generate problems in the long-term as the threat of unburial and discovery is always a possibilty.

* DistractedByTheLuxury: One of Carmela's main traits. For Tony the standard way out of a marital problem is to bury it under gifts or loads of money.

** Carmine Lupertazzi in New York. He scolds Tony for doing un-Don-like things like wearing shorts and disregards the Jersey Family as "a glorified crew".
* DontAsk / YouDoNotWantToKnow : A rare instance where Tony slips some factual and true information about whackings to Carmela, when she asks about [[spoiler: the Janice and Richie situation]]
-->'''Tony''' He's gone [..] Carmela, after 18 years of marriage don't make me make you an accessory after the fact [...] Stop asking. I took care of it.

** Paulie has a habit of repeating the setup and punch line to his jokes.

* DramaticDrop: Meadow drops the phone after she's informed of [[spoiler: Jackie Jr.'s death]].
* DreamSequence: Done several times over the course of the show, but [[ExaggeratedTrope exagerated]] in "The Test Dream", in which the titular dream lasts a full 20 minutes. [[SerialEscalation Then even further in "Join the Club" and "Mayham", where Tony falls into a coma after getting shot]] and has [[AdventuresInComaLand a long dream that extends over two episodes]].

* TheDragon: Abundant. Paulie, Sil, and even Christopher serve in this role for Tony. Johnny Sack was Carmine Lupertazzi's, and later Phil Leotardo was Johnny's.
* DragonAscendant: Phil Leotardo in the second part of Season Six.
* DrivenToSuicide: Vin Makazian, [[spoiler: Gloria Trillo]], and [[spoiler: Eugene Pontecorvo]]. Subverted with [[spoiler: AJ.]]
* DrugsAreBad: Chris struggles with heroin and cocaine addictions, and is berated and adjudged hopeless and unworthy by Tony and the gang. Paulie particularly.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: A major issue for Christopher. He spends the entire show carving an status for himself [[spoiler: and yet after deep personal sacrificies and a rank of Captain he gets and feels disrespected, helplessly. And that triggers his final demise]]
* EnforcedMethodActing: Ralphie's crew look genuinely surprised -Ralph's hair almost takes off- when [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1cfyDMR_L0 Vito breaks a chair and falls like an elephant]] In fact the whole moment looks like a borderline ThrowItIn comically incorporated later into the script.
* EpiphanyTherapy: Subverted to hell and back; Tony mostly uses what he learns in therapy to be a more efficient mob boss. [[spoiler: Dr. Melfi finally realizes that and terminates the sessions for good]]

** Paulie Walnuts. And how. His love is fickle, though, as seen in "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh": [[spoiler:turns out he only loves his mama as long as she really is his ''biological'' mama.]] He gets over it eventually, though.
** Tony. He literally goes berserk when Dr. Melfi diagnoses Livia with Borderline Personality Disorder and reads the symptoms to him. It's zig-zagged many times since Tony is full of love & hate MommyIssues.

** Tony and the crew are appropriately horrified and disgusted when Ralph beats to death a stripper pregnant with his child.
** [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Phil Leotardo]] is disgusted that Tony would screw over his own Uncle to become Don.
** The gang was downright appalled when they heard about Coach Don Hauser's affair with one of Meadow's high-school friends.

** Richie Aprile, who condones the beating of a woman if, and only if the man is her husband.

** Done In-Universe as well with Sil viewing Anti-Columbus Day protestors as racist against Italians.
* EverythingsWorseWithBears: In Season 5 a marauding bear drops a number of times by the Sopranos' compound, alarming Carmela and panicking AJ. At that moment Tony is not living there so he posts some of his underlings as guardians. Eventually he defends the fort himself, posted through the night weapon in hand, emphasizing the necessity of a strong male family leader.

* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: Tony is adamant that AJ doesn't go into the life like him, partly because he's simply not cut out for it. Jackie Aprile also felt this way towards his own son, and [[GiveHimANormalLife arranged with Tony]] to make sure this wouldn't happen before [[spoiler:he himself died in the fourth episode. Tony doesn't succeed and [[TurnOutLikeHisFather Jackie Jr.]] ends up dead later on, further strengthening his decision to keep AJ out of it]].
* {{Expy}}: Done in-universe, the nasty boss from [[ShowWithinAShow Cleaver]] is modeled almost verbatim after Tony who fails to realize this at first but then [[spoiler: it's a major and definitive wedge between him and Chris.]] Chris, terrified by the implications strong-arms the nominal writer into taking credit for the character. He claims that [[SincerestFormOfFlattery he stole the character from another movie]] but Tony who was on the fence about the thing easily sees past the lie, checks the original movie [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and takes serious offense on the whole issue]]

** Lampshaded by [[spoiler: Big Pussy]], who requests not to get shot in the face so he can keep his eyes.

** Bobby gets mugged and beaten up by a gang of kids in Season 6. They don't kill him, but one of them shoots the pavement next to his face, which causes asphalt to shoot in his eye.
* FaceHeelTurn: From Phil's point of view, "the Leotardo family has been taking shit from everybody the minute they got off the boat from Italy"
-->'''Phil''': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLrlIpoQfQg No more Butchie, no more of this]]

** Also [[SheIsAllGrownUp all grown up]] Meadow sexy-dancing in her underwear for Finn in the season 6 opener.

* FamilyBusiness: The lack of an appropriate heir is a source of concern for Tony; since AJ in not cut out for it Christopher is groomed as one.

* FiveStagesOfGrief: Alluded from time to time, a Season 1 episode has some of them as a title. ''Denial, Anger, Acceptance.''

** Chris and Paulie in the episode ''Pine Barrens'' , with some elements of ThoseTwoBadGuys
** The visit to the Mother Country in "Commendatori"
* FiveBadBand: Tony's crew in the first season

* {{Flashback}}: Used occasionally to recall significative events of Tony's life.

* FoeCooties: Tony was more than happy to have sex with his rival Ralfies girlfriend Valentina but refused to make her his permanent mistress until he found out she never had sex with Ralf (due to sexual tastes being for S + M rather than conventional sex)
* FoodSlap

** Junior breaks up with his talkative girlfriend with a dramatic PieInTheFace. A shoutout to ''Film/ThePublicEnemy''

** As discussed above, this show opened the door for a lot of shows that tried to show "gritty" depictions of crime families. Most of those shows only copied the shocking violence, and not the great dialogue, wicked sense of humor, complex themes and excellent acting that made this show a success, which is why they're all gone. The show itself isn't subtle in it's attempts to pick up where {{Goodfellas}} left off in its demythologising of the Mafia. A truly impressive amount of the cast of this show had parts of varying significance in that film. In case it wasn't obvious enough, their first choice to play Tony Soprano was Ray Liotta.
** An in-universe RealLife emulation. Jackie Jr. learns that Tony and co. had their major breakthrough in the criminal world when they robbed a poker game organized by a big shot mobster so Jackie decides to follow the example. [[spoiler: It ends badly, a made-man is killed and Jackie gets whacked for it]]

* GenreSavvy: In season 5, Tony gets [[spoiler: Feech La Manna]] sent back to jail after realizing he shows the exact same signs of wanting to [[TheStarscream usurp his power]] like [[spoiler: Richie Aprile]] in season 2.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Most of the mob executions are shown in their bloody entirety... except [[spoiler:Adriana's]].

* {{Hypocrite}}: If you ask most characters, being a mafioso or abetting family member of one doesn't go in the way of being a good christian or upstanding citizen.
* HenpeckedHusband
** Tony's father:
-->'''Tony''' Now that my father's dead, he's a saint. When he was alive, nothing. And my dad was tough. He ran his own crew. A guy like that, and my mother wore him down to a little nub. He was a squeaking little gerbil when he died.

* HeroicBSOD / VillainousBSOD : Tony's panic attacks, triggered by repressed phobias, thoughts and feelings and by some unpleasant situations.

* HotLibrarian: Dr. Melfi

* IdiotBall: LoanShark Tony tooks a [=SUV=] used by David Scatino's son as collateral from the busted-out Scatino, and then gives it to Meadow, who is a close friend of said son. Not surprisingly a fight emerges between father and daughter.

* ImNotHereToMakeFriends: Mentioned often by Tony "I'm running a fuckin' business, not a popularity contest!" Besides his close family and business associates [[LonelyAtTheTop he has no real friends]]; he manages to alienate Artie, David Scatino, Hesh Rabkin and Zellman among others.

* InherentlyFunnyWords: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capicola Gabagool]]
* InsistentTerminology: Tony has an issue with a "retiring community" being called a "nursing home" and corrects the term everytime. In later seasons when his mother is no longer in one he does the opposite correction.

* KarmaHoudini: DoubleSubversion for Jesus Rossi. First, he rapes Dr. Melfi, but not even a day later, gets caught by the police. ...And then another day later, is released due to a computer error. Melfi even has the chance to tell Tony about what happened to her (which would inevitably lead to Rossi being mutilated or killed) but chooses not to.

* KillEmAll: The last few episodes "take care of" [[spoiler:Christopher, Bobby Bacala and Phil Leotardo]] while [[spoiler:Silvio]] is in a coma he may never wake up from, and also [[spoiler:Tony himself]] may have been shot in the final scene.
* {{Kneecapping}}: Paulie threatens a sports teacher who inherits the garbage business with this. Later on Paulie obliges.
* LampshadeHanging: In the season 6 opener, Tony tells Dr. Melfi when they're discussing [[spoiler: Vito's secret homosexuality that it bothers him how every other show on tv tends to rub the gay agenda or lifestyle in your nose.]]

-->'''Tony''': I thought I told you to back off Beansie!
-->'''Richie''': I did. Then I put it in Drive.

* LoudOfWar: Tony resorts to this against a man who refuses to return him the entrace fee of a house that Tony no longer wants. The man lives by the sea so Tony's men play invasive crooner music day and night from a [[GunboatDiplomacy boat with almost sheer impunity]]. The man finally caves in.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: A twisted version near the end of the show: [[spoiler: Tony suffocates Christopher when they suffer an accident, killing him. The doctors think Christopher might have made it but they have no way to determine the actual fact]]
* {{Malaproper}}: About half the characters, and supposedly a major reason for the show's popularity in its midlife. Little Carmine Lupertazzi is one of the most frequent offenders, to the point where other characters refer to him as "Brainless the Second" and exchange confused looks during one of his malapropism-riddled speeches. Examples

--->[[BestServedCold Revenge is like serving cold cuts]]
--->A guy like that is going out with a woman, he could technically not have penissary contact with her Volvo

--->Create a little dysentery among the ranks

-->'''Bobby:''' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi22suEHQfs Quasimodo predicted all of this]]

--->They release these fucks from the can. Obviously, he wasn't rea-bull-ated

** Subverted with Junior as he doesn't actually care about some deceased individuals and he just want to attend to any planned funeral to dodge his house arrest for a while.

** The musical term "soprano" is derived from the Italian word "sopra," which means "above." This could be a reference to Tony's status as the head of the Jersey family.
* MilitarySchool: One of the contested options for AJ. in the episode ''Army of One''

** Junior vs Tony in Season 1.
** In Season 5 [[spoiler: Johnny Sack vs Little Carmine]]
** In the last episodes [[spoiler: Phil Leotardo vs Tony Soprano]]

* MommyIssues: And how. Tony goes out of his way to please his miserable Mother who is a Manipulative, self-pitying control freak who resents her children for being happier than her. The MoralEventHorizon comes when she tries to put a hit out on him. Despite this,Tony seems to be a much better parent. Janice, on the other hand, inherited her narcissism, self-pity and lack of empathy.

** One-legged and determined Svetlana remarks that Americans don't know what a real problem is, live an easy existence compared to the average miserable life in Russia/USSR and yet they are wimpy complainers.
** Valery, a {{Mafiya}} member and former Spetnaz who boasts in a frozen forest about harsh weather being warm to him and who gets away from Chris and Paulie when he was suppressed and about to be executed. He seemingly gets his throat crushed and his head shot, yet still manages to escape into the pine barrens. His uncertain fate lead to [[WMG/TheSopranos WMG]] that David Chase deliberately {{HandWave}}d in Season 5 opener.

* MultipleReferencePun: Used occasionally in episode names: E.g. "Rat Pack" refers to FrankSinatra and co. but also to the multiple FBI moles.

* NotNowKiddo: Chris gets this occasionally, an important one when he -long time Captain by then- brings a serious feud he has with Paulie only to be nagged by Tony for the interruption.

* PassedOverPromotion

** Averted by AJ, who befriends some gangster wanabees who idolize him for being the son of the big man and make him accessory to some violent extortions, but he is unaffected.

** Christopher is the only one seen regularly earning, but then again he is a rookie while the rest of the characters we mostly see are bosses and spend most of their time hanging around Bada Bing or Satriales. Explained by the hierarchical system; senior mobsters have their own crews and do mostly managerial work or collections yet they perform delicate tasks or street jobs from time to time, Paulie assaults Columbian drug dealers in Season 6.
** Subverted during an episode after Tony believes the FBI is about to pinch him for executing one of the Mooks who shot Christopher. While he doesn't get pinched, Tony's lawyer suggests he clock in at his trash collection company just to create the mask of "respectable businessman." The job bores Tony to tears and he even develops a rash from the change in routine. So he goes back to hanging out at his restaurant with his crew and [[StatusQuoIsGod everything goes back to normal]].
** Begets major plot points later: When Meadow uses her dad to get Finn an allegedly "No Work" job at a construction site, he's is not comfortable spending time with the mobsters so he actually works. And being the young go-getter that he is, he shows up early [[spoiler: to see Vito and another man having sex in the parking lot.]] Later, the man who owns Barone Sanitation dies, and his son (unaware of his father's "arrangements") tries to sell, threatening Paulie's legitimate income cover. Paulie viciously attacks him.

* PoliceAreUseless: Apparently there is no law enforcement in the state of New Jersey. Tony and his crew are endlessly worrying about the FBI but there's never a hint of state and local cops investigating them for their various crimes. It's hinted and shown that the Mafia has influence and leverage over the civil servants who can control the local police (e.g. Zellman) and some cops are on the Mafia's payroll; Bobby mentions a local police as one of his sources of information. Season 1 explores this with Vin Makazian, the detective who feds information to Tony, and yet Tony treats him with contempt and not as a valuable asset.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Well, pretty much all of the male gangster characters who are quite politically incorrect and are (obviously) professional criminals. Phil might count in particular, as he is a more homophobic/generally unpleasant person than Tony (although not necessarily much more evil). Nicely illustrated during a conversation about [[spoiler: Vito's]] strayed son.
--> '''Phil''' : I guess the turd doesn't fall far from the faggot ass.
--> '''Tony''' (quietly disgusted) : That's beautifully put, but you are family right?.
* PornStash: When the FBI raids the Sopranos compound the main concern of the Soprano children is the discovery of AJ's [[TheInternetIsForPorn full of porn computer]].
* PostModernism: Very often, almost OncePerEpisode the show features some classic movies and songs relevant to the plot and references to other fictional works are common. Tony himself is a movie buff with a great VHS and DVD collection and at one point the roots of gangster cinema are discussed, including the Film/ThePublicEnemy, the film cited by Creator David Chase as one of his major influences building the main characters.

** Also Tony puts Janice on a bus to Seattle, after [[spoiler: she shoots her fiance, Richie Aprile.]] Tony's solace is short-lived, [[TheBusCameBack she is back]] 'for good', on a plane (that Tony has to pay) the next season... two episodes later.
* RapeAsDrama: Melfi is raped in a rather horrific sequence and later finds out, due to the police screwing up when they arrested the man, that they can't bring charges against them. And then has the misfortune of finding out that her rapist is "Employee of the Month" at a coffee shop she frequents. [[spoiler: Angry and full of rage and realizing that Tony would easily murder the scumbag rapist, with or without her permission if told about it, Melfi decides to keep what happened to her a secret.]]

* RasputinianDeath: The Russian mobster from "Pine Barrens." After seemingly getting his throat crushed, he turns out to still be alive. After seemingly getting shot in the head, he simply ''disappears'' into the Pine Barrens. We never find out what happened to him or if he even died of his injuries.

** Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) died between seasons. The writers gave her a final scene with Tony cut from her previous work with Tony. It was terrible. Most jarring was that Livias lines were pretty generic with Tonys dialogue made to fit. Not to mention that [[spoiler: Tony probably wouldn't have visited his mother or even talked to her at that point.]]
** Tony Sirico (Paulie Gualtieri) underwent back surgery around Season 4 and was [[CommutingOnABus thrown in a jail]] to reduce his appearances. His role was fully restored once the actor recovered.

** Furio's eurotrashy silk shirts, due to being a mobster raised in Italy.

* RedemptionRejection: Phil Leotardo. After nearly dying from a heart attack and [[ManlyTears crying in front of Tony when he gave him advice]] at the end of Part 1 of Season 6, it seemed like he was finally going to change his ways. And then Part 2 came out. This was arguably the reason why [[spoiler: Tony killed Christopher. Despite going to rehab and getting his act together, Christopher [[OffTheWagon still did drugs from time to time]], which resulted in the car crash with him and Tony.]]
* ReformedButRejected: Chris sobriety makes him drift apart from his pals, as the Bada Bing and other work places are a source of temptation. The others resent him for this. He carefully explains in an A.A. meeting how his sobriety hinders him professionally. Very sad how his almost unbearable struggle and related problems combined with some disrespectful jokes Paulie cracks about him and his daughter [[spoiler: makes him relapse, eventually leading to his fatal car crash with Tony]]
* RedHerringTwist: During a food poisoning induced dream sequence, Tony encounters a talking RedHerring that lays down some pretty hard truths Tony does not want to admit.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Richie Aprile, Ralph, Tony B and Phil Leotardo. Justified as they were in jail since '83, the Jersey crew avoids contact with their pinched guys (Paulie in Season 4) and internally coherent, the big boss Ercole [=DiMeo=] is "a guest of the government" and he is rarely alluded, if ever, after the first episodes.
* ResignationsNotAccepted: Silvio literally remembers this to Eugene Pontecorvo.

* RuleOfThree: Alluded by Tony regarding his close encounters with Death, after the second one.

* RuthlessForeignGangsters: While the New Jersey ''home team'' is not made of NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters, Furio from the old country is introduced as a fiercer type of enforcer and the antagonist mobsters from New York have an even nastier vibe, especially Phil Leotardo. Several strategic hits are ''outsourced'' to ProfessionalKillers from Italy or to black gangbangers to maitain PlausibleDeniability

** Tony describes himself as one, in the StepfordSmiler sense; putting on a happy, joking face to his family and friends while keeping his pain locked away. His claims -contested by Dr. Melfi- come across more as self-pitying than anything else, given his behavior throughout the series

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Paulie resents Chris for playing [[{{Nepotism}} the blood relation card]] too many times, but he is not above enforcing the trope, shamelessly; [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3d_mqQzsxE his attitude towards Finn takes a radical turn once he learns he is Meadow's boyfriend.]]

* SecretIdentity: Tony often conceals his real name to 'civilian' clerks and recepcionists. This backfires soundly when he tries to use one of his usual alias -Mr. Spears- with a new psychiatrist -aware of Tony's identity and line of work- who is GenreSavvy as he has watched ''{{AnalyzeThis}}''. Tony tries to argue that he is WrongGenreSavvy as "Analyze This" is a comedy, but gets rejected anyway.

* ShownTheirWork: In true [[Film/TheGodfather Godfather]] style, Ralph gives pasta-cooking advice to his stepson Jackie. Writer Michael "Christopher Moltisanti" Imperioli learned it from a chef/fellow castmember, and advised people (on the commentary track) to try it. It works.
* {{Shoutout}} : UpToEleven : [[http://davidlavery.net/Sopranos/intertexts_&_allusions.htm Loads and loads of them, and then more]]
** A playful one when Johnny Sack, on the day of his daughter's wedding asks Tony for a professional favour. Christopher casually points out that Tony can't refuse as the whole thing is identical to the one from Film/TheGodfather, Tony corrects him telling is the other way around, the father of the bride is the one who cannot refuse.
* SiblingYinYang: Distingished Meadow and lazy airhead AJ.

* SourGrapes: Many times when a character gets a rejection he twists the facts around out of hubris and tells a fantasized version to his peers in order not to lose face.
--> '''Chris''' : "Fuck Ben Kingsley. Danny Baldwin took him to fucking acting school."

** ''GameOfThrones'' has been [[WordOfGod described by a series producer as]] ''The Sopranos [[StandardFantasySetting in Middle-Earth]].
** The also duality-themed ''Series/MadMen'' and ''BoardwalkEmpire'' created by show's writers Matthew Weiner and Terence Winter have inherit many concepts from ''The Sopranos''.

* StealthPun : Phil coming out of the closet when he is handling the resolution of Vito's situation.

** Ben Kingsley never loses his polite and calm demeanor when he is uncomfortably approached by some mafia men who are in fact deflected by his suave manners and refrain from further pressure. The mobsters however get frustated by it and they [[KickTheDog violently mug an 81 years old Lauren Bacall]] so they don't leave their trip empty-handed.

** In the pilot, Junior wants to kill Pussy Malanga, one of his underlings, he insists on doing it in Artie Bucco's restaurant. Tony, knowing that would destroy his friend's business, tries to stop Junior. When Junior refuses to be swayed, Tony burns the restaurant down so Artie can at least take the insurance and start over. After some time Artie gets suspicious and resents Tony for it, who feels victim of the NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished syndrome.

* TakeThat: When J.T. attempts to pawn his Emmy in order to pay Chris what he owes him, the dealer only offers him $15. "Maybe if it was an Oscar, you know, an Academy Award....but tv?"

** Tony himself ends up 'chasing it' after a bad luck streak. He being rich and powerful can afford it but goes through it in a very unpleasant mood and insults his friend and moneylender Hesh with the AllJewsAreCheapskates trope.

** Christopher and another mobster shoot Dino Zerilli in the head three times...and then Christopher walks up to his corpse and shoots him in the head two more times.

* TheStoic: This is what Tony would like to be and sometimes laments the americans -including him- have gone soft, always whining, complaining and dominated by their emotions. His role model is GaryCooper; the strong, silent type.

* TooDumbToLive: Some of the minor characters are positively suicidal. For example

* TVNeverLies: Adriana gets the idea from a TV legal show she is watching that married people [[SpousalPrivilege can't testify against their spouses]], and decides to marry Chris to gain this protection. But a real lawyer tells her [[ThisIsReality it doesn't work that way]], mentioning retroactivity and precedents where the Department of Justice circunvented the privilege.
* TwoPersonPoolParty: In the episode ''Marco Polo''
* UglyGuyHotWife: Almost every single male character is married or in a relationship with insanely hot women, while usually also cheating on them with other even ''hotter'' women. Subverted with Johnny Sack: due to his high rank in the New York crew it's assumed that like all the others he has a hot wife with affairs on the side. In season 4 we see however that his wife is a rather large woman who he loves deeply and does not cheat on.

* TheUnfairSex: Averted. The two female characters who appear on the show are as ruthless as the male gangsters. Theres also {{EvilMatriarch}} Livia and immoral Janice. The wives on the show are depicted as hypocritical for claiming to be religious while living off blood money.

* VerbalTic: Paulie's ''he-he''. Tony gets annoyed by it and asks Paulie if he has ever been checked for TourettesSyndrome

* VillainsOutShopping. Omnipresent, since the show focuses on both the personal and professional lives of the mobsters.

-->'''Tony''' "Uncle Junior and I, we had our problems with the business but I never should have razzed him about eating pussy. This whole war could have been averted. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbDL4rI4zu8 Cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this]]"

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Tony bitterly comments this regarding Johnny Sack as the New York boss gets more ruthless and less pragmatic and amiable. Still [[spoiler: Tony is very sad when Johnny passes away and still loves him despite some of his final actions]]

--> '''Tony:''' "Frankly, you scored so far over your head. She's a knockout, a 10, and look at you. You're average at best"
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse : Or to the Russian. It gets discussed briefly and handwaved in season 5 as David Chase deemed it unimportant.
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Tony's / Gandolfini's signature {{Joisey}} accent drops significantly during his Season 6 AdventuresInComaLand.
* WickedCultured: Zigzagged. As mentioned above depending on the occasion the mobsters dress sharply or casually. They often enjoy luxury items, refined cuisine and Artie's restaurant is one of the usual hangouts. On the other hand, below the surface they are a somewhat glorified ruffians.
** While Tony has moments of unsophistication he is not the average goombah, his "semester and a half of college" background really shows up from time to time, he is attracted to sophisticated women and can hold his ground intelectually with Dr Melfi, understanding many references and complex concepts, e.g he can cite Freud and Sun-Tzu.

* WithDueRespect: Done in the episode [[TitleDrop ''All Due Respect'']]

-->'''Tony''' All due respect, you got no fuckin' idea what it's like to be Number One. Every decision you make affects every facet of every other fuckin' thing. It's too much to deal with almost. And in the end you're completely alone with it all

* WitnessProtection

** Chris and Adriana contemplate the option of joining it. [[spoiler: They don't]]

* XMeetsY: Chris summarizes his movie as "{{Saw}} meets Film/TheGodfather"
* YouAlwaysHearTheBullet: Discussed and debunked by Tony, Bobby, Silvio and [[spoiler: phisically averted in the final scene, according to the main theory]]
* YouLookFamiliar: Joseph R. Gannascoli played a random bakery client named Gino in a Season 1 scene (the one mentioned in Actor Allusion above) before landing into his Vito Spatafore role in Season 2.

** Carmela initially tolerates and rationalizes Tony's extramarital activities as a meaningless valve of escape and she longs for one herself until season 5, in which she has an affair with AJ's principal who identifies it as SexForServices.
* YouRemindMeOfX: As pointed by his shrink, [[DoppelgangerDating Tony's goomars bear a resemblace to his unpleasable mother]] -dark hair, contemptuous and with issues- and even to Dr. Melfi herself -interesting, independent / sofisticated women- . Tony ask his first and simplest lover to dress more businesslike, with Melfi in mind. Later on Tony makes a explicit mother connection with the troubled Gloria Trillo.
* YouWouldntShootMe: Lost in Pine Barrens, fearing for his life Chris draws a gun on Paulie, who tries to calm him down:

--> '''Chris:''' Yeah, I do
* YourHeadASplode: In the series finale [[spoiler: the fate of Phil Leotardo after his head is run over by a tire. [[GoryDiscretionShot Off-screen.]] Given [[AssholeVictim his nature]], that was probably [[{{Gorn}} something the viewers wanted to see.]]]]

''Cleaver'' is a ShowWithinAShow movie written and produced by Christopher Moltesanti in season 6, but who has been working on and off on the project since season 1. It is about Michael, a Mafia hitman who gets set up and killed by his associates. This is done at the instigation of Michael's boss Salvatore, who is lusting after Michael’s fiancé. Michael is then resurrected as the eponymous "Cleaver", an undead zombie who kills off all his former enemies one by one, including his boss and former fiancé.

* BadBoss: Salvatore is shown to be quite trigger-happy and unwilling to listen to reason while having a discussion with his crew. He probably even set up Michael’s death to put the moves on his fiancé.

* [[invoked]] FauxSymbolism: For no real reason the movie closes on a close-up shot of a crucifix and a cornicello, to "juxtapose the sacred and the profane".

''The Sopranos'' is centered around New Jersey [[TheMafia Mob]] [[TheDon Boss]] Tony Soprano, who after a panic attack secretly begins seeing a therapist. Hilarious RealityEnsues as his therapy coincides with him sending his troublesome, sociopathic mother Livia into a nursing home when it becomes apparent that she's no longer able to take care of herself.

* CoolCar: Well lot's of them as befits the lavish lifestyle of the mobsters. One of the primary ConspiciousConsumption objects. Examples with plot relevancy include

** Johnny buys a striking Maserati during his happy days. The car has to be sold later unoficially to Christopher and is finally impounded.

* RasputianDeath: The Russian mobster from "Pine Barrens." After seemingly getting his throat crushed, he turns out to still be alive. After seemingly getting shot in the head, he simply ''disappears'' into the Pine Barrens. We never find out what happened to him or if he even died of his injuries.

** The also duality-themed shows''Series/MadMen'' and ''BoardwalkEmpire'' created by writers Matthew Weiner and Terence Winter respectively ''inherited'' many concepts from ''The Sopranos''.

* AnimalMottifs: Several used as symbolism through the series, e.g felines represent Adriana or Chris. A more concrete example is the parting gift Tony gives to his goomahs, a horseshoe-shaped jewel.

** Carmela tolerates Tony extramarital activities, but an affir with a one legged woman -is the ultimate humiliation.

** Tony. He literally goes berserk when Dr. Melfi diagnoses Livia with Borderline Personality Disorder and reads the symptoms to him.

** Tony and Ralph's mistreatment of Bada Bing's bartender Georgie reaches absurd levels. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29OD2jWWI3Y compilation]]

** Carmela longs for it until season 5, in which she has an affair with AJ's principal who identifies it as SexForServices.

''The Sopranos'' is centered around New Jersey [[TheMafia Mob]] [[TheDon Boss]] Tony Soprano, who after a panic attack secretly begins seeing a therapist. HilarityEnsues as his therapy coincides with him sending his troublesome, sociopathic mother Livia into a nursing home when it becomes apparent that she's no longer able to take care of herself.

* DirtyBusiness / NecessaryEvil: [[spoiler: Tony killing Tony B to prevent a war with New York]] in the Season 5 finale.

* NiceToTheWaiter: Paulie and Chris kill a waiter who confronts them over a very low tip. They guy has a sudden seizure and Paulie, to resolve the issue simply [[MurderIsTheBestSolution shoots the poor bastard on the spot]].

** ''GameOfThrones'' has been [[WordOfGod described by a series producer as]] ''The Sopranos [[StandardFantasySetting in Middle-Earth]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Tony's extramarital affairs are naturally explored and generate a great deal of problems.

* BadBoss: Tony is a sucessful manager but he verbally shreds his underlings on a regular basis. He is entlited by the hierarchical level of the Mafia but crosses the line once and gets called on it when he physically assaults Ralph, as beating another made-man goes against the rules. Christopher is another victim of this kind of abuse.

** Tony insults Melphi with the term when she carefully refuses his advances. He gets called on it when he later apologizes

* RedemptionRejection: Phil Leotardo. After nearly dying from a heart attack and [[ManlyTears crying in front of Tony when he gave him advice]] at the end of Part 1 of Season 6, it seemed like he was finally going to change his ways. And then Part 2 came out. This was arguably the reason why [[spoiler: Tony killed Christopher. Despite going to rehab and getting his act together, Christopher still did drugs from time to time, which resulted in the car crash with him and Tony.]]

* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Tony quickly develops feelings towards his therapist, which are unrequited for pragmatic reasons.

* BadBoss: Tony is a sucessful manager but he verbally shreds his underlings on a regular basis. He is entlited by the hierarchical level of the Mafia but crosses the line once and gets called on it when he fisically assaults Ralph, as beating another made-man goes against the rules. Christopher is another victim of this kind of abuse.

** Junior breaks up with his talkative girlfriend with a dramatic PieInTheFace. A shootout to ''ThePublicEnemy''

** Junior breaks up with his talkative girlfriend with a dramatic PieInTheFace. A shotout to ''ThePublicEnemy''

* TantrumThrowing: Tony is prone of this, a trait later in recreated by the boss in ''Cleaver''. Tony is also at the receiving end of a [[FoodSlap steak]] when he infuriates Gloria Trillo.

** JonFavreau plays a manipulative version of himself who screws Chris out of his ideas. JeaneGarofalo in a movie directed by Favreau.

* MemeticMutation: it didn't last very long, but there were dozens of copies and parodies of the final scene all over YouTube immediately after the show ended. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5yN_R5I7dE the Pittsburgh Pirates parody]] was the most famous.

* DropWhatYouAreDoing: Meadow drops the phone after she's informed of [[spoiler: Jackie Jr.'s death]].

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