I just finished the show yesterday, and couldn't wait to do so. While I am late to the game viewing it by years, I seriously cant understand the high ratings and hype this show gets.
I give it a 5/10 and while there are many reasons for this I will just focus on one reason. This being the clear lack of depth to the shows plots and characters. I am a viewer that wants in-depth character studies and to really grow to understand the psychology of the characters. I also enjoy layered story-lines and while they don't necessarily have to be resolved, I love analyzing multiple angles. Chase in my opinion failed in this area.
Kudos to Edie Falco and the late James Gandolfini as their performances were great but not enough to carry the show.
Mainly, Chase fails to give the characters any true depth. No - the recurrent sessions with Dr. Melfi where he appears to grapple with his issues with his mother, numerous affairs and dual lifestyle nor the "change of heart" Tony experienced does not count. And suffice it to say I almost threw my remote at the TV by the 10th time Tony kept trying to "philosophically" tell others they were "in pity for themselves". After six seasons I knew the characters no better than I did at the start of the show.
The plot jumped around entirely too much and while I have read that it is not Chase's thing to resolve his story lines, I think too much time was wasted on pointless story lines (Junior in a nursing home, the writers had no clue what to do with AJ and the whole Carmella and Furio thing really?)
In any case, I could keep going as to many other factors that held this show back from being better but it mainly boils down to the fact that this show is OK but not great. In no way does it belong in the league of truly great HBO shows such as The Wire, Six Feet Under and Boardwalk Empire.
I give it a 5/10 and while there are many reasons for this I will just focus on one reason. This being the clear lack of depth to the shows plots and characters. I am a viewer that wants in-depth character studies and to really grow to understand the psychology of the characters. I also enjoy layered story-lines and while they don't necessarily have to be resolved, I love analyzing multiple angles. Chase in my opinion failed in this area.
Kudos to Edie Falco and the late James Gandolfini as their performances were great but not enough to carry the show.
Mainly, Chase fails to give the characters any true depth. No - the recurrent sessions with Dr. Melfi where he appears to grapple with his issues with his mother, numerous affairs and dual lifestyle nor the "change of heart" Tony experienced does not count. And suffice it to say I almost threw my remote at the TV by the 10th time Tony kept trying to "philosophically" tell others they were "in pity for themselves". After six seasons I knew the characters no better than I did at the start of the show.
The plot jumped around entirely too much and while I have read that it is not Chase's thing to resolve his story lines, I think too much time was wasted on pointless story lines (Junior in a nursing home, the writers had no clue what to do with AJ and the whole Carmella and Furio thing really?)
In any case, I could keep going as to many other factors that held this show back from being better but it mainly boils down to the fact that this show is OK but not great. In no way does it belong in the league of truly great HBO shows such as The Wire, Six Feet Under and Boardwalk Empire.