Television is art. Television is not art. Television can be art. Whatever way one chooses to look at this situation, it is clear that television can be controversial. What remains indisputable is the fact that television is a very diverse and flexible medium. David Chase stretches this medium to its known limits with his series The Sopranos. The program is constantly presenting its viewers with episodes (and sometimes scenes) which lead the viewer to question whether the events are transpiring for the larger narration or for the singular episode. Like numerous other examples of similar programming, The Sopranos relies on a compelling narrative arc which covers many episodes and even spans multiple seasons. However, some episodes choose not to focus directly on the overarching narrative and instead emphasize more contained storylines. Two such episodes are “College” and “A Hit is a Hit.” These are examples of several episodes in The Sopranos canon which can exist entirely independent from the rest of the series. Placed as they are, however, both of these episodes provide a façade for the overarching narrative, speckling it with cultural details and enhancing the characters. The way that these episodes are able to exist in two separate functions reflects the multi-dimensionality of the series.
In the opening scenes of “College,” Tony and Meadow are actively engaged in one of the seminal transitions in a young person’s life: the college process. We leave the familiar New Jersey setting for the lush green campuses of Maine. Not only does the new setting give the audience a break from the fast-paced grittiness of the main storyline, it gives the characters a chance to step back and reveal themselves. As they make their way from Bates to Colby, Meadow poses the ultimate question to Tony: “are you in the Mafia?” (“College”). This question opens the door for the analysis which will make up the focus of the episode. Since it is obvious to the audience (and probably to Meadow as well) that Tony is in the Mafia, this question serves to set up the dialogue as a conversation about the Mafia in a more general scope than the more serial-driven episodes. How does the reality of being in the Mafia affect the Soprano family’s ability to interact with the “real” world? Tony at first dodges Meadow’s question, claiming “there is no mafia” (“College”). However, he eventually recants, citing that some of his money comes from illegal sources.
Meadow takes comfort in this statement of honesty and exposes an interesting dimension of her character. She is not interested in simply pestering Tony for details of the business or explanations for there being automatic weapons and gold bullion stashed at the house. Meadow is seeking assurance that she will be able to function in the “real” world without remaining in denial, like her mother. It is as if Meadow wants her family to be able to air their laundry like every other family; she wants to be able to be open about their Mafiosity. While Tony appeases her initially, his actions as the episode develops explain why her desires are impossible. The Mafia “in action” finds its way into the episode as Tony pursues an ex-Mafioso who went into the witness protection program but then they “kicked him out.” This character, Fabian Petrulio, could have surfaced at any point in the series; the fact that Tony murders this old enemy does no service to the main narrative of the New Jersey crime family. What it does is give an arbitrary example of how the Soprano’s lives cannot be completely normal and how Meadow will have to face a life of denial.
While Tony and Meadow are away, Carmela is at home entertaining father Phil. Not only could this story exist at any point in the overall narrative, it wouldn’t necessarily need to be paired with Tony and Meadow’s visits. Carmela discovers that Tony has been keeping his therapist’s gender from her and assumes that it is because the two are sexually involved. As she begins to break down, father Phil helps her celebrate the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. This is a direct symbol of the contrast between the “good” of the church and the “bad” of the Mafia lifestyle (complete with the fire-in-the-background camerawork). Carmela reveals her doubts about her marriage and her lifestyle: possessions and security, among other things. As the closeness of Carmela and the priest grows more awkward, the reason for the scene becomes less clear. By the morning, Carmela has taken control over the situation and seems at peace with whatever conclusion she has drawn.
While the setting of “A Hit is a Hit” remains in the New Jersey area, the brakes are quickly applied to the flow of the main narrative. After scoring a nice sum of money from a crack dealer (another incident which could be placed anywhere within the series timeline), Christopher takes some time to spend with Adriana. Again, the dialogue allows for an examination of the Mafia lifestyle in general. Adriana expresses her entrepreneurial desires, citing that she doesn’t want to end up like Carmela. She wants to prove that she can support herself legitimately, without leaning on “a husband who can’t even tell you where the money comes from” (“A Hit is a Hit”). Christopher decides to help her out: with the funds and connections from his Mafia ties. Unlike Meadow in “College,” Adriana seems comfortable with ignoring these ties, perhaps because she is so focused on developing herself professionally. A case can be made that this is a theme in conversation with Meadow’s search in “College:” the female in the family attempting to distance herself from the Mafia.
As Tony and Carmela take some time to get to know their neighbors, the dialogue presents an interesting view of the professional world. Carmela seems attracted to the legitimacy of the lives of the professionals’ wives, particularly their initiative taken in supplementing the family income through stock trading. By trying her own hand at the market, Carmela appears to attempt to distance herself from her image as described by Adriana. Again we see the assertion of the female. The professionals, on the other hand, seem equally intrigued by the danger and drama of the Mafia lifestyle. Although they mostly romanticize the “life of crime,” Dr. Cusamano makes an interesting interjection: “sometimes I think the only thing separating American business from the mobs is fuckin’ whackin’ somebody” (“A Hit is a Hit”). This statement highlights the focus of the episode much like Meadow’s does in “College.” While “College” draws on Meadow’s inability to pursue a “normal” life, “A Hit is a Hit” challenges the black and white distinction of what makes a particular lifestyle normal. This sentiment is echoed with Christopher and Adriana’s story as the darker side of the music profession is unveiled.
The closest this episode comes to advancing the overall narrative is the story with Massive Genius and Hesh. It is not apparently clear whether this story will connect with the main narrative until it is over, much like Tony’s encounter in “College.” Instead of advancing the main narrative, the issue with Massive G (much like “College”) digs up an arbitrary event from the past which could be dealt with at any point in the timeline of the series narrative. It is only after examining its placement within the episode that the story thread shows meaning. Hesh acts, in this and other episodes, as a bridge character. He belongs to both the professional and Mafia worlds. In the story with Massive G, Hesh apparently “mishandled” the salaries of many of his young, black musicians in the early days of rock and roll. However, because of an infraction by one of Massive G’s artists, Hesh seems protected from any obligation. This enhances the case for a critical examination of the blurring of the professional and Mafia worlds.
One theme that persists in both “College” and “A Hit is a Hit” is a specific and abundant attention to cultural values. While cultural issues permeate the more serial episodes as well, they generally occur as a vehicle for the progression of the main narrative. Christopher’s suggestion to apply the final scene of Scarface to the situation with Junior in “Meadowlands” comes to mind. In “College,” Tony stares at a Nathaniel Hawthorne quote as a student nonchalantly informs him that Hawthorne [is] our most famous alumnus” (“College”). This bit of information does not influence Meadow’s decision to apply to Bowdoin. Instead, this scene seems to exist to emphasize the problem that Tony faces with Meadow and the rest of his family. While “College” focuses on the “higher” cultural values of academia, “A Hit is a Hit” primarily focuses on popular culture. Christopher and Tony both view the gangster rap agenda as insulting to their “profession.” Tony doubts Massive G’s “credentials” and Christopher notes that “our thing once ruled the music business” (“A Hit is a Hit”). The references here seem to exist to enhance the blurring of the distinction between the professional and the mafia world: “I like any kind of music that turns shit green” (“A Hit is a Hit”).
Perhaps the two most important things to consider are the order in which the episodes are placed and how they interact with the series as a whole. Interestingly, each episode occurs after four consecutive “serial” episodes; “College” being the fifth episode and “A Hit is a Hit” the tenth. Not only does placing the episodes in this order slow the pace of the main narrative and allow the series to step back and examine itself (holy postmodernism!); but it also adds dimension to the structure of the series. These self-contained episodes fit nicely with Jeffery Sconce’s understanding of the “conjectural narrative.” Sconce highlights the stand-alone, comedic episodes of The X-Files, noting that “they allow for elaboration and possibilities unavailable to the “real” story line of the series” (Sconce, 108). Much in this same way, the self-contained episodes of The Sopranos use cultural elements to offer various possibilities to the audience without leading them in any particular direction. The controversial ending of the sixth and final season provides an excellent illustration. Another, perhaps more pertinent, example is how Carmela’s evening with father Phil offers little explanation for its existence. It is only after looking at the episode and how it speaks with another (“A Hit is a Hit,” in this case) that any speculation can be made. In this case, it seems that Carmela detects the flawed nature of father Phil; by the way he nearly seduces her and leeches off of their family. The priest knows the source of the entertainment and food he shares with Carmela, yet he feels comfortable ignoring it. Carmela feels if the priest is ok with it, she can be to. However, she doesn’t simply roll over and play trophy wife. She plays trophy wife and the stock market. This is confirmed with the spotlight of the role of the female in “A Hit is a Hit.”
Sconce mentions another trend in contemporary television programming when he references de Certeau’s concept of “textual poaching.” The Sopranos appears to apply this trend in a slightly different way. By obtaining much of its cultural interjections from a body of popular Mafia lore, the series adopts a practice of intertextual poaching. This practice also addresses a concern voiced by Sandra Gilbert. Gilbert seems perplexed as to how “you don’t have to be Italian for The Sopranos to hit home” (Gilbert, 21). Gilbert feels that this statement is a misinterpretation of what it means to be an Italian-American. However, it is possible that Gilbert is misinterpreting the statement. The amount of intertextual material that The Sopranos includes in its episodes offers a different perspective to this notion. In particular, the way in which the material in the self-contained episodes challenges the black and white mentality of the Mafiosi versus the “20 million hard-working Americans” gives the viewers a reason to sympathize with the Soprano family. Gilbert also wonders, “how and why do [viewers] get hooked?” (Gilbert, 23). The answer is in the way that the self-contained episodes incorporate themselves into the fold of the overall narrative. If the series were purely serial, depending solely on the plot-advancing episodes, Gilbert’s question would have credence. However, the series is an example of what Sconce refers to as the new narrative mode: “[balancing] episodic treatments of a program’s story world with larger arcs of long-term narrative progression” (Sconce, 98). Thus, The Sopranos is not merely a dialogue about blurring black white mentality of societal ideals; it is also an actual manifestation of how a television show can exist outside the black and white idea of serial or episodic programming.
The way that the series steps back and both examines itself and gives the viewers a chance to form their own opinions is why The Sopranos is an example of television as an art form (post-modern or others). Chase notes that he feels Tony Soprano shows “that rarely is anything black and white in life” (Chase, x). This is exactly what is accomplished by the series, because of the interaction of the self-contained episodes. Not only could they exist as their own statements of art, they allow the viewers to reach their own understanding about the series as a whole.
Works Cited
“A Hit is a Hit.” The Sopranos: The Complete First Season. Writ. Joe Bosso and Frank
Renzulli. Dir. Matthew Penn. HBO. 14 Mar. 1999. DVD. HBO Home Video, 2000.
Chase, David. Introduction. The Sopranos: Selected Scripts from Three Seasons. By David Chase, et al. New York: Warner Books, 2002. vii-x.
“College.” The Sopranos: The Complete First Season. Writ. David Chase and Jim
Manos Jr. Allen Coulter. HBO. 7 Feb. 1999. DVD. HBO Home Video, 2000.
Gilbert, Sandra M. “Life With (God)Father.” A Sitdown with the Sopranos. Ed. Regina Barreca. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. 11-26.
Sconce, Jeffrey. “What if: Charting Television’s New Textual Boundaries.” Television After TV. Ed. Lynn Spigel and Jan Olsson. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. 93-112.
