In an article about the 50 greatest TV shows of all time, of which The Sopranos was of course part, Empire considered Long Term Parking the best episode of the series. Personally, I'm not that sure (I kind of prefer the series finale), but this penultimate show of Season Five certainly ranks among the Top 5 episodes of the program.
Following his surreal experience in The Test Dream, Tony begs Johnny Sack to let him take care of his cousin, so that the poor sap will at least die in a humane way. The request is denied on the grounds that Phil Leotardo, whose brother Billy was killed by Cousin Tony, has every right in the universe to claim revenge. Meanwhile, Adriana reaches the end of the line, as she asks the FBI to protect her and Christopher if they agree to testify and later tells her fiancé what she's been doing for over a year.
Long Term Parking was described as "emotionally exhausting" in a magazine review, and the definition is nothing but spot-on: in terms of pure, visceral impact no other episode of the season can surpass the mix of tears, dread and death concocted by Emmy-winning writer Terence Winter. The series has always had a foreboding quality to it, making it quite easy to predict when a certain character would bite the dust, and since most of the time the victims were people the viewers cared for (Pussy Bonpensiero or, paradoxically enough, Ralphie Cifaretto), their demise was even more painful to watch. It was clear, from the very moment she was cornered by the feds, that Adriana wouldn't last until the definitive end of the show, but the clever script does imply in one scene a different outcome could have been possible, and Drea de Matteo, another Emmy-recipient of the fifth season, does her absolute best with a role she understood perfectly from the first ever episode (in which she appeared in only one scene), making the climax the most unbearable in the show's history. That she chose to follow the best American drama of all time with an underwhelming sitcom like Joey, well, that's another story.
Following his surreal experience in The Test Dream, Tony begs Johnny Sack to let him take care of his cousin, so that the poor sap will at least die in a humane way. The request is denied on the grounds that Phil Leotardo, whose brother Billy was killed by Cousin Tony, has every right in the universe to claim revenge. Meanwhile, Adriana reaches the end of the line, as she asks the FBI to protect her and Christopher if they agree to testify and later tells her fiancé what she's been doing for over a year.
Long Term Parking was described as "emotionally exhausting" in a magazine review, and the definition is nothing but spot-on: in terms of pure, visceral impact no other episode of the season can surpass the mix of tears, dread and death concocted by Emmy-winning writer Terence Winter. The series has always had a foreboding quality to it, making it quite easy to predict when a certain character would bite the dust, and since most of the time the victims were people the viewers cared for (Pussy Bonpensiero or, paradoxically enough, Ralphie Cifaretto), their demise was even more painful to watch. It was clear, from the very moment she was cornered by the feds, that Adriana wouldn't last until the definitive end of the show, but the clever script does imply in one scene a different outcome could have been possible, and Drea de Matteo, another Emmy-recipient of the fifth season, does her absolute best with a role she understood perfectly from the first ever episode (in which she appeared in only one scene), making the climax the most unbearable in the show's history. That she chose to follow the best American drama of all time with an underwhelming sitcom like Joey, well, that's another story.