Badabing! 'The Sopranos' Seasons Ranked From Excellent to Exceptional
Ranking The Sopranosby season is a tall order. The show, which aired on HBO from 1999 to 2007, was remarkably consistent in quality throughout its six-season run, with each season building on the one before it to create a cohesive mob-show masterpiece.
But if you must stack greatness up against greatness, there are slight differences in narrative impact from one chapter to the next that you can take into consideration. Here is TV Squad's best attempt at ranking The Sopranos seasons from excellent to exceptional.
'The Sopranos' Seasons Ranked
Season 6, Part 1
This installment focused heavily on Tony (James Gandolfini)'s near-death experience at the hands of Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese), who shot him in a confused state after mistaking him for a home intruder. The shooting itself — and watching a fallen Tony reach for the phone in the kitchen — was a memorably heart-racing stretch of television. But the episodes that followed were much slower and more introspective than your typical Sopranos fare, with Tony in a coma, imagining himself as mild-mannered luggage salesman Kevin Finnerty. While some fans appreciated the show’s meditative left-turn, others found it to be too dull and artsy. Still, the experience set Tony up for a post-coma existential crisis, allowing the series to explore themes of mortality, identity, and loyalty. So, you know, it’s possible creator David Chase knew what he was doing.
Other standout storylines: Vito Spatafore (Joseph R. Gannascoli) was outed as gay — and ultimately, tragically, killed — and Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola) went to prison, where he was diagnosed with cancer, leaving Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) in charge of the New York mob.
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Season 5
The main arc involved Tony B. (Steve Buscemi), Tony’s cousin, getting out of prison and killing Billy Leotardo (Chris Caldovino) from the New York mob after unsuccessfully trying to reinvent himself as a masseuse (lol). The storyline was important — it reignited key tensions between Jersey and New York — and the addition of Buscemi to the cast was more than welcome. But it made for another slow-burn season that was a touch less exciting than previous ones (and, yes, it included a dream sequence). Still, the conclusion to that central storyline — Tony killing Tony B. to appease New York — ultimately paid off.
The most consequential and devastating death of Season 5 came in the penultimate episode, though, when Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) killed Adriana (Drea de Matteo) for being an FBI informant after Christopher (Michael Imperioli) turned her in to Tony. It was a seismic event for the show, and one that arguably led to Christopher’s own offing down the road.
Season 1
The first season of The Sopranos was a groundbreaking piece of television — the start of a golden age of TV. Over the course of 13 episodes, viewers were introduced to Tony, a New Jersey mob boss suffering from panic attacks; his new psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco); his morally conflicted wife, Carmela (Edie Falco); his spoiled kids; his ruthless crew, including his volatile nephew, Christopher; his easily threatened Uncle Junior; and his cruel mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand). By Episode 5, “College,” when Tony takes Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) on a college trip to Maine and murders an ex-mobster who turned FBI informant along the way, it was clear The Sopranos was unlike any show that had ever been on TV before. It’s only because the series just kept getting better that its first season sits here towards the bottom of the list.
Season 4
The fourth season saw Tony and Carmela’s relationship unravel as Carmela became increasingly dissatisfied by her emotionally hollow life and consumed by her attraction to Furio (Federico Castelluccio), which she revealed to Tony in a brutal confrontation that ended the season — and their marriage, at least temporarily (“I have been dreaming and fantasizing and in love with Furio”). On the crime front, Tony schemed to gain control of Junior’s finances during his RICO trial, and continued to clash with Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano), who first appeared in Season 3. In one of the series’s most shocking moments, Tony beat Ralph to death in a fit of rage after the suspicious death of his racehorse, Pie-O-My, who Tony believed Ralph had killed in a fire. Meanwhile, Christopher struggled with drug addiction, and Adriana started cooperating with the FBI.
By the end of the season, the family (both literal and criminal) was fractured, trust was eroding and Tony was more isolated than ever — setting the stage for the darker trajectory of the series’ final seasons.
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Season 2
The second season was every bit as intense and psychologically rich as the first, but the writing was even tighter, and the stakes were even higher. Viewers were introduced to Richie Aprile (David Proval), Jackie (Jason Cerbone)’s brother, who got out of jail and immediately challenged Tony’s authority, as well as Janice (Aida Turturro), Tony’s sister, who ultimately killed Richie, an impulsive move that ironically made Tony’s life easier.
Meanwhile, Tony suspected Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore) was working as an FBI informant, a hunch that turned out to be true, and in a haunting scene, Tony, Paulie (Tony Sirico), and Silvio took Pussy on a boat and killed him — after one final toast. Pussy's death was one of the most emotionally complex and tragic killings in the series; it wasn’t just business, it was personal.
Season 3
By Season 3, The Sopranos had mastered its signature mix of psychological complexity, brutal violence, and dark humor, which is why Season 3 sits so close to the top spot. The season introduced Ralph Cifaretto, one of the show’s most volatile characters — its best "villain" — who beat a Bada Bing stripper to death because she teased him (meanwhile, she was pregnant with his child). Disgusted, Tony gave Ralph a savage beating himself, but he later made Ralph a capo because his earning potential was undeniable.
Other key plotlines: Dr. Melfi was brutally raped and forced to confront her own moral compass as she debated whether to tell Tony what happened, knowing full well he’d kill her attacker if she did. And Tony silently gave Ralph the go-ahead to put a hit on Jackie Aprile, Jr., despite having promised the young man's late father he’d look after him.
The third season of the show also featured the episode “Pine Barrens,” which was widely considered one of the best of the series.
Season 6, Part 2
The New Jersey/New York mob war escalated in spectacular fashion in the final run of the show, with death coming fast and furious on both sides. Bobby (Steve Schirripa) was killed. Silvio was ambushed and left in a coma. (Tony also murdered Christopher, which was devastating, but it wasn't related to the feud.) It seemed like the showdown was over after Tony ordered a hit on Phil Leotardo through the remaining New York leadership, but then the famous series finale arrived, and the show cut black just before viewers knew whether or not Tony got whacked at Holsten's diner. It was a controversial and divisive ending, but whether you loved or hated it, there was no denying that the final season of The Sopranos was bold and emotionally devastating — just like the show itself.