The beast in me
Is caged by frail and fragile bars
Restless by day
And by night rants and rages at the stars
God help the beast in me
That's the Johnny Cash song that the pilot episode of The Sopranos ends with. An episode that can safely be defined as "packed" and one that I can't take the time off the day from admiring.
While later seasons and episodes do sometimes put the spotlight on characters other than Tony, this one's all about the beast. We see Tony the man, the pussy-whipped son, the archetypal husband, father to his daughter and of course the mobster with a mischievous grin. And again, the man.
You see him sitting there, filling out his therapist's chair that he manages to overflow out of in later seasons, while still looking like sex. One can't help but fall in love with this bear.
He tells his daughter that her great grandfather did not design the church they're in, but he built it. He tells his therapist about his father (who was a saint that ran his own crew!) and Gary Cooper. He tells his friend that it helps to talk. He tells his wife that he is on Prozac. You know by the end of the episode that this is no Michael Corleone. He is going to show & tell everyone who listens what his business (as it applies) is.
And if you were ever wondering, like the pastor does, what Tony thinks of Goodfellas, the answer is somewhere in there.
