The Sopranos sessions / Matt Zoller Seitz & Alan Sepinwall.

Foreword: You get what you pay for -- Introduction: It goes on and on and on and on -- Recaps -- The debate: Don't stop believin' you know exactly what happened at the end of The Sopranos -- The David Chase Sessions -- The morgue -- The eulogies.

On January 10, 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrist's office and changed TV history. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, The Sopranos launched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. As TV critics for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, New Jersey's The Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz were among the first to write about the series before it became a cultural phenomenon. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show's debut, Sepinwall and Seitz have reunited to produce The Sopranos Sessions, a collection of recaps, conversations, and critical essays covering every episode. Featuring a series of new long-form interviews with series creator David Chase, as well as selections from the authors' archival writing on the series, The Sopranos Sessions explores the show's artistry, themes, and legacy, examining its portrayal of Italian Americans, its graphic depictions of violence, and its deep connections to other cinematic and television classics. The Sopranos Sessions has three main sections: essays on each episode; seven new long-form interviews with series creator David Chase, covering all seven seasons of The Sopranos; and selections from Seitz and Sepinwall's archival Star-Ledger pieces, including Sepinwall's post-finale interview with Chase, Seitz's profile of James Gandolfini, and Chase's eulogy for the series' star. Whether you're watching The Sopranos for the first time or revisiting it like an old friend, The Sopranos Sessions will give each episode--and the entire series--new insight and context, illuminating, alongside its creator, what it was like to make this show, and making vivid again the memorable moments--Tony grabbing a pillow on the way to see his mother, or Christopher and Paulie Walnuts shivering in the snowy Pine Barrens, or Carmela playing 'American Girl' for Tony in a hospital room--that transformed television.