I was watching TV today during lunch and saw this commercial.. I knew this kid looked really familiar but I couldn't figure it out for about 15 minutes, then the lightbulb went on.

Carmela's spec house says hi

Point taken to some extent but that said I still think that most people here considered the Sopranos more "focused" than BE.

Carmela's house was a means of trying to achieve some kind of independence from Tony which created some conflict and I suppose it's Margaret's motivation as well but so far all we've seen are scenes of Margaret facing difficulties dealing with 1930's beliefs towards birth control.

Not the most compelling television imo. At least the Sopranos had a steady flow of mob related conflict to overcome some minor boring subplots.

I'm not an action junkie that needs a murder every episode to stay entertained but BE just doesn't have the same pacing to keep you as engrossed.

Don't forget in Season 1 Margaret was beat by her ex hubby resulting in a miscarriage.

I feel like BE and the Sopranos are very similar shows, and we will only be able to resolve this when the series is over. I do think that the Soprano's has a distinct advantage because along with Oz and Six Feet Under it was the first of the Premium Cable Series. Anything that follows has to meet that benchmark to not be trashed.

Regardless, the Sopranos is the "Goodwin's Law" of TV discussion.

As I mentioned I'm fairly certain the tension , action , and plot resolutions will progress as does the season. That seems to be the trend so far.

And you're right that comparisons to the Sopranos , one of if not THE pioneer of generally immoral characters being the main focus of a TV show are inevitable. Like you mentioned , the shows are similar.

And while I still love BE , I really do think it needs to be scaled down slightly in terms of characters and plotlines. Season 2 redeemed whatever misgivings I had about the show and I'm actually hoping the end of this season proves me wrong.

But once again , I need to mention to make my point across , when quite a few characters are noticeably absent from multiple episodes it can't help but lend some weight to my comment regarding the scale of the show and the number of characters and plotlines.

I was looking forward to seeing Val Alden join the other side , the people he was arresting previously but he's been noticeably absent.

The Rosetti church scene I have to admit was just brilliant. He's about as horrible a human being as I can possibly imagine and practically a neanderthal but that last scene was hilarious. One of the things I've found lacking in BE was some comic relief and the absurdity of some of the Sopranos characters and I'm seeing that in Rosetti.

It was refreshing.

This was probably the best episode of BE to date, and it's because it didn't try to service too many characters that it was so good. I imagine from now until the end of the season we won't see either Gillian or Harrow very often, it will be a lot of focus on bootlegging, Gyp, and all that stuff, but the episode had no Rothstein, no Capone, no Van Alden, and was quite excellent.

BTW, I think Game of Thrones struggled to service all its characters in S2 also, but there you know it's a pre-existing work and that their arcs should become more relevant to the whole.

I guess it really depends on what plotlines and characters you find interesting. If a show happens to have quite a few uninteresting characters then giving them more screentime during a show or two at the expense of any screentime for other characters can be disappointing.

If you find all or most of the characters compelling on a show , then giving them all some smaller amount of screentime every episode would seem more satisfying which was the formula GOT used.

Van Alden is probably my favorite character on TV right now.

wtf just happened

The war started.

oh my. Something happened, that's for sure.

Van Alden is the new Omar.

Well, business just picked up.

Who the **** is Gus?

Michael Shannon is such an elite actor

How many episodes left?

Definitely the most intense episode to date. So good.

You wouldn't like Van Alden when he's angry.

When Billie was walking behind Nucky, Rothstein and Lucky, I'm like hmmm ... Nucky isn't going to die, Rothstein isn't going to die, Lucky isn't going to die -- Bye Billie.

Came here to post this exactly.

Also, Van Alden gonna Van Alden

4.

Episode was sooo good

Great episode. Anyone not watching this show is missing out big.

Great ep, so glad Billie is gone. Van Alden is becoming my fav character, rage scene was great!

Man that episode was all over the place but damn good. Looks like Capone is bout to take the lead in Chicago. During the mock sales pitch I just knew Van Alden was gonna snap. Great scene. Can't get enough of this show.