HBO Video brings to DVD the fourth season of the show that has become, in such a short period of time, almost a religious institution in North America, everyone's favorite crime family, The Sopranos.

Another massive set and a massive undertaking in its own right, The Sopranos has become a phenomena all its own, spawning all sorts of merchandise and winning oodles of awards.

Contained on Season 4, for your viewing pleasure, are the following thirteen episodes:

Junior has some trial problems coming up that mean not only problems for him, but for Tony as well, because he's fronting the bill for all of the nonsense that happened in their world in the last season. We're looking at a lot of money here to make it all happen and to keep Junior out of the clink. Something to the tune of $1,000,000.00 or so.

Tony realizes that his plans to get Christopher more involved in the business aren't as rock solid as they seem, especially when Silvio lets Tony know that there may be problems that even he didn't anticipate.

Junior has to go to court today, to face off against the mighty United States government. Because of the antics related to Christopher in the previous episode though, Tony and his men are more than just a little distracted.

A more light hearted episode compared to the three on the first disc, this one concentrates more on how Tony deals with Ginny Sack's posterior.

Ralph hunkers down and buys a horse named, well, Pie O My. Tony figures he can make this work for both of them, as he seems to have a knack for betting on the ponies. The jockey doesn't see eye to eye with Tony on his ideas though, and things get more and more complicated.

Tony makes a call to Christopher at home, while he's maxin' and relaxin' and doing his thing. That means he's only got a few minutes to put down his needle and sober up for his meeting with Tony. Unluckily for him, Tony is smarter than he realizes and is on to the fact that he's been sticking needles in his arms all day.

Paulie is sprung from the joint all legal like. Finally! It's been a long few months so Tony and the boys throw him a welcome home party. Cheap drinks and cheaper women are the order of the day as they do their best to make Paulie feel appreciated for what he went through.

In this episode, Tony decides he's got to stick to his code. His mobster code, if you will. When he and Ralph's latest squeeze discover a mutual attraction, Tony's got to try and live by his code and do what he can to make sure that nothing comes of it. We find out by the end of this episode that Tony really has no will power.

Junior has a crappy day in court and an equally horrid drive home. A ronin boom microphone hits him on the head as he exits the courthouse and he ends up falling down the stairs because of it as the cameras roll. But his lawyer, being a lawyer, sees this as a prime opportunity to maybe get more than just a little bit of revenge for the young Soprano.

Ralph is no where to be found. They thought he might be hanging at the local hospital, but nope, no dice, despite the fact that his son is admitted there and could kick off at any moment. All involved have to wonder what part Tony plays in Ralph's disappearance. And some of the crew aren't afraid to ask out loud the questions that they've been pondering all day.

Carmine, Johnny and Tony all have a talk. A secret talk in the back of the clud, where they let Tony know that they want in on a cut of his profits relating to the HUD scam he's been running. Tony tries to wheel and deal with them to less than stellar results.

Furio leaves a message for the big man on his answering machine. All he states is that he's getting out of town and heading back to Italy where he belongs. He fails to admit why he's come up with this idea in the first place and what spawned this seed in his head.

The season starts as it ends, with Junior, who finds the results of his trial a little more pleasant than he maybe at first thought that they'd turn out, thanks to the power of the almighty dollar and mre than just a little muscle.

More dialogue driven and character driven than the earlier seasons, a lot of fans felt that this was a more subdued season, with maybe less crime action or typical mobster elements than the earlier entries in the show, but I don't feel that way. I think it's a more mature, middle aged show that, instead of relying on the same old tricks, is maybe pointing in the direction it hopes to head in the future. Tony and co. are developing into a more adult soap opera but I mean that in the nicest possible way. The show sucked you in with the first few seasons and now that you're paying attention, it's setting you up with this season for the events to come. We all know it's going to end in the not too distant future and we know it'll end with something big. This is the season that seems to be setting it all up.

Video:

Like the earlier sets in the series, Season 4 is presented in a 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen format. Overall, this presentation suits the show very nicely. Colors are pretty solid and while there is some grain or video noise of some sort present more or less throughout, this is still, overall, a very nice presentation of a TV show that is a lot more cinema friendly than most.