The Sopranos: A psychological experiment — on YOU

I’m now convinced that The Sopranos is an eight-year experiment in testing the limits of people who insist on attributing positive traits to the central character in any work of fiction. After the pivotal “Heidi and Kennedy” episode aired this Sunday, former Sopranos regular Vinny Pastore told the New York Post, “As a viewer, I didn’t appreciate the way Tony [spoiler removed here for the benefit of you cheapskates waiting to rent the DVDs]. It made me, as a viewer, not like Tony.” Apparently, Pastore was OK with Tony killing Pastore’s character, Big Pussy, four seasons ago for giving information about the Mafia to the feds. (Kids, always remember what Uncle Vinny says: Rats deserve to get whacked!) On the message boards at Television Without Pity and Entertainment Weekly (no live link), some fans are even excusing Tony by saying that he committed a mercy killing. Boy, there are a lot of potential Carmela Sopranos out there. And a lot of people who would fail this test.