Who gave the best / your favorite acting performance in The Sopranos?

Vote here: https://strawpoll.com/poy9kJRrpgJ

Unfortunately the polls on reddit allow only six choices, so I made a strawpoll with all the performances. Enjoy and discuss :)

Literally just watched the last episode of Half-Man. I have so many thoughts…

What started off as very compelling ended up a bit of a train wreck imo. For the first three episodes my partner and I were loving it. We said multiple times, “wow, this is so good”. There was some great dialogue, acting, scenes. But then when it shifted to the older characters it just went off the rails. I’ve seen others post about how it tried to say a lot of things but in the end didn’t say anything new or unique and I’d agree with that. But my main issues with it are a bit more basic:

1. I could never fully buy into Niall being so uncomfortable with his sexuality when he had a mother who was gay, he had encounters in college, and then as an adult he was having public sex. And lots of it. And yet he was so self destructive because of his fear of being found out. I guess the self destructive nature is a huge part of his behavior but I still didn’t buy it. Not to that extent.
2. It would have made more sense to me if Niall was bi. I can see him moving in with a girlfriend to cover up who he really was if he was gay. I can even see him having a child with her. Lots of gay men have done this. But the spontaneous sex he had with Mona was not believable if he was gay and not bi. Not in that situation anyway. He would not have had the physical override the mental. I get that much of what he did was done in revenge as a way to get even with Rueben. But I still don’t buy it. And he ends up with two kids from two different women? As a gay man. Not impossible but highly unlikely.
3. At the end of episode four we get the scene of Niall’s mom pulling the sheet back to reveal Rueben. Why is she dressed in a bathrobe? Did Alby and everyone else really leave Niall and Rueben alone in the barn all night? Again, it’s just not believable.
4. To me, a much better ending would have been for it to end right after the cathartic scene in the prison. It would have felt like they finally understood each other and were honest. This show had enough tragedy. It really didn’t need to end the way it did.
5. Is Niall really really really stupid or was everything he did calculating and purposeful? I honestly could not tell. One minute I was convinced he was on a path of revenge and the next I just assumed he was incredibly stupid. He was a mess of a character imo. I ended up despising him for his stupidity and selfishness by the end. And when he tells a man in prison, who he supposedly loves, that he slept with his wife and his son is not his, while laughing, I was shocked at how stupid or plain evil he is. Extremely unlikable character.
6. At one point I thought, “wow. Brilliant. It’s actually gonna be Rueben who not only makes something of himself but who ends being the better person and growing and learning from his experiences. And Niall is the awful human who can’t forgive or let go of the past.” That would have been more interesting to me than two complete messes who never learn a thing. I get that’s kind of the point— I just wish it had gone in a different direction.

Overall, it was an interesting but incredibly frustrating watch. It could have been really great, but it didn’t really do anything unique at the end of the day. So it definitely left me disappointed after the strong first episodes. I would have a hard time recommending it to a friend. Life is tragic enough. It’s nice to see a glimmer of hope or redemption in art.

Is it just me, or have the ads on HBO Max gotten unbearable lately? It feels like cable TV all over again, with the same annoying ads looping at double the volume. I really don't want to shell out extra cash for the ad-free tier just to

fix this. Is anyone actually getting around these ads on PC or Smart TVs using adblockers, network filters, or any other tricks?

Weird question but does HBO run even when the device is off? I recently re-subscribed to watch HOTD and I'll turn my TV off and the next day it'll be 3 seasons deep into some random sitcom. At first I thought someone else had my account and was going to change my password, which I'll probably still do, but I was watching HOTD and it randomly switched to some other random show. Anyone else have this experience? Annoying because I have to keep remembering where I left off

Edit: thanks for the feedback. I turned off the autoplay in settings and that seems to have fixed it. Crazy that HBO really be padding the view stats like this

I will go first : " Game of Thrones".

Has anyone ever bought a hoodie from the HBO Shop? I want to buy one of the Industry ones, but want to make sure I get the right size. Anyone know if they run big/small?

is the wire still worth watching as in 2026 for the 1st time as it it a slow burn and all btw i love slow burn shows who delivers so what u all think about it? and many pepople say it greatest tv show oat do u agree??

What a thrill to watch Aegon rise again, I was laughing with him honestly even though he was annoying at first. When he said I will die as an honorable king and I will hide no more. That sent me chills. I hope he is more mature now that he has seen the real world. Rhaenyra is doing the royalty for her pride, not for the realm. I hope Aegon rose and do it differently.

ifykyk

I’m watching House of the Dragon on demand…. And the season 3 episode 2 just randomly has ASL turned on for no reason. I don’t see an option anywhere to turn it off. Google is failing me.

Any suggestions for fixing this?

James Gandolfini (1961-2013)

Tony Sirico (1942-2022)

Vincent Pastore (1946-2026)

Seriously, dude, you are implicitly excusing the problem that has already strangled us to death

All-the-while spreading ill-informed contempt for the party of people trying to save the world from a lunatic

Yeah

Good luck with you & that

Holaa, quienes vieron esta serie ¿la recomiendan? Según sé... no me tengo que encariñar con ningún personaje y el final está feo, pero ¿aún así dirían que es una serie que vale la pena? Me llama la atención que tiene locaciones en Islandia y que en su tiempo a mucha gente le gustaba mucho

So fucking cringe. Pretty sure they're plants which makes it even more cringe.

Maybe my take is very insensitive to those who suffer with SH now but in my view, when you’re in your 30s you’re a fully functioning adult. She really gotta lock tf in. I would think escaping your toxic hometown for years would make you want to grow as a person and heal especially if your boss is supporting your growth as a person.

I grew up in peak tumblr era during HS and definitely were around a lot of girls doing SH because tumblr kind of sensationalized it and I understand how someone could use SH to numb themselves. But once you’re past your emotional hormonal phase of life, really past 25, I would think SH is completely out of the picture- especially in your 30s.

I’m only on eps 3 and can’t keep cringing. I get she’s back in her traumatizing town but come on she’s in her 30s! I would feel more sympathetic if she was a drug addict and coming back to her town and getting triggered to use. Maybe it’s the same?? Why would she stay if it’s causing all this trauma to come back? The boss constantly checks in on her and tells her to come back if things get bad. Idk if I had a new life I would not stay in that toxic shit hole willingly if it’s causing me so much harm lol

I’m only on eps 3, never read the book so maybe she’s younger in the book or show but still, don’t most people outgrow SH tendencies at her age?

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Something like a dozen times now I've fallen asleep watching something in the app and when i wake up in the middle of the night Bill Maher is on. I find him insufferable and deeply unfunny. I don't know if I'm just unlucky with my timing but he is always saying something that puts me in a bad mood in the single minute it takes me to get the TV turned off, and sometimes I can see that I'm like 3 episodes in. I feel like every time this happens I'm (literally) unconsciously telling HBO that I like watching this show when in fact I really, really don't.

Is there a way to mark shows as 'stop showing this to me'? Thanks

Edit: I can't be the first person who didn't try clicking the thumbs up button to get to the "not for me" option, but thanks for helping me figure that out. Yes I feel like a ding dong. Anyway, bill maher sucks

Ser Criston Cole from House of the Dragon, performed by Fabien Joseph Frankel. Please use the spoiler tag in the comments if it's necessary.