Mafioso: Don’t You Ever Compare Any Show To The Sopranos

Now, hear me out before we both get really feisty that anyone ever dare compare The Sopranos to any tv show. Especially the one I’m about to mention.

The Sopranos is arguably the greatest tv show in the history of film. It decided this when uncovering the dilemma of a family man that lives within the contradictory world of principled crime. The question of who can determine a man as good or evil became a question that many of the characters deliberated in the show and in the real world while watching. The show’s complexity begs viewers to see themselves in Tony Soprano. Although his life seems much different than our own — that is a facade. At the core, we make difficult decisions and deal with familial and professional problems.

Good Girls is a show about three women that set out to do just what Tony Soprano did. They entered a world of crime for their sake of their family. The show presents a similar dilemma of right and wrong and good and evil. In the same way, the show forces the viewer to sit with the feeling of empathizing with three women who are struggling to provide for their children because of inept masculine figures in their lives. These three women take their motherly acts of devotion to their household duties and create secondary lives where they lie, cheat and dominate in the world of money laundering. The interesting part of the set up is that these women are still laundering, except instead of their children’s and husband’s dirty hampers, they are laundering money. This is a commentary, I believe, on women, their work and social ideals.

The main difference between these shows is the heavily-focused feminine energies you’ll find in Good Girls in contrast to the male-centered narrative in The Sopranos. Both are important and deserve recognition because the masculine and feminine narratives work differently yet in tandem.

It is important to note that comparing anything to one of the greatest sets the viewer up for a surprise. Good Girls is not in competition with The Sopranos. That’s like being in competition with Michael Jordan. It won’t be pretty.

This is an ode to The Sopranos. A reference point. If you find the qualities of grime and morality that teeters on the edge of injustice flavorful then you’ll satisfy that when you watch Good Girls. In that same breathe, Good Girls also centers heavily around extramarital relationships and the consequences of those woes. This time, it focuses on women that tend to relationships that are socially rejected instead of men with The Sopranos.

With both shows there are notes of character development. Whereas you find that Tony Soprano has moments/breakthroughs toward being a more enlightened man, the characters in Good Girls become increasingly resistant toward good acts. Especially main character and ring leader Beth Boland — she will devour anyone standing in her way that attempts disband her from outwardly rejecting moral authorities in order to quench a newfound thirst for a life of crime.

Both shows present crime, drama and relationships to moral quandaries in similar setups yet wildly different narratives. If you enjoyed the drama and the comedic elements in The Sopranos then you’ll find some semblance of that in Good Girls. And just as with The Sopranos, they seem to wiggle their way out of close encounters with law enforcement.

Good Girls moves at a different pace as well — it is a lot more enticing in the modern sense of a consistent cliffhanger reminiscent of a Shonda Rhimes production. Be prepared to take a few weekends off from responsibilities to finish the four seasons currently available.