Interesting take. I've always viewed Tony as such a fugging great character because he's really the average Joe of that era. The mob lifestyle is the backdrop to the story, but his struggles are identifiable because hes just like you or I. He struggles with family and work. He has some sort of conscience that makes him want to kind of do the right thing. Hes confused and angry about his masculinity in a world where everything he grew up learning has changed. He thinks everyone else is a whiny, lazy, bitch yet hes very contradictory as he can be quite the whiny bitch himself and even play the victim (i.e. the anti-Italian American racism he claims to have suffered). The backdrop of the mob allows for the characters to go to tremendous extremes as far as our emotional response. The psychology aspect really allows Tony to be both very open about his feelings and more reflective than you would expect a guy like him to be. Great post. Both shows deal with an "every man" kind of guy struggling with morality as he struggles to balance career and family. Walt was more of a transformation from pure white to pure black. Tony was always sitting in the middle of choosing right and wrong, leaning more toward the wrong side most of the time and ultimately settling there, though he seemed to have good intentions much of the time. Really hard to pick a better character. Their criminal lifestyles really allowed us to see the most extreme that those characters could go in all directions.
For all you pimping Tyrion as an all-time great TV character, do yourselves a favor and read the Song of Ice and Fire series. The chapters from his point of view are a freaking joy to read. Just gotta shout out to Tommy Gavin. Underrated show and underrated character. Like most of the great shows of the "Golden Era" of television, Rescue Me centered on a soon-to-be middle aged (and into middle age) white male head of the family dealing with morality, keeping his family together, and dealing with work. The show was very bold and made you really fear and value Tommy. SPOILER AHEAD: Tommy Gavin was always great but I liked that he didn't go the Tony Soprano route in the end- he eventually did get his shit together, overcame his demons, and righted the ship. Has Don Draper even been mentioned yet? He won't measure up to Walter White or Tony Soprano, but deserves mention for sure (that show did great developing EVERY character).
Love Rescue Me. Such a funny show, but it dragged on a bit towards the end. Tommy was great in that show, but I think Lou was just as brilliant. I do love how Tommy was able to work out his demons though. Damn, FX has had some amazing shows.
