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The Sopranos: Made in America

 Aida Turturro was a short-term hire for "The Sopranos"; she was drafted to spice up the second season, and then she was meant to drive off into the great white somewhere. Gone forever.


But Nancy Marchand died. And Turturro was very compelling. So "Janice Soprano" returned to the Eastern United States--and TV history took a left turn. 

Janice gets two great storylines in the middle of the series. First, she identifies Bobby as a useful ally; she can't coach Bobby's kids to get over their dead mother, so she assumes the *role* of the dead mother, sending creepy AOL messages from beyond the grave. Bobby's house then begins to crumble--and Bobby runs into Janice's embrace.

Second, Janice is forced to take anger management classes after assaulting a fellow soccer mom. This seems to please Tony--until the shift in Janice's personality becomes irritating, threatening. Tony begins to "tease" Janice about the son she has abandoned; Janice loses her self-possession; Tony walks away with a grin on his face.

This rich history is a kind of table setting for "Soprano Home Movies," a standout from the final run of the show. Janice and Tony find themselves at a lake house, playing Monopoly. Janice tells an amazing story: Once, Livia was so obnoxious that Johnny pulled out a gun and shot a bullet through her beehive hairdo. Tony--enraged at the insult to Mama (and enraged at Mama herself)--retaliates with a reference to his sister's sluttiness. ('Under the boardwalk," he sings... "Jan was sucking a cock!")

In this hour's masterful Third Act, Janice becomes a supporting character, not a lead. But she is still mesmerizing, managing her brother's wounded ego, indirectly steering Carmela toward certain revelations, making inferences from her husband's half-formed pseudo-disclosures. We don't really spend much time with Janice--post-curtain--until the show's final episode (when she is still scheming, still making odd remarks, still watching her brother with wariness and affection). Because she is sort of a rare presence, she is a special treat each and every time she is given a scene.

Turturro earned Emmy nominations, but she never won. I wish I could fix that. I'm a great fan of this actress, and I'd write a show all about Janice, if I had a "David Chase" brain.
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