The Sopranos is good all the way through and has a few incredible stand-out episodes (plus a small number of duds). At its absolute best it's better than almost anything. (The Wire is the HBO crime series for me though.)Just finished S3 of Sopranos, watching them back to back. I know I'm about 20 years late.
I'm not sure why it's often touted as the best show ever. I like the characters but there's not much story to it really and it's quite slow. Is it me?
Despite all that I do like it.