A classic episode of The Sopranos was inspired by a dream, but surprisingly for a show steeped in psychiatry and dream analysis, it is not one of the obvious picks. David Chase’s gangster series was groundbreaking for its portrayal of organized crime through the prism of psychiatry and family drama. In doing so, he created some of the most nuanced and human characters in TV drama, subverting gangster movie archetypes in the process. With the central conceit of James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano going to therapy for his anxiety, The Sopranos could have easily been a comedy like Robert De Niro movie Analyze This.
