The one show that rivals all the best gangster movies in history, if you’re talking about the whole crime/drama genre, would have to be The Sopranos. It feels a bit silly to even introduce it at this point, much like how talking about Goodfellas or The Godfather is difficult to do, when so many words have already been said, but hey… that’s a testament to something being iconic and widely discussed.

The Sopranos has well and truly earned all that praise, functioning incredibly well as a series about the mob, family conflict, and psychology/therapy, all at once. Tonally, it’s all over the place, but never messy, since at its best, The Sopranos can be funnier, more dramatic, or even more frightening than just about anything else TV-wise. Its fourth season was a little slow-paced and maybe even challenging, but the show’s standards, but didn’t really contain any truly bad episodes, and some of the show’s best hours were featured here, in any event. All 13 episodes of season 4 of The Sopranos are ranked below, starting with the fairly good and ending with the absolutely incredible.

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“Christopher” (Episode 3)

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“Christopher” is the worst episode of the series, to be brutally honest. It’s not being criticized here because it’s about race-related issues, touching on anti-Columbus Day protests and anti-Italian sentiments. It’s more the case that these topics are handled quite clunkily, with a good deal of dialogue throughout not really feeling natural, and it makes The Sopranos suddenly feel weirdly preachy.

These are things that could be explored without things feeling preachy, but “Christopher” doesn’t manage that. It feels out of step with so much of the series, and all the episodes where ridiculous things might happen, but you still can believe that these characters are real and consistent (at least within the world the show builds). It’s a testament to how good The Sopranos is, though, that even “Christopher” has a couple of great moments. Bobby’s grief here, in a subplot about the death of his wife, is powerfully done and important going forward, and Christopher’s misunderstanding of Tony’s rant about Gary Cooper is pretty incredible (and one of many moments from the show that’s become an enduring meme).

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“Pie-O-My” (Episode 5)

image via HBO

Season 4 can feel a little slow the first time you watch the show, but on a rewatch, it feels much richer and more meaningful. The only episode of the season that’s worse on a rewatch is the aforementioned “Christopher.” This isn’t a great comparison, but if you can liken seasons 2 and 5 of The Sopranos to Breaking Bad, with intensity and pacing, then season 4 is like, comparatively, its Better Call Saul. Or maybe it’s a grower in the way Twin Peaks: The Return was, compared to the more immediate first two seasons of Twin Peaks.

That’s all to say that “Pie-O-My” is much better than “Christopher,” even if it’s also not ranked particularly high here. That’s also an indication that the territory of good-but-flawed episodes of The Sopranos is now being moved on from. “Pie-O-My” is good, with Tony and Ralph clashing over the titular horse being important going forward, and Bobby having a compelling subplot here, dealing with grief over his recently deceased wife. It’s not quite a stand-out episode, but it’s harder for an episode to stand out when it belongs to a series as packed with legendary episodes as The Sopranos is.

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“Watching Too Much Television” (Episode 7)

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“Watching Too Much Television” (and the episode that followed it), and its subsequent episode, proved a little slow. It doesn’t stick out too badly, though, owing to how season 4 is a bit more laidback on a narrative front, in contrast to the first two seasons with Tony sort of at war with the older generation (Livia and Junior), and the final two seasons being largely about Tony at war with Phil Leotardo, who wouldn’t enter the picture until season 5.

“Watching Too Much Television,” like many episodes in season 4, is still very interesting for what it says about the characters, and that side of the show is honestly more compelling than the “narrative” (so to speak) a good deal of the time. Tony’s hypocrisy and jealousy in this episode prove to be the most memorable and important part, with him eventually snapping and lashing out at an associate who’s having a relationship with one of Tony’s ex-mistresses. Elsewhere, most of the other threads of the season (Paulie feeling disconnected from Tony, Adriana grappling with being an informant, Furio wanting to be with Carmela, etc.) creep forward slowly but surely.

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“Mergers and Acquisitions” (Episode 8)

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Right after all the drama with Tony and one of his ex-mistresses, he goes right back into pining for another woman who’s just his type, and she’s a new girlfriend of Ralphie’s. He then starts having an affair with this woman, named Valentina, and it drives home even more how ridiculous his outburst at the end of the previous episode was.

This eighth episode is important for the rest of the season, since events transpire (or events expire, as Little Carmine might say) in episode 9 that make the possibility of continuing to see Valentina even easier, for Tony, living in a post-Ralphie world and all. But then the cheating here is also significant for the final episode of season 4, which has Tony and Carmela clashing in a big way because of all his infidelity. Both those episodes are a good deal better than the admittedly still pretty good “Mergers and Acquisitions,” though, so more on them later.

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“For All Debts Public and Private” (Episode 1)

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The best scene in “For All Debts Public and Private” is Tony and Bobby conversing at a diner, and the dialogue following the latter saying, “You know, Quasimodo predicted all this.” There is another storyline in this episode that’s solid, albeit more so after watching The Many Saints of Newark, since it concerns Christopher seemingly getting revenge on a man who purportedly killed his father, Dickie Moltisanti (who was at the center of that 2021 prequel movie).

Or at least knowledge of that movie colors and complicates what Christopher goes through here. Otherwise, “For All Debts Public and Private” is another pretty good episode of The Sopranos. A little slow, like some of these season openers tend to be, and maybe you can also criticize it for not really setting up a clear direction for season 4. That’s intentional, in hindsight, given season 4’s somewhat looser feel, but in the moment, it does make this episode feel a bit rambling/listless.

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“No Show” (Episode 2)

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And now, conveniently, following right on from the first of the season’s episodes, here’s the second episode of the fourth season. So much of the drama in season 4 revolves around a joke Ralphie makes about Johnny Sack’s wife, Ginny, and said joke happens in “No Show.” It’s not automatically low-stakes, since Ralphie is already on thin ice with a lot of people after the events of season 3 (see “University,” for example), but it does feel like an eventually big deal was pretty small, at least initially.

Christopher also gets to be a general mess in this episode, hitting on Adriana’s friend, who’s actually an undercover FBI agent, and then the whole ordeal leads to the agent revealing her identity to Adriana. From there, Adriana is subsequently made an informant for the FBI, threatened with a drug possession charge if she doesn’t comply. So, on those two fronts, things are heating up, albeit slowly, which is appropriate for this slow-burn fourth season.

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“Eloise” (Episode 12)

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The biggest shake-up to the status quo, provided by “Eloise,” is that it features the departure of Furio, who’d been a pretty consistent presence in the series since being introduced in season 2. Furio honestly doesn’t do a ton outside of causing some turmoil with his almost-affair with Carmela, which heats up throughout season 4, and gets dangerous in “Eloise,” prompting Furio to retreat back to Italy.

It’s a bit anticlimactic, but having Furio be one of a handful of penultimate episode casualties might well have felt more forced. The middle ground would’ve probably been to bring him back in some capacity during the last two seasons, to give actual closure, but The Sopranos never played by anyone’s rules but its own, so farewell, Furio. “Eloise” is, other than that, pretty light on drama and conflict, but it set the stage decently enough for what ended up being a great season finale. It’s also worth noting that penultimate episodes for other seasons of The Sopranos are usually a little more memorable than this (see seasons 2, 5, and 6 especially).

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“Everybody Hurts” (Episode 6)

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Hey, look at that: episode 6 at number 6. The most intense hurting in “Everybody Hurts” probably comes from the revelation that Gloria, with whom Tony had a fling in season 3, has taken her own life. Her last appearance in the show, not counting dream sequences, was in that third season, and the death happening suddenly and off-screen works in making viewers feel just as caught off-guard as Tony is, when Carmela tells him about Gloria (she, however, doesn’t know Tony knew Gloria to that extent).

Artie’s also struggling a lot in this episode, and in his typically Artie way, those struggles are almost darkly funny, and then also just quite sad (though he doesn’t succeed in trying to end his life, unlike Gloria). Also, Paul Dano is in this episode a little, joining Lady Gaga (who showed up briefly in season 3) as another then-unknown – but soon-to-be-famous – actor who showed up because of an A.J.-related storyline in The Sopranos.

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“Calling All Cars” (Episode 11)

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There’s an argument to be made that “Calling All Cars” is the scariest episode of The Sopranos, just because of some of the dream imagery here, with Tony’s dreams in this particular episode being especially concerned with death. It’s a way for some of the more recently deceased characters in the show to temporarily return, since both Gloria and Ralphie show up here.

Livia does, too, or at least seems to, with that ambiguity – and her shadowy appearance – proving quite terrifying. The Sopranos usually nailed the feeling of being in an unpleasant or confusing dream better than just about any other show or movie out there, and “Calling All Cars” is yet another indication of that. The rest of the episode is typically strong stuff for the show, but it’s ultimately the dream-focused parts that stand out here specifically.

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“The Weight” (Episode 4)

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“The Weight” is about a weight-related joke that Ralphie made earlier in season 4, because that’s just Ralphie being Ralphie for you. That joke starts to have more dramatic consequences here, and really, the most intense mob-related drama comes about, in this season, because of that joke, and how Johnny Sack wants to strike back at Ralphie for it.

This episode also gives screen time to Ginny, Johnny Sack’s wife, showcasing some of her struggles with her weight in a way that is humanizing and compassionate, all the while also showing Johnny’s dedication to her that goes some way toward making him one of the better/more honorable gangsters in the show. The episode does have some heart to it, and Johnny and Ginny honestly have one of the better and healthier relationships throughout the seasons they’re in, compared to almost all other couples on the show.

Sandra Bullock joined social media in 2026, starting with a playful post about the upcoming “Practical Magic 2.” However, in a recent interview, the Oscar-winning actress opened up about the true reason she reversed course on her earlier comments about social media, revealing that she did so to combat scammers.

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Bullock appeared on the “Smartless” podcast in August 2026 and discussed a wealth of topics. However, during the conversation, the topic of her social media presence came up, with the actress discussing her complicated relationship with the medium before finally launching an Instagram account.

She stated, “About a year and a half ago, I had to because there were people that were using my name and likeness to scam money out of people. My sister would have people reaching out to her saying, ‘Your sister took thousands of dollars from me.’”

Bullock continued, “The harm that it was causing families, going ‘We don’t know how to tell this person it’s fake,’ and I would have people call them saying ‘It’s fake, it’s not real.”

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Bullock continued discussing her aversion to social media, stating that, despite having projects to promote, she had no desire to join. According to her, “I had no intention of ever going on social media. It was never my calling.”

From there, she opened up about the impact of launching her Instagram, noting that it didn’t fully prevent scammers from using her likeness. She shared, “And then once I did that, it stopped a little bit, but it doesn’t really. It’s just never-ending.”

Bullock’s comments come after she issued a warning to fans in February 2025 about potential scams and safety concerns. Per PEOPLE, she said, “My family’s safety, as well as the innocent people being taken advantage of, is my deep concern, and there will be a time when I will comment more, but for now our focus is helping law enforcement handle this matter.”

The “Practical Magic 2” star continued, “Please be aware that I do not participate in any form of social media. Any accounts pretending to be me or anyone associated with me are fake accounts and have been created for financial gain or to exploit people around me.”

It was also around that time that Bullock’s sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, took to social media to highlight how much time she spends reporting scammers impersonating the “Speed” star.

Much Of Sandra Bullock’s Instagram Account Has Been Mostly Devoted To Her Work

Bullock’s first Instagram post arrived on the platform on April 14. In it, she could be seen recreating the midnight margaritas scene from “Practical Magic.” She captioned the post, “Midnight somewhere…” Since then, she’s used the platform to promote the highly anticipated sequel, including sharing the trailer on April 20. Additionally, the account contains several posts with footage featuring her costar, Nicole Kidman.

Bullock has also made more personal posts on the platform, including celebrating Father’s Day and Sister’s Day. Her most recent post came on August 18, featuring several candid shots. She added the caption, “Friends, family, fun, fishes, furries, aaaand work.”

‘Practical Magic 2’ Comes Out In September

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Warner Bros. announced in June 2024 that “Practical Magic 2” was in development following the success of the original 1998 film. After that, production began in July 2025, with the cast and crew filming at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire, England. They wrapped the movie in September 2025.

Now, the long-awaited movie is set to arrive in North American theaters on September 11. In addition to Bullock and Kidman, the Susanne Bier-directed sequel stars Dianne West, Stockard Channing, Joey King, and Lee Pace.

Sandra Bullock And Nicole Kidman Previously Teased The New Movie

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According to Deadline, Bullock and Kidman made an appearance at 2026 CinemaCon. While at the convention, Bullock discussed returning for the film, saying it “felt like we came back to a home that we once lived in.”

Regarding what fans can expect, she teased, “We rebuilt the original house on the cliff. We filled that house with many old and new characters that you’ll love and brought Alice Hoffman’s ‘Book of Magic’ to life.”

Kidman chimed in, adding, “Home is what this is, and getting to return to these characters that have been so loved and so shared, it really has been magical. And being back together, it just clicked.”

Nolan Wells‘ mother, Christine Wonsley, marked the late teenager’s 19th birthday with a heartfelt message shared on Facebook on Wednesday, August 19. Nolan was found dead in the water near Horn Island in Jackson County, Mississippi, on Monday, July 6. He’d been reported missing two days earlier after he didn’t return from a Fourth of July boating trip with friends.

RELATED: Teens Who Traveled With Nolan Wells Reportedly Launch Search Of Horn Island As Ben Crump Reacts To Them Hiring Trump Attorney

Nolan Wells’ Mother Shares 19th Birthday Message To Her Son

“Today you are 19 Nono! There are so many things we want to say but we will keep it simple,” she wrote. “As we sit here and reflect on what an amazing kiddo you grew up to be, we can’t help but to feel blessed, honored, proud, but most of all thankful. Thankful we were able to experience a glimpse of God’s love in human form. Although you are no longer physically here with us, we will always celebrate you and the legacy you have left for us to protect. You have taught us so much about life and how everyday is a blessing and how we have to do better at just living in the moment. Thank you for being the best son, brother, grandson, nephew, and friend anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for bringing joy, laughter and real happiness to us each and every day. You are truly our angel. Raising you has been an absolute joy and honor. You will be missed every second of everyday and you will never be forgotten our sweet sonshine . Happy Heavenly 19th Birthday Nono. Remember don’t eat too much Oreo cake and hug Grandma for us. Mahal na mahal ka namin, aming pinakamamahal na anak at kapatid. (Taglog to English translation: We love you our beloved son and brother) Love, Mom, Dad, Siblings, Louis, Ling and Family.”

The family hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump after local authorities said they didn’t suspect foul play, despite contradictions within Nolan’s friend group. The NAACP also joined the investigation on August 17, according to a statement from the organization’s general counsel, Kristen Clarke, per Reuters.

“We’re taking up this fight to search for truth and transparency surrounding ​the death of Nolan Wells,” reads the statement.

Christine Wonsley Asked Folks To Keep Their Negative Comments

Wonsley ended her post by asking people not to leave negative comments. The grieving mother has been attacked online simply for trying to find out what happened to her baby.

“*KEEP NEGATIVE COMMENTS TO YOURSELVES,” she wrote. “Remember Nolan is MY & ELMORE’S SON who WE LOST. #JusticeForNolanWells #IStandWithNolan.”

Not only was Wonsley recently trolled online, but an anonymous complaint was also filed against her with the Mississippi Board of Nursing, and a professional misconduct investigation was opened.

The investigation was later closed. However, Wonsley’s workplace has been flooded with negative reviews since her son’s death.

Wonsley’s Message Touched Hearts On Facebook

RELATED: Nolan Wells’ Mom Responds To Comments From His Friends As Congressional Black Caucus Requests DOJ Open Separate Investigation

If you’re bored with sneakers, you’re not alone. There’s a reason the streets of New York City, Los Angeles and London are overflowing with polished flats, which are a classy and equally versatile alternative. We found 13 luxe-looking pairs that deliver the comfort of sneakers, and seriously, you’ll wish you found them sooner.

These timeless flats make any outfit appear high-end, whether you wear them with dresses, trousers, jeans or even sweats. Nobody will ever guess that they’re so comfortable — or that prices start at only $12. Read on to see our favorites from brands like Vionic, Skechers, Toms and more!

13 Flats That Feel Like Sneakers — From $12

1. Our Favorite: Gold is optional, but it gives these metallic ballet flats an old money edge. Shoppers say you can comfortably walk miles in these.

2. Ruby Red: Make a statement in these plush Mary Jane flats that elevate your look, provide breathability and feel soft on the skin, thanks to the fine knit material.

3. Celeb-Approved: We spotted Kate Hudson wearing this jelly flats style with a dress on vacation, and we’re doing the same for every occasion on our agenda.

4. Sassy Slingbacks: Channel rich mom vibes without even trying in these suede slingback flats. They make summer-to-fall the most stylish time yet.

5. Leopard Print: Rich moms are leaning heavily into leopard print, so it only makes sense to get it on sleek Mary Janes.

Related: These Are the Trending Denim Styles Cool Girls Are Wearing in 2026

Even as fashion writers, it’s hard keeping up with the ever-changing denim trends. They can be downright confusing, even to Us! When in doubt, we turn to celebrities, rich moms and fashionistas on the streets of New York and Los Angeles. And this year, they’re all in agreement on these denim styles. If you ask […]

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6. One of a Kind: Yes, the memory foam insole is great, but so is the one-of-a-kind scrunched design that keeps these sparkly wonders secure.

7. Classy Act: You can’t go wrong with these camel-colored Vionic flats that put the class in classic. We adore the metal aglets.

8. Pretty Pointed: When you want to feel confident, opt for these poised pointy knit flats that carry you from brunches to boardrooms.

9. Secretly Skechers: The brand’s collection has grown far beyond its chunky dad shoe style, as seen from these minimal Mary Jane flats. They’re dainty, elevated and so comfy.

10. Trendy Toms: We’re a little (a lot) obsessed with these cutout flats that give basic a charming twist. The brand’s signature CloudBound foam is just a bonus.

11. Luxe Alert: Between the cute bow, pointed toe and textured material, it’s hard to believe these staple slip-ons are only $12.

12. So Splurge-Worthy: Simple and timeless, these square-toe Mary Janes will anchor your wardrobe for seasons to come. Just ask the hundreds of happy reviewers.

13. Must-Have Hybrid: If you can’t decide between loafers and flats, opt for these hybrid shoes that combine two of the most elegant looks in one.

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