RICH MAN, POOR MAN (THE SOPRANOS, SEASON TWO)

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With each season of 'The Sopranos' comes new threats.

James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano may have put paid to his mother's scheming in Season One but, as we will see in subsequent seasons, the perilous world of the Mafia means there's always new menaces lurking in the shadows.

In Episode Three that menace comes in the form of David Proval's Richie Aprile.

Richie is released from prison after 10 years and enters the show like a whirling dervish, immediately wreaking havoc on New Jersey's streets.

The brother of former New Jersey Mob boss Jackie Aprile, whose death in Season One led to an uneasy peace between Tony and Dominic Chianese's Corrado 'Uncle Junior' Soprano, Richie is riddled with petty insecurities about his diminished status within the Mob.

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Despite taking up yoga and meditation, he has a propensity for violence.

He's a bully who revels in inflicting pain on those who he perceives as weak and he is also extremely thin skinned, throwing his head up at any perceived slights.

(SPOILERS ALERT!!!)

Following the dramatic events of Season One's finale which saw the gunning down of Junior's right hand man Mikey Palmice by Tony Sirico's Paulie Gaultieri and Michael Imperioli's Christopher Moltisanti, Tony has effectively taken over as boss of the New Jersey Mob.

Junior has been put in his box after a failed move against his nephew orchestrated by Tony's own mother Nancy Marchand's Livia Soprano.

His arrest on racketeering charges has probably saved his life.

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Visiting Junior in jail, Tony mocks him for being easily manipulated by Livia into organising the failed attemot on his life.

Allowing Junior to remain the titular head of the New Jersey Mob, Tony has the whip hand and tells his uncle and his close aide, Steve Schirripa's Bobby 'Bacala' Baccalieri that he will be able to earn money on a subsistence level but the rest of the profits from his criminal enterprises will go to him.

When Junior is released under house arrest on medical grounds, meetings between him and Tony are conducted in his doctor's office because the law forbids it from being bugged.

Running the New Jersey Mob in all but name still means increased scrutiny from the FBI, though.

The sudden appearance at Tony's house of Vincent Pastore's Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero after months of hiding poses another threat.

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Pussy was suspected in Season One of being an informant after a corrupt cop Vik Makasian voiced his suspicions to Tony.

Realising he was in the frame, Pussy disappeared.

In his absence, New Jersey capo Jimmy Altieri was identified instead as the stool pigeon and was shot by Steven Van Zandt's Silvio Dante, working with Tony's first cousin once removed Christopher.

However Pussy's not quite been fully exonerated.

While Tony is frustrated Pussy didn't contact him from his hideout in Puerto Rico, the prodigal gang member declares he was offended that he was suspected of being a supergrass.

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While Tony appears relieved to have Pussy back, the reality is he's wary of him even during this reunion and throughout Season Two.

It turns out Tony has good reason to be.

Throughout the 13 episode run, Pussy is regularly seen meeting an FBI handler, Louis Lombardi's Skip Lipari who pushes him for information about his boss.

In fact, over the course of Season Two much of the show's dramatic tension is derived from Pussy's struggle to come to terms with his dual roles as a Mob enforcer and a FBI informant.

As Pussy tries to stay on the right side of the law and on the right side of Tony, it exacts a huge emotional toll on him with his boss looking out for any signs of betrayal.

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At the start of Season Two, Tony is no longer receiving therapy from his psychiatrist Lorraine Bracco's Dr Jennifer Melfi after she had to quickly abandon her practice.

Word got out to Junior via Livia that she was his therapist and out of fear that the Mob might think she was privy to too much information, Tony advised her to go to ground.

Reduced to seeing clients in motels, Dr Melfi is receiving her own counselling from Peter Bogdanovich's Dr Elliot Kupferberg where she voices her ambivalence about having provided therapy to a Mob boss.

As the stresses in his life start to build up, Tony starts to experience blackouts again and realises he must mend his relationship with his therapist.

There is, of course, still plenty of life experience for them to explore and analyse in their therapy sessions.

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After all, this is a Mobster whose mum tried to have him whacked.

Tony's relationship with Livia is in tatters after she manipulated Junior into organising a hit.

Confined to a hospital bed after a suspected stroke, all contact with her has been severed by her son.

Her illness has also prompted Tony's sister Aida Turturro's Janice to fly over from California.

Tony and his wife, Edie Falco's Carmela suspect Janice has financial motives for appearing to want to take care of his mother rather than acting out of any genuine goodwill.

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She's also an old girlfriend of Richie's and when they start to rekindle that relationship, that creates a whole lot of agida for her brother and everyone else.

Having got someone to take a stockbroker's exam for him, Christopher is posing as a Securities and Exchange Commission compliance officer in a boiler room involved in a "pump and dump" finance scam.

Working with him are two eager to please, wannabe hoodlums, Lillo Bracanto Jr's Matt Bevilaqua and Chris Tardio's Sean Gismonte who are desperate to impress Tony.

However they consistently manage to get everything wrong, initially coming across as comic and ultimately tragic figures.

Tony's nephew also has dreams of being a screenwriter - dreams his girlfriend, Drea de Matteo's Adriana encourages by signing him up to acting for screenwriters classes.

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Later a cousin's fiancee, Alicia Witt's Amy Safir, who is working with Jon Favreau on a movie project, arranges for him to meet the actor director and go on the set of his latest movie starring Janeane Garofalo and Sandra Bernhard.

Favreau is planning to make a Mafia film and is keen to milk ideas from Christopher about the Wiseguy way of life.

Meanwhile Jamie-Lynn Sigler's Meadow Soprano, who is about to graduate from high school, falls foul of her parents Tony and Carmela after partying hard in Livia's unoccupied home while she's in hospital.

Their son Robert Iler's AJ has also discovered existentialism and gets into bother too after taking Carmela's car and damaging it.

He ends up worrying his parents after seeming unmoved by any punishment and declaring that God is dead.

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This prompts Tony to ask Pussy as AJ's godfather and confirmation sponsor to chat to him.

Away from immediate family, Richie's activities increasingly pose problems for Tony.

His harassment of Paul Herman's former associate turned pizza parlour owner Beansie Gaeta escalates to alarming levels, forcing Tony to lean on Jackie's brother.

When Richie tries to curry Tony's favour by gifting him a leather jacket he took off a feared Mafia enforcer Rocco Di Meo, he ends up feeling slighted when the boss gives it to someone else.

Not one to let go of a perceived slight, Richie starts to plot against Tony when he is warned about letting his crew sell cocaine on garbage truck routes.

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With Junior's blessing, he goes to another acting capo, Richard Maldone's Albert Barese to sound him out about mustering support for another assassination bid.

Meanwhile Tony ruthlessly exploits the father of a college friend of Meadow's, Robert Patrick's sports store owner Davey Scatino who has a bad gambling habit.

Scatino ends up getting into serious debt at an "executive card game".

This wrecks his business and home life, pushing him to the brink of suicide.

While Tony continues to philander with his Russian mistress Oksana Lada's Irina, Carmela finds herself attracted to Davey's brother in law, Joe Penny's widower Victor Musto, a decorator who she asks to erect some wallpaper in her house.

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As with the first season, Season Two of 'The Sopranos' is a rich, bubbling stew of tensions.

But does it hit the heights of Season One?

Possibly not but it comes pretty damn close, occasionally slipping into wonderful flights of fancy.

The concluding episode is a case on point, with Tony fever dreaming after getting food poisoning following a visit to an Indian restaurant.

There are some outstanding individual episodes too, including one where Tony, Paulie and Christopher go to Naples to do business with Vittorio Duse's Don Vittorio and Sofia Milos' Annalisa Zucca in the old country.

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This is the episode where Tony first encounters Federico Castelluccio's hardman, Furio Giunta who will eventually come to New Jersey.

Other standout episodes include the acting class and movie set episodes involving Christopher.

There are two that also see him fighting for his life in hospital and another where a major character is shockingly killed in a domestic incident.

The season ends with a very tragic climactic episode.

As always, the quality of the writing is impeccable with David Chase, Jason Cahill, Robert Green, Mitchell Burgess, Frank Renzulli, Terence Winter, Todd A Kessler and Michael Imperioli's scripts skilfully navigating the show's tightrope of dark drama and jet black comedy.

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As usual, there are many memorable lines and moments - some funny and some laced with sadness like one character's pathetic cries for his mother before he is shot and another asking his executioners to spare his face.

Allen Coulter, Martin Bruestle, Lee Tamahori, Tim Van Patten, John Patterson and Henry J Bronchtein direct the 13 episodes with brio and are greatly assisted by Phil Abraham's robust cinematography and Sidney Wolinsky William B Stich and Conrad M Gonzalez's vibrant editing. 

As expected, Gandolfini dominates proceedings as Tony but never hogs the limelight.

Series Two finds Tony living by his wits, as always, but especially twitchy now he is effectively running things.

At times charming and at times brutal and sly, Gandolfini does a great job showing how uneasy a crown can sit on the head of someone who's pretending it doesn't exist.

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Falco is also spot on as Carmela who still revels in the proceeds of crime while voicing ambivalence about her life.

Sigler and Iler amuse as the Soprano children, while Imperioli really develops Christopher into a twitchy, occasional impatient dreamer.

Van Zandt and Sirico provide moments of light relief, while Chianese remains note perfect as the brittle but menacing Junior.

While Marchand's role is inevitably downgraded from Season One, she remains a joy onscreen.

As Janice, Turturro proves a great addition to the series regulars - throwing extra oil on the fire.

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Jon Ventimiglia as the restaurateur Artie Bucco and Jerry Alder as Tony's trusted confidante Hesh Rabkin continue to add value, while Lada again impresses as Tony's mistress.

Bracco handles herself well as Dr Melfi continues to be fascinated by Tony's world, despite being repulsed by his propensity for violence.

Her exchanges with Bogdanovich's fellow therapist are amusing and illuminating, with the 'GoodFellas' actress and the veteran film director bouncing well off each other.

Bracanto Jr and Tardio engage sympathies as young people seduced by the notion of Mob life but utterly ill equipped to survive it.

Patrick also does a great job as a sports store owner who is way over his head, while Joe Penny is effective as a Ordinary Joe who nearly gets sucked into a perilous situation.

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Zucca catches the eye in the Amalfi Coast episode, with Castelluccio laying the groundwork for his contribution in future seasons.

Favreau, Garafolo and Bernhard gamely send themselves up in the movie episode, while Witt is excellent as a devious film industry worker who just wants to use Christopher.

De Matteo continues to perfectly portray Adriana as naive, while Schirripa generously shoulders jokes at his own expense as Bobby Baccala.

Lombardi is effective as Pussy's FBI handler.

But if Gandolfini provides the robust foundation around which the show is built, Proval and Pastore make the other big contributions too to Series Two.

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As Richie, Proval is bum twitchingly volatile - bringing the kind of unpredictability the show needs for a serious threat to Tony's crown.

Pastore turns in a much more sympathetic, layered performance as a foot soldier who sometimes struggles with betraying his Mafia comrades, is impatient for the deception to end and is jumpy about being exposed.

Amid all the tragedies and moments of peril in Season Two, Pussy's story arc is the defining plot that has serious implications for future seasons.

As the consequences of Pussy's betrayal shake out, we know even if Tony emerges unscathed things will never be the same for him or his crew again. 

(Season Two of 'The Sopranos' was first broadcast on HBO between January 16-April 9, 2000)