Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch...

Today's column reviews the first two episodes of "The Sopranos," though I'm pretty vague on detail since Sopranos Rewind will be back for all that spoilery overanalysis beginning Monday:

Give Team Soprano two weeks before you make up your mind about the new season.

It's not that Sunday night's premiere is bad. If anything, it's a superb refresher of what makes Tony Soprano tick, as well as the deepest look we've ever had at Tony and Janice's childhood and their current relationship.

But after spending most of last season fielding complaints about the sluggish pace and focus on minor characters like Eugene Pontecorvo and Artie Bucco, I imagine the premiere -- a leisurely hour set largely at Bobby Bacala's cabin in the Adirondacks and featuring only four significant characters -- will lead to New Jersey's 911 operators getting overloaded Sunday night with calls of exploding heads, steam escaping ears, teeth being ground down to dust, etc.

So, before I can preview the new season in more detail or look back on the merits and flaws of the last one, I should say up front that episode two is more quintessentially "Sopranos," with use of virtually every major character (save, I think, Uncle Junior), mob intrigue, black humor and, yes, whacking. (Though there's some of that in the premiere.) If the premiere drives you nuts, know that something more your speed will be coming quickly.

To read the full thing, click here.