Following a thirty year absence, Kenneth Forbes is summoned back to his home town, Grants Ferry, Vermont, to settle his recently deceased Aunt Fanny's estate. Still furious at his escape all those years ago, Fanny takes elaborate revenge through her will. Kenneth inherits her considerable holdings but with strict criteria and a challenge that risks everything if he fails. The alternative to failure or simply walking away, at least in Kenneth's mind, is even worse. Add the people Kenneth left behind when he ran away, the steady decay of the town itself, and what Kenneth views as provincial simplicity of the generation now in charge, and Kenneth finds himself soundly ensnared in Fanny's trap. Grants Ferry's history is long and peppered with local characters, often a touch eccentric, who create a pleasant mix of humor, cruelty, tenderness, and violence.

"It's business...we're soldiers...
We follow codes."

The SopranosSM-a TV show about a New Jersey Mafia capo with major problems. His mother wants him dead. His psychiatrist is stymied, and the FBI takes a dangerous interest in his business life. Here are five of the best episodes picked by series creator David Chase and certain to be treasured by fans, studied by screenwriters, and appreciated by everyone who loves great TV.

• PILOT: Tony's sessions with his shrink focus on his life, his panic attacks, and the ducks in his swimming pool. Uncle Junior wants to use Tony's childhood friend's restaurant to whack a guy, so Tony "protects" his friend by blowing up the place.

• COLLEGE: While driving his daughter around Maine for college interviews, Tony discovers and garrotes a mob informant who betrayed the family.

• THE HAPPY WANDERER: After a disastrous high-stakes poker game, terrified loser David Scatino gives his son's SUV to Tony. His payments for his debt have just begun.

• THE KNIGHT IN WHITE SATIN ARMOR: Tony's Russian mistress attempts suicide; his sister shoots her fiancé, Richie, whose remains get processed in the back of Satriale's pork store.

• PINE BARRENS: Christopher and Paulie try to dispose of a Russian gangster Paulie chokes during a bungled errand. But the Russian turns out to be very much alive...

Includes an introduction by David Chase, dialogue that never made it to the screen, and eight pages of behind-the-scenes color photographs.