The sixth season opener of The Sopranos contains a shocking scene in which Tony and Carmela -- brace yourself -- swap spaghetti for sushi?

Yes, the past 18 months have seemingly been kind to HBO's first first family of crime, who have forsaken pasta for eel -- much to the cooing delight of Carmela (Edie Falco) who dreams of it during sex. Not to be upstaged by raw fish, wise guy Tony (James Gandolfini) further secures her continuing adoration by surprising her with a Porsche.

Time, it seems, heals all scars, even those inflicted during a bitter, embattled estrangement. True, the combative couple had reconciled by the end of the fifth season, but who expected to see them to be so ... well-adjusted?

But, of course, this is The Sopranos and there are always dark storms and deeds simmering like so much overcooked tomato sauce.

Gripe all you want about the lagtime between seasons -- is 18 months really so terrible given that, in Hollywood, it takes 15 years to write a Superman sequel? -- but, after screening the first four instalments of the new season, it is clear the time off has done nothing to temper creator David Chase's storytelling ambitions.

If anything, this season offers the early promise of being the drama's finest yet. At the centre, of course, is Gandolfini's Tony, a brute in life and love, undone by rapacious appetites and the grave unease that led him to seek therapy in the first season and now won't let him sleep.

Even having patched together his besieged world, he is a Shakespearan figure incapable of keeping it from crumbling in his mitts. "Why do you think I toss at night? It ain't just the apnea," he grumbles to Carmela.

Not everyone is so consumed by doubt and fear -- Tony's older sister Janice (Aida Turturro), for example, has a baby with goombah Bobby Bacala (Steve R. Schirripa). Tony's nephew Christopher (Michael Imperioli) remains drug-and-booze-free, but sobriety has, if anything, made him a harsher soul.

As for Adriana, Christopher's fiance who Tony had executed for snitching to the feds?

Over sushi, Carmela wonders whatever happened to her. Tony shrugs it off: "She probably found some guy."

But how long can Tony keep the past at bay?

Last season concluded with Tony fleeing through a snowy field as the FBI busted mobster Johnny Sack. That time, Tony escaped his doom.

The question Chase poses as this season begins is, what happens when Tony's demons finally catch up to him?