Before Caught by the River landed online – back when it was a series conversations between mates, usually on afternoons off on the bankside or days lost to the snug bar – one of the main topics at that time was the Wire. The first series of HBO’s superlative series had just come out on DVD and we were buzzing on it. At that point, it was possibly – hushed words – better than the Sopranos. Whether it was is neither here nor there (we’re as guilty of rash, rapid judgement as anyone); the point was that the Sopranos was the benchmark against which all else was measured. Still is. Had the site been around five years earlier, the Sopranos would have been quoted as one of the foundation stones. With that in mind, we’ll raise a glass to James Gandolfini today, wherever we end up..