Second Opinion (The Sopranos) leave the marriage since Tony's life is dangerous and his income is derived from blood money. He advises Carmela to use only the legitimate funds she can muster to survive on and raise her two children alone. Carmela visits Meadow, who is still sour over Noah's breakup and Tony's attitudes. Carmela defends Tony and challenges Meadow to explain herself, but she does not respond. Later, Carmela has lunch with Columbia's dean over a donation. Carmela is receptive to funding a student center, but Tony angrily balks and only agrees to go as high as $5,000. Later, she tells Tony that
The Sopranos had a bigger impact on how stories are told on the small screen, or more influence on what kind of fare we’ve been offered by an ever-growing array of television networks." Hal Boedeker stated in PopMatters in 2007 that the series was "widely influential for revealing that cable would accommodate complex series about dark characters. "The Sopranos" ushered in "Six Feet Under", "The Shield", "Rescue Me", and "Big Love"." The series helped establish HBO as producers of critically acclaimed and commercially successful original television series. Michael Flaherty of "The Hollywood Reporter" has stated that "The Sopranos" "helped launch [HBO's] reputation