Whitecaps (The Sopranos) "Entertainment Weekly" placed "Whitecaps" #3 on their list of the 10 greatest "The Sopranos" episodes; "TIME" placed it at #4. Whitecaps (The Sopranos) "Whitecaps" is the 52nd episode of the HBO television series "The Sopranos", and the 13th and final episode of the show's fourth season. Written by the series creator/executive producer David Chase, and executive producers Robin Green, and Mitchell Burgess, it was directed by longtime series director John Patterson and originally aired in the United States on December 8, 2002. The episode attracted 12.5 million viewers and is regarded by multiple critics as one of the series' best.
Quality television television critics argued were "quality television", such as "The Sopranos". Claims that television programs are of higher quality include a number of subjective evaluations and value judgements. For example, Robert J. Thompson's claim that "quality television" programs include "...a quality pedigree, a large ensemble cast, a series memory, creation of a new genre through recombination of older ones, self-consciousness, and pronounced tendencies toward the controversial and the realistic" includes a number of subjective evaluations. The criteria for "quality television" set out by the US group Viewers for Quality Television ("A quality show is something we anticipate...[it] focuses more on relationships...[and]