The third season of the American crime drama series The Sopranos began airing on HBO with a two-hour premiere on March 4, 2001, before concluding on May 20, 2001, and consisted of thirteen episodes.

[1] The story of season three focuses on the relationship between Tony and his children — Meadow, as she begins her first year at Columbia University, and Anthony Jr., who is having behavioral troubles in high school.

Also featured heavily are Christopher's rise in the mob when he becomes a made man, Jackie Aprile Jr. joining the crime family and Tony's extramarital affair with another one of Dr. Melfi's patients, Gloria.

Caryn James of The New York Times cited the show as a pop-culture phenomenon and stated, "Even measured against insanely high expectations, the series is as good as it has ever been.

"[16] The Los Angeles Times lauded the series as the "elitist of the elite", adding: "...The Sopranos resurfaces once more as a superbly written and executed hybrid of popular entertainment and high art, offering up its own Golden Age of TV".