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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2TkCgLooRU butter and a bit of the sauce into the pasta, even if Ralph calls it gravy.
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Aug 2, 2019 19:31
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It's "gravy" if there's meat in it. His technique is fine, just, use olive oil instead of butter.
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Aug 2, 2019 19:38
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GABAGOOL
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Aug 2, 2019 20:02
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Halloween Jack posted:It's "gravy" if there's meat in it. His technique is fine, just, use olive oil instead of butter. Whenever I hear "gravy" all I can think of is Paulie in Italy trying to get some spaghetti and gravy and the waiter not understanding him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-eHk4RiIso&t=14s
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Aug 2, 2019 20:10
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I was a lot younger the last time I watched The Sopranos and I really didn't see what a piece of poo poo Carmella was. So infuriatingly sanctimonious  Everything you own was bought with other peoples' blood and grief and you know it you rear end in a top hat.
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Aug 2, 2019 21:02
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crispix posted:I was a lot younger the last time I watched The Sopranos and I really didn't see what a piece of poo poo Carmella was. So infuriatingly sanctimonious And she acts like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
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Aug 2, 2019 22:53
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When she acted all mobbed up towards The Cusamano twin RE: Georgetown her mask slipped right off. Goddamn I love Edie Falco.
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Aug 2, 2019 22:54
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DarkCrawler posted:As a foreigner, Jersey has always fascinated me as a state - it is so densely populated and extremely diverse but doesn't really have large cities since it is kind of a suburb for two huge ones. And it seems that every stamp-sized area is its own county/city/town/whatever. There is a lot of poverty but also some of the most affluent places in the whole of U.S. And it is a bit strange that a state has an inferiority complex of sorts towards a city. I wonder how different Sopranos would be if it was about one of the Five Families. I'll always remember the George Carlin bit. "They call New Jersey 'the Garden State.' Maybe if you're growin' smokestacks." Although that said I do understand it as they've got New York like right there to cast a shadow. Even people from Jersey call it 'the city.'
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Aug 3, 2019 00:10
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I don't know if it was mentioned by in Pie O My, Janice was actually clutching a frying pan the whole time she was menacing Jojo and only put it back on the stove when she capitulated and stood up to leave
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Aug 3, 2019 00:56
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gently caress I didn't notice that, I had just assumed she was putting on the act of cleaning up which she immediately abandoned the moment Jojo was gone.
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Aug 3, 2019 03:53
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Does anyone else remember seeing a spaghetti sauce from the Sopranos in stores? I think it was from Arties restaurant and but it's hard to remember that long ago.
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Aug 4, 2019 06:08
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joebuddah posted:Does anyone else remember seeing a spaghetti sauce from the Sopranos in stores? I think it was from Arties restaurant and but it's hard to remember that long ago. Wow, I found all of one photo of it online, from an auction site:  As well as a CNN Money article from 2002: quote:The first batch of products -- marinara sauce, creamy Caesar salad dressing and dry ziti pasta -- will be available only from HBO's Web site as a gift set next month, but they will later become available in specialty stores and grocery chains, according to the New York Times.
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Aug 4, 2019 06:25
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Words that star with V make people think of vagina. Vaseline.
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Aug 4, 2019 06:27
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BiggerBoat posted:And she acts like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. She wants what she's entitled to!
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Aug 4, 2019 08:06
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joebuddah posted:Does anyone else remember seeing a spaghetti sauce from the Sopranos in stores? I think it was from Arties restaurant and but it's hard to remember that long ago. I remember seeing a cookbook once
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Aug 4, 2019 12:10
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Season 4, Episode 7 - Watching Too Much TelevisionDr. Melfi posted:Well, in the future I'll ask that you extend to me the same courtesy you would a crack addict. Paulie Gualtieri is back. A big party is held in the Bada-Bing for his triumphant return, as he walks in beaming ear to ear, dressed in a fine suit and looking tanned, loving being the center of attention. Everybody is there, Tony of course but also Johnny Sack representing New York, itself a sign of Paulie's status... or at least, Johnny Sack's desire for him to feel valued/respected by New York. They break his balls a little of course, noting he has a great tan for a guy who spent six months in Ohio, joking that they heard he was getting laid all the time, Silvio calling him Papillon like he's made some daring prison escape etc. But it is all good-natured and they don't shy away from showing their affection either, with Silvio in particular touching Paulie when he demands silence so he Paulie can hear what he refers to as "my song". The party kicks into action, Tony taking Paulie in hand while a confused Bobby Baccala asks Silvio a relevant question:   Tony introduces Paulie to Carmela's cousin Brian, who attempts a joke about Paulie's absence that falls flat: his fellow gangsters can crack wise, this guy can't. Brian's presence is important, Tony is dragging this rather straight-laced citizen into his corrupt world (and Brian is eagerly going along for the ride), but it's also a sign of how much Paulie has missed that some guy he never even knew existed is now Tony's invited guest to Paulie's welcome-home party. Tony sits down at the bar with Paulie, the two alone for a moment, and we learn that somebody else copped to owning the gun found in the car with Paulie (it is never made clear if he was genuinely the owner/killer or just a patsy for Paulie) which is why he's free and clear instead of locked away for the rest of his life. Tony passes him a fat envelope of cash which Paulie accepts with a smile but also a clear sense of expectation: this is his due, his reward for just quietly going about his jail-time instead of freaking out or doing any deals. Being Paulie, he also complains: he could have used the money while he was inside, he had to pay 5 grand just to hold on to his Ma's reserved spot in Green Grove etc. Tony, already fed up within a minute of Paulie's return into his life, reminds him that he's barely out of prison and he's already got a fistful of cash AND the no-show Jobs that Tony arranged for him during his absence. Paulie can't deny that and accepts the mild rebuke in good humor, and the two embrace as a proper welcome back. The party continues to ramp up, one stripper letting Brian lick alcohol off her bolt-on fake-breast, watched by Tony who seems amused and pleased at his cousin-by-marriage's quick descent. Young, beautiful and successful, Adriana La Cerva is having a far less exciting evening than her older, fatter male associates. Sitting at home while Christopher is out partying at the Bing, she's watching Murder One with Cosette on her lap, flossing her teeth and not really paying all that much mind until a sudden melodramatic twist in the story as a woman giving testimony on the witness stand reveals she recently married the defendant.... AND A WIFE CANNOT TESTIFY AGAINST HER HUSBAND!  The next morning Brian wakes up on the stage of the Bada Bing, his head throbbing and his pants missing, he's only got boxer shorts on beneath the waist. Tony staggers up from behind the barrier on the second floor and spots Brian, who groggily asks where his pants have gone, while Ralphie steps out of the bathroom having freshened himself up a little. This is nothing new for Tony and Ralph, who often go on all night benders in the VIP Room (so much for Ralphie being banned after "disrespecting The Bing", huh?), and Tony tells Brian he can get some mouthwash and other toiletries in the back, freshen up and then they'll go get breakfast. Ralph invites himself along and Tony, who wanted to beat him to death in the back of this building last year after he murdered Tracee, has not a problem in the world with that. At a nearby diner, Ralph "casually" asks Brian if he has any investment advice. Brian's reply is stock (not stocks) but sensible: buy land, it's the one thing there isn't any more of. Tony agrees, his house value has tripled since he purchased it, which Ralphie puts down mostly to its location. But Brian notes that a poo poo location doesn't necessarily mean no money, and after only the mildest of prompting gets over his reservations and enthusiastically tells them about a scam he once heard of from a college buddy he volunteered with at a not-for-profit housing group. Tony and Ralphie listen wide-eyed and grinning, slapping Brian on the back and congratulating him on the great story. It's more than just a story to them though, and quickly they set the wheels in motion to making it a reality. On another day, Furio drives Tony to a meeting at the Russian Bath Houses, telling him he'll be awhile. Furio waits in the car, and as he does he looks through the photos from his housewarming he has had developed (this show is 20 years old, remember!). He pauses at a photo of Carmela and Rosalie, focusing right in on Carmela. Considering, he takes a dangerous gamble and - more from instinct than any actual need to do so - hides his sunglasses in the glovebox and then calls the Soprano house. Carmela is pleased to hear from him, sorry she missed him when he picked Tony up due to being in the bathroom, and he explains he is calling because he can't find his sunglasses.. did he leave them in the house? She starts looking about and he uses the excuse to talk to her as she wanders the house. They talk about his father - he's ill and it doesn't look good - and tells her about the photos and one particularly lovely one of her, which flatters her, and he promises he will bring the photos around next time he picks up Tony. She can't find the glasses of course, and he says he probably left them at home. After he hangs up, he takes a moment to reflect on just what the hell he is doing.   Inside the Bathhouse, Tony and Ralphie sit in a sauna with Ronald Zellman and Maurice Tiffen. The latter is an old college friend of Zellman's and more important a black man who heads up a non-profit housing program. Tony is pleased to discover that he and Maurice grew up within a couple blocks of each other. They recount a little more of their history, remembering the Newark Riots which Tony and Ralphie also remember though they were clearly younger. Zellman and Tiffen were involved in Newark's earliest black voting drives, and Tiffen went up against the likes of Anthony Imperiale, a piece of poo poo who Tony and Ralphie nonetheless clearly remember fondly. But all this is largely irrelevant, a feeling-out/getting-to-know-you process before Ralphie can make a pitch that Tiffen is clearly eager to hear. Tony steps out, not wanting to be around when the actual details of the scam are discussed. Zellman has already let Maurice know the broadstrokes and Ralphie fills him in on the finer details: Dr. Fried will buy four houses on Garside Street with 500k of the mob's money, the appraiser will double their value on paper, then Maurice takes those appraisals and a recommendation from Zellman to the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), gets mortgage approval, then the bank hands over the money and they split it amongst themselves. Everybody's a winner! Well, except for the people living in and around the lovely houses of course, but who cares about them!?! Tiffen makes no bones about it in spite of his radical past and the lofty goals of his non-profit, simply nodding and saying this all seems about right. Zellman leaves the sauna, happy to see Tony is still around, wanting to talk to him. It seems he and Irina have started dating, they meet once before when she was with Tony and he helped her out months after they broke up with a landlord issue. One thing lead to another, and now they're dating, and he wants to be as upfront as possible and make sure there aren't any issues. Tony is amused but pleased he is doing the respectful thing, but reminds him he isn't Irina's father and they're both adults who can do what they like. Zellman explains he genuinely cares for her, and since his marriage is on the rocks he wants to make a go of it with her. Again, Tony is quick to assure him that he and Irina are ancient history. Ralphie and Maurice emerge too, Maurice singing along to The Chi-Lites, who he and Tony briefly discuss. Left alone with Tony again, Zellman again brings up Irina and again Tony assures him it is fine. Irina is a great girl, a little needy but otherwise a real catch, and he wishes them nothing but the best.  Things are soon in motion, Dr. Fried purchases the four homes and declares,"Eat my dust, Donald Trump!", which is a ridiculous comparison, after all, he's buying property via mob connections and planning to leave somebody else to eat the final bill! Adriana shops for a greeting card when she has the unpleasant surprise of walking into Agent Robyn Sanseverino, who always seems to just appear as if from thin air ("Go haunt a house!" complains Adriana). She wants to "catch up", what does Adriana know about Paulie's return, how Christopher feels about it, why Christopher always looks so tired etc. Adriana snaps at her to stop acting like she gives a poo poo, and Robyn catches her off-guard by outright asking her how Christopher's drug problem is. Unsettled, Adriana makes the automatic denial that he doesn't have one, and then seeking to put the eternally calm Agent on the back foot for once decides to hit her with her new big gun: she and Christopher are gonna get married soon. Robyn doesn't answer that and Adriana beams with smug pride over the fact, she's finally gotten the upper hand because she knows that Robyn knows that A WIFE CANNOT TESTIFY AGAINST HER HUSBAND! Tony drives AJ home from a day spent fishing, which they both seem to have enjoyed. Tony of course always wants more, he's pleased at the chance for a little family bonding but decides to take it a bit further. Seeking to recapture the same effect that came from his spontaneous burst of love and pride for family history with Meadow back in season one, he takes AJ to the same church to point out that AJ's great-grandfather helped build it almost 80 years ago. But AJ isn't impressed by the fact Corrado Senior came over from Italy with only $4 in his pocket, more fascinated by the fact everything was so cheap then. $4? You could get a hotel room for 10c a week! Room service was probably only 1 or 2 cents a meal! Tony is appalled, he's trying to teach a family history lesson and AJ's thinking about room service? He points out this is Newark history, and AJ - without malice - just blurts out the first thing he thinks of: who gives a poo poo about Newark? AJ, remember, was brought up in a big house with everything he could ever want. He never lived in Newark, there is no connection there for him. Tony is still trying to capture lightning in a bottle though, and points out all the buildings in a state of disrepair while the Church still stands strong. He asks AJ why he thinks that is, dismayed by his simplistic answer. Fed up, he explains it is because of Italian pride, declaring how in the 1920s when the Italians came to America nobody wanted them or let them into Churches. They didn't cry or go to the Government for help, they built their own Church! It holds up today because Italians come from miles around to attend services, to keep it alive, to keep it strong. He's left in silent dismay again when AJ - again without malice - asks why THEY don't attend the services here then? Irritated, he gives him a "playful" smack and repeats Brian's advice about buying land and complains that he isn't appreciating the fatherly advice he has been given. The trouble of course is that Meadow responded to a genuine emotional moment that Tony had which resonated with her. With AJ it is all artificial, he has come here to recreate the same thing, but without the emotion that was present before it's just paying lipservice. It also doesn't help that his talk about "pride" and complaints about Government handouts are clearly dogwhistle terms for racism, and it comes across as particularly hypocritical since he is currently going to a Government Agency for a handout. He could have just had a nice day out with his son spent fishing, instead he tried to force it to be something more than that.   Still trying to impress him though, he drives him to Garside Street and looks over the street, rundown houses, a poor black family on the steps of one house staring at them. Tony asks if AJ is scared and he smugly replies he's seen places like this before (he's talking about going to the Law Center last episode to see Meadow, haha). Tony explains that he's buying these houses for an investment, this is what he's been trying to impart: buy real estate. The man on the steps comes down and crosses the street to ask them what they want, are they police? When Tony jokes that he is Starsky and AJ is Hutch, the man asks what drugs they're after and Tony assures him they're just having a look around. A woman has come up behind the man and nervously, stutteringly tells the "motherfucker" to get off their street, and an amused Tony asks if she blows her father with that mouth. THIS impresses AJ, who snickers, while the couple outside are furious, the man revealing the woman is his sister and demanding he repeat what he just said. Tony, completely unafraid, insists they take it easy, he just wants to show his son the old neighborhood. The joking is over now though as the man lifts his jacket to reveal a gun in his waistband, warning Tony that this is their neighborhood now. Tony, still not scared but also not wanting to get into anything more with AJ in the car, calmly closes the window, starts the car up and starts to drive away. AJ, who last episode was all about talking about the plight of the poor to impress Devin, smiles wide and states,"So that's a crack ho" just loud enough for the woman outside to hear. She screams after them as they drive away, tossing a bottle she was drinking from, her brother - relaxed now they're gone - trying to calm her down. The intrusion into their neighborhood has stirred things up, but this is only the beginning. At the FBI Taskforce Headquarters, the tight circle who work on Adriana's development are having lunch and discussing the current situation. Cubitoso, Harris and Sanseverino are there, but so is Ciccerone who apparently has continued to work on the case. They're surprised that Adriana actually really is going to go ahead and marry Christopher, unable to understand what she could possibly see in this uneducated, hot-headed, violent, abusive drug addict. Cubitoso asks them to consider how this affects their case, and unlike on TV the fact she's going to be married to Christopher does not cause an uproar and a panic. If anything, Harris seems keen on the idea, noting that tying her closer to Christopher gives her more access not only to him, but to Tony as well. Ciccerone brings up the possibility of her stopping cooperating, as happened in the case of a prior informant named Angel DiLetto, but Harris and Robyn think it'll have the opposite effect by turning them into a unit who share the same problems. Cubitoso goes so far as to hope they have kids to even further lock Adriana in and give them leverage over her, though Ciccerone notes that this may not be possible given Adriana's past problems. At worst they figure they should be neutral, they want the marriage to happen and discouraging it would make it more likely to happen anyway. So as Adriana walks around happily thinking she's found a Get Out Of Jail Free card, the FBI are happily deciding to give her their (unspoken) blessing, as evidently they've never seen that episode of Murder One and don't know that A WIFE CANNOT TESTIFY AGAINST HER HUSBAND!  At HUD, Maurice Tiffen gets his Mortgage Approval ticked by an officer who notes that he'll have his work cut out for him. He agrees, but reminds her it's simply a matter of taking it one day at a time. She is delighted by this valiant fighter in the cause to bring affordable housing to the black community and help restore a neighborhood and a community. He happily takes the compliment, while walking out with the paperwork that'll help him ripoff a bank for hundreds of thousands of dollars and give NOTHING back to the community. Tony drives to Zellman's home, greeted at the door and brought up the stairs and offered a drink. He's not sure why Tony is there but he's happy to hear what he wants, while Tony can't help but notice shoes that are clearly Irina's lying on the carpet. He explains to Zellman that he sent some guys down to gut the houses before they abandon them, only to discover that one of them was a crack house. Zellman isn't sure what the problem is, after all they're not planning to actually build anything anyway, and Tony sighs that he's not looking at the big picture. Apparently for Tony the big picture is that on top of the hundreds of thousands they're going to make from this scam, he wants to get a few thousand dollars worth of copper out of the houses and is worried the crack addicts might have stripped it all already. Zellman, quite rightly, notes that a few thousand probably isn't worth causing any fuss over given how much they're set to make, but quickly changes his tune when Tony asks if he intends for the 7k to come out of HIS end? Tony doesn't want his guys to kick them out because Italian guys with guns chasing black people out of a black neighborhood is sure to get attention. Zellman doesn't want to send in cops and run into any kind of legal or PR quagmire around squatters rights etc. Tony mockingly reminds him he's a University of Michigan Graduate so surely he can figure this out, and gives him a condescendingly pat on the cheek before leaving. But it's what happened between all that which is really interesting. As they were talking, Irina came walking down the hallway. As beautiful as ever, at first she is the old Irina: she sees Tony and he's all she has eyes for. But within seconds of talking she reveals changes. She corrects her sentence and Zellman explains she is studying English as a second language at the Community College. She looks to Zellman for approval, she demonstrates an easy rapport with him. She's quiet, calm, offering to make him a meal. He accepts this as a natural and every day course of events, offering Tony a chanc to join them which he quickly declines. She leaves with a brief glance at Tony and actually seems to shake her head in a bemused fashion. She looks more assured, as if she is pleased with herself for facing him and holding herself together. Why's all this important? Because of the three people in the room, despite Tony's enormous physical presence he is the "least" of them all. They're in Zellman's house, but this is clearly he and Irina's home. Tony is the outsider here, not intruding, welcomed in fact, but a visitor into THEIR lives and THEIR relationship. For his part, Tony is relaxed and friendly, but as always with Tony there is far more going on beneath the surface than even he understands (or chooses to understand).   Adriana joins Christopher on the couch, the two having just finished a candlelight dinner she prepared for them, which he greatly appreciated. Seeing the smile on her face and knowing that her effort is probably out of a desire for something, he waits expectantly and is surprised when she declares she wants to get married as soon as possible, hell why don't they go down to City Hall and just get it done? He rejects the idea with a laugh, that's what schlubs do, and she always wanted a big wedding anyway. Staring at him with love she insists all she wants with him, and his eyes light up when she says if they do that it'll save money and they can buy a house. He's clearly looking for whatever her angle on all this is, and now is assuming she has her eye on a big house. Flirting, seductive, she slowly rungs her foot over his crotch and giggles that one bonus is that a wife can't testify against her husband. Enjoying her rubbing him with her foot, he's still unconvinced, reminding her that if they're married she won't be able to run the club, stay out all night or get high because she'll have to look after their kid. This casts the first shadow over her happy demeanor, and she takes a gulp of her wine before asking what if they don't have kids? "gently caress that, what's the point of being married?" Christopher asks bluntly, and she quickly rephrases it: what if they CAN'T? Would he still love her? Assuming it is a hypothetical and simply Adriana wanting validation he is quick to assure her that OF COURSE he would still love her. But when he asks why she's saying this, she sniffs back a tear and finally draws up the courage to tell him about her "medical procedure" she had years before they met, and how her uterus was pierced. "Both of them?" he asks, and without pause she explains he's thinking of ovaries. In any case, it might be hard for her to get pregnant, but she does have the name of a specialist in Manhattan.... but before she can finish that sentence Christopher is suddenly screaming in her face, outraged that she never told him she was "damaged goods". Shocked by the selfishness, the complete lack of empathy and zero effort to soften the blow of his statement, she can only stare for a few moments before gasping how could he call her that? He doesn't give a poo poo about her hurt feelings though, raving at her about how the Moltisanti name ends with him if he doesn't have a son. He has no interest in adopting "some chinky kid called Moltisanti" who'd "get his rear end kicked every day", and when she protests that he told her he'd still love her, he doesn't deny it... it just doesn't mean he'll still marry her. He knocks over the candles on the table and storms out of the apartment, causing Cosette to jerk awake and begin yapping, while a horrified Adriana who thought she'd found a pathway to freedom/happiness is left sobbing in despair. Christopher goes to Bada Bing for advice, where for once the mobsters offer up some very constructive and reasonable suggestions. Tony points out that Adriana is a good woman and he'd be a fool to lose her, and Silvio agrees, who cares if he has more kids than the Kennedys if he's married to "some twat"? Tony rejects the idea that they might not have kids, with medicine today they can surely make it work. Paulie however has a different suggestion, he should avoid getting married to ANYBODY, it worked out fine for him and he doesn't think marriage and "our thing" jive in spite of almost everybody they know being married. Tony cuts through all that with a simple question: does he love her? Christopher says he does, so as far as Tony is concerned that's all that matters, he should marry her. After all, when he was in hospital with his spleen issues after being shot, she stood by him without hesitation. Tony warns him not to end up like Uncle Junior, and Silvio laughs that it could be worse and he could end up with Paulie. They all smile at that, even Paulie, though his smile feels more forced. Christopher accepts all this and gives Tony a hug, saying he needs to go and think, and heads out the door.   It turns out Christopher's idea of thinking is to shoot up some heroin. He's done it right there in his car, parked on a public street right in front of a stop sign, passed out with the belt still tied off around his arm. Waking up in the dark, he picks up his drug kit which was sitting right there out in the open on the passenger seat, tucks it away and then starts the car up, almost running into a car coming down the road. This is the guy that Tony thinks he can rely on to relay all his orders and take the Family into the 21st Century. He's gone from shooting up at his apartment between his toes to avoid detection to just straight up shooting up into his arm while sitting in his car on the street where anybody could pass by and see him. He's falling apart, losing any sense of perspective, shooting up in riskier and riskier places because he can't go long enough between sessions to get to somewhere a little safer. This is the man Tony wants to put his future in the hands of, and who Adriana wants to marry. Agent Ciccerone was right, what is the matter with them? Zellman visits Maurice at home, happily greeting his wife who is rushing out the door with their kids for sports practice. Zellman heads down into the Den to meet Maurice and explains the problem with the junkies, insisting he can't have Dr. Fried call in the cops either since if they roust them the junkies will be back in a couple of hours. They need a permanent solution, and now he's playing the part of Tony by suggesting the take the 7k out of his end if he won't deal with it. Maurice is disgusted and more than a little frightened, Zellman wants him to grab some kids from a gang outreach program he runs and set them loose, which risks exposing him. But he needs the money to pay child support to his first wife (his home makes it look like he's not exactly hurting) which seems more of a concern to him than his complaints that they "renounced violence" back in their activist days. Zellman, who helped put together one of the first black voting drives, has no problem talking about sending in "kids of color" to put a beating, insisting they're "just" gangbangers you can throw some money to in order to get what you want, that this is simply a matter of pitting one gang of recidivists against another. Maurice has had to deal with this kind of bullshit justification his whole life and tells him to just admit it's about the money, and Zellman offers him a more direct warning: you do NOT want to fool around with people like Tony Soprano when money is on the line. In therapy, Tony discusses the issues he's had trying to explain family history and immigration to AJ. But Melfi cuts him off, she wants to discuss something else: his recent threatening behavior towards her. He's confused, having to be reminded about his actions towards her regarding Gloria's suicide. Tony remembers but he's still confused, that was weeks ago and so therefore as far as he is concerned no longer anything worth being bothered about. You can guarantee that he doesn't see the irony between this and his irritation at AJ's lack of interest in history. Melfi admits she did let time pass, but it was because she wanted to let him get through his crisis about the suicide before confronting him. It doesn't matter that physically he didn't touch her, or that he put her tissue box back after knocking it over, or that he sent her flowers. He was aggressive, he was threatening, his apology is not enough to excuse his actions. Upset that his usual empty gestures aren't working, squirming in his seat as she tells him being angry is fine but he has to talk through that anger rather that lashing out, he turns it around on her and tries to blame her for "lying" to him. When she dismisses that, he tries to couch it as "withholding information" but she doesn't accept that either. For once she isn't letting him wriggle out from underneath, so he shifts to a form of bargaining. Okay he was wrong, and he knows it and admits it... but he has been exercising impulse control! He is in control of his anger! Shifting the goalposts so suddenly she is "wrong" about something she never actually said (just because he controlled his anger in one situation doesn't mean he controlled it in another where he demonstrably did lose control), he tells a very edited version of his encounter with the guy with a gun on Garside Street, and the woman who threw a bottle after his car. Melfi's angry remonstration that maybe he show HER the same courtesy he showed a crack addict gets them both laughing at the absurdity of it all. But while her point has been made, she has again let Tony largely get away with not accepting blame and making any effort to change that. The session ends with Tony accusing Melfi of screwing up with her recommendation of Wendi Kobler which almost resulted in Meadow going to Barcelona. Melfi fumes and he admits it's no excuse, but he still hasn't truly accepted that what he did was wrong.   Adriana is drinking wine and smoking as she "watches" the A-Team, which doesn't have much to offer in terms of advice on marital testimony, when Cosette starts yapping. Christopher has returned home, and he slowly approaches and settles down beside her, turning off the TV to remove all distractions. Finally he talks, saying he's been thinking about the kid thing. Because he is who he is, like Tony he can't fully accept blame without offering some justification, and so he reminds her that she lied to him about it and he's still not happy about it.... but he does want to try and work through it. Suddenly HE is the noble one, the one who is making the great concession in spite of HER transgressions. She looks up at him with sickening, pathetic gratitude and hope as she asks if he means it and he tells her the only thing she ever wants to hear, that she is forever desperate for him to acknowledge. He loves her and wants her in his life, and she grabs him tight, sobbing happily and kissing him as he deigns to accept her. But as she looks deep into his eyes with love... she realizes that he's high, and he rolls his eyes that she'd bring this up NOW. Once again she's on the defensive over the fact she had the temerity to be upset he's using heroin, saying she just wants to make sure what he is saying is real. It is, he promises, and instantly she caves and asks when they can get married, and radiates love when he says that they can go to Vegas on their anniversary and tie the knot. Instantly she can see the path to freedom laid out with a timeline at last, she just has to make it to the anniversary and take a trip to Vegas to marry her drug-addicted mobster boyfriend and everything will be wonderful forever! The first person she tells is Carmela, visiting her the next day to give her the exciting news. Carmela is delighted for all but also appalled at the notion of marrying in Vegas. Get married by an Elvis Impersonator to save money? No, it's a holy sacrament, it MUST be done right. But she has a suggestion, they can marry here in the Soprano home, either in the Great Room or even in the yard if the weather is right. Artie can cater it, Tony will be Best Man, and they'll still save money because Vegas will suck it all out of you, after all her cousin Jackie and husband lost 60k at blackjack! Adriana gapes, but her own desire for a quick marriage is already starting to be overtaken by her dawning realization that all her girlhood dreams are coming true. She and Carmela squeal in glee, she's getting married! And best of all, she'll be thinking the entire time, is that she'll be safe from the FBI at last, because of course A WIFE CANNOT TESTIFY AGAINST HER HUSBAND! On Garside Street, a homeless man goes through the crash as a couple of addicts share a cigarette outside. A car skids up to the curb and they instantly clear out, knowing that trouble is coming as three young gangbangers leap out with guns. Inside, the junkies smoke crack, a small girl watching her mother - the one who threw the bottle at Tony - smoke. The young thugs burst in through the door and start blasting up the walls and ceilings, attacking junkies with baseball bats, tossing them out windows, laughing in savage pleasure as they bash and break but specifically do not kill, having been warned that alone is forbidden. Angelo, the man who showed his gun to Tony, has it drawn now as he tries to get the drop on the gangbangers, but he's jumped from behind and beaten with a bat, and they go through his pockets, taking his drugs and his gun. Trying to stagger away after a beating, they shoot his own gun at the wall beside him and it ricochets into his thigh. They roar with laughter as his sister squeals in horror and tries to help him up, while they warn everybody to stay out of the house and into the car, zooming off as the sound of sirens approach. Angelo, his sister and her daughter make their way out onto the stoop, where in an odd piece of comic timing the old homeless man declares that he warned them that crack was "some bad poo poo". At Mid-County Bank (which has what appeared to be a horribly CGIed sign on the roof), Dr. Fried sells the properties he purchased only a couple weeks earlier to Maurice Tiffen's non-profit. The bank hands Fried a check for 1.3 million dollars, and with great sincerity he offers Maurice the best of luck in HIS efforts to become the new Donald Trump. They shake hands as the bank managers look on happily, pleased to see the transaction run so smoothly and knowing they have years of mortgage payments to look forward to in the future. Brian comes to see Tony at the house, and is lead down to the basement where Tony likes to conduct his meetings knowing that the FBI could never hear anything he says down here. He's feeling particularly grateful to Brian who has just helped him make an 800,000 profit in two weeks, and had bought him a Patek Philippe watch. Brian is flabbergasted, these things cost a fortune, but he's horrified when he discovers the reason behind the gift, when Tony explains he and Ralph "got lucky" on a real-estate investment. Realizing they followed through on his story about the scam property purchases, he quickly babbles that he was only speculating and never meant for them to actually do it. Tony just smiles and promises that his name will never come up in relation to any of this, and when Brian tries to protest about how the American taxpayers are the ones ultimately being screwed over, an amused Tony reminds him that the American taxpayers are also paying for airport security and look how that is going! Carmela calls from upstairs, thinking it's AJ down in the basement, and Tony calls back it is him and Brian, and Brian unnecessarily adds on that he was just getting some tools. As they leave, Tony remembers that and hands him a power drill to bring up with him. Upstairs, Carmela hears the doorbell and quickly checks her hair and makeup before answering the door for Furio, but finds himself surprisingly standoffish. Explaining that there is a problem with the car engine and he must stay with it to keep an eye on things, she is disappointed he won't be coming in for a coffee or to show her those photos. Wary about his earlier misstep in calling her up simply to hear her voice, Furio has decided discretion is the better part of valor and is going to try and keep his distance. Tony and Brian come upstairs and the latter offers a lame sounding explanation for why he needs the drill. Leaving with it and the Patek box, Carmela doesn't know what is inside but is savvy enough to know that Tony has given him something. It's trouble, she brought her unconnected cousininto their lives to try and get her and Tony onto the more legitimate (and accessible) side of things money wise. She got her way to an extent there, but Tony's corrupting influence has quickly done its work on him, and she doesn't quite know how to feel about that.   Paulie has lunch with Johnny Sack at a restaurant with a killer view, admitting that sweet treats were the biggest thing he missed while in prison. Paulie is the one who brings up the subject of his dissatisfaction with his treatment by Tony, and Johnny is careful to defend Tony and his need to avoid seeing or speaking to Paulie while he was in prison. Johnny still wants to cultivate Paulie as an asset, but he doesn't want to go too far and be seen to be instigating anything, especially now that Paulie is free to move around again. But he listens with great interest as Paulie complains about how tight money is at the moment (the envelope stuffed with cash and no-show jobs ignored/forgotten in the interests of a bitch-session) while Tony and Hesh are rolling in cash. Johnny assumes he means the Frelinghuysen Avenue deal and is surprised to learn it was a DIFFERENT real estate scam involving Zellman, and Ralphie has been bragging about how much money they made from it. Johnny, who had made it clear to Tony during the sitdown with Carmine that Zellman was a shared asset, ponders this news and Paulie seems to realize he has said to much. He reminds him that they're just two old buddies shooting the poo poo and nothing they say should go beyond this room, and Johnny is quick to agree. But as a mollified Paulie goes back to eating his mousse, Johnny sits wondering how long before he can get the hell out of there and find out more about this real estate scam. Zellman meets with a constituent who is convinced the electrical transformers in the area are in some way dangerous, and he assures her that he will commission a study to confirm that they are safe. As he leaves he spots Tony driving by and decides to pop down to Garside Street, giving instructions to his assistant and sending them back to the office. At the site of the former crackhouse, the places are being gutted by Vito's crew as Tony gives him instructions on where to take different parts for salvage, completely unaware of his hypocrisy after lauding to AJ earlier about the importance of heritage and maintaining a building. Now he's happily going to sell off fireplace sconces to yuppies who "eat that poo poo up". Zellman arrives and asks if he'll be at the Bing tomorrow where the cash will be divvied up, and Tony says he still hasn't decided. They shake hands and Tony leaves, and a young black kid approaches and asks if nice houses will be going up here now instead. Zellman, who so casually told Maurice to send black gangbangers in to assault black drug addicts, can't bring himself to give a bullshit answer as he watches the houses be emptied of the last dime worth of value. The kid, used to disappointment, knows what the silence means and walks away. Adriana is trying on wedding dresses and and settled on what she wants, her recent depressed state completely gone as she thrills to the joy of preparing for her upcoming wedding. As the clerk heads away to get the seamstress, Adriana and her friend Terri giggle over gossip about the money given as gifts at wedding, and the lovely $40 that Bobby Canzoneri gave at one wedding which didn't even cover the cost of his plate of food. Unable to help herself, Adriana again brags about how one of the best things about getting married is the protection that comes with it, because of course A WIFE CANNOT TESTIFY AGAINST HER HUSBAND! Terri nods and agrees... then thinks about it for a second and says she isn't sure that is true. What is her basis for this? Well she saw it on an episode of Murder She Wrote! After watching Too Much Television for legal advice, Adriana finally does what she should have done the first time Danielle revealed she was Deborah: she goes to see a lawyer. There he destroys her hopes and dreams for a way out: the FBI can absolutely make her testify. Marriage only protects AFTER the fact, any crimes she knows about from before the wedding day are fair game. Any crimes discussed in the presence of a third party nullify marital privilege. Finally, if she discusses anything with Christopher that in itself is a crime, that also destroys privilege. The lawyer, a consultant who offers free legal advice, makes it as clear as he can. The FBI will spend huge amounts of money on a RICO case, so if they want her to testify, she is GOING to testify.   Silvio pays out 60k each to Zellman and Maurice for their part in the HUD scam, a hefty amount of money that still leaves Tony and Ralph with close to 700k profit. Ralph of course wants more, noting there are plenty of poor families in Newark looking for affordable housing. Silvio and Ralph head out first, and Maurice keeps Zellman back a moment to ask if he is okay, saying he's been quiet and he's worried there might be hard feelings between them. Zellman says he is fine, but once they step out to the main floor of the Bing, he asks Maurice if he ever feels bad about how far they've strayed from their original intentions. Maurice admits that he used to think what he did made a difference, but over time he slowly learned that all he can do is the best he can, and cutting corners, taking bribes, assisting with scams etc is something that somebody else would do if he wouldn't. He says this while living in a beautiful home with a family who clearly have every advantage, and he sent gang members he was supposed to be helping in to beat on junkies rather than pay out 7k to cover the cost of some copper pipes they MIGHT have stolen. He scoffs when Zellman reminds him they were supposed to be part of a revolution, noting that the revolution got sold, and Zellman agrees that the thing that is bugging him most is that it feels odd to be rewarded with fat stacks of cash for doing what is 100% unmistakably the wrong, illegal and immoral thing. Maurice just laughs and suggests they go get something to eat, and they head out. A white guy and a black guy who found common ground in the 60s in equality and fighting the good fight, and continue to find common ground in the 21st Century through graft, corruption and fraud. They leave, while upstairs Tony - who was there but did not join them in the back - pours champagne and offers an ironic toast to the Federal Government before he, Silvio and Ralphie knock back their glasses. For them, there isn't even a hint of the guilt Zellman quickly discarded. At the Soprano home, Adriana is "enjoying" her bridal shower. As the other woman present cackle with laughter and also drink champagne, she does her best to keep a smile fixed on her face. Utterly miserable as they coo over cappucino makers, cuisinarts and other assorted gifts, she finds herself right back where she started... worse in fact, because at least before she had hope there was some way out. Now she knows she is doomed, and every day that passes sinks her just a little deeper into the trap the FBI put her into.   Tony is driving through the night bopping along to the radio when The Chi-Lite's My Girl begins playing again. Delighted, he begins to sing along, feeling exhilarated and on top of the world after his windfall. Except... he's not. As he sings, his voice falters, tears well up in his eyes, his breathing becomes heavier. All the signs of a panic attack are there, but it's not a panic attack, it's something different. Regaining control and a sense of purpose, he dries his eyes and pulls up outside Zellman's house, walking up to the door and leaning on the doorbell. Irina answers, surprised to see him, but he pushes past her and straight up to the bedroom where a sleepy Zellman is sitting up trying to figure out what is going on. Tony stares at him, Zellman stares back... and then Tony pulls his belt off, doubles it over and strides up a disbelieving Zellman and begins whipping him. Zellman, who so recently was claiming he felt he deserved punishment, sure as hell doesn't want it now and Tony viciously lays in strike after strike with the leather. Irina screams from the doorway, begging him to stop as Zellman cries out his name pathetically. Tony lashes and lashes, seething with rage until he's finally spent, then stares down with utter contempt and asks why of all the girls in New Jersey he had to gently caress this one? Sneering at him to go ahead and cry like a bitch, he turns and walks away, stopping to look at Irina. NOW she is looking only at him, NOW she doesn't turn away from him in favor of Zellman. Pleased that the natural order is restored, he gently strokes her face and leaves the room. Irina is left paralyzed with fear and confusion, looking from Zellman where he lays emasculated on the floor and back at the empty doorway where Tony has just walked out. All the way through, the music plays, and the credits roll.   Why the attack? Where was the impulse control? Does he want Irina back? I'd argue no, he had no interest in Irina at all. I think what drove him to this unwarranted lashing out stems on one level from Gloria's death but more deeply from his narcissism. Irina had moved on, like he always wanted, and found happiness with Zellman. But it was more than that. She improved. She changed. She matured. When Tony and Zellman were in the same room, she greeted him but then moved on, speaking with her partner, no longer doting on him like she once did. In other words, Zellman was the better man. Plus, if the only thing different in her life is the lack of Tony and her life has gotten better, does that mean that Tony was the cause of her problems? Was HE to blame (in his own mind) for Gloria's death? Is he that toxic person he kept demanding people tell him he was? So how does he react to this? He attacks Zellman, he emasculates him, breaks him down and makes him small. He makes Irina look only at him like she once did. He makes himself the center of attention, he in some mad way equates his beatdown of Zellman as proof of his own superiority. All this kicked off by the song, lyrics that he knew applied to Irina and Zellman but not Irina and himself. It doesn't matter that they shouldn't apply to him and Irina, or that he could conceivably believe they apply to him and Carmela. The important thing is that what he once had was gone, and he doesn't want to accept that it wouldn't just be there for him should he ever want it back. Because then he's not the center of the universe, and how could that possibly be? Oh girl, I'd be in trouble if you left me now 'Cos I don't know where to look for love I just don't know how Oh girl, how I depend on you to give me love when I need it Right on time you would always be there Season 4: For All Debts Public and Private | No Show | Christopher | The Weight | Pie-O-My | Everybody Hurts | Watching Too Much Television | Mergers and Acquisitions | Whoever Did This | The Strong, Silent Type | Calling All Cars | Eloise | Whitecaps Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Aug 4, 2019 16:47
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Great write up as usualquote:Tony steps out, wanting to be around when the actual details of the scam are discussed.
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Aug 4, 2019 18:48
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(ALL EXCLAIMING) for captions is pretty funny. I always thought it was weird that the sign behind Adrianna just said BRIDAL SHOWERJerusalem posted:Paulie has lunch with Johnny Sack at a restaurant with a killer view This place rules
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Aug 4, 2019 20:50
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Omg the way Edie Falco says "Marco" after shes thrown in the pool. loving Hilarious
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Aug 4, 2019 22:33
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As much as I love this, I'm awaiting your recap of Whoever Did This, which is actually my favorite episode of The Sopranos and I want to hear your take about Ralphie and Tony actions on it.
NutritiousSnack fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Aug 5, 2019 |
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Aug 4, 2019 23:52
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Before I get there, I do think it's pretty interesting how Ralphie is just apparently completely welcome at the Bada Bing again now and Tony doesn't even remotely seem to have an issue with his presence. Funny how a guy making him a lot of money makes him forget his outrage and disgust over Ralphie's unforgiveable crime, huh?EwokEntourage posted:Great write up as usual Thanks, fixed now. I had to cut a bunch of stuff to get under the character limit and must have dropped it out when I removed a redundant sentence before it.
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Aug 5, 2019 01:39
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Jerusalem posted:Before I get there, I do think it's pretty interesting how Ralphie is just apparently completely welcome at the Bada Bing again now and Tony doesn't even remotely seem to have an issue with his presence. Funny how a guy making him a lot of money makes him forget his outrage and disgust over Ralphie's unforgiveable crime, huh? Isn't the Esplanade in full swing by now? That's got to be hand over fist level money.
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Aug 5, 2019 01:45
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Yep, Carmine is siding with Ralph over his own Underboss in disputes because the money is so good. But Tony isn't even making a pretense of being forced to operate with Ralph, he's completely wholeheartedly accepted him now that all that money is coming in and he apparently doesn't have even the slightest thought about Tracee or the Bing being "disrespected" in the past. Ralph's just back like nothing ever happened.
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Aug 5, 2019 01:58
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Plus Tony basically gets a free horse out of the relationship and a sizable part of Ralph's winnings every race. It's not until the death of pie-o-my that he suddenly snaps back to remembering Tracy.
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Aug 5, 2019 04:26
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NutritiousSnack posted:As much as I love this, I'm awaiting your recap of Whoever Did This, which is actually my favorite episode of The Sopranos and I want to here your take about Ralphie and Tony on Did we ever find out how Ralph’s kid ended up? He was in a coma, right?
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Aug 5, 2019 06:56
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MrBling posted:Whenever I hear "gravy" all I can think of is Paulie in Italy trying to get some spaghetti and gravy and the waiter not understanding him. Apparently the guy who says Americans cut the ski cables was just some random passerby.
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Aug 5, 2019 14:05
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Your Gay Uncle posted:Did we ever find out how Ralph’s kid ended up? He was in a coma, right? The last time anybody talked about it - I think Ralph to Tony right before Tony kills him - said the prognosis was hopeful but we never get anything more. Dawgstar fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Aug 5, 2019 |
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Aug 5, 2019 15:40
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Dawgstar posted:The last time anybody talked about it - I think Ralph to Tony right before Tony kills him - said the prognosis was hopeful but we never get anything more. It's actually exactly what Ralphie wanted; the doctors say he'll walk again but he'll have to learn how to speak and other things. Jerusalem posted:Before I get there, I do think it's pretty interesting how Ralphie is just apparently completely welcome at the Bada Bing again now and Tony doesn't even remotely seem to have an issue with his presence. Funny how a guy making him a lot of money makes him forget his outrage and disgust over Ralphie's unforgiveable crime, huh? Ralphie had thought to earn even right after his son was in the hospital, though. It's one of the things Tony snapped at about Paulie about not getting over the phone call to his mother. I have my own theory on that outburst, but yeah I'm dismissive of you of it being a belated act of moral outrage. NutritiousSnack fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Aug 5, 2019 |
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Aug 5, 2019 16:11
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banned from Starbucks posted:Plus Tony basically gets a free horse out of the relationship and a sizable part of Ralph's winnings every race. It's not until the death of pie-o-my that he suddenly snaps back to remembering Tracy. Does he think about her again though? I figured a big part of what made Tony such a psychopath was his total lack of empathy for people who aren't his direct family (Tracee is pointed out as being Meadow's age why he initially feels remorse for her) and his excessive reaction to people who wrong animals (Pie-o-mie, Adrianna's dog, Irina feeding the ducks)
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Aug 5, 2019 16:42
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Bedshaped posted:Does he think about her again though? Empathy for Tony is a complicated issue. I think it's probably too simplistic to just make a blanket statement that he has no empathy for those that aren't his immediate family. It's the way he processes that empathy that I think sets him apart as broken person but also a very scary one. He's developed extremely potent rationalization skills that he uses to absorb those feelings of empathy when they come up and make sure that they fit in with what's required of someone in his position as the head of an organized crime family. Just killed my best friend? Well that's ok because he was a rat, I was justified. Just took a childhood friend for everything he has and forced him into bankruptcy? Well that's ok because I warned him in advance what he was getting into and he didn't listen. These things pile up with Tony as he's forced to do what is "necessary", and it certainly takes a toll on his psyche. But the idea of living his life a different way just never gets any serious consideration because much like Ray Liotta says at the end of Goodfellas, the biggest fear someone like Tony has is to be forced to live the mundane life of a nobody. The culture has been built up around that idea for so long(long before Tony was even born) that it causes Tony to have this identity crisis where deep down he knows he's a terrible person but outwardly he can never take the steps towards real improvement or evolution. So that's why I think you get little instances where empathy slips in, you see Tony feel something for these fleeting moments. Typically he struggles with it for a period of time, something happens, and he's able to push it to the side and do what is "necessary". It's a haphazard way to live and it's what causes Tony all the psychological stress, and I think a real sociopath that doesn't experience empathy at all would have a much easier time of it.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:00
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If you look at most real life examples a lot of these guys only leave the life when forced to, and at least some of the guys that do leave end up getting in trouble again because they have no idea how to live normally. With Tony, I don't think it's just the desire for that type of life that gets in the way of him processing his feelings properly. It's also his own pride. Tony is extremely self absorbed, and he insists that everyone else fits into his view of what life should be. When they inevitably don't, problems arise. I think even if he did manage to leave the life he'd struggle with his own pride and maybe not ever be able to adjust to allowing people to breathe around him and be themselves.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:10
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Basebf555 posted:So that's why I think you get little instances where empathy slips in, you see Tony feel something for these fleeting moments. Typically he struggles with it for a period of time, something happens, and he's able to push it to the side and do what is "necessary". It's a haphazard way to live and it's what causes Tony all the psychological stress, and I think a real sociopath that doesn't experience empathy at all would have a much easier time of it. That's a fascinating point. Like we'll see in a bit Tony come to the defense of the kid who injured Ralphie's son. Although the question becomes if he'd have felt the same if it was AJ and I don't know if it's as simple an answer as "lol no."
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Aug 5, 2019 18:20
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I think the beatdown on Zellman (someone was wondering WHY Tony did it) was entirely triggered by the song. Specifically the lyrics which seemed to seem to ignite him Oh girl, I'd be in trouble if you left me now 'Cos I don't know where to look for love, I just don't know how Oh girl, how I depend on you to give me love when I need it Right on time you would always be there All my friends call me a fool They say let the woman take care of you So I try to be hip and think like the crowd But even the crowd can't help me now Oh girl tell me, tell me what am I gonna do? And I know I've got a guilty face Girl I feel so out of place Yeah girl, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? If you leave me baby what am I gonna do? I don't know where to go, who to see yeah Oh girl, I guess I'll never know I can save myself a lot of useless tears Girl I've gotta get away from here Oh girl, girl, girl pain will double if you leave me now 'Cos I don't know where to look for love and I don't I don't know how, oh no Oh girl, girl, why do I love you so? I really wanna know, I really wanna know ... So he starts bawling. But that's a sign of weakness. So, rather than be weak or vulnerable, his immediate reaction to crying and becoming emotional is to exert strength and violence. Being a man. Gary Cooper. Before he beats Zellman, he says "I'm perfectly calm" and he kind of is. Calmer than he was in the car anyway since now he's back to dealing with emotions the way he knows how, saving himself the "useless tears"
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Aug 5, 2019 18:33
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I really like how initially it is constructed to look like he might be having another panic attack, but you quickly realize he's actually about to break down crying which for a guy like him is an even bigger no-no than fainting. So he sucks back his tears, drives to Zellman's and beats the poo poo out of him in some hosed up effort to prove his "manhood" and re-exert a sense of control. We frequently see during the show that Tony takes things too far on the spur of the moment for the immediate satisfaction it gives him, only to almost immediately regret it when he realizes the consequences. This thing with Irina/Zellman doesn't immediately blow up in his face, but when it does..... ooooooh boy. NutritiousSnack posted:I have my own theory on that outburst, but yeah I'm dismissive of you of it being a belated act of moral outrage. I might be misreading you, but if you're talking about Tony and Ralph in Whoever Did This then I haven't said it was a belated act of moral outrage as far as I know!
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Aug 5, 2019 20:53
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In this last episode, Adriana is watching a show called Murder One. Her friend alter references Murder, She Wrote. Has anyone seen either/both of the episodes referenced dealing with marital privilege?
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Aug 6, 2019 23:48
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Yep, Murder One was a flawed show with a neat concept that was sadly a little ahead of its time in terms of Network television: they dealt with a single high profile case across the course of a season, including all the pre-trial stuff, jury selection, legal research etc. The show was completely carried by Daniel Benzali's performance but he wasn't a particularly charismatic leading man, they sold him as incredibly competent, intelligent and legally ruthless but he fell through when it came to making viewers care about his personal life/marriage problems etc. The episode in question was part of a larger over-arching thing of the various hangers-on of the celebrity accused of murder trying to exploit the situation or get involved in the legal defense etc, all of their efforts generally loving everything up for the lawyers who had to deal with all of this on top of the legal defense.
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Aug 7, 2019 05:15
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Looking forward to the next few write-ups, I just watched Whoever Did This and that one is a real doozy.
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Aug 9, 2019 14:19
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I'm working on Mergers and Acquisitions right now! Got held up the last few days unfortunately.
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Aug 10, 2019 04:26
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Season 4, Episode 8 - Mergers and AcquisitionsAdriana La Cerva posted:You can tell everything about a man by the way he treats women. At the Soprano household, Furio has come inside this time instead of keeping his distance and waiting in the car. Carmela is all over him, hovering and offering treats and comfort. But there is nothing sexual here, nothing romantic or illicit outside of Carmela's strong mothering instinct coming to the fore for a man she is attracted to. Furio's father is dying of cancer and he's received very bad news indicating he is close to death. Furio is set to return to Italy to be with him before he dies, and he admits that though he plans to come back, immigration may make it difficult for him. Tony comes down the steps and is surprised to see Furio still there. Sympathetic and worried himself, he insists that Furio forget about his duties and get to the airport so he can be with his family. But when Furio unloads a little of his emotions about the cancer's cruel treatment of his father, Tony cuts him off with a brusque offer of money. It's not that Tony doesn't care, but he also doesn't want the hear any of the unpleasant details (and the reminder that we're all mortal). So he just goes what he has always done: equates love with money and just jabs a wad of it at Furio in much the same way he recently did to Artie. Furio tells him he'll be okay, but apologizes that Tony now has to find a new driver at short notice. Again Tony tells him not to concern himself, he'll find a backup driver easily enough (or he could, you know, drive himself).   Unfortunately for Tony, that backup is Paulie. That night they drive through the streets and Paulie for one has no problem going into the grisly details of Furio's father's sickness. He's curious as to whether he needs to wear a colostomy bag, explaining that his mother might be needing one before shifting to his favorite subject (and one he probably things brings him closer to Tony) of his mother moving into Green Grove. Tony, in no mood for reminders of his own mother on top of everything else, angrily cuts Ralphie off to complain that everybody is gonna get old and die, implying that it is Paulie who has the problem with this when it is clearly himself that does. Paulie, who after all IS a Captain, silently files away this insult with all the other ones he's been stewing over and asks if he'll need to drive Tony tomorrow too. Now Tony insists he can drive himself, and when Paulie insists he's happy to do it since he has nothing else to do, Tony explains he actually has an important meeting over a delicate situation. Turns out that's golf. He's playing a round with his lawyer Neil Mink, who encourages him to keep up his current strategy of staying away from the front line and not involving himself openly with the daily business of the Mob. He endorses Tony's policy of now only communicating orders through Christopher and Silvio. Tony, who doesn't like reminders of old age and mortality, claims to be looking to the future, he doesn't want to have to celebrate Meadow's first child while he's in prison. Christopher is quickly discovering the downside of this arrangement, as he's woken from sleeping peacefully with Adriana beside him to jerking awake when his phone rings and Tony's on the other end calling from a payphone laying out lengthy instructions on things he must get done today: who runs their car smuggling operation in Furio's absence (Patsy); how much Patsy has to kick up (10 points. 7.5 to Tony, 2.5 to Paulie; plus Christopher and Silvio had to work out between them who pays the Longshore Union and how much, with Tony backing up whichever decision they came to. Christopher hurriedly makes notes on all of this, except he couldn't find a pen and paper in his bleary-eyed (but not drugged up for a change) state so he's simply written it all down with a marker on the pillow-slip, which causes a squawk of protest from Adriana when she notices. With all that out of the way, Tony hangs up satisfied that the day's work is not set to proceed and he doesn't need to be anywhere near it and risk getting caught by the FBI. Standing somewhat at a loss, he decides to go enjoy a day at the mall, a free man with no responsibilities that the FBI can't pin anything on.  It hasn't even been a whole day yet! While Tony is bored out of his mind trying to preserve his freedom and thus the family's financial security, Carmela for once has something other than money and the future on her mind. When Tony takes her out to dinner with Brian and Janelle at Vesuvio's, she finds herself lost in thought staring at the mural of Naples, the music from Furio's housewarming playing in her head until Tony finally brings her back to reality. When Artie arrives to take their dessert order he is far from his normal garrulous self, and he and Tony don't make eye contact as Tony takes it upon himself to order dessert for everybody. This has cleared Carmela's head though and she decides to ask Brian a financial question, enjoying the chance for a change to actually take part in the family's future financial planning: what should they do with the money they made from a recent real estate sale? Brian is surprised, asking if she is talking about HUD, thinking that Tony has made her aware of his recent scam with Zellman, and Tony quickly interjects to make it clear she means Frelinghuysen Avenue. Brian quickly catches on and follows with Tony's assurance that the money all went into the trust, saying he locked them into some T-Bills before the rates dropped. Carmela accepts this on the surface level, but it's too late, the seed has been planted and now she knows Tony has made some other big sale without her knowledge but which HER cousin Brian is seemingly fully aware of. This is still on Carmela's mind when she joins Rosalie at the Church's charity drive, where plenty of people are donating newborn size nappies (the equivalent of donating cans of creamed corn to a food drive). Rosalie notes that whatever they give the pregnant women at the ladies shelter they should be grateful for, since nobody told them to get pregnant before marriage! Father Intintola doesn't call her out on being so judgmental, after all he relies on the likes of Carmela and Rosalie to give not only their volunteer support but money as well, so he just walks away, a real paragon of moral leadership. Ironically, Rosalie is quick to talk Father Phil up once he's gone, noting how much she appreciated his support after Jackie Aprile died and she was completely helpless, having no idea how to pay bills or take care of anything since Jackie had always done all that for her. Carmela acknowledges her own concerns, while she is the one who pays all the household bills, like Jackie Tony doesn't let her know any of the actual financial goings-on. When Rosalie tells her that she didn't find out how much money they had till after Jackie died and that what he left her was "not really" enough to survive on, it leaves Carmela freshly concerned in spite of the Trust. Rosalie admits it is hard to quantify how much is ever enough anyway, but Carmela's point is that not knowing is the problem. She could prepare herself if she knew numbers, but she's living in a state of ignorance. She puts up with "this goomar poo poo", the least Tony could do is give her more input into their finances. She does admit that Tony at least met her halfway by agreeing to the Trust and working with Brian on investments, but even there recent events have her wondering, after all Tony has a habit of pulling people into his circle and corrupting them to his own ends.   In the middle of this whole conversation, there's a point where Carmela is quick to assure Rosalie that not only does she not consider herself a feminist, but that she also isn't even looking for a 50-50 relationship with Tony, just to have at least some knowledge/part in their future. It's so sad to see that even an intelligent woman like Carmela with a very justified concern AND an example in Rosalie to point to is still qualifying her push for more information with an endorsement of the traditional gender roles of their marriage. Hell, the bills she pays come from money Tony gives her as an "allowance", and I can't be the only one who finds that concept incredibly condescending and creepy? At the stables, Tony meets with Lois to look over Pie-O-My, whose condition has improved well and has now been fitted with titanium hooves to deal with winter conditions on the track. Tony is lavishing her with love, she's still colicky and he happily baby-talks to her about it as Ralphie arrives with his usual overbearing entrance, "jokingly" complaining about Tony's horse whispering and the cost of the new hooves. In Ralphie's wake is a beautiful young Cuban-Italian woman in a fur coat named Valentina La Paz, his new girlfriend who works in an art gallery and is helping him to "enlarge his collection". Tony is pleasant but otherwise uninterested (he only has eyes for Pie-O-My) until Valentina steps back and asks Ralphie to help her get an eyelash out of her eye. As he checks on her, she repositions him so he steps back into horse-poo poo, and she cackles happily as Ralphie becomes infuriated, explaining it's more than a prank, it's good luck. Lois agrees, noting that the superstition only works if it happens by accident, and Ralph is left with no choice but to take it in "good" grace despite his irritation at being made to look the fool. Tony, on the other hand, is absolutely delighted, and suddenly he only has eyes for Valentina. Ralphie goes to wash his shoe off and Valentina and Tony are left alone, where he admits he found the joke funny but he also has an 8-year-old boy's sense of humor. Valentina suggests Tony go and see an artist she knows who specializes in horses, saying he could get a lovely piece on Pie-O-My put up in his office, and hands over her card to him to call her if he is interested. Tony of course is VERY interested, just not necessarily in the art. At Green Grove, Miss Giaculo is giving the welcome talk to Paulie's mother Nucci, while Benny and Little Paulie shift the boxes into her room. Paulie is beaming with pride at having put his mother into such an expensive (and therefore more loving) home, and takes her with him so they can eat lunch together. On the way they bump into "Cookie" Cirillo and Minn Matrone, the former a permanent resident and the latter all paid up and a regular visitor but yet to move in as she waits on hip surgery. They happily greet Nucci who is delighted to see them both, and Paulie is just as happy to see his mother will have friends, though he manages to pleasantly insult them both in his greeting regardless. However he is the one given offense when Nucci excuses herself to the bathroom and Cookie warns him (Minn watching approvingly) that Nucci can't sit with them in the dining room, they're a set group with no space for her. Paulie is disturbed but quickly puts it aside and ignores Cookie's warning to pinch her cheek and tell her he's sure she'll work something out to accommodate his mother.   At home, Tony is thrilled by an expensive new Entertainment Center he's just had put into the poolhouse, a big screen TV showing The Fugitive, giant speakers to blast music from, all controlled from a single digital remote. Carmela is on her way out and steps inside, showing no disapproval for this extravagance and happily agreeing with Tony's clearly transparent excuse that this is intended as a family room for movies as opposed to a giant playhouse for himself. This is made apparent when she suggests that she'll pick up The Bedroom (which ironically heavily features a married couple who struggle to communicate with each other) and he seems surprised that she intends to use the space for its claimed purpose. But he agrees and she leaves, and he quickly shakes off his surprise and goes back to enjoying listening to Eric Clapton. Left alone by the technician who installed everything, he falls asleep and only wakes when Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon reaches the end of Eclipse. Switching back to The Fugitive, he grabs some popcorn and watches Richard Kimble trying to solve his wife's murder as he rifles about in his pocket, pulling out the card that Valentina gave him. It seems all that time alone in this "family space" has him thinking about something else entirely. Valentina takes Tony to meet with the artist she mentioned at his studio, where he looks over a photograph of Tony, Ralphie and Pie-O-My and offers all the appropriate compliments on the horse in his efforts to get the commission. Tony's bigger concern is that he wants the painting of the photograph to remove Ralphie from the image, and the artist mistakes this for a desire for ONLY Pie-O-My to be there. No, Tony wants to remain, he just wants the horse's actual owner gone, and the artist is quick to agree that it would make for a better commission. Valentina suggests going for a pastoral setting rather than the race track in the photo, and gives Tony the nod when the artist says the cost of painting and framing will be $6500. What Valentina's piece of this will be who knows, but while the artist is clearly a bit of a hack (he even gets Pie-O-My's name wrong) he is giving his patrons exactly what they want, and as Meadow noted to Carmela in another episode, even the great renaissance painters were largely just doing commission work for portraits of the wives of rich people. Tony peels off the money immediately, the artist's eyes bugging out at the sight of all that cash, and he steps out to get Tony a receipt. Left alone, Tony toasts to Valentina as they enjoy the wine the artist poured for them, and Valentina suggests that on their way back to New Jersey they stop for a bite to eat. Tony, accepting the implication as perfectly reasonable from a beautiful young woman to an overweight middle-aged balding dad, casually accepts, and the next thing you know they're tucked away in a hotel room banging. The sex over, Tony steps into the bathroom to freshen up. Valentina settles down at the table where their meals have been left waiting, and when Tony joins her she can't resist playing a prank. She's loosened the top of the salt shaker, and breaks into giggles when he spills salt all over his food. Amused if a little irritated by his meal being ruined, he demands a kiss in return and takes pleasure in grabbing her plate when she cheekily refuses, "threatening" to dump it out the window. She immediately promises to be good and a freshly invigorated Tony easily hauls her up to his side and carries her one-armed back to the bed and climbs back on top of her. They're both having a great time, the only negatives coming when she notices she lost a nail, and when Tony unnecessarily reminds her that obviously Ralph can never know about their little fling. Tony's good mood continues even after returning back to New Jersey, but having banged her he's now got other priorities in mind. She intrigued him and aroused him, and so he took her out, spent a lot of money and then got to screw her, but now that he's gotten what he wanted he's decided it is time to get out while the getting is good. In a way it's actually "admirable", for once he's realized that no good can come from a long-term affair and just decided to end it. Stopping at a jewellery store, he picks out a diamond miniature horseshoe and purchases it as a gift to be sent to her, along with a card in which he thanks her but makes it clear that the fling is over. After a momentary consideration, he asks for another card to change his message, and hilariously proceeds to write EXACTLY the same thing with a slightly different send-off... after all, it is one thing to stick your dick inside a woman, but what if she thinks you have feelings for her!?!   At Green Grove's Monte Carlo night, Nucci agonizes over whether to stay on 18 at the Blackjack Table or take another hit. Finally she asks for another card, and the dealer carefully asks her if she's REALLY sure she wants to do that. When she busts on 24, Cookie is disgusted, how could she hit on 18? She's doubly-disgusted when she's dealt a 10 and also busts out, the 6 that Nucci got would have given her Blackjack! Nucci is confused and sad at Cookie's disgust, and her insistence that she leave the table and go play roulette instead. At home, Tony is brushing his teeth while Carmela sings in the shower. Looking over in her direction, Tony can't resist and pours a glass of water from a tap, sneaks up and then tosses it over the door before running away in glee as she squeals in alarm. She lurches out of the shower in a fury and he is delighted by her reaction, but though she can't help but smile she isn't going to let go of her anger, reminding him he did it on their honeymoon and she made him promise not to do it again. Enjoying himself immensely, Tony thinks this is all fun and games and can see she is amused in spite of herself... until she blurts out that for once she'd like him to keep a promise. She instantly regrets it, but it can't be unsaid, and now Tony's good mood has vanished. Her point is legitimate, he DOES break every promise, but as she herself noted to Rosalie their relationship is NOT an equal one, and now she is the bad guy and the cause of the problem between them as he sulks his way out of the bathroom. At Bergen North High School, Paulie sits next to a troublemaking young student, a seat he probably often occupied in his own youth. He's greeted by the Principal, Chuckie Cirillo, one of Paulie's old schoolmates who Paulie used to happily bully way back in 9th grade. Chuckie should be assured of his position, he has authority, respect and is the king of his own small domain, but Paulie's arrival back in his life brings to mind the days when he was "pizza face" who wore glasses. Paulie has brought him a gift, a clearly stolen piece of luggage that he insists he accept. He's come to talk about their mothers, he feels that Nucci is being ostracized due to the influence of "that malignant oval office" Minnie Matone. Chuckie is shocked at the language, but just as concerned about the fact that Paulie seems to be suggesting that he go and tell his mother she has to start being friendlier with Paulie's. He points out that while he can talk to her, it's his mother's decision, and becomes uneasy as Paulie cheerfully, charmingly, implicitly threatens him. His mother always stood by him in spite of all the trouble he got into, in spite of his penchant for trouble and violence in his youth that he is STILL capable of to this day, so now he is returning the favor. The message is clear, and he leaves Chuckie having done what so many in the Mafia are so good at, threatening physical violence and death without ever explicitly saying a thing. It's just that this time instead of intimidating a Union member or a witness or a store owner, Paulie is using his powers to force old ladies to befriend his unpopular mother.   Carmela is getting ready to fold the laundry just out of the dryer when something falls out of Tony's pants. Picking it up, she's revolted to discover Valentina's missing nail. Her earlier words about putting up with "this goomar poo poo" must be haunting her as she stares at this undeniable proof of her husband's ongoing infidelity ON TOP of his continuing efforts to hide the details of their financial situation from her. Suddenly her guilt over demanding he keep at least one promise has turned to rage, and she tosses his pants across the room in a burst of anger. Tony goes out to dinner with Silvio, Christopher, Patsy and assorted girlfriends. Tony's date for the evening is the Icelandic woman, who charms Patsy with her stories but fails to keep Tony's attention as he focuses on Silvio and Christopher quietly confering at the bar. Joining them, he asks what is up and insists on more details when they note it is just a little business. Silvio is surprised, after all he's made a big point out of NOT wanting to know the finer details to shield himself from prosecution, but he is the Boss so what he says goes. Silvio explains the two of them agreed that the union guys should get a bigger percentage of the Perth Amboy deal than the customs guys. Tony, who had already told Christopher he would back whichever decision they went with on this deal, is outraged. More to the union guys? He ignores Silvio's confused protest that everybody actually seemed pleased with the decision, complaining that now it is on him to go and check in on this with everybody from the Harbor Master on down which he was expressly trying to avoid. Again though, he's the Boss, so despite the fact he's given them two contradictory orders, Silvio and Christopher both agree that they're happy to renegotiate the deal the other way. Tony warns them not to make him HAVE to go down to Perth Amboy himself, complaining that he's trying to free himself up to think more globally than this. Chastised, they follow him back to the table, exchanging a glance that shows they're both on the same page of being utterly confused by his outburst but resigned to going along. The truth of the matter of course is that he would have been upset even if the decision had gone the other way. We learned a long time ago that Tony gets bored if he's not forever in action, or worse he starts having to face up to the reality of what a scumbag piece of poo poo he is, and his latest attempt to shield himself from legal problems was doomed to failure in the same way his prior effort to spend his days at the Waste Management office was. They settle back down at the table where Patsy is complaining to his goomar about her unadventurous cuisine choices, their relationship is seemingly old enough (15 years!) that they're more like a husband/wife than unfaithful man/exciting mistress. In the middle of this well-worn argument, Ralphie arrives with his VERY exciting girlfriend Valentina who nervous greets a polite but reserved Tony, while everybody else has a chuckle over the horse-shoe stunt that apparently everybody now knows about, causing Ralphie to quietly fume at his loss of dignity. They leave to seat at another table and Tony can't help but hear Ralphie warn her not to screw with the salt-shaker, making him realize that she's shared this same fun prank with another man, that another man has enjoyed (and is enjoying) this intimacy with her. She looks over at him and offers an apologetic shrug at their shared presence, and he excuses himself from the table as Silvio insists Christopher order something since he's getting "anorexic" (his lack of appetite probably stemming from his frequent heroin abuse). Tony goes to use a phone booth, and Valentina quickly joins him, handing back the horse-shoe and complaining about his "consolation prize". Jealous of his "blond" at the table and upset at his "sincere" break-up with her, she demands to know if she fucks better than her or sucks his dick better than her, getting up close and radiating an extraordinary Gloria Trillo vibe that SURELY Tony is aware of. Except seemingly not, as her smile at the absurdity of the situation makes him smile too, and he gives her the "blessing" of actually putting down the phone and talking seriously to her. He broke it off because she's seeing Ralph, admitting he lacks morals but he does have rules (that he follows only when it suits him), and though he admits that the day in the countryside was wonderful, there's something that just can't be fixed. She looks up at him with big eyes waiting for the reveal, and with deliberate cruelty designed to put a breach between them, he sneers that he simply doesn't want to be where Ralph has been. She's furious, just as he intended, he thinks now she'll want nothing to do with him, but when he tries to leave she suddenly hits him with a surprising fact: she and Ralph don't have sex, he's some kind of freak. Confused, he asks if they really don't have sex and she hesitates just a second too long, trying to explain it, and he takes that as proof that they do and cuts her off. He insists she leave first so he can return a minute later, and then walks to the bar and eats snacks from the bowl, still unable to take his eyes from her as she turns on the charm expertly with Ralph once she has rejoined him at the table.  Carmela sits fuming in bed, she has no idea where Tony is but she can probably easily guess that wherever it is he isn't holding true to the sanctity of their wedding vows. Finally giving up on reading her book, she tosses it across the room and gets up, trying to shake out the energy from her rage. Looking out the window towards the pool house, a long held suspicion rises to the surface and she makes her way outside, approaching the storage for the birdfeed which of course she finds firmly locked with a padlock. She grabs a nearby shovel and tries to pry it open to no success, and finally gives up, left frustrated and no closer to an outlet for her anger. Nothing comes of this that night, and Tony remains in blissful ignorance of Carmela's discovery as he spends another day working out of his office at the Bada Bing. He answers the phone, irritated that it is Valentina on the other end, moreso when he discovers she is calling him Ralph's place. She quickly assures him he's gone, and then asks again to explain what she struggled to say at the restaurant. The truth is that Ralph does not have sex like regular people, and while the two do have "sex" it is not in any sense what Tony would consider sex. Amusingly she gets Tony's attention only when she explains that Ralph is too kinky even for her despite the fact she's done threesomes and had sex with other women, he can't help but listen now which allows her to lay out Ralph's peculiarities. He has her drip candle wax on his balls, he asks her to rub his dick raw with a cheese grater etc, and if she does these things (she refused the cheese grater) then he'll go to the bathroom afterwards to masturbate. THAT is their sex. Tony is disgusted but also fascinated, but takes Silvio and Patsy's arrival as an excuse to cut off the call, not even answering her question on whether they will talk again. Hanging up, he ponders for a moment and then asks the others if they think Ralph a little... weird about women? Silvio considers this and then points out that maybe, after all he did beat one to death for.... and here Silvio falls short, because he honestly cannot remember why Ralph did it, and he clearly feels zero emotional connection to what was the horrifying and brutal murder of one of his own employees right outside the very building they're currently sitting in. Tony attends therapy where he asks Melfi about the situation, his unease with seeing Valentina and his concerns about Ralph's sexual proclivities. Melfi suggests he is feeling guilt for cuckolding Ralph, but Tony dismisses that out of hand, pointing out that in any case she's his goomar and not his wife. This leads into a breakdown of just what a goomar's status is, with Tony dreamily regarding a largely fictional "old days" when a goomar had a legitimacy and you didn't have to be quite so careful about hiding her away, when they were a "sort of a second wife". With great pleasure he tells her about how a business associate of his actually has two full families, with his second wife busting his balls identical to the first. That he sees no issue with this (in fact, he clearly endorses it) is telling, in his mind it is somehow the male who is hard done by the fact that he can't openly cheat on his wife with another woman who he not only has sex with but maintains a relationship with: dinner, dates, emotional attachment etc. Melfi is amused, but their time is up so she has no interest in pushing him further on this. To her surprise though, he insists that they are NOT done, asking for another minute, ignoring her protest that she has another patient waiting. He wants to talk more about Ralph, is it really possible for a man to go out with a woman without having sex with her? To have them simply hurt him and then go masturbate? Melfi agrees this is possible, if somebody is a masochist with a paraphilia, the humiliation or punishment itself serves as the sexual act. The thinking is that this usually stems from childhood trauma, though of course it isn't a 1:1 thing, but Tony's "friend" probably had a controlling and domineering mother whose acts of love manifested through abusive behavior. Tony is pissed again at this, does it always have to go back to the mother? Melfi just shrugs, because she knows that in Tony's case at least this is absolutely the case, EVERYTHING goes back to Livia Soprano, but he sure as hell doesn't want to hear that.   But Tony still isn't done, he wants a definitive answer that Melfi cannot give, he wants to know if it is possible that Ralph's dick has never been inside Valentina (adorably, he refers to this as "penissary" contact with her "volvo"). She points out that this is obviously something she can't answer for him, and he finally leaves therapy frustrated at having no clearer answer. Driving home, he calls Valentina at her work, but when she answers images flash through his head of her and Ralph's intimacy in a different context to sex. He thinks of their embraces, their cute little touches of each other, their physical closeness, and that is enough. He hangs up without saying a word. Carmela once again sits fuming in bed, this time while Tony is the one in the shower singing away happily. She doesn't intend to throw cold water over him though, the television is airing a business program where coincidentally the subject of conversation are widows who have been left adrift by the deaths of their husbands who had done all the financial planning independent of their wives. Unable to tolerate this any longer, seeing Tony's shower as the perfect opportunity, she goes through his pockets and finds his keys, then rushes outside to the birdfeed and opens the padlock. Rifling through the bags of birdseed her suspicions are confirmed, despite Tony's protests to the contrary there is plenty of money still being kept inside the house. Grabbing out stacks of $100 bills, she quickly replaces the bag, closes the padlock and rushes back to the bedroom to return the keys to Tony's pocket. At last she has taken matters into her own hands, now some of that money that is supposedly theirs is hers to do with as she sees fit. Meanwhile Paulie has found himself in his own untenable situation, as his mother has fallen into a depression and refuses to even get out of bed to enjoy all the benefits of this VERY expensive In Italy, Furio attends the funeral service for his father, whose cancer finally got the best of him. Joined by his uncle, they stand under the scorching sun as his uncle assures him there is no reason to grieve for his father, after all he lived a long life and had lots of women, and that is the best you can hope for. Furio admits that seeing Naples from the airplane gave him a hardon to be back "home", but since he landed he notices garbage everywhere, signs of decay and disorder that don't match the romantic memories he carried with him. His uncle knows there is something more to his unease, and Furio admits there is a woman, which makes total sense to the uncle her urges him to go back to her... until he learns that the woman is the wife of the Boss. He is relieved to learn that Furio isn't loving Carmela, that he hasn't even kissed her and doesn't even know if Carmela is aware of his feelings (she's not, she just yearns for them), and insists that Furio stay away from her. He pulled a lot of poo poo in his life but he never hosed the Boss' wife, because the Boss will ALWAYS find out, and they will ALWAYS kill you for that kind of poo poo. Getting a call from his lawyer, he offers one last piece of advice before he takes it: if he wants to be with Carmela, he must kill Tony. That is the only way it can happen, and Furio - deadly, dangerous and uncompromising Furio - admits that this is something he has already thought about.   Carmela is pouring coffee when she sees an episode of Mario Eats Italy is one. Looking at the fat Mario Batali in his sunglasses and lovely beard eagerly talking about food, her eyes focus in on his ponytail and she finds herself transported back to her fantasy enhanced memory of dancing with Furio. Tony meets with Ralph in the back office of Crazy Horse, where they discuss Pie-O-My who is set to return to racing in two weeks time. An irritated Adriana brings them drinks, pissed when Ralph complains that she didn't bring enough olives and should know her regular customer's desires. She reminds him that her regular customers actually pay for their drinks and stalks out, and Tony asks why he treats her that way. Ralph insists it's just banter and that she likes it, Tony for once being completely in tune with a woman when he notes that she doesn't like it and she clearly doesn't like Ralph himself either. Ralph is indifferent, saying he doesn't care what any "little slit" thinks of him, agreeing that this also goes for Valentina when Tony "casually" brings her up (pretending he doesn't even remember her name). Ralph brags about the amazing sex the two have, suggesting he may even marry her, and then Adriana returns and slams an entire container of olives onto the table in front of him. Tony is delighted by this of course, while Ralph - who doesn't like being the butt of any joke - seeks to regain his semblance of the upper hand by critiquing her for being snotty, quoting his late mother who said you caught my flies with honey than vinegar. He slips cash into her waistband, a definite step too far even if she wasn't Christopher's fiance, she even gives Tony a "Can you loving believe this?" look before pulling the cash out and throwing it in his face, telling him that HER mother told her not to let herself be talked down to by losers. Walking out, she adds that you can tell everything about a man by the way they treat women. Tony is thrilled by Adriana, but he also takes this opportunity to investigate further Melfi's "diagnosis", asking Ralph if he ever thinks about his mother. "She's dead" is Ralph's disinterested response, and before Tony has a chance to dig any deeper he unceremoniously declares he has to go and makes his departure. Paulie meets with Miss Giaculo to discuss his mother's exclusion, which she insists on calling a "difficult adjustment period". When Paulie complains that he spends a lot of money for his mother to be there (so does everybody else!), she counters by agreeing that while this place can be like "high school with wheelchairs", Nucci herself has to accept a level of responsibility for her treatment. At first Paulie is outraged, until she explains that Nucci is constantly crying no matter what the situation is, she often doesn't wear her dentures AND she's a tattletale who tells on other residents for any infraction they might make. This last one more than anything gets to Paulie, he's devastated because of course for him being a snitch is the worst thing possible (unless you want to get back at Ralphie Cifaretto!), and he has to face the fact that maybe Nucci not having friends isn't entirely the fault of the other women. Tony stops at a payphone and puts through a call to Christopher, again sleeping in bed with Adriana curled up in his arms. Tony wants to know about a recent shipment of washing machines, and Christopher makes the sleepy mistake of reminding him that he wanted to be left out of these kind of small-time decisions to lower his profile and risk. Tony is furious at Christopher questioning his right to be concerned, but gets distracted by a call on his cell. It's Valentina, and his anger quickly disappears as she flirts with him over the phone and asks to see him again. But he's still adamant they can't be together, though he agrees to meet with her for a coffee so she can pass on some news, suggesting the Coach House on Route 21 by noon. Hanging up, he goes back to Christopher who has fallen back asleep while waiting, jerking him up as he orders him and Silvio to meet with him at 2pm at "the other place". At the same time, Paulie has come up with a rather elegant solution to Miss Giaculo's explanation of his mother's fault... violence! Benny and Little Paulie chase a terrified Principal Cirillo through the halls of his own high school to intimidate him into making his mother play nice. At the Coach House, a fed up Tony is getting tired of waiting when a breathless Valentina arrives and apologizes for being late. She orders water and then, struggling to catch her breath, declares her news: she broke up with Ralph. Now she thinks they can be together, her neediness making her an enticing mixture of Irina and Gloria that should be setting off all kinds of warning bells in his head. If that didn't, what comes next must, as he reminds her he's a married man with two kids and she frantically assures him she only wants to see him a couple nights of week and then starts babbling to herself about how she always tells men she loves them too early. Tony insists again they can't be together, and he's smart enough to say exactly the wrong thing to turn her desire into hate, as he explains he can't be with her because hell, he already took Ralph's horse.... he leaves the rest hanging, the word "whore" unsaid but plain as day. His strategy works, she gives him a meaty slap across the face and storms out, leaving him free and clear... though not happy.  Carmela is also taking care of business, and in a far happier mood. She has been making the rounds of a variety of investment firms, paying out $9900 to open an investment portfolio. Ignoring one adviser's amused note that it sure is a coincidence that she is juuuuuuuust under the 10k cap that requires notification of the IRS, she happily lays out her desire for her portfolio: old economy, something safe from the permutations of the market, perhaps Treasuries? He sees no problem with that, and with great satisfaction she crosses another from her list: she's opened accounts at four different firms (2 separate ones at one firm), spending just under the 50k she took from the birdfeed. Like Tony admitted in a previous episode, once Carmela got into the market and did well, there would be no stopping her from wanting more. He never questioned her ability, he simply just... didn't want her to have the chance to realize that she would be better at handling their money than he himself is. Tony wanders the mall, bored out of his mind. He looks again at Valentina's business card, already second-guessing himself even after safely escaping the relationship. At Janice's, she is iron-printing photos of Bobby's kids onto an gigantic shirt for him to wear, yet another step in her campaign to win his affections and secure herself a place with a rising influence in the mob world. Tony comes through the door without a knock, but does at least ask permission before turning the television off (she was watching Robot Wars  ), explaining he needs to ask her something. Uneasy, he admits he has something awkward to discuss about Ralph, he wants to know about his sex life for "managerial reasons". Janice is not impressed, and certainly not in a mood to discuss her former sexual partners with her little brother. But though Tony was awkward about approaching her, now he has broached the subject he has no problem settling back and letting her own mind race to find an angle. As she insists this is a violation of privacy and trust regardless of her personal feelings towards Ralph, he doesn't respond, just confidently waits until finally she blurts out what was really at the heart of her "reluctance"... she wants three thousand dollars. Amused, he asks where that number came from and she admits she figured it was one he would agree to, and he happily acknowledges that she was right. The money settled, she's quick to violate Ralph's privacy and trust by explaining he bottoms from the top, enjoying filling in her supposedly worldly brother on his gaps in knowledge on kinks and non-traditional sexual dynamics. Ralphie is somebody who enjoys controlling his sexual partners but pretends he doesn't. She tells him about how she'd gently caress him with a strap-on and call him her bitch: it wasn't something she came up with, that was something he wanted from her. In her opinion, she doesn't think he could get hard by regular sex, and even if he could she doesn't think he'd want to.   Relieved by this secondary confirmation of Ralph's inability/unwillingly to actually have what Tony considers "real" sex with his girlfriends, he makes one of his trademark short-sighted stupid decisions that coincidentally also mean he gets to have what he wants immediately. He has called Valentina and told her he is willing to see her again, and with depressing eagerness she has jumped straight back into his arms despite his earlier insults. Postsex, she presses up tight against him, grateful but curious about why he'd changed his mind. With typical bullshit, he explains that he was just trying to get into the right headspace to "commit" to her fully and lavish her with the attention she deserves. It's bullshit but she eats it up like ice-cream, it's all she wanted to hear. Part of lavishing her with attention involves money, so back at home Tony goes to grab some more cash from the birdfeed, where he makes an unpleasant discovery. Despite the padlock being secure, when he unlocks it and goes into the bad, he finds one of the wrapped stacks of cash has been torn open and at least 50k is missing. Confused, he looks about, who could have gotten to the money and how? At Green Grove, a furious Cookie demands of her son and daughter-in-law why they've come to dictate to her that she must start being friends with Marianucci Gualtieri? The answer is obvious, her miserable son is sitting with his arm in a cast, and her daughter-in-law (who she mentioned earlier disliking) Lorraine is firm in pointing out that they were told this first attack was simply a warning. She accuses him of being afraid of them, which of course stabs right at Chuckie's sense of manhood, but Lorraine isn't stupid and doesn't hesitate to agree that OF COURSE he's afraid of them and so is she, and she's not going to let him get hurt over such a stupid thing. Cookie has a point when she notes she's 84 years old and should be beyond the point of being forced to be nice to anybody, but Lorraine doesn't really give a poo poo about her having to put up with Nucci. Chuckie can't look his mother in the eye, but Lorraine doesn't just wear the pants in the family, she also doesn't put up with guilt-trips at the expense of her husband's wellbeing. So she makes her own ultimatum, does Cookie value not having to be friends with Nucci over living at Green Grove? Because if she does, then she can go live in the "perfectly fine" Salvation Army home in Irvington. Cookie is horrified, and Chuckie finally meets her gaze, wracked with guilt, emasculated, miserable... but not protesting. Tony gets dressed and grabs his things from the bedside table... where he finds Carmela has left her rearguard action for what she knew would be the inevitable discovery of her theft. Next to Tony's keys and watch is a single fake fingernail, belonging to Valentina and found in his pants. He stares at it in alarm, because its presence there is not a declaration of war but a silent warning: she knows. She knows and she hasn't exploded in a rage or confronted him... but she knows.   Downstairs, Carmela calmly reads the newspaper. Tony comes quietly down and passes her by, trying to find a casual, relaxed pose in the kitchen. Without the slightest sign that anything is wrong she offers to make him a coffee. Noticing his clear unease, she directly asks him if something is wrong, and unsure how to deal with her out of character behavior he assures her everything is fine. AJ arrives and he jumps on the chance to ask if he's been in the backyard, pondering if maybe he's misread the situation. AJ of course hasn't been outside, it's freezing, and the pool guy hasn't been around either. Unsure what is going on but sensing something is off, AJ decides to go back to his room rather than deal with it. That leaves Tony and Carmela alone again, where she remains abnormally normal and he can't figure out how to deal with it. Now he KNOWS it must have been her that took the money out, and at war in his mind is his desire to confront her about it while fearing the backlash that will come since he knows that SHE knows about Valentina, or at least that there is another woman yet again. She's played him perfectly and he knows it, he has no choice but to capitulate when she asks him yet again if there is something he wants to discuss. Instead, he chooses discretion as the better part of valor. The triumph is hers, the infidelity he assumes is his right has come at a high cost this time, and they both know she has outplayed him. It doesn't need to be out in the open, in fact his only chance at dignity is to say nothing, leaving her to quietly enjoy her victory as a pitch perfect song cues up to play over the credits.... and the knowledge that against his best efforts she has managed to finally secure some say in her own financial future.   Season 4: For All Debts Public and Private | No Show | Christopher | The Weight | Pie-O-My | Everybody Hurts | Watching Too Much Television | Mergers and Acquisitions | Whoever Did This | The Strong, Silent Type | Calling All Cars | Eloise | Whitecaps Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Aug 10, 2019 10:22
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 16:44 |
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Patsy looks the most suburban dad looking out of Tony's whole crew.
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Aug 10, 2019 23:23
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