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Larry Boy as Sonny. Also the guy who played Morrie was also the Jewish guy with the motel who went to Tony. Dawgstar fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Aug 24, 2019 |
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Aug 24, 2019 21:46
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 15:24 |
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Leotardo also plays the mob connection in Raging Bull. His strongest film performance was that
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Aug 25, 2019 00:02
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Season 4, Episode 11 - Calling All CarsBobby Baccalieri posted:She couldn't even handle a Nancy Drew, it was too mysterious! Tony Soprano dreams. Sitting in the backseat of an old-style Cadillac, Tears of a Clown plays over the radio with obvious significance: Tony's oft-repeated claim to be "the sad clown". The grainy tone of the picture adds to the sense of the past, that this is something thas has already happened and thus that Tony has no control over. In the front seat, Carmela drives the car, and in the passenger seat beside her is a bald Ralph Cifaretto, a caterpillar crawling over the back of his head. This does not alarm Tony, nor the fact that he cannot hear the conversation Carmela and Ralph are having across the divide of the seat. But the voice beside him does alarm him, Gloria offers him a test drive but then becomes Svetlana, two former sexual partners who presented faked and real confidence respectively with the world. Seeing them in the seat across from him, seeing Carmela staring back from the driver's seat significantly at him, those things make him breathe hard, to feel a panic attack coming on. But whenever his gaze returns to Ralph and the now metamorphosed butterfly crawling on his head he returns to calmness. His act of murder did not faze him, not even the sense that Carmela might learn of it. But the potential exposure of his acts of infidelity leave him gasping for air. He wakes from the dream with a start, lying in bed, Carmela sleeping beside him. In therapy he sits grumpily, silent, not engaging. Melfi attempts to wait him out but eventually caves and brings up their last session, and his claim to be the "sad clown". He ignores the opening, doesn't want to address the issue HE brought up in their last session, and as she too frequently does, she allows him to do this. Instead she asks him what is happening in his life now, and pretending non-concern he casually brings up his recent dream, rolling his eyes to pretend like it doesn't bother him. He identifies the car as one like his father once owned, offers a bare bones description and notes that it felt like no matter how far they drove they were getting nowhere... and likens it to therapy with her. Melfi ignores the barb and lets him "casually" throw out just a couple of other "unimportant" things he "forgot" to mention at first, like the fact his associate had a caterpillar on his head which turned into a butterfly. Melfi asks if this friend had changed recently and Tony immediately corrects her that it was an associate, lies that nothing has changed (he was alive and now he's dead!) and then snaps at her when she asks him what he thinks it means, demanding that SHE tell him since she "obviously" knows.   She protests that she doesn't "obviously" know and reminds him that the whole point is to elicit the meaning by verbalization, and he sarcastically offers back some gobbedly-gook to show what he thinks of that statement. He continues to pout, and again she allows him to dictate the terms of their session by trying to come up with an interpretation on his behalf. At first he's antagonistic, trying to turn it into a joke, getting upset when she calls him out on some sexist bullshit he protests was "just a joke" (he wanted wives to have to ride in a little cart dragged behind the car, like the skunks in an old cartoon about Noah's Ark). But when she starts laying out a very likely interpretation of the dream he can't help but getting interested. His entire body language changes. He leans forward, he questions, he brings up former things she told him demonstrating that he DOES listen when she speaks even if he mocks her at times when he's feeling sensitive about talking about emotions/feelings. She's noted that having a former mistress in a car Carmela was driving indicates a desire to come clean with her about them, noting that Freud called dreams wishes. But when she agrees that dreams can represent more than one thing, he gets upset again, wanting a straight answer that simply doesn't exist, pissed as he so often is that there is more to therapy than just showing up, paying the bills and taking a surface level interest in the process. He complains that after 4 years of therapy "nothing" has been done about his impulse control, as always equating money with success: he could have bought a ferrari with the money he has spent on therapy, and at least he would have got a blowjob out of that! Irritated at that inference but moreso at his claim of having made no progress, she tries to get him back to talking about the dream but again he shunts her away from a subject he brought up after she started to get close to the source of the issue. He complains it is just a dream, and she reminds him about all the accomplishments they've made in the last four years, not least of which is that he's no longer clinically depressed and suffering constant panic attacks that put his life in danger. He reluctantly admits this, but then complains that he's been a "good sport", ignoring his own frequent self-sabotage of her efforts to help him (for which she is partly complicit in allowing, to be fair) and throws up a "time-out" signal. Basically, he's bored now and wants an excuse to stop coming.  At little league practice, Bobby Baccalieri warns his daughter Sophia to get her jacket from the car as he doesn't want her to catch a cold. She runs to get it, but notices a box with a cake inside of it clearly decorated with her late mother in mind. Later, when Bobby is alone, he takes it to the cemetary where he tearfully digs a small hole by her grave and buries it, weepingly telling his dead wife that if it wasn't for the kids he would be with her right now. THIS is somebody who needs therapy. Tony meets with Carmine Lupertazzi and Johnny Sack in the bar in New York that operates as a kind of de-facto office for the Lupertazzi Boss, in the same way the Bada Bing does for Tony. The subject of discussion is the HUD scam Tony has been running, which they still want a piece of due to Tony getting it up and running through Zellman, who they are supposed to share. They are asking (or rather, demanding) a 40% piece of the action, an enormous cut considering they had zero part in the conception, setup or execution of any of it. Tony treats this demand with the contempt it deserves, reminding them that the cut he gave them on Frelinghuysen Avenue was simply a gesture of goodwill. Carmine complains that Ralph should be the point-man on this discussion, but not only is he not there, he also missed his drops of their cuts on various Esplanade operations this week, where he is? Tony takes a grim delight in answering this, casting Johnny a knowing look and suggesting that maybe they can tell him. Johnny offers no look of surprise or confusion at this, blank-faced by benefit of having zero idea that Tony killed Ralph and has decided to use them as scapegoats. Tony walks out of the meeting, but Carmine and Johnny are not offended. They knew their demand was ridiculous, and Tony walking out was exactly the expected reaction. Now they simply wait for the counter-offer to come in once an appropriate amount of time has passed and Tony can offer them something which they can accept. This was, neither side loses face and "business" can continue as it always has, with everybody reaching into everybody else's pocket. Janice has provided dinner to Bobby and his family yet again, though now that the Ziti Patrol is no longer coming around she can't fake her own cooking anymore and has simply bought them Outback Steakhouse. The kids, used to Janice's presence by now, are happy to grab food but Bobby isn't hungry and when Janice attempts to make conversation he barrels away from the table with a hurried,"Excuse me" and rushes up to his bedroom. Concerned, the kids move to follow but Janice stops them, pretending everything is fine, telling them it is a sin to waste food. Once dinner is over however she goes up to his bedroom and stands in the doorway looking at him he lies on top of the covers staring at nothing. He thanks her for feeding the kids, but initially tries to pretend ignorance when she asks him about the cake. Sophia told her about it though, so he admits to taking it to the cemetery and burying it. Today would have been he and Karen's 14-year anniversary, and he picks up a framed photo of her from beside the bed and stares longingly at it. Disturbed but also slightly perturbed, Janice bites her tongue and offers a reassuring smile, but is unable to help passive-aggressively noting that she spent a lot of money on the dinner tonight, shrugging like it's really not a big deal to her BUT........ Bobby doesn't care though, and Janice can only stand there in the darkness feeling useless and overlooked as he explains he visits the cemetery every day and the thing he misses most about Karen is talking to her. She can't compete but she tries, pointing out that she knows what grief is like since both her parents are dead (parents dying in their 60s+ is hardly the same as your wife dying in a car accident) but she isn't going to give the same facile advice others give about sucking it up and moving on. Maybe courage isn't a virtue.... or in other words, she doesn't want to rock the boat and risk him getting enraged/offended and booting her out after all the work she's put in to try and take Karen's place. Johnny Sack and Carmine are having dinner when Tony calls. Johnny answers, and as they assumed Tony is now ready to play nice, be friendly, and make a counter-offer far below what they initially asked for. He'll go 5.5%, but when Johnny silently offers that to Carmine, Carmine immediately shakes his head. Johnny declines and immediately hangs up, pissing off Tony who probably not figures they'll come back with a counter-counter and so it will go until they settle on something both think isn't good enough for their end. Unfortunately for him, Carmine has decided to improve his negotiation position aggressively, and calls over Joey Peeps with instructions to find the crooked appraiser Tony is using (Vic the Appraiser, Johnny has to explain twice) and "tell" him that he'll now be working for the Lupertazzis. At Bobby's, Bobby Jr is sleeping in bed when his sister Sophia wakes him, trying to wrap her young head around why their father would buy a cake for their dead mother. Bobby Jr, who doesn't know either, can only suggest that maybe he bought it to give to the nuns at the Church by where their mother is buried. Sophia is filled with dread after having been teased by kids at school that Karen's ghost might return to haunt him, and sadly tells him that sometimes when she walks through the house she catches a whiff of their mother's perfume. Bobby Jr has clearly experienced the same, and in their kid minds both are clearly shaken by the thought that the only explanation could be their mother is haunting them. Bobby Jr even suggests that maybe she's decided to haunt them "for their own good" in case they did something bad, then shakes off the idea and insists there is nothing to be scared about and she should go back to bed. Unconvinced, Sophia does as she is told, while little Bobby tries to do the same but pulls the sheets just a little tighter around him, young mind racing with thoughts he shouldn't have to be dealing with at his age. Johnny Sack meets with Paulie for a "walk" the next day, where the subject of the HUD dispute comes up. Tony is pissed that no counteroffer came back his way, but what Johnny tells him next blows all thoughts of that out of the water. Johnny simply quietly opines that if things continue this way there might need to be "a change", but even if that happens, Carmine isn't going to forget Paulie's friendship. Suddenly Paulie's entire tone changes as he quickly reminds Johnny his only interest has ever been in fostering strong relations between their families, something he will continue to do no matter WHO is in charge. Now if that should happen to be him, God forbid, or whoever... well, it doesn't matter, he'll continue to be their friend. Johnny gives no opinion one way or the other, he simply lets Paulie dream of a promotion that never seemed possible until that very second - he was sure he'd topped out at Captain, but now Paulie - who has known Tony all of Tony's life - is eagerly considering a life without him.   Tony pops into Uncle Junior's for a visit, where he finds Branca (who he still non-maliciously calls "Bronco") sipping tea and reading a Russian newspaper. She offers a hello back but otherwise ignores him and his attempts at small-talk, other than casting a knowing look his way when he asks after Svetlana under the pretext of an unpaid bill. Junior arrives, a dab of shaving cream still present around one ear, and he and Branca have a mild confrontation over her lack of hospitality towards Tony which ends with her reminding him she is a registered nurse, not his maid. He leaves the kitchen with a "oval office" muttered under his breath, complaining to Tony that the oft-delayed competency hearing is wearing on him, he doesn't know whether to chill champagne or poo poo his pants. Tony notices the shaving cream and wipes it clear, Junior bewildered at first but quickly switching to complaining it's Bobby's fault for putting the wrong wattage bulbs in the lighting which meant he couldn't see. Tony accepts this hesitantly, ever since the hospital stay the troubling thought has been tickling the back of his brain, the doctor's warning that dementia might have been creeping up on Junior. For now though it remains something that can be dismissed, excused or explained away. Tony assures him that they have a contingency plan in place, they've been able to figure out where the jury are brought before each session, so if the competency hearing doesn't work out they can get to one of them. Junior doesn't want to hear it though, that's just one more thing for him to worry about that he can't control. At the Soprano home, Janice has joined Carmela in the kitchen as the latter prepares for dinner. They're talking about Bobby, with Carmela interested in hearing how things are progressing but Janice lamenting that they're still stuck at the platonic phase. The trouble is she is competing with a dead woman, she can't beat the memory of Karen and she has to be careful what she says since Carmela was both a friend and probably has an idealized memory of her as well now. So Janice points out the trouble with the living: Bobby is developing a psychosis, he's buying her cakes and burying them at her grave. Janice can't comment on that to him because he'll lash out at her for trying to come between him and his now perfect dead wife. AJ enters the kitchen listening to music on his headphones, and Carmela gets his attention and warns him that they've having the Baccalieris over for Sunday dinner and she expects him to be there. He immediately complains with the indignant rage only teenagers are really capable of about having to spend an evening with Bobby III and she shuts him down with a reminder he does zero chores around the house so he can do this ONE thing for her and miss hanging out with Devin for one day. He immediately declares they were going to study but I guess she doesn't think THAT is important and storms out, watched with amusement but uncommented on by Janice. Long gone are the days of telling Carmela how to raise her kids, she's more concerned with inserting herself into her own ready-made family nowadays.   Vic the Appraiser is working on a house when Joey Peeps and Kevin "Dogsy" Interdonato walk up to him and demand to know why he doesn't return their calls. Terrified, he manages to squeak out,"I'm only the appraiser!" before they slap him around, smash up his gear, toss his walkman onto the roof and warn him to be at The Red Chimney on Route 3 at 9am tomorrow because he works for Carmine and Johnny now. Dogsy gives him one last kick for good measure, sending him rolling down the incline of the yard. At Satriale's, Tony, Silvio, Paulie and Vito discuss the situation. Vic has gone into hiding but the bigger concern is that New York is apparently now planning to start up their own HUD scam since Tony won't give them a piece of his. He dismisses that though, saying they don't want to be paying for expenses like the appraiser, the "poverty pimp" etc. They simply want a cut from a going concern like the one they've got set-up. So he isn't going to over-react and go ballistic, a measured response which shows the truth of Melfi's claim that she has actually made great progress with him. Of course we also see the lie of that statement as Eugene pulls up beeping his horn to pick up Vito and Tony immediately roars that he's going to shove the horn up his rear end if he doesn't stop. Vito leaves, with Paulie being insistent that he should be "paying a visit to Johnny Sack's boys" to send their own message. When Tony declines, Paulie reminds him this attack on Vic was a direct provocation, which is exactly the right thing for him to be saying but also is self-serving. It is currently in Paulie's best interest to want things to stay sour between Tony and Carmine, because Paulie has visions of being the Boss playing through his mind. Tony considers his next move and asks Silvio if he is still in contact with Beansie, who is now based down in Florida, and if Beansie ever sees Little Carmine. They both notice Paulie's sudden whipcrack turn to listen, and he must notice that they noticed, since he quickly excuses himself to make a call. Once he is gone, Tony explains that he wants to see Little Carmine and get him to put in a good word with his father, perhaps bypass and undercut all this tension. But it can't come across like they're asking him to do this, Beansie has to "accidentally" bump into Little Carmine, the subject of Tony visiting needs to come up "naturally". They have to plan very carefully to make this look unplanned. Sunday Dinner arives and the family coos with delight when Carmela brings out stuffed artichokes. AJ isn't interested though, saying he doesn't want any "cactus", which Bobby Jr finds hilarious. Playfully, Hugh jokes that you aren't really Italian if you don't like artichokes, and with typical teenage contempt AJ mocks the idea before launching into a series of racist stereotypes that little Bobby Jr cackles over, worshiping the "cool" older boy. Tony and Bobby both warn their sons to cool it, and Tony isn't pleased when he hears the doorbell ring and AJ immediately leaps up to answer it, guessing that he knows exactly who is at the door. Janice tries to convince Bobby Jr to try an artichoke and he snaps that he already said no, eliciting another warning from Bobby while Janice takes a moment to compose herself, upset because she'd felt like she was actually forming some kind of rapport with both the kids. They're all distracted though that it turns out Devin has just so happened to come around. Carmela invites her to join them and Devin declines, saying she'll just wait in the lounge for AJ to be finished. She leaves and Carmela and Mary stare daggers at AJ, who had been told in no uncertain terms he was expected to clear the evening to spend it with the family. After dinner, the adults retire to the lounge for desert and coffee, where Hugh is excited to tell the story of bumping into Connie Francis at the hardware store (a story Mary is sick of hearing). Tony excuses himself to answer the phone, it is Beansie on the other end, looking fit and healthy and certainly in a far better state than Richie Aprile currently is. Getting a massage, he says he spoke to "our friend. The son" who was receptive to a meeting. He can arrange something for Tuesday, but he does have a stepdaughter and her friends visiting so they'll need to be around as well. Tony doesn't mind that, it adds to the sense of an unplanned encounter, and he says somebody will be in touch soon to make arrangements. Carmela meanwhile has noticed that Bobby Jr and Sophia are watching television alone, apparently AJ and Devin went upstairs together. Suspicious and with a plan in mind, she has the kids come upstairs with her and knocks on AJ's door, waiting the bare minimum of time before striding in. AJ and Devin are just barely finishing jumping into different positions in the room as if anybody thinks they're weren't making out like crazy only seconds ago. Carmela chides him for being a bad host to "his" guests, and in a quiet whisper reminds him that they just recently lost their mother. If she thought that would guilt AJ she was wrong, as he simply complains that he isn't a daycare. Fuming now, she demands he find a boardgame to play with them, and leaves them as unwitting chaperones to keep AJ and Devin from any kind of romantic interlude. So, of course, AJ pulls out a Ouija board, dims the lights and declares they're going to try and contact spirits in the afterlife! It is all fun and games at first, with AJ asking if Bobby Jr is gay and immediately jumping the pointer to YES, amusing everybody including Bobby Jr who knows he is forcing it that way. Sophia is rapt though, apparently they've already made contact with "a dead little baby", and now she asks the question that has been on her mind the entire time: could the spirit they're talking to be her mother? Devin's face falls and she immediately assures her that the spirits you contact are never anybody you actually know, but Sophia is already convinced, this time asking the spirit if IT knows her mother, and the marker immediately shifts to YES because that is what Sophia wants more than anything, to be able to talk to her mother again. Devin quickly forces it back the other way to NO but Sophia still has more questions, asking if her mother is making new friends in heaven, and Devin belatedly notes that maybe they should play something else. Bobby Jr agrees, but takes umbrage at AJ mocking him for being scared, saying they have a Ouija board at home he used to play with all the time till he got bored of it. AJ of course takes that as a challenge, and suggests they contact the dead "for real". Tony is talking to Silvio about the arrangements for Florida, and brings up that he was considering taking Paulie with him. Silvio agrees that getting to spend time with Tony might be good since Paulie has clearly been unhappy recently, but when Tony says he decided against it Silvio acknowledges their shared suspicion in Satriale's when discussing Florida in front of him. Tony is beginning to suspect it was Paulie who has been sharing information with Johnny Sack, noting that he could have heard about Ralphie's fat joke from somebody else. He doesn't know for sure, but to be on the safe side he is keeping the Florida trip a secret from everybody but Silvio. Silvio is troubled that they (both of them, it's not just Tony) are even suspecting an old friend like Paulie now, but he doesn't question the ruling. It makes sense, they're talking about the prospect of war with one of the Five Families, they have to keep a tight ship. Tony instructs him to find Vic the Appraiser and get him back to work, until they work out a deal with Carmine, there are still lovely houses waiting to get inflated values. Upstairs, AJ is now conducting a seance, explaining that as the oldest one present he is "closest to death" and thus the only one who can hear the spirits. They all holds hands and AJ warns them to keep their eyes closed, then begins rocking the table with his knees before insisting he can see an old man, a ship captain who died at sea. Devin thinks this is hilarious, while Bobby Jr is constantly trying to prove he isn't scared or can see through AJ's tricks... until AJ collects up a wet sponge and squeezes it out over Bobby's head while talking about the storm that killed the captain. Bobby immediately freaks out, knocking over the table and the candle and leaving them in blackness as he squeals,"SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE!", obviously believing in the ghost of his dead mother he tried to assure Sophia wasn't real. The adults burst into the room, turning on the lights and finding the bedroom a disaster zone, the table flipped and the kids on the floor. AJ immediately tries to explain they were just playing but Sophia blurts out they were using the Ouija board and did a seance, and pulls away from Janice when she tries to comfort her so she can rush to her father's side. Carmela is mortified, moreso when Sophia spots the sponge AJ used which drives Bobby Jr wild, punching at AJ and calling him an rear end in a top hat, mortifying Bobby who calls him over to join him. Tony, fuming, tells an uncomfortable Devin it is time for her to go home and demands AJ get out of his sight, slapping him over the back of the head as he goes. Bobby, ever diplomatic, tells Carmela not to be concerned, this is all a part of growing up, but he clearly wants to get his kids out of the house as fast as he can. This leaves Tony alone in his son's room to survey the chaos, more frustrated by this than the issues he is having with New York.   "I'm only the appraiser!" weeps Vic as he is chased down a suburban street by Vito and an associate. Catching him, they demand he get back to work on the new houses Tony just bought that need overinflated appraisals. He is terrified, what will Carmine and Johnny do to him if he does that? Vito smacks him around and warns him it is nothing compared to what THEY will do, and demand he get his "appraisal poo poo and start appraising". The shove him off down the street, a victim who thought he was going to make some easy cash with some bogus appraisals and has run face-first into the reality of dealing with the mob. Bobby and Janice are at the food court in the mall, having been to see a film. It all quickly goes sour though when Janice asks if he visited the cemetary today, claiming to see "cemetery mud" on his shoes, making him half-joke that she has been spying on him (she probably has). Having earlier decided to not nag him and risk alienating him, she can't help it anymore and points out that the recent incident with the Ouija board is a direct result of the example he is setting for the children with his morbid clinging. He speaks to Karen at her headstone, he refuses to pay the mortuary bill because they made Karen look fat in her coffin, he won't let her go. As she feared, Bobby gets defensive and snaps at her to shut the gently caress up, and if Janice wasn't going to take that from the likes of Richie Aprile she sure as hell isn't going to take it from Bobby Baccalieri, and she snaps at him that HE is the one who should shut the gently caress up. They sit in uncomfortable silence for a moment and then Janice gets up and leaves. Bobby is upset, he understands he didn't handle this well... but he makes no move to follow or stop her. Tony is in the pool house when he gets a call from Svetlana. She's calling to give him genuine thanks, because she has just recieved a beautiful gift from him: a diamond brooch! Yes, it's the same gift he always sends to his mistresses/goomars when it is time to wrap things up. In other words, Tony is trying to take control of the situation after SHE dumped him, by going through the same process he normally would if the roles were reversed. But when Svetlana thanks him warmly, assures him she will keep and treasure it as a memento, he can't help but timidly suggest maybe it DOESN'T have to be the end? Again though she gently but firmly lets him down. The moment they had was nice, she will remember that fondly too... but these things happen and life moves on. Still smiling but less sure now, Tony asks if maybe she might consider changing her mind but she's already moved on, hanging up. It is as amicable and pleasant a passing as he could ever hope for, in fact it is the kind of parting he has always thought he wanted when an extra-marital relationship had run its course... and just like always when Tony Soprano gets what he thinks he wanted, he's not happy. In therapy, Tony is initially relaxed, smooth, even a little smug as he happily explains to Melfi about how he broke a woman's heart recently by breaking it off with her. He explains about the diamond pin he sends to women when he is "easing out the door", he "jokes" about what an rear end in a top hat he is, but he also makes it clear this was his decision, that he was the one in control, the guy in the driver's seat (unlike his dream) and in control of his own destiny. Then something remarkable happens. Tony Soprano tells the truth. Disgusted with himself, he admits he's full of bullshit, that she broke it off with him. Svetlana dumped him because he was too high maintenance, she didn't want to burden herself with him outside of a one-off fling. She was right, and initially Tony blames Melfi for this: four years of therapy, of prozac, of dream interpretation and he's still too hosed up for even a poor one-legged Russian girl to want to have to deal with. Melfi of course defends the therapy and the progress they've made, and Tony starts to get offended at the suggestion that he is to blame for not taking full advantage of the process before he again admits that he was in the wrong and needs to accept the blame. But unlike that initial show of disgust for himself, now he's bargaining, trying to put a spin on things to get what he wants. He's tired of the therapy, tired of the lack of breakthroughs, it all feels like a waste of time to him now, they get together twice a week and basically shoot the poo poo before he goes home. He ignores Melfi's protests that they've got him into a state of equilibrium where they are no longer constantly putting out fires and CAN actually delve in deeper to Tony's psyche and figure out both what he wants and what he needs. Deliberately, calmly, he admits that the fact is... he simply no longer wants to do this. He came to Melfi because of panic attacks and depression. Those feel largely under control now but he's still miserable, and like so many before him he assumes this lack of an instant fix means there will never be one. Affecting an air of finality, he prepares to walk out the door before turning and offering her a version of a diamond pin: he thanks her for her efforts, for saving his life "at the beginning", and assures he doesn't blame her for the fact he remains a "miserable prick". He is trying to appear relaxed, jocular, in control, a man making a reasoned decision. It's bullshit, of course. He's upset and lashing out, and Melfi is his target. Part of it is wanting to be back in control after Svetlana made him feel inferior, the dumpee instead of the dumper. But a larger part is that on some level he knows he has reached a point where he knows the only way to progress would be to dive deeper and face up to some poo poo he doesn't want to stir up. Every time Melfi tried to push him in that direction he would shunt her off or find something else to rant and rave about, but as she said they've now gotten him to a point where he isn't suffering panic attacks or suffering heavy bouts of black depression and that leaves time for introspection. She warned him in an earlier episode about the types who need to be in constant motion/action or be forced to look inwards, and his therapy has now gotten to a place where the only thing left to do is to look inwards. So he wants out, and while she tries to convince him otherwise she doesn't press the issue, there is no point in forcing somebody to attend therapy if they don't want to be there/won't engage. She offers a handshake and he gives her a kiss on the cheek instead, hand lingering on her face, Tony Soprano in charge and breaking it off with a woman who has insight into what makes him tick, unlike with Svetlana where she saw right through him and broke it off first. He walks out the door, leaving Melfi standing alone in a wide shot of the empty room. Looking close to the verge of tears now Tony is gone and she can drop the mask, she calls Elliot, getting his answering machine. "Calling all cars," she "jokes" after telling the machine about losing one very particular client: she needs to thrash out all the issues this session has created, because she at least still understands the importance of therapy.   Janice Soprano sits in her mother's house, alone, her disastrous day out with Bobby leaving her on the verge of all her hardwork being undone. But Janice has a plan, she knows how to get back into Bobby's life.... through his kids! Via the bonds they formed over the recent weeks? Through the offer of support and a feminine ear to listen to? Nah, via terrifying the absolute gently caress out of them! Jumping onto AOL chat, she sends Bobby Jr a message to look inside the 3rd shelf of the oak cabinet in the den. Getting the message as he plays Max Payne (complete with 1980s style sound effect boops and beeps), he asks who this "Vlad666" messaging him is, and only gets the mysterious message,"Rising Damp" back. In her house, Janice grabs the binoculars Livia used to spy on the neighborhood with and peeks out, watching with satisfaction as she sees the lights of the den in the Baccalieri house turn on. In that den, Bobby Jr and Sophia discuss that 666 means Satan, and find on the third shelf... a Ouija board. Tuesday morning sees Tony driving from the airport into Miami Beach, smoking a cigar and feeling in complete control. Arriving at the hotel, he finds Beansie being lowered from his van to the ground level. Still in a wheelchair, Beansie is accompanied by pretty women in cheap clothing, and looking delighted to see Tony, a far cry from their last face-to-face where Tony forced a stack of cash onto him in order to make himself feel better. On the other side of the country at the courtroom, Junior is only half-acting as he casts bewildered glances between his lawyers and the prosecution as the bad news comes in. The competency hearings have found that Junior is perfectly capable of understanding the charges against him and of defending himself against them. The Judge is adamant, the trial is going ahead as planned, and he makes it clear to Melvoin that his protests that he hasn't been able to engage with Junior on any meaningful level since the fall down the stairs will be a matter for an Appeal Court, not this trial. Leaving the courthouse, Junior is furious, all that bullshit for nothing! Bobby promises him they'll find a way to get to a juror, that they're working hard on it. But when Bobby returns home, all thoughts of getting to a juror go out the window. Putting a panicked call through to Janice, she waits patiently, letting the phone ring as she sits smoking on the couch before finally answering and bullshitting that she was in the middle of housework. She goes over to the house, where a distraught Bobby explains what the problem is: when he tried to put the kids to bed they freaked out, and he found out they'd used the Ouija board in an attempt to reach Karen. Nothing is said about what happened, but given their imaginations fuelled by their desire to speak to their mother, and Janice's prodding via "666", one can only guess that they managed to "contact" her or some other spirit that "told" them things they deeply upset them. Janice listens, starts to say something then changes her mind, looking away. Bobby takes the bait, asking what it is, and she reveals that she'd been around earlier to drop off some pound cake and heard them playing with it. But he had made it clear on their last trip out that she shouldn't overstep her boundaries with HIS kids, and so with one sentence she both lays a guilt trip on him, establishes he is to blame, that she could have helped, that she didn't because of him, and that he should have listened to her warning about morbid clinging. She's absolutely right.... just so long as you ignore the fact this was all facilitated by her horrific, mentally scarring actions! She offers to go upstairs and look in on them but Bobby doesn't want to disturb them after finally getting them to sleep. He had to read to Sophia for an hour to get her to sleep, she couldn't even handle a Nancy Drew, it was too mysterious! Janice offers some wisdom, an accurate and even healthy assessment colored by the way she got him to this place: the dead have nothing to say, they're dead. Left unsaid is that the living DO have something to say to each other, and she's the one currently there for him. She insists he get something eat, playing the nurturing role, the replacement wife he could have if he just let go of his dead one. By pure "chance" she removes Karen's ziti from the freezer, and holds it up plaintively to him. She doesn't push him, she just holds it up, leaving him to come to a decision she has expertly maneuvered him into. His kids are freaking out because they can't let their mother go, he thinks he is to blame, and now this kindly, nurturing, helpful, selfless woman Janice is giving him the chance to prove he can let Karen go. A tear rolls down his eye as Bobby nods, and lets this manipulative, selfish, driven woman Janice jam herself into Karen's place.   In a restaurant in Florida, Beansie's stepdaughter and friends are telling tales about working for Disney and getting caught out of costume on a cigarette break when Beansie cuts them off. Their guests need to talk business and they're going to give them some privacy, so they all head off to the bar leaving Tony and Little Carmine alone. This is our first look at "Brainless the Second", the son of Carmine Lupertazzi. Tanned, not bad looking, well dressed with a thick head of hair, you'd be forgiven for thinking Little Carmine is potentially a future leader, perhaps working out of Florida heading up things on this side of the country for his father. But as he speaks, it becomes clear that he is, for want of a better term, not particularly bright. He speaks with the measured confidence of somebody who wants very much to come across as intelligent and cultured, and as a result he sounds for all the world like a middle-aged version of Jackie Jr during his "sitdown" with Matush. Despite his status as the son of the mob boss of one of the Five Families, he seems to have picked up his idea of how everything works from television and film. He speaks about the respect Tony has shown, acknowledges the issues he is facing, over-promises on his own ability/power to address these etc. Tony goes along, because Little Carmine does have something that Jackie Jr never did: actual access. Tony is quick to nip in the bud any suggestion that Johnny might be responsible for the current predicament, making it clear that he gets along fine with him. Carmine agrees, but tells a meandering story he intends as a parable about "King Louis the whatever" and his finance minister who outshone the King's palace and got clapped in irons. The intent is to paint Johnny as a greedy motherfucker, but Tony ignores the clear resentment Little Carmine has for the man who gets the lion's share of his father's attention/affection. Instead he carefully lays out Little Carmine's next few steps to address all this to his father, couching it as if it was Little Carmine's own idea and not instructions from Tony. He also makes him fully aware of his own intention to respond with the same violence Carmine has already demonstrated if there is a failure to compromise and reach a design, before undercutting any chance Little Carmine might try an end-run around Johnny Sack by telling him he intends to call Johnny to let him know they met. Little Carmine shakes his hand, delighted to have been included in such an integral role, mistaking Tony's use of him as a tool as a sign of mutual respect for an equal. Similarly, Janice is manipulating and exploiting another mobster, one smarter and more capable than Little Carmine but still too trusting (or at least vulnerable) for his own good. She has heated up Karen's ziti, and joins Bobby at the table to eat it with him. Now she has not only forced Bobby to "choose" to exorcise this last reminder of his dead wife, she has joined him by dishing up a plate for herself. This major moment in Bobby's life will now forever be associated with her as an equal partner in it.   Tony Soprano dreams. Gloria's leg (or Svetlana's?) emerges from a more modern car, but Tony is already gone from it, following the dead Ralphie who leads him across a lawn towards a house. Tony is calm behind him, till he turns his head back to look and he is no longer Tony Soprano. A poor, uneducated Italian immigrant is wandering across the lawn now, timid as he approaches the house, knocking and calling at the door. There is no answer, but the door opens by itself and he peers through the screen door, calling out hesitantly. He is a stonemason, Tony Soprano has become a version of his own grandfather, but not the confident mobster/construction firm owner he remembers from his youth. This is the awkward, penniless craftsman who is seeking work, who lacks confidence due to his poor English and is plagued by the class issues from the Europe he left behind. Inside the house is dark, though orange sunlight shines through at the top of the stairwell leading upstairs. The sound of footsteps from up there get his attention, and looking through the screen door, he watches as a woman comes slowly down the stairs and pauses at the halfway point. But it isn't a woman. It is a thing, a terrifying presence that simply stands and stares. Faceless, formless in the black of the dress disappearing into the dark of the interior, backlit so no feature can be seen, it does not respond or answer or acknowledge his presence beyond just being there. "Tony", nervous and unsure how to proceed, explains he does not speak English well, and when he gets no answer he timidly opens the screen door and starts to enter the home..... and jerks awake in his bed, horrified by a face/presence he could not see and does not understand. Rolling out of his hotel bed and into the bathroom, he stares at his reflection under red light in the mirror, sweating, short of breath, feeling all the old symptoms of the panic attacks he thought were behind him coming out. He flees the room, stepping outside onto the balcony into the bright light of the day. The fresh air, the faint Beach Boys music, the beautiful view, all the signs of his wealth and success and freedom should be a relief. He does breathe easier, but the final shot from behind of Tony in his wifebeater looking out over the expanse of the Pacific ocean makes it seem like he hasn't really moved too far from that timid immigrant in similar clothes approaching that strange house in his dream.  It is perhaps my favorite dream sequence of the entire series, and the one that most unsettles me of them all. Melfi did not have all the facts, so it is forgivable that she did not grasp the significance of both Gloria and Ralph being passengers in the car. Svetlana confuses things somewhat, but consider that Tony is a passenger with two dead people, and that his living wife is the one driving the car. When he exits the car, it is the dead Ralph (Melfi doesn't know he's dead) he follows. What is the house? Tony's sense that he doesn't belong? Or a place he knows he is always going to end up at? In season 6 this gets expanded on, but for now we simply have a strange house and an even stranger presence inside. The woman on the stairwell is terrifying without resorting to eerie music, jump-scares or scary make-up. She is simply a woman standing on the stairs, and is all the scarier because of it. Because it's Livia Soprano. I'll fight anybody who says otherwise. That thing on the stairs is Livia, the monstrous presence that has haunted Tony his entire life. Not the actual woman, not her ghost, but the giant of Tony's youth that plagued him into adulthood. The creature that cackled with laughter when he fell from the porch and dropped his gun. Janice said the dead have nothing to say to us, but the dead can be used to communicate things within ourselves. Bobby found comfort in talking to the memory of his wife, Tony finds existential dread in the sight of the looming presence that even death could not take from him. At a time when he feels more in control than ever, when he has ditched his therapy and is smoothly negotiating aggressions with a much more powerful mob family, the sight of this mother-shadow reminds him and us all that Tony DOES need therapy, that he hasn't escaped his past or put his issues behind him. It doesn't matter how powerful he is, how luxurious his surroundings, how much money he's got or how many of his enemies are negated/dealt with. At heart, he's still a scared and uncertain human being with severe issues with women, who has never truly escaped the long shadow cast by his monster of a mother.  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 14:31 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Aug 25, 2019 08:45
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Sopranos dream sequences were always the most 'real' to me, I had a lot of those 'shadow on the staircase' kind of nightmares when I was a kid.
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Aug 25, 2019 10:14
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The scariest nightmare I ever had involved that same sense of dread that this scene always evokes in me. The presence of something wrong that I can't really see or define, an intrusive presence in the shape of a human but clearly something else. In my dream I approached it and tried to twist it around to look it in the face and I woke up before I could see it (or remember that I had) more scared than I have ever been in my life. If you add on all the emotional baggage and trauma Tony associates with his mother I can't even imagine how horrifying that dream must have been to him.
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Aug 25, 2019 11:36
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I didn't think the apparition on the stairs was open to interpretation. Who was arguing it was symbolic of anything but Livia? I had forgotten the foreshadowing of the house as purgatory that we get in the final season and with the same shadowy mother figure inside. Also remembering that Janice is the kiss of death; Ritchie, Ralph and Bobby all get killed. I guess born again sleepy head guy got off easy. I love these recaps. I read The Sopranos Sessions and Jerusalem's write ups are far superior and more interesting. I PM'd him about assembling these into the foundation of a book but he doesn't think his writing is good enough. I disagree. I've seen this show several times - straight through and individual episodes on cable - and I STILL find new stuff that I didn't entirely connect; mostly the interpersonal dealings, relationships and inner workings between the various criminals and families. Occasionally, I'll have to look up an image of mentioned character to put the face to the name. This show is second only to The Wire in that way and when I read Jerusalem's thread and All the Pieces Matter I had to do the same thing and keep a laptop nearby to remember who was who. Jerusalem posted:The scariest nightmare I ever had involved that same sense of dread that this scene always evokes in me. The presence of something wrong that I can't really see or define, an intrusive presence in the shape of a human but clearly something else. In my dream I approached it and tried to twist it around to look it in the face and I woke up before I could see it (or remember that I had) more scared than I have ever been in my life. If you add on all the emotional baggage and trauma Tony associates with his mother I can't even imagine how horrifying that dream must have been to him. I always get the ones where I feel like I'm running or punching "underwater" or trying to scream or yell and have no voice, which are fairly common, along with the "oh poo poo! I've got an exam and haven't attended the class all semester" one. I love the Sopranos dream sequences but never realized before that none of them invoke these cliches as far as I can recall. Closest we got to a standard dream trope I think was Tony losing the teeth. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Aug 25, 2019 |
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Aug 25, 2019 15:27
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And dee gahoxagogen is framed up by da ramestein  I am rigistired nyoorarse, not maid. Is Clue a real board game or was that Carmella skirting copyright infringement of Cluedo? crispix fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Aug 26, 2019 |
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Aug 26, 2019 01:01
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It’s just Clue in North America
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Aug 26, 2019 01:38
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Wow. Even Parker Brothers product placement!
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Aug 26, 2019 01:55
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I can't imagine how much work went into preparing the lighting of that staircase. You can just barely make out the woman's eyes, but they're just dark pits because of the perspective.
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Aug 26, 2019 05:08
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Dawgstar posted:Wow. Even Parker Brothers product placement! gently caress the Parker Brothers!
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Aug 26, 2019 06:38
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Grammarchist posted:I can't imagine how much work went into preparing the lighting of that staircase. You can just barely make out the woman's eyes, but they're just dark pits because of the perspective. Beautiful shots like this make me wonder what Sopranos would be like if it had modern tv cinematography to play with. It feels a little unfair since Sopranos was basically one of the shows that lead the revolution in quality prestige drama and the intimate grime and squalor really works to showcase how scummy these guys are in spite of their wealth and conspicuous consumption, but shots like this one are sadly largely the exception rather than the rule. Especially in these later seasons where the lighting was often a lot darker than it was in earlier seasons.
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Aug 26, 2019 12:33
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The dream of Livia on the stairs is one of the most unsettling bits of TV or cinema I can remember, it is one of the few things to capture that dream-logic-dread that we have all felt at some time. The only other scene that accomplishes this IMO is the dumpster scene from Mulholland Drive. Even the screencap of the stairway gave me chills! drat, so good.
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Aug 26, 2019 15:11
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Jerusalem posted:Beautiful shots like this make me wonder what Sopranos would be like if it had modern tv cinematography to play with. It feels a little unfair since Sopranos was basically one of the shows that lead the revolution in quality prestige drama and the intimate grime and squalor really works to showcase how scummy these guys are in spite of their wealth and conspicuous consumption, but shots like this one are sadly largely the exception rather than the rule. Especially in these later seasons where the lighting was often a lot darker than it was in earlier seasons. I wonder why they did this? The first two seasons had so much light and colour. I really noticed a sharp change when season 3 started.
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Aug 26, 2019 18:42
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crispix posted:I wonder why they did this? The first two seasons had so much light and colour. I really noticed a sharp change when season 3 started. Maybe to try to make the show look more like The Godfather(i.e. a movie shot in the 70s)? Just a random guess.
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Aug 26, 2019 19:11
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Jerusalem posted:Beautiful shots like this make me wonder what Sopranos would be like if it had modern tv cinematography to play with. It feels a little unfair since Sopranos was basically one of the shows that lead the revolution in quality prestige drama and the intimate grime and squalor really works to showcase how scummy these guys are in spite of their wealth and conspicuous consumption, but shots like this one are sadly largely the exception rather than the rule. Especially in these later seasons where the lighting was often a lot darker than it was in earlier seasons. Like what are you comparing it to. I think the show looks very good and I really can't think of anything better on TV. There's never a flat looking or ill framed shot. The darkness I think is both a tonal thing and just having the money for complicated lighting setups.
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Aug 26, 2019 19:40
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Did they film mostly in Jersey/New York?
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Aug 26, 2019 22:06
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Dawgstar posted:Did they film mostly in Jersey/New York? Yep, soundstage stuff at Silvercup in NYC and an insane amount of location shooting. https://www.sopranos-locations.com/locations/ crispix posted:I wonder why they did this? The first two seasons had so much light and colour. I really noticed a sharp change when season 3 started. Was that when they switched from shooting for 4:3 to 16:9? I found an article from 2001 that makes it sound like HBO had all their shows filming in widescreen for years by that point, but they were still framing for standard def. JethroMcB fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Aug 27, 2019 |
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Aug 27, 2019 01:48
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The cinematography in Sopranos isn't bad, it's just largely very functional. It exists to capture the characters in the frame to showcase the writing and performances (which is a good thing!) but rarely creates a genuinely compelling, visually arresting frame in and of itself, which is something that has become far more common in modern drama. Every so often they'll do something really cool that stands out, but it is the exception rather than the rule.Ishamael posted:The only other scene that accomplishes this IMO is the dumpster scene from Mulholland Drive. Yeah, that scene is the other that really gets to me, it captures nightmare logic fantastically.
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Aug 27, 2019 02:53
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They don't try to do anything too fancy with the cinematography or anything overly artistic (outside of the special scenes), but the lighting is pretty consistently good and way way darker than most television. I guess its not rocket science but like, almost all of those screenshots posted above just for this episode have a ton of super inky black all over the screen, but its never actually too dark, and really focuses on the characters. Chiaroscuro on film isn't really unique either I guess, and maybe they were just imitating the look of The Godfather, but IDK it looks good.
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Aug 27, 2019 02:57
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This reminded me of a couple of things.
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Aug 27, 2019 23:57
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Also if you look closely, it looks like there are two god drat spikes sticking out of shadow Livia's back 
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Aug 28, 2019 00:49
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Season 4, Episode 12 - EloiseCarmine Lupertazzi posted:What's your name again? The prosecutor in Junior's trial is summing up his case, making the point that Junior is absolutely not some sweet, confused old man but a corrupt monster responsible for all manner of crimes up to and including murder. Present in the courtroom is the "nurse" who testified as to Junior's clandestine meetings in his doctor's office, it wasn't paranoia because she was in fact an undercover FBI Agent. Junior gives her a smile, though far from the flirty one he once offered, while Bobby only has eyes for the jury. With the competency hearing having failed to get them their mistrial, Bobby is now looking carefully for the weak link to exploit. At home, Carmela takes some scones out of the oven as an utterly bored AJ brings his latest piece of homework to read to her: a book report on Herman Melville's Billy Budd. As he offers his shallow, surface-level insights on the book to her she hears the doorbell and tells him to wait. Answering the door, she is delighted to see Furio and this time he only hesitates briefly before accepting her invitation to step inside. It appears he has continued with his efforts to turn his garage into a place for his mother to stay, though now with his father dead the idea is for a more permanent situation. The framing is complete (done by Artie's Uncle Zio!) but he's having issues with the sheetrock which is once again delaying things. Carmela is quick to take advantage, offering her father to come in and take a look since he is a contractor. Furio thanks her and then compliments the delicious smell of her baking. She happily explains how much AJ loves the scones who sneers and asks if they're really only having "fat and carbs" for breakfast. Tony comes down the stairs as AJ continues his dull recitation of his report, failing to grasp just what possible reason an older male sailor might have for frequently commenting on the good looks of a younger male sailor. Furio hands Tony a envelope, and Tony spots the scones and happily takes a bite, offering Carmela an appreciative nod that she could care less about : she wanted Furio's approval, not his.   Carmela sends AJ upstairs promising to come have a proper listen soon, and then Tony hands her the envelope: it's a brochure for a trip to a resort on an island, he's taking her on a first class flight tomorrow for a three day trip. Startled, casting a shocked look a miserable Furio's way, she points out - not without justification - that she can't just up and leave TOMORROW for a three day trip. What about AJ's school? Her mother's skin condition? Tony ignores all that, grumpy that she's not gushing over the surprise, and Furio tactfully decides to go and wait in the car. Once they're alone, Tony points out that they need a break after everything that has happened recently like "the horse", and he knows that she too needs a break. Looking her in the eyes, he sorrowfully but expertly demonstrates the depth of his own psychological analysis by saying deep down this is probably why she got the haircut.  As Furio drives Tony, he has to listen as Tony vents and rages about the woman Furio has been obsessed with. Tony can't believe that after 2 years of bitching about never getting away, Carmela didn't immediately swoon when he just dumped a sudden trip without warning on her! He dismisses Furio's quiet note that she's probably worried about her mother, pointing out she's on a cortisone cream, and then with great frustration declares that even though she is the mother of his children she's still a moody bitch. Furio doesn't respond, he can't, but the thought of his romantic image of Carmela being married to this pig of a man is eating him up inside. Johnny Sack arrives on the golf course to join Little Carmine, who has flown up from Florida to visit with his father. They embrace and take the opportunity while Carmine is in the clubhouse to briefly discuss the current Tony Soprano issue. Johnny is completely onboard with the idea of convincing Carmine to compromise and bring a quick end to the situation and there is no sense of rivalry between them despite Little Carmine's earlier attempts to blame Johnny for the situation. Carmine arrives in his own golf cart and immediately puts Little Carmine on the backfoot by demanding to know if he put on his sunblock. As his father tees up, Little Carmine broaches the subject of Tony and his recent visit to Florida, assuring a suspicious Carmine that Tony is an old-fashioned guy, very "allegorical", and meant no insult by it. Carmine slices his shot and complains he was distracted, demanding a mulligan. As he sets up, Little Carmine and Johnny Sack prove to be an effective team working on him. He's painted himself into a corner with his 40% demand, there needs to be a compromise, they came out too strong to begin with etc. Carmine complains that Tony has always had an ego... but he does appreciate how decisive and direct he can be, and then offers an obvious insult his son's way by noting that he'd be proud to have had Tony Soprano for a son. This rankles Little Carmine, even as Johnny is smoothly grabbing at the opening Carmine has just given him to finally come back at Tony with a counter to his 5% offer. Little Carmine, not the brightest spark but aware of how to push his father's buttons (just as Carmine knows how to push his) and wanting a measure of revenge for that son remark, calmly observes that Tony can be a bit of a poseur, all talk about Carmine coming after HIS appraiser. Before a horrified Johnny Sack's eyes, Little Carmine undoes all their good work, driving Carmine into a rage over the temerity of the head of a "glorified crew" considering himself on an equal footing to the Boss of one of the Five Families. He smashes his club and storms off, and only now does Little Carmine realize he's taken things a little too far, as he casts a guilty look Johnny's way who is just glaring at this idiot who has hosed everything up instead of helping calm it down.   Furio brings Carmela into his garage, where her face momentarily falls (it's barely bigger than their pool house) before she declares the smallness makes it a decorating challenge. Of course all her decorating ideas come from studio photography from home/lifestyle magazines, but Furio is enthusiastic about the coziness of the pictorial she shows him, especially as it doesn't involve mirrors (his mother thinks it is "nose-in-the-air" when people look at themselves) to create the illusion of space. As they talk, standing close together, smiling and laughing, Furio thanking her for all her help and crediting her for being a special woman, they draw closer and closer. Their conversation is irrelevant, what's important is that they're able to stare deeply into each other's eyes. They pull closer. Ever closer.... and a workman grumbling in Italian walks past them and they come back to themselves, the spell is broken. Carmela suggests tile flooring and Furio concurs, it is what they use in Naples, and a freshly excited Carmela suggests they go to Colortile together. Furio enthusiastically agrees and before she can stop herself Carmela calls it a date. Furio repeats the word, and they smile, getting lost in each other's eyes again. At the VFW, Minn Matrone has driven Cookie Cirillo and Nucci Gualtieri to Bingo but is looking for a handicap spot to park in rather than a spot further from the entrance. A car honking behind them forces her to park after all, but Nucci spots one of the handicap spots emptying and Cookie shouts for Minn to make her move. As Minn moves forward, Nucci continues a conversation with Cookie about the Knights of Columbus dinners she used to attend which distracts Minn, who drives right into a car that was driving past their front. Cookie whacks her head on the dashboard and freaks out when she sees blood. At the "new Atlantic City" of Uncasville, Connecticut, Marty Schwartz is regaling Tony's party with jokes as they enjoy a night of gambling. It isn't entirely clear if they're spending their own money or relying on the "courtesy" of Chief Doug Smith again after they helped him get Frankie Valli to perform. Carmela's cousin Brian is present, having far too good a time as he is sloppily drunk, while Furio is just grimly maintaining vigil. Silvio chats with Tony about the present Carmine situation, with Tony happy to report that Johnny Sack has been in touch about a fresh sitdown. This pleases Silvio, but given the importance of that he suggests they call it a night and head home. Whether they're comped or not, Marty doesn't want them to leave thinking he's relieved to see them (noisy and drunk) go so plays the good host and insists they stay, promising he'll get a driver to take them home, probably figuring they'll decline. Except Tony is that one guy at a party who can't read the room and wants the party to keep going, so he agrees to let Silvio and Patsy go but insists that Brian and he (and thus, by necessity, Furio) are staying. Still upset over Carmela rejecting his spontaneous gift of a trip, Tony is trying his best to force himself to have a good time as part of some childish effort at payback (that she will never be aware of), dancing and kissing his casino-provided escort while another leads the drunken Brian upstairs. The girl hanging on Furio's arm offers him a chance to do the same with her which he politely declines, and since there is no money to be had from him she leaves with a disgruntled shake of her head. As prospective Johns go, he's probably more attractive than most, but it is a mixed blessing for her that she doesn't have to sleep with somebody for money... but it also means she's out whatever money she would have got for doing it.   A worried Paulie arrives at the hospital where Nucci is immediately wailing as a pissed off Minn notes that she was perfectly fine for the last two hours. The doctor assures Paulie his mother is just a little shaken up, but he does want to know when the last time Minn had her eyes checked. She's immediately on the defensive, claiming her eyesight is fine, and Nucci even comes to her defense by telling Paulie to be nice when he mocks her comment about driving since she was a young girl by saying horse and buggy don't count. But when Minn complains that she was distracted by Nucci, that's a step too far, as Nucci reminds her they were ALL chatting. Paulie is adamant in any case, Minn is moving into the In Manhattan, Carmela brings groceries to Meadow's apartment where her roommate Colin is hanging out with his mother. As he retrieves his shoes, the two mothers talk about Meadow, with Mrs. McDermott lavishing praise on the wonderful daughter that Carmela has raised. Carmela is grateful and even a little surprised at the praise, but her own polite compliment for Colin is less than effusive, simply calling him "sweet" as she basks in the second-hand compliment for herself. It seems that Meadow had been pushing for Tony and Carmela to help her pay the rent on a large Manhattan apartment (!) and even though they figured a sophomore could probably get by in a dorm room just fine they took the opportunity when the seniors renting this place moved out. Meadow arrives with her other roommate, Alex (a girl) and the others leave, allowing mother and daughter some time to catch up. Carmela, still on a high from her most recent meeting with Furio as well as Mrs. McDermott's praise, is loving and attentive to Meadow as she wistfully acknowledges that her current boyfriend - Finn - is great but she's concerned he hasn't told her he loves her yet. She hugs her daughter, kisses her head and tells her that some men have to move at their own pace, and her thoughts are clearly with Furio whose own pace has recently quickened in a way that deeply pleases her. At the casino, Tony helps a barely coherent Brian to a couch where Marty and another escort sit with a bored Furio. Marty offers to take them to the restaurant for a meal but Tony has finally decided it is time to leave. Marty has called them a limo which is on its way, but the escort complicates matters when she sparks up and asks why they don't take the helicopter? This gets Brian's attention as he gasps how awesome this would be, and begins humming Ride of the Valkyries as Marty puts on a big smile and says he'll call Chief Doug Smith to ask if it is available. The moment he is out of earshot he makes the call, exhausted and broken down as he is clearly torn a new one by Doug while meekly agreeing that he knows... but what could he do? Tony showed up expecting VIP treatment, this isn't somebody they can afford to piss off, and that includes the chopper. He throws the girl under the bus, saying she was new and didn't know to keep her mouth shut, and offers that between the original 5 in the party about 15k has changed hands. If the night wasn't comped, then the money they've made is about to get wiped out by the chopper ride, and if it was they're making a big loss. Marty, nowhere near his usual happy self, tiredly hangs up the phone then forces on a grin and returns to Tony's party, declaring that the chopper is fuelling up and will soon be winging them back to New Jersey. At the helipad, they emerge from the limo which Brian has fouled after puking. Tony forks over some cash to the limo driver and the rep who greets them helps Brian stagger towards the copter. They're heading for Caldwell Airport, though a happy Tony laughs they should go to Maui instead. Brian breaks off to puke again, the rep taking it all in with good cheer, better here on the ground than 2000 feet up. As he helps Brian off to the side to upchuck some more, Tony grunts he's going to take a piss and Furio joins him. Standing dangerously close to the rear chopper blades, Tony happily voids his bladder while Furio stands barely a foot away, staring at this boorish pig of a man who disgraces and demeans the beautiful Carmela Soprano simply by existing. He looks at Tony. He looks at the blades. Tony. The blades. Behind them, the rep is occupied with Brian. There is nobody else there. He stares with contempt at Tony, and as Tony finally turns back towards him he acts, lunging forward and grabbing Tony by the collar, pushing him back a step. "WHAT THE gently caress ARE YOU DOING!?!" bellows a drunk and confused Tony, and Furio stops, unable to make the final step. Holding tight to Tony, he takes one last second to consider and then drops his hands, telling him he's standing too close, and then walks away. Confused, startled into momentary soberness that is already fading back into drunken oblivion, Tony turns and peers at the copter blades, still not quite grasping just how close he came after all his near-misses and crafty escapes to a violent and painful death. He makes his way to the copter and climbs in to join the others. As they lift off, Furio stares at the window, his own thoughts on just how close he came, knowing that there will never be a better chance than what he just had.   Tony can barely move the next day as he comes down the stairs where a visibly disappointed Carmela has been waiting for a visit that hasn't materialized yet. Pretending to read a newspaper, she notes Furio is over 40 minutes late when Tony asks if he has been by. Not really remembering much of what happened last night, he jokes Furio is probably worse off than him, but he can't bring himself to drink the coffee Carmela has brought him. Turning around, he says he is going back to bed and she should send Furio away when he arrives. Once he is gone, Carmela tries calling Furio's number, but simply gets the message machine. She hangs up, but rushes eagerly back to the phone when it rings... but it's only her firstborn daughter, what a disappointment. Meadow has actually called to invite Carmela and Tony to dinner before she heads off to Canada with Finn for a skiing trip. She wants Tony to see the place, and she also plans to make everything herself (unlike Janice, who offers to do the meal and then has Carmela come over to do it for her). The only thing she wants from them is wine, since they only drink good wine when parents come to visit (those poor kids living in a spacious Manhattan apartment with rent paid for by their parents!). Carmela hangs up, normally she would have been cheered by the thoughtfulness of Meadow's call, but right now she's only thinking about one person, and their last name isn't Soprano. She "accidentally" drives by Furio's house after going shopping, but there is no sign that anybody is home, even the workers aren't at the garage, so after a moment's hesitation she drives away. Tony and Silvio meet with Johnny Sack at a new restaurant Carmine owns that is soon to open. Pride of place is a painting of Venice hanging on the wall that used to belong to Fiorello LaGuardia. Johnny beams at the thought of he and Ginny going to Venice on a trip next month (remember how pissed Carmela was about not going to Italy?), then gets serious as he explains how badly Carmine wants this beef settled. Tony agrees... but where is Carmine? Johnny explains that with Little Carmine returning to Florida tomorrow he had family obligations, but he is authorized to offer a new deal: the Lupertazzi Family gets a 40% take! Tony is shocked, this is the exact same deal he already walked out on! Johnny pretends confusion, noting that the 40% only takes affect from this point forward, anything they've already done they get to keep all for themselves! Tony and Silvio immediately leave, and Johnny doesn't try to prevent them or protest. He simply smokes his cigarette quietly, knowing that it was a bad deal, that he had no choice but to offer it, and this time Tony isn't going to come back with a lowball counter but something more direct. After Church, Carmela is on her way out when a real estate broker named Darlene calls to her, wanting to thank her since the got the listing. What listing? Furio's of course! The "friend of your husband" showed up out of the blue and put his house on the market. Darlene is called away by another friend, leaving Carmela to process this shocking news: Furio is selling his house? She drives by the house and it is true, the real estate sign is up, and when she goes up to the door and looks through the window, a wonderful dolly shot of the interior shows that the house is deserted.  The family arrives at Meadow's for dinner, Tony on the phone as he helps unload the car. He isn't happy, grumpily complaining to Carmela that it was Silvio on the phone to let him know that Furio left a message on the Bada Bing's answering phone at 4:30 in the morning saying he was going back to Italy. Shaking his head in disbelief, Tony walks away, while an utterly devastated Carmela is left processing this extra shock. Furio hasn't just sold up his house, he's left the country. He's gone. Forever. Inside the apartment, Tony is all charm even when he meets Meadow's boyfriend for the first time. Finn Detrolio is young, good looking and white so already Tony doesn't hate him, especially since he is studying to be a dentist which means he's going to have money too. AJ wanders about the apartment simultaneously bored and curious, while Alex and Colin kind of stand around awkwardly waiting to be involved. Meadow leaves the kitchen briefly to welcome them, she's making chicken cacciatore from Carmela's recipe, and of course Tony is loving and endearing towards both his wife and daughter for their talents. When Carmela can't help but be a mom over the fact they leave their apartment door open, Tony is delighted if amused to hear Finn declare he will protect Meadow. For Carmela however it just hits harder, seeing this young, attractive man being protective of her beaming, happy daughter who seems to be in domestic bliss cooking. The only sour note from Tony is his probing over the fact Colin lives here but Finn doesn't, with Finn quick to assure him he has his own place. This satisfies Tony - the massive goddamn hypocrite - and his sense of propriety and they retire to the lounge to open the wine. Finn tells them a little about himself, his father was a surgeon in the navy and he traveled the world with him as a child, which again stabs at Carmela to hear about this handsome young man with her daughter who is also world-traveled and thus surely more open-minded and romantic like her idealized fantasy of Furio. More praise comes heaping in from Colin and Alex as they laud Meadow's cooking, a talent Carmela never saw from her in the home where she made all the meals except for when Meadow would cause a huge mess making French toast. At Carmine's new restaurant Little Paulie Germani breaks in with Peter LaRosa and Alfie to vandalize the place. They smash windows, destroy booze and expensive wine, rip up upholstery, toss plates and even spraypaint a giant cock and balls on the painting of Venice on the wall. Dinner is progressing at Meadow's apartment, where talk turns to the upcoming skiing trip. Finn's father has a friend with a house in the Laurentians near Montreal, and a group of them are going to stay there. Meadow stares lovingly at her boyfriend as he talks, drinking in every word. Tony brings Alex into the conversation, asking if she skies, and she reveals that her family used to own a retreat near the Pyrenees. Tony is thrilled when Meadow explains she is actually technically Spanish Royalty, and Alex sheepishly admits is technically an infante de gracia. They're all amused by this, Tony joking that Meadow is his Italian Princess, but Carmela is mortified. Through a forced smile she "jokes" it would have been nice to know she would be dining with royalty, clearly bothered by the fact even though she is the only one at the table who actually puts any stock in the idea. As Meadow heads out to grab more chicken for the table, Finn attempts to bring AJ into the conversation by asking him about school and his college plans. AJ vaguely offers that maybe he'll go to Rutgers, but does actually perk up when they ask him about his school is going and he "brags" about getting a C for his report on Billy Budd. His smile disappears when he sees Carmela's reaction, she can't believe he only got a C, with even Tony stepping to his defense by pointing out he normally gets Ds and Fs, finally asking her outright why she's been so strange today. This is where everything falls apart for the evening. When Finn tries to shift the conversation by asking how AJ felt about Billy Budd, he remarks that his English teacher said it was a "gay book". Carmela thinks that is ridiculous until the students at the table all say that this is a well-established and often accepted take on the text. She can't believe it, the book was written in the 19th Century! AJ notes that he didn't think "they had fags back then" which makes Alex crack up, while Tony for once decides to be progressive by assuring Colin no offense was meant. He's surprised when Colin tells him he isn't gay, now immediately suspicious about a young straight male sharing an apartment with two girls, including his daughter. Finn again tries to defuse the situation by making a joke about gay cave drawings, which gets everybody at the table laughing... except for Carmela, who with the pure confidence of somebody who assumes the world agrees with their notion of "normal" casually displays her homophobia for all to see. "This stuff" is pervading the education system, movies and TV shows but Billy Budd is NOT about homosexuality, it's about an innocent boy treated badly by a cruel boss. Meadow can't help but correct her, pointing out that Claggart's abuse is due to his self-loathing at his own homosexuality in a military context. Alex chimes in with a note about the comparison of Budd to a nude statue of Adam, something AJ was unaware of (Tony darkly reminds him he supposedly read the book) but Carmela won't let it go, furious and determined to fight this one particular doomed battle. Tony, who was so incredibly insensitive when it came to Noah, can't understand why she is being so dramatic, after all what difference does it make if it is a gay book. He breaks the tension again with a joke about Billy Budd being the ship's florist, and everybody laughs except for Carmela who continues to argue with Meadow over Leslie Fiedler's read on the book's gay themes. Making a fool of herself, she declares that this Leslie woman doesn't know what she is talking about, only for Meadow to explain that Leslie Fiedler is a man. "Well maybe he's gay!" snaps Carmela, who has completely lost this argument is only looking more and more ridiculous. She is completely isolated, feeling alone and attacked in this room full of young, vibrant, bright people with their lives ahead of them, doing things she never did, her daughter a complete women in and of herself, respected and loved by her flatmates, deeply in love with a world-traveled, intelligent, handsome young man with bright career prospects, achieving an education and career path for herself in addition to being a domestic Goddess. All while Carmela feels unloved, unappreciated, her youth gone and the man who gave her a sense of passion having fled before she even had a chance to test the waters. The mood at the table is well and truly ruined now.  
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Aug 30, 2019 15:13
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The next morning, Carmine surveys the damage at his restaurant, particularly upset by the giant cock and balls on his beautiful painting. At the Bada Bing, Paulie is similarly upset, after all Tony sent Little Paulie to lead the job, and so Paulie should have been informed. Silvio attempts to avoid confrontation by waving it off with a,"Ehhhh what do I know?", but when Paulie keeps complaining Silvio decides is enough is enough. Speaking "off the record" he warns him that recently "certain people" have been pondering where Paulie's heart lies. Paulie immediately gets mad, demanding to know WHO has been questioning his heart? Tony? He wants to know! Silvio points to this aggressive display as a perfect example of what he means, he has a bad attitude and he hasn't been providing the cash that might make people willing to look the other way (look how long Ralphie got away with bullshit!). He points out Albert in particular is stepping up recently, but this just pisses off Paulie more. After all, he's been around for decades, he predates not just Silvio but Tony too: he was around at the same time as Johnny Boy Soprano. That's a bond that Albert - "that loving parakeet" - can never have, and while sure Tony and Paulie are in a valley in their friendship currently, a peak is right around the corner. Silvio has said his piece and isn't interested in any more, but Paulie won't let it go. He complains that Paulie's downhill slide started when he had to go pick up the 5k from the Russian who owed Silvio, and Silvio says that's part of the problem, Paulie never accepts he is to blame for anything. Paulie of course doesn't accept this at all, calling Silvio a "wormy cocksucker" that gets a,"OOOAHHHHH!" response from Silvio who leaps to his feet and angrily snaps that he's just telling him how he is perceived. He's troubled by Paulie's oddly confident reply to that, that maybe Silvio should start worrying about how other people percieve HIM, because "nobody knows what the future holds". He storms out, an angry man but convinced that the Lupertazzi Family holds him in high regard and might be considering him for the new Boss, at which point it doesn't matter what anybody thinks of him. Johnny meets with Carmine to discuss their next step after the restaurant vandalism. Johnny wanted a compromise and didn't get it, but he's also savvy enough to know that now Carmine is committed he has to back him fully, so he is the first to suggest that they break Tony's back. Carmine agrees, taking the nuclear option and telling Johnny to call the Union. Johnny nods, beaming an approval he doesn't feel for what is coming next. Carmela has lunch with Rosalie, where quietly she explains the events of the last couple of days, and how devastated she was by Furio's sudden departure. He was bringing his mother to America to live, they had a "date" to go look for tiles, and then suddenly without a phonecall or a note he simply left the country. Rosalie is sympathetic but also adamant that she move on and forget about him. Nothing can be done, he's gone, and in a month or two she will forget him. Carmela isn't so sure, and when Rosalie ponders out loud whether maybe Tony said something to scare him off, the thought is too much for her (was Furio simply another Vic Musto?) and she flees the table sobbing.   Paulie proved as good as his word and has driven Nucci, Minn and Cookie out to see The Producers. Minn wasn't particularly impressed after all the fuss she heard about the show, but Paulie pleases Nucci by reminding her of the time they saw The Man From La Mancha. Nucci points out how Minn's late husband would take her to the theater every week, and for once the conversation is genial as Paulie compliments the late Salvatore who "did well" and Minn remembers him with pride. The doggy bags arrive and Cookie and Minn are immediately stuffing theirs with everything on the table they can grab - sugar packets, dinner rolls, little butters etc. As they do, Paulie peels off some cash to cover the cost of he and Nucci's meal and offers to cover the full cost of parking and gas as well. Minn and Cookie share a knowing look, but to be fair to Paulie why should he buy THEIR meal for them? And covering gas and parking isn't exactly nothing. Things take a slightly dark turn though when Minn goes through her purse to get out a $100 bill she wants broken and comments that she forgot to cash her check. Nucci asks why she doesn't use Direct Deposit and Cookie thoughtlessly reveals that Minn doesn't even have a bank account, and asks if she still keeps the money under her mattress. Minn shuts down the subject quickly and they get distracted by Nucci noticing at last her dinner rolls are missing and Paulie making a point of taking them from Cookie's bag and ordering them wrapped in cellophane while casting a dirty look Cookie's way. He takes Nucci out as Minn and Cookie sort out their end of the bill, and there is no malicious intent or planning in Paulie's mind about the conversation just had. But the information is there now. Minn Matrone, whose husband "did well" but is dead now, lives alone in a home where all the money she has is apparently tucked under her mattress. At the Esplanade Warehouse project, Vito, Patsy and Benny are enjoying a busy day of doing nothing when they spot a giant inflatable rat being driven onto the site. Dave Fusco, the business agent for Local 87, has arrived to shut down the site for using non-union laborers. The union workers have no choice but to follow his declaration to stop working, which means the construction on this part of the Esplanade, and all the millions of dollars that come from it, are now halted. At a local store, Dan Castleman is letting his son pick out candy as he picks up a few loose groceries when Eugene Pontecorvo and Dogsy walk into the shop, the former all smiles and greetings as he congratulates "Danny" on the great job he is doing on the jury in the Junior Soprano trial. Castleman is surprised and confused, especially when Eugene peels off some cash to cover the cost of his purchase. Eugene places one hand on his shoulder and with a big fake smile explains that he appreciates how a hardworking guy like him with a wife and two kids is sure to "do the right thing". Having established he knows him, he knows where he shops, he knows about his family life etc, Eugene smiles and walks out the door. Like Bobby and the Union guy from several episodes ago, Eugene never once threatened Castleman or outright said anything aggressive. But the message is clear, and Castle grabs his son tight to him as the full enormity of what these people could do to him sinks in. Carmela sits upstairs in the bathroom, quietly sobbing in the dark when the phone rings. As before it isn't Furio on the other end but Meadow, calling to clear the air, worried she did something to piss her off which is why she was so aggressive at the dinner the other day. Carmela dismisses this with a question, what could she be mad at her about? Meadow doesn't push this, instead offering what she thinks is an appropriate peacemaker: her birthday is coming up so why not once again follow their old tradition of having tea at the plaza under Eloise's picture. Carmela, struggling to control herself, thanks her for being so thoughtful and agrees, and they make plans to meet the next day since after that Meadow will be on her way to Canada for her trip. Following a quickly ADRed line about ignoring everything just arranged to meet her at the plaza instead, presumably in place to cover some scene they couldn't film, Meadow hangs up. She picked up on Carmela's crying and her immediate anger at questioning her taking the George Washington Bridge to get to midtown, but unlike usual Meadow hasn't pushed her on any of this. The reason why will soon become sadly apparent. Tony meets Silvio and Vito at the back of the Bada Bing to discuss the latest developments in the Carmine feud. He's pissed at what has happened and briefly suggests letting the Bosses of the other four Families know about Carmine's 40% demand and get him ostracised. He quickly realizes this would be stupid, short-term thinking though (he has a long-standing relationship with the Lupertazzis, strained though it might be currently), and manages to control his normal desire to lash out and regret it later when Vito suggests torching Carmine's cement trucks. The idea is appealing, but he controls himself, orders no retaliation and reminds Silvio that though they'll be losing money because of this shutdown, so will Carmine. At the plaza, Meadow will only go so far and isn't wearing the fancy gloves Carmela has brought. Carmela still hasn't let go of the driving dig Meadow made, and passive-aggressively reminds her of it as well as the Billy Budd conversation. Meadow allows herself to get drawn in by once again playing up her education against Carmela's lack, but the arrival of a waiter gives them both the time they need to pull back from the brink. Carmela shifts to a more pleasant subject, asking when she'll be leaving for Canada, and now the cynical reason for this little tea-tradition seems to come to the fore. Because it seems it would be more convenient for Meadow to get to Canada if she stayed at the family home the night before and also did all her laundry while she was there etc. Seeing Carmela's face fall at the prospect that this tea may have just been a pretext to dump this idea on her, Meadow responds by going on the offensive, asking if she doesn't want her around, if this is a problem. To her surprise/amusement, Carmela's only objection was that she wanted to be sure Finn was staying in the guesthouse, and Meadow has to explain that Finn isn't staying the night, just picking her up. But she can't resist poking her some more, asking if she's got an objection to love, which is exactly the wrong thing to say to Carmela today, especially when she jokes that she must be depressed because her and Tony are middle-aged. Carmela angrily warns her to drop it, and when Meadow - being extremely immature - laughs that she isn't a child anymore, Carmela can't resist puncturing her ego by saying she IS a child even if she does live in an apartment in Manhattan (which Tony pays for), before exposing her own fragile ego by saying she's sure her and the "princess" had great fun at their expense. Meadow complains that it was Carmela who wanted her to go to an Ivy League school and these are the types who go there too, before viciously asking if she should transfer to Montclair State and then drop out like Carmela did. Hurt but not wanting to make this worse, Carmela swallows her pride and offers Meadow an apology, but Meadow then has the temerity - after mocking her mother for being a college dropout - of complaining that she invited her out for a nice time and not to be belittled. When she threatens to not come around anymore to make Carmela "happier", Carmela lashes out again with a vicious but accurate reminder that she won't not come around anymore because she'll need money within a week of being gone. Meadow, proving Carmela's earlier point about still being a child, declares she is going to transfer to Northwestern to be closer to Finn when he goes to Dental School... basically, she plans to "run away" to teach her mother a lesson for being mean to her. Just like the dinner, the mood for this lovely little tea-tradition has now been irretrievably ruined, and they sit miserably across from each other saying nothing.   Paulie attends the reception of a wedding for the son of his third cousin, where he is surprised but pleased to see Carmine Lupertazzi seated at a table. Approaching, he embraces the surprised Mob Boss and kisses him, asking what he is doing there: it seems the bride is the daughter of Carmine's housekeeper. Paulie is amused by what a small world it is, but quickly turns to business, wanting to discuss this current ongoing issue between Carmine and Tony. But as he stands here, confident and assured, one hand familiarly on the shoulder of the Boss of one of the Five Families, his entire world comes crumbling down when Carmine - who Johnny Sack has assured him asks after him, who thinks of him kindly and with respect - stares up at him and straight up asks him,"....what's your name again?" Shocked, Paulie gives his name and when that doesn't register offers that he is from Jersey. Didn't Johnny talk to him? Carmine is just as confused, though not at all threatened or concerned that a Jersey mobster whose Boss he is currently at war with is standing over him, is he talking about Johnny Sack? Talk about what? Slow dawning realization kicks in for Paulie, who manages to get out of the room and into the bathroom, where he feels his knees going weak and needs to run his hand along the wall for support. He's been played. Like a fiddle. Every single step of the way Johnny Sack has been using him, and he fell for it hook, line and sinker. Getting to the sink, he stares at himself in the mirror, realizing for the first time the depth of the trouble he has gotten himself into. Carmela collects the mail at home and has a momentary flash of hope when she spots what looks like a postcard from Italy. But it is simply an advertising pamphlet for a hairdresser's who has recently moved, and her heart sinks again. Furio is gone, and he isn't going to send her some final heartfelt goodbye or offer to join him. He's simply gone. She wanders into the kitchen where Tony is eating a sandwich, and he asks her how her lunch with Meadow went. She tells him about Meadow's threat to transfer to Northwestern, mumbling it is probably something to do with Finn or just wanting to put space between them. Tony isn't alarmed but he is mildly concerned, remembering prior threats to flee to Europe, but when he asks Carmela for more info or even speculation she gets progressively angrier at being pushed on a subject she doesn't want to discuss. She snaps that at the moment she doesn't care if she ever sees Meadow again, which DOES alarm him, and she tries to shut him down by telling him her joints ache and her stomach is queasy and she really doesn't want to deal with this anymore. Tony, of course, gets sullen about somebody else taking out their bad mood on him even though he does it all the time, and he yells that he has enough on his plate already to deal with: Furio just disappeared back to Naples! He storms out of the room, leaving her to dwell on that some more, because she sure as hell hasn't forgotten. Meadow's threat was, of course, empty. She needs things so she's still around, coming to stay the night at the house as planned before heading out to Canada the next day. Curious about the current dynamic, she enters AJ's room where he's reading another assigned book: Death in Venice. She quickly turns to subject to Carmela, asking how she has been lately, weird? Sad? AJ ponders for a second and then agrees she has been crying a lot, and demonstrating his complete lack of insight once again he figures it must be because of Furio's dad. This catches Meadow off-guard, and she listens wide-eyed as AJ tells her about the times Carmela would go and visit Furio at his house, bringing him along with her for reasons he could never comprehend. Anyway, his dad died so Furio went back to Italy or something, and he guesses that is why she is sad. Meadow's mind is racing at this new information until AJ lifts his rear end and lets rip with a massive fart, laughing and declaring the meeting over. Disgusted, she rushes out of the room as he cackles, no closer to understanding either the book or his mother.  Desperate, Paulie breaks into the house of Minn Matrone, that information that was tucked away in his mind now turned to good (bad) use. Slipping into her bedroom he looks under the bed, going through clothesboxes in search of hidden money. But as he searches, he sees slippered feet enter the room and a suspicious voice call out, Minn is home in spite of her car not being in the driveway, demanding to know who is there. Rising to his feet, he puts on a big smile and calls out that her door was open and he's come with a gift from his mother for her. Not believing that bullshit for a second she demands a proper explanation, and makes for the phone to ring Nucci herself. Alarmed, Paulie approaches her and puts the phone down, asking her to make him some coffee. She's maintained her composure to this point, helped by her anger, but as he cheerfully starts talking about bringing his mother around next week to take them all out to a nice coffeehouse, her voice cracks in fear as she gasps that he's here to rob her. Not at all he insists, but when she reaches for her life-alert medallion he grabs her wrist tightly, complaining that he hasn't come to hurt her, how could he, he's known her since he was a kid. Foiled in her attempt to summon help that way, she resorts to an old standby and screams at the top of her voice for help. She shoves him away, her life alert necklace coming off in his hand and rushes out the bedroom door still screaming for help. Paulie gives chase, slamming into the wall and hurt her leg. He catches her in the arch of the lounge and tries to restrain her as she hisses that he was always a little bastard and he demands she shut her loving mouth. They struggle and he knocks her to the floor, trying to hold her down, trying to cover her mouth to mask the scream which just causes her to bite him. Grabbing a cushion, he jams that over her face instead, muffling her screams... and her breath. At what point he decided to murder her is never quite clear, surely the moment he stood up he knew on some level what he intended to do. But it makes no difference, she's dead now. She wasn't a particularly nice woman, but she didn't deserve this. After a long life she had come to a point where she was going to shift from her home to a retirement community with old friends and enjoy the sunset of her life. Then this little poo poo she never liked came back into her life via his mother, forced Nucci onto them, tried to take away her independence as a driver and then tried to rob her. And then he murdered her. For what? Because he heard a second-hand and possibly bullshit claim that she MIGHT have money tucked under her bed and he's feeling panicked because he got taken down the garden path by Johnny Sack and wants to get back into Tony's good books with a grand gesture. The deed done, Minn murdered horribly, he rushes back into her bedroom and goes back to frantically searching. The next day at the Bada Bing he walks in all smiles and not a sign of remorse, happily greeting Tony and giving him a big hug before whipping out a stacked envelope stuffed full of cash. Tony is surprised but doesn't remotely hesitate in taking the cash from him as Paulie explains he's sorry about being slow lately, but this should get them back on track because he's back in business. Tony is clearly pleased as he jokes that Paulie must have robbed a bank, and when Patsy pops his head around the door to let them know Johnny Sack is on the line, Paulie is quick to identify Johnny as a prick. Tony asks to take the call in private and Paulie doesn't give the slightest hesitation in leaving (though he listens at the door after leaving, of course), a loyal soldier to the core and don't let anybody ever say otherwise, he's 100% devoted to Tony Soprano and always has been!   The next morning Tony comes downstairs and finds Meadow ready to head out on her ski trip. He asks if she said goodbye to Carmela and learns she went to the market while Meadow was in the shower. Taking a seat on the steps, Tony asks her to acknowledge that she knows Carmela loves her, and has her join him on the steps. He asks her to cut Carmela some slack, and gives his rough idea of what he thinks the issue is: he assumes she's going through menopause, because of course like many men Tony assumes any mood swing or change in attitude is down to a period or menopause. There's also the issue of the children leaving the house, and he notes that this was something they discussed in counseling. When she's surprised by this admission, he's confused, didn't she know they did that as part of his therapy for his panic attacks? This surprises her even more, and for once Meadow is the last person to have figured something out: after four years of therapy, Tony somehow managed to avoid his bright, perceptive daughter from finding out about it. She is literally the last person in his family and his Family to know. In any case, he doesn't dwell on this revelation, and he comes soooo close to truly getting it when he says he feels Carmela is on some level unfulfilled and he may be to blame. He has no idea, of course, that what she wanted to fulfill her was Furio (or her fantasy of him, at least), which is something that Meadow at least suspects after getting the final pieces of the puzzle from AJ. She doesn't goad her father or show off what she knows though, she just nods and agrees he's probably right, it's probably the start of menopause. He gives her a kiss and tells her to have a good time, unconsciously treating her exactly the same as when she was a little girl and he'd send her off the play. He heads into the kitchen, leaving her to consider the far more complicated lives of her parents than she'd given them credit for. Night falls and Tony meets Johnny Sack as agreed. It's a risk, they're in an isolated place full of shadows, but he is in the comparative safety of his car which Johnny has to walk to and enter. Once together, Johnny starts talking about their long history together and Tony gives him the hurry-up, wanting to get to the point. Instead, Johnny reminds him that Carmine will not bend because lamenting about how often Carmine's decisions lighten his own pockets, and how emotional Carmine is lately because of his bad teeth. Tony chuckles at what seems like normal casual bitching... until the full enormity of what Johnny is saying sinks in. His face getting serious, Tony asks Johnny to say exactly what he means, and Johnny simply repeats the facts: Carmine is strong and healthy and won't bend on this topic, which is costing them all a lot of money. If Carmine was to get sick and die, God forbid, all those problems would go away. But they won't, because Carmine is healthy. If he wasn't, their problems would be solved, but he is, so they can't be. But if he wasn't.... Johnny promises to be in touch, gets out of the car and walks away. He has essentially just pulled a slightly more advanced, less obvious version of what he's been trying with Paulie the last few months. Tony is smart enough to see this, but he also can't help but consider the idea that Johnny has been so careful to NOT suggest to him: Carmine Lupertazzi needs to die, with the tacit approval of the Underboss that there will be no repercussions. Tony's awed response seems appropriate enough.  Back at home, Tony climbs into bed with Carmela who turns off the movie she was watching and rolls over to get some sleep. Tony brings up that he spoke with Meadow, rejecting Carmela's claim that their daughter hates her. He reminds her that this is all stuff they've seen before: at the moment she's on a high from the fresh relationship with Finn, but he probably won't last and after a couple of weeks she'll forget all about him and move on to somebody else, and eventually she'll find somebody and settle down. But it's the line that comes next that stabs at Carmela's heart. Because Tony, her traditional husband with strict ideas on gender roles and especially on the importance of marriage when it comes to his daughter (despite his own lax adherence to the institution) notes that just maybe Meadow WON'T find somebody and settle down. And that's okay by him, because their daughter can do whatever she wants. Thinking he's helping, he points out how Carmela has raised a wonderful woman who is smart, beautiful and independent... isn't that what she dreamed about? Of course it is. It is exactly what Carmela wanted. It is exactly what CARMELA wanted. But she was trapped, a victim of her time but also her choices, now caught in a marriage with a serial philanderer and criminal (the latter she was more than aware of going in). A college dropout, devoted to a family that is now growing up and moving on, seeking to fill the gaps in her life with whatever she can. The fantasy affair she was so close to consummating was torn out from under her, and now she's watching her daughter get all the things that SHE wanted and she simply can't help but be jealous, angry and bitter about it. In season 3's Employee of the Month, Jennifer Melfi powerfully answered Tony's question with,"No." Now here in the penultimate episode of season 4, Carmela Soprano answers a different question with an equally powerful answer.   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 14:34 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2019 15:13
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crispix posted:Also if you look closely, it looks like there are two god drat spikes sticking out of shadow Livia's back It's definitely my favourite dream sequency along with Coach Molinaro (which happens during season 5 but the 11th episode aswell... 11th hour?). I think that whole sequence becomes foreboding for the eventual murder of Tony B. - 2 old style Americana houses with wide front porches - the dream one is perfect and clean, no music with a far shot and Tony approaches from the right in front of the camera, sees his deceased mother and tries to enter the house but the dream goes to black before he does - in the house of reality, it is grimy and dirty, paint flaking off the columns and bannisters. The music is loud and drowns everything out and with a close-up shot of Tony B. As he looks in the door, Tony now approaches from the left in front of the camera. The Animal Blundetto is killed before he can enter the house and his reality goes to black.
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Aug 30, 2019 15:44
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Brainless the Second.
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Aug 30, 2019 15:48
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This whole thing with Carmine and Johnny Sack really demonstrates just how quickly these relationships can fall apart into potentially deadly situations, even after many years. These guys supposedly have a reservoir of trust built up but as soon as they have a single negotiation that goes sideways, there's very real danger that people could end up dead. It really makes you understand how someone like Tony feels isolated and alone even though on the surface he has many friends and people who respect him.
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Aug 30, 2019 19:22
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It's funny that Little Carmine is an idiot and yet he ends up getting the one thing that Tony and many of the other mobsters fail to which is peace of mind. He stays involved in the life but takes a step back from a leadership position and in the end he gets to live his life chilling in Miami drinking cocktails and reaping whatever money he gets from his schemes and investments, all the while avoiding the stress and danger of being boss.
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Aug 30, 2019 20:14
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It shouldn't come as any surprise to me but holy gently caress Edie Falco is an incredible actor. Gandolfini tends to grab attention and for good reason, but Falco consistently matches him for quality of performance, they are undoubtedly the two best actors on the show.
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Aug 31, 2019 01:32
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Ginette Reno posted:It's funny that Little Carmine is an idiot and yet he ends up getting the one thing that Tony and many of the other mobsters fail to which is peace of mind. He stays involved in the life but takes a step back from a leadership position and in the end he gets to live his life chilling in Miami drinking cocktails and reaping whatever money he gets from his schemes and investments, all the while avoiding the stress and danger of being boss. He simply realized he was at the precipice of an enormous crossroads in his life.
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Aug 31, 2019 02:34
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I like the Death in Venice insert because Billy Budd: Gay as hell. Death in Venice: Way gay as hell.
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Aug 31, 2019 03:00
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The way Carmella bristled at every show of affection from Tony after hearing Furio had fled, and Tony being completely oblivious, was really something. I have said it many times before but thanks again Jerusalem for your analysis, you see so many things that I miss. crispix fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Aug 31, 2019 |
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Aug 31, 2019 03:04
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Hmm I always thought Paulie just kinda followed Carmine to that wedding with some bullshit excuse that he knew the groom.
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Aug 31, 2019 07:25
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I genuinely think it was pure coincidence. Paulie is a kind of lonely single guy who is getting older and he really seems like the type to take any tenuous excuse to attend a big function and "belong". Ironically Junior is kind of the same, and his enthusiastic attendance of funerals in a future episode for much the same reason gets really loving dark. I think Johnny just assumed there was never going to be any situation where Paulie would meet Carmine in a situation where he wasn't around to steer the conversation, or that Tony wouldn't be there thus forcing Paulie to police himself. The idea of Paulie and Carmine attending the same social function and having a one-on-one conversation really is pretty out there.
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Aug 31, 2019 09:35
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Like I said, I got my Sopranos knowledge from youtube clips (and these recaps), so the idea that Carmine Jr isn't a master manipulator merely affecting sheer daftness is absolutely foreign to me.
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Aug 31, 2019 18:52
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Xander77 posted:Like I said, I got my Sopranos knowledge from youtube clips (and these recaps), so the idea that Carmine Jr isn't a master manipulator merely affecting sheer daftness is absolutely foreign to me. It's not really an act. Wait 'til we get to the part where Little Carmine talks about his 'Trum Pay La Oil' painting.
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Aug 31, 2019 19:49
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Dawgstar posted:He simply realized he was at the precipice of an enormous crossroads in his life. He's the hair apparent. I don't know why but Minn's murder is one of the most troubling for me in the entire show. Maybe it's the awkward, cringey "explanation" Paulie tries or the up close hands on nature of it - the stilted way she tries to run. It just skeeves me out even though I hated that old lady. At any point in the show, do any of these spontaneous murders or unplanned outbursts of violence ever once create problems for the crew? I can't think of one. The only callback to something that happened earlier getting aorund to loving Tony was when he dropped his gun in the snow. Seriously though, some of these murders should at least provoke a tertiary investigation into some of the guys involved. The waiter they stiffed immediately comes to mind. Even in Minn's case there would have been a "who was she last seen with" thing, although I'm not sure how much time passed between the dinner and the murder. I thought it was the same night (or close to it). I doubt Minn had a huge social circle outside the home. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Aug 31, 2019 |
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Aug 31, 2019 23:41
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BiggerBoat posted:I don't know why but Minn's murder is one of the most troubling for me in the entire show. Maybe it's the awkward, cringey "explanation" Paulie tries or the up close hands on nature of it - the stilted way she tries to run. It just skeeves me out even though I hated that old lady. The part that does what you're talking about for me is immediately after- "hehe- there's the Skip!"
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Sep 1, 2019 02:56
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Yeah, this doesn't seem to haunt him or bother him at all. He knew this woman his entire life, he just recently took her out to lunch and a show even, but he suffocates her to death and steals all her money and appears to be completely unperturbed by it. Edit: Similarly, when the prospect of him becoming the new Boss (not realizing he's basically the DiMeo Family version of Little Carmine in Johnny's eyes) comes up he clearly isn't particularly bothered by the notion of Tony's death having to precede it. Even when the whole thing with the people he murdered supposedly haunting him/waiting for him in the afterlife came up it wasn't guilt getting to him but churlishness at the notion that he might have to suffer the consequences of his actions. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Sep 1, 2019 |
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Sep 1, 2019 03:26
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I think if you can consider someone a sociopath in the series Paulie is a better example than Tony.
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Sep 1, 2019 03:41
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