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Nobody likes that oval office anyway. “Whack this one, whack that one.” Never enough body count for Lorraine! gently caress her, let her taste her own medicine!
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Sep 24, 2019 20:11
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And the way Tony just goes “all right, whatever...” he has just consented that her murder is a thing preordained, inevitable and an easy thing to passively agree to. Sentenced to death in the blink of an eye.
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Sep 24, 2019 20:12
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 These Parker House rolls? They belong to my Ma!
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Sep 24, 2019 23:20
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Pope Corky the IX posted:
They were for the table 
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Sep 25, 2019 00:12
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DarkCrawler posted:Lorraine def. rubs me the wrong way. She is introduced as someone who has made in the mafia and then the rest of her story is basically just a humiliation conga. It seemed to shout "chicks can't make it in the mob", which contrasted with absolutely imperious Annalisa in "Commendatori" is a weird tack to take. She was extremely out of place. Just from her complete break down and cowardice when Phil showed up to scare her she broke down in tears and begged to blow all of them to let her live. It wasn't written well. At best she lucked into a position of influence and lazed about in wealth while a lot of people kept to the rules and did a lot of work to keep her in furs. Even having Chris know of her as the female shylock gave her too much clout given how she acted.
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Sep 25, 2019 01:28
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Jerusalem posted:
This ending is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the show. It is so rare for Tony to show actual vulnerability, and to have Junior sit in a stony silence while Tony comes right out and asks him how he feels? Brutal, amazing, and heart-wrenching. This show is so good.
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Sep 25, 2019 01:35
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Vichan posted:And as always the common man pays the most, poor Sal Vitro... I'm the gardner, I'm the gardn---aAARRGHH!!!
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Sep 25, 2019 09:56
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Jerusalem posted:the fact it'll lesson their profile to the FBI
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Sep 25, 2019 17:05
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One of my favorite moments this season is Feech’s card game and Tony reflecting back on it and noticed everyone laughing at his lame joke except Feech and quietly making the decision to get him out of the way before he became a problem. Feech’s last scene on the bus is such a bummer.
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Sep 26, 2019 03:25
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I got real confused by this till I realized you'd accidentally left a bit of text from earlier in the post in place. I fixed it to Bobby saying nothing, was there anything else in that chunk of quote I'm missing? Re-reading it, it all seems fine.
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Sep 26, 2019 03:34
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ruddiger posted:One of my favorite moments this season is Feech’s card game and Tony reflecting back on it and noticed everyone laughing at his lame joke except Feech and quietly making the decision to get him out of the way before he became a problem. Honestly Feech got lucky every single other person in his situation caught a case of death.
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Sep 26, 2019 04:02
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Jack2142 posted:Honestly Feech got lucky every single other person in his situation caught a case of death. AND he didnt end up with Janice. Dodged two bullets.
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Sep 26, 2019 04:11
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awesmoe posted:AND he didnt end up with Janice. Dodged two bullets. Carmela: you let him put his shoe in your snatch!? Janice: its fetishistic 
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Sep 26, 2019 05:32
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Jack2142 posted:Honestly Feech got lucky every single other person in his situation caught a case of death. My take too, they faked me out.
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Sep 26, 2019 07:50
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ruddiger posted:One of my favorite moments this season is Feech’s card game and Tony reflecting back on it and noticed everyone laughing at his lame joke except Feech and quietly making the decision to get him out of the way before he became a problem. What I love about that is when Silvio notes that Feech is well liked, Tony is all,"Well this isn't a popularity contest!" when this is literally a major reason why he's getting rid of him 
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Sep 26, 2019 10:10
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Jerusalem posted:What I love about that is when Silvio notes that Feech is well liked, Tony is all,"Well this isn't a popularity contest!" when this is literally a major reason why he's getting rid of him Doesn't that come after Carm telling him people only laugh at his jokes because he's the boss?
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Sep 26, 2019 13:54
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Dawgstar posted:Doesn't that come after Carm telling him people only laugh at his jokes because he's the boss? Yep, he actually seems to make the lame joke at the game purely to see if it is true. Feech isn't in focus during that shot. Later in the episode he remembers it again and this time Feech is in focus and you can plainly see he finds Tony's joke stupid and the whole scene kinda pathetic. Next thing you know Tony has decided to remove Feech (who was clearly quickly going to become a Richie Aprile like problem, to be fair) despite being well liked since "this isn't a popularity contest!" It's amazingly petty and pretty telling that Tony gets told right to his face by Carmela that he's surrounded by fakes, tests it, finds one genuine person and then removes THAT person from his life.
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Sep 26, 2019 14:18
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He still has enough respect for Feech to not whack him though.
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Sep 26, 2019 14:28
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I watched that scene this week(trying stay with the write-ups and not get too far ahead) and yea I thought it was a really good character moment for Sil because he's clearly is surprised and doesn't really agree with the decision but of course he allows Tony's bullshit reasoning of "nip it in the bud" to stand and just does what his boss wants him to do. One of those instances where Van Zandt did a lot of acting with only a few words actually spoken. I do wonder if he would've pushed back a little harder had Tony suggested killing Feech instead of just getting rid of him.
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Sep 26, 2019 14:37
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Basebf555 posted:I watched that scene this week(trying stay with the write-ups and not get too far ahead) and yea I thought it was a really good character moment for Sil because he's clearly is surprised and doesn't really agree with the decision but of course he allows Tony's bullshit reasoning of "nip it in the bud" to stand and just does what his boss wants him to do. One of those instances where Van Zandt did a lot of acting with only a few words actually spoken. I do wonder if he would've pushed back a little harder had Tony suggested killing Feech instead of just getting rid of him. That is what made Sil so interesting. He had a 'quiet' intensity compared to most of the other guys - you always got the impression he was the only one who really knew how to work Tony outside of Carm and the kids. You could see the wheels turning in his head like, 'is this the hill I want to die on?' but like, literally die
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Sep 26, 2019 18:16
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Agent Burt Macklin posted:That is what made Sil so interesting. He had a 'quiet' intensity compared to most of the other guys - you always got the impression he was the only one who really knew how to work Tony outside of Carm and the kids. You could see the wheels turning in his head like, 'is this the hill I want to die on?' but like, literally die Yeah, like back in season four when the crew were stealing from the Esplanade and Sil just flat out asks him if it's a hanging offense. And Sil knows it won't be, because while sure New York's panties got in a bunch it also was making Tony money.
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Sep 26, 2019 21:16
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One thing I've learned from these writeups is I'm often bad at watching TV, or during rewatches I won't be picking up new clues I missed on first viewing. My interpretation of so many scenes is different now and it's only made the Sopranos a more powerful show. The meaning I got originally from the ending of Where's Johnny was that, no, Junior at his heart doesn't really love Tony, thus why he cannot answer him. It would be a painful thing to confront. I mean, he did try to have him whacked. And the varsity poo poo- it's a clue that on a baseline, his feelings really are negative toward Tony. Jerusalem's writeup makes more sense.
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Sep 26, 2019 22:44
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Regarding Janice taking the milk from Bobby Jr.: I like seeing the aspects of her terrible parenting where you absolutely understand why her adult son is (and stepchildren will be) estranged from her.
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Sep 26, 2019 22:50
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Torquemada posted:He still has enough respect for Feech to not whack him though. I don't think that had anything to do with respecting him. Like at ALL. Tony remembered the very messy Ritchie and Ralph problems and found a far cleaner path of least resistance this time that also gives him a small measure of plausible deniability (at least for everyone who wasn't in on it so, what, Chris and Sil?). He doesn't have to get his hands dirty this way or commit a murder. I don't think he respected Feech at all and, in fact, felt that Feech wasn't respecting HIM. And, yeah, Sil is probably the most pragmatic of the entire crew. I wonder sometimes if Steven Van Zandt can actually ACT or if he was just perfectly cast. I don't recall him in anything else except that Netflix show which, if I recall, was basically "Sil Goes to Norway" or something. I never saw it. COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:One thing I've learned from these writeups is I'm often bad at watching TV, or during rewatches I won't be picking up new clues I missed on first viewing. My interpretation of so many scenes is different now and it's only made the Sopranos a more powerful show. The show is rewarding in that way. I've watched it 3x or so and still catch new poo poo. Jersulam is insanely good at this poo poo and likely pauses as he writes in addition to probably watching it several times. I don't think it's you suck at watching TV so much as it is the show being so very well written and directed. Stuff like this, The Wire and Breaking Bad all peel like onion when you go back and look at them again. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 01:36
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I'll watch an episode in full, digest it for a bit and then sit down and play back through it again scene by scene writing it up, and yeah as a result I tend to catch a lot of stuff (or at least, what I percieve things to be) that I missed even on the initial rewatch (let alone the first watch back 20 years ago!). So yeah, youre not bad at watching television, you're just watching it like a normal human being 
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Sep 27, 2019 02:10
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Has anyone ever noticed that Tony gets right into bed quite frequently without washing up or brushing his teeth of anything after being out doing god knows what? I am rewatching and up to S4. I have lost count the amount of times he walks in the door, strips down to his under shirt and boxers and jumps into bed. 
Agent Burt Macklin fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 02:25
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Agent Burt Macklin posted:Has anyone ever noticed that Tony gets right into bed quite frequently without washing up or brushing his teeth of anything after being out doing god knows what? I am rewatching and up to S4. I have lost count the amount of times he walks in the door, strips down to his under shirt and boxers and jumps into bed. I just figured he takes his showers in the morning. Well, 'morning' equals 'whenever he gets up, which is probably around 11-ish.'
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Sep 27, 2019 03:18
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He probably showers at his goomar's. Coming home and hopping right in the shower would probably make Carmela ask questions.
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Sep 27, 2019 03:41
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There are a few episodes where he comes home stinking of sex and perfume and will quietly dump his clothes in the washing machine before sneaking into bed hoping she is still asleep (she never is), never thinking that she actually pulls clothes out of the washing machine before doing a load to separate colors/check nothing has been left in the pockets that might damage the clothes/machine etc. There are probably many nights he lay in bed thinking,"Hehe, the perfect crime...  " while she's lying miserable/furious next to him know he's been out loving around.
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Sep 27, 2019 03:44
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I think in one of the early seasons he gets caught on this exact issue. He puts his slacks in the wash and Carmela pulls them out
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Sep 27, 2019 05:00
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Jerusalem posted:I got real confused by this till I realized you'd accidentally left a bit of text from earlier in the post in place. "lessen", not "lesson". "he" or "Tony" asks, though I'd restructure the whole sentence, it runs on a bit in a confusing way.
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Sep 27, 2019 07:42
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Xander77 posted:"lessen", not "lesson". Man, I have no idea how I missed that even after you quoted it. Thanks.
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Sep 27, 2019 08:41
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BiggerBoat posted:I don't think that had anything to do with respecting him. Like at ALL. Maybe respect is the wrong word. I think he had some sentimental motivation for not killing him. Also, it’s a pretty strategic way of getting rid of someone, which made me think of Sun Tzu again.
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Sep 27, 2019 09:38
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No snitching, ever*** ***unless it's part of an elaborate setup by the Boss to remove a potential rival
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Sep 27, 2019 13:04
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Season 5, Episode 4 - All Happy Families...Feech La Manna posted:I still think of you as a kid. AJ practices reversing in the driveway of the Soprano home, going up and down, getting the hang of the process. Meanwhile, Tony Blundetto sits at poolside, watching his twin sons playing in the water, taking in the expensive property and lavish setting that all belongs to his cousin... even if Tony has been kicked out of said house by his wife. Tony joins him, having gone looking for a power drill to lend to him but unable to find it, forgetting he lent it to Carmela's Cousin Brian as cover when discussing the HUD scam with him. Instead he complains about how Carmela is always losing things and it's because he isn't around to keep things together, completely misrepresenting how things operated when they were still together. Playfully he sprays the twins with the hose, then excuses himself to go see Carmela who wanted to talk to him. Inside he finds her watching the twins from the window, and she gives a little bit of exposition to explain how Blundetto, who spent 15 year in jail, could have two pre-teen sons. It seems Tony had arranged to smuggle his cousin's sperm out of prison to get his ex Nancy pregnant, something Tony claims is the least he could do. Belatedly Tony remembers that he never got the drill back from Brian, but as he attempts to somehow make this Carmela's fault anyway he feels dizzy and quickly grabs a seat. Concerned more intellectually than emotionally, she asks if it was an attack but he says it is passing, then quietly admits that he did recently have another full blown attack. She asks what Melfi had to say and he tells her for the first time he stopped seeing her, but then tries to blame that on her as well, saying he had to cut back on expenses due to the separation. They shift to the safer subject of AJ. She wanted to see Tony because AJ's college adviser Mr. Wegler has requested a meeting to discuss AJ's lousy academic performance. Tony demonstrates that he's paid some attention, Wegler was the teacher who assigned AJ Billy Budd to read last year. Tony looks through AJ's grades, furious that he hasn't been studying hard like he was told, and doesn't appreciate it when Carmela notes that maybe that's due to Tony taking him out to Basketball games on a school night, or indulging him with ipods and drum kits. Tony complains that they need to cut AJ some slack since this separation has probably been tough on him, but she's pissed that by this he means she has to be the hard-rear end disciplinarian while he buys him toys. Unable to come up with a counter-argument, Tony bitches that she just needs to give him the date of the meeting, because he doesn't need to listen to her bullshit anymore which is the reason they separated in the first place! Stunned by this utter bullshit, she laughs incredulously, before shouting after him almost desperately as he leaves, worried he's going to get the last word in and somehow make it seem like she accepts his bullshit narrative.   What follows is perhaps my least favorite scene of the season, and perhaps the show itself. Lorraine Calluzzo is killed by Billy Leotardo, along with her boyfriend Jason Evanina. It's not that she is killed that makes the scene gross, but the way in which she meets her end which simply adds to my distaste for the bar-room scene in the previous episode. Emerging from the shower in a towel, she finds Billy waiting for her. Deliberately, with utter contempt, he tears her towel off of her as she flees in a panic, running nude through the house, tripping and seeing Jason's corpse on the ground. Terrified, frantic, she tries to crawl away and sees Joey Peeps come out of the kitchen with a cup of tea, blocking her escape. Billy steps up and shoots her, and then the two leave and are driven away calmly and without a word by Billy's older brother Phil. It's... contempt. That's the word I keep coming back to, the show treats Lorraine with an utter and obvious contempt it doesn't with the other characters. They're often shown in a negative light, of course, shown as being despicable pieces of poo poo etc but never quite with the disdain that Lorraine gets. Introduced as a tough as nails lady shylock, her next two appearances show her collapsing when threatened and reduced to offering sexual favors, then crawling nude along the floor weeping before being put out of her misery. It's gross and misogynistic, but not just from the characters on the screen (for whom it makes sense, they're despicable pieces of poo poo after all) but in the writing itself. It's like the show is saying,"How dare this woman try to be on equal footing with the men? Look how weak and fragile she immediately becomes when threatened!". The latter isn't necessarily an invalid take on a mobster character, but the fact they make the only female mobster into this is telling. The use of her nudity feels deliberate to put it in the viewers face that this is a woman falling apart here, and I can't figure out what the hell the point any of it was since they introduced this character only to spend two episodes disgracing and mocking her before coldly wiping her out. It doesn't have any impact or emotional heft, and it stands out particularly given how interestingly written Annalisa in season 1 was. This episode was written by Toni Kalem, the actress who played Angie Bonpensiero, who was also a script editor in season 5. Did she write this/define this character or was she given instructions from above? It seems so bizarre how shallow the character is, how ill-treated, and how downright nasty the show decides to treat her. Angelo receives the bad news while meeting with Little Carmine and capo Rusty Millio (played by Frankie Valli!). Little Carmine is furious, assuming Phil Leotardo was the one to do the deed, but Rusty can see the bigger picture and looks past that to the fact that Johnny Sack would have approved the hit. As he leaves, he pushes past Angelo's protests to insist to Little Carmine that they could steamroll Johnny easily and be welcomed as heroes by everybody... it'll be easy! Gee, I wonder what it was about 2003/2004 that gave the writers of The Sopranos inspiration to do an scene where the idiot son of a powerful former leader is convinced by his father's old advisors that war is easy and they'll be greeted as liberators?   In Crazy Horse's back office, Tony, Christopher, Silvio, Little Paulie and Benny discuss the hit, with Christopher saying it's a declaration of war. Tony grumpily tries to wave that off but before he can, Feech La Manna enters and is greeted warmly by everybody, jokingly asking Tony if he should "kiss the ring". After the usual hugs, Feech settles in and Tony catches him up, and Feech seems to agree with Christopher by saying that Johnny is trying to force Little Carmine's hand and start a war. Adriana enters with a drink for Feech and asks if anybody else wants anything, and raises an eyebrow when Feech answers for the group. Not a mobster herself, she knows enough to know that TONY is the person who makes these decisions so she directly asks him if he's like a sandwich, and he graciously declines. Silvio stops to have a quick chat with her in the corridor while Feech regales Eugene and Benny with stories about an old capo called Tommy Pinto's goomar and her long legs. Christopher doesn't appreciate Feech's open admiration of his fiance, especially with how belated Feech is before he offers his compliments to Christopher. Tony, for his part, is more troubled with how eagerly Little Paulie and Benny lean forward and request further stories about Tommy Pinto. He "jokingly" bemoans another trip down memory lane, and when Feech happily notes it's important for youngsters to know the history, finds himself caught in a trap when Silvio gleefully asks him to recount the time Tony and Jackie April robbed his card game. Christopher is delighted too at Feech's discomfort, but within moments Feech has turned it around as he excitedly recounts the story, troubling Tony with his own "joking" use of terms like Tony "should be dead now" and "couple loving punks" and claiming Tony was clearly terrified when he pulled the heist. Tony quickly cuts him off with a dark smile and a reminder that Feech has "forgiven if not forgotten", and Feech, realizing that the mood has turned, swallows his pride and nods his agreement before smoothly turning matters to business. Here he makes another faux pas though, as he "asks" the others to leave the room, and all of them are smart enough to look to Tony for approval before going. That leaves Tony, Feech and Silvio alone in the office, Tony appreciating that Silvio convinced Adriana to change the music to something more their taste. Feech's business is to ask to be given his old poker game back. It's supposed to be run by Junior but Feech makes it clear he knows at least that Junior is Boss in name only. So why should he run it? Because back when he used to there was never any trouble, no fights, no raids, just a profitable game under his management, and he can promise the same again with the lion's share of the profits going to Tony. Feech can't help getting a little dig in, pointing out the only trouble he ever had running the game was from Tony himself, and reminds him that it could have gone badly for Tony if Feech had pushed the grievance. Silvio isn't buying that, pointing out that Tony's connections to Johnny and Junior were the real reasons he held off (and Jackie's to Richie), but Feech doesn't argue, just sits and waits. He made his case to the Boss, and now he respectfully waits for the Boss' decision. Tony gives it: he can run the game and keep 20%, but he has to rent the house from Tony himself. As a sweetener though, he offers to send some high rollers' Feech's way, and very specifically refers to them as "friends of mine". Feech chuckles, says he needs to get out before he talks too much and screws himself out of a great deal, and with great sincerity for once doesn't refer to Tony as "kid" or a mocking reference to being the Boss but just calls him "Don Antonio". Tony appreciates that, and they hug before Feech heads out. Alone, Silvio takes the chance to vent, airing his distaste for Feech for whom nothing is ever good enough. Tony is feeling more charitable though, especially in light of recent developments with his Uncle, and suggests that he's just a little too set in his ways, but he's an old man, what can you expect? Speaking of aging gracefully, Carmela is reading a brochure on Botox when AJ slumps into the lounge, seemingly making a tremendous effort not to sneer and complain. As a result, he sounds half-bored/half-fed up as he asks if she's going to let him go to a Mudvayne concert in the city or not. She admits she had considered it carefully, but as it would involve him staying overnight in New York with only a group of other teenagers she simply can't agree. Having already resigned himself to her saying no he offers a brief complain that Todd's mother said it would be okay, and when she points out Todd isn't HIS mother he grumbles,"Believe me, I know" as he leaves, trying to savage her with guilt, but it's hardly one of history's great burns.  With Tony's blessing, a few days later Feech has THE EXECUTIVE GAME up and running again and he's in hog heaven. Among Tony's high-rollers are Hesh, David Lee Roth, Lawrence Taylor, Bernie Brillstein and Dr. Ira Fried (sadly no longer played by the wonderfully voiced first actor), with Silvio, Vito and surprisingly Tony B making up the numbers, some lowly associates providing the food and Paulie and Christopher observing everything from nearby chairs. All of them are remarkably relaxed bout the fact Feech will NOT. SHUT. UP! He's telling a story about picking up two stewardesses in the Peppermint Lounge, one of whom was insatiable in bed to the point he used the pointy toe-end of his shoe to keep loving her. This gets a good laugh from everybody as they continue to play smoothly, but his story is cut off when Tony arrives with Benny, cracking a series of mediocre jokes that everybody cackles at. Tony spots his cousin and is surprised to see him at the table, and Blundetto notes Feech fronted him and cracks wise about being humiliated in front of everybody. Tony doesn't mind breaking balls (just not the other way around) but is put off when Feech also joins in, more so because Blundetto seems to take it all in a happy stride and holds no malice towards the older man at all. It's interesting to see the shades of Davey Scatino here. Feech fronted Tony B's stake, but Blundetto is doing just fine and there's no sense that Feech is setting him up or working an angle. He's just... done something nice for a friend without any ulterior motive beyond liking looking after his buddies. Tony must surely on some level grasp that he wouldn't be (and hasn't been) capable of the same. As Tony continues to go around greeting those at the table, Feech makes the mistake of cracking a joke about how often he says hello. Wounded, Tony jokes back about Feech's "impermeable" stories then "graciously" allows him to finish, jumping in once Feech starts up again to crack another joke. Silvio departs the table, having burned through his stack again, and Tony jumps in to take his place, watched carefully by an offended but careful to contain it Feech. His restraint pays off, as Tony asks Dr. Fried how the planning for his daughter's wedding is going and Fried openly boasts about the powerful and rich people who will all be in attendance, at what times, and where. All those details drunk in greedily by Feech. The mood in the room suddenly freezes when Tony asks when he'll get his invitation... till Tony smiles and Fried realizes he was just loving with him, and everybody laughs with a hefty measure of relief thrown into the mix. Less exciting is the meeting with Mr. Wegler. Tony and Carmela sit uncomfortably with AJ in the waiting room, listening with a mixture of dismay and longing to Wegler (played by David Strathairn lauding the student currently in the office with him to his parents, effectively telling them their son is a shoe-in to get into his college of choice. They enter his office where the mood is far less celebratory, Wegler feeling that AJ is close to the point-of-no-return if he can't get his grades up. AJ's preferred list of colleges is a pipe-dream, University of Arizona and Arizona State are not achievable with his current grades, even if you take his football talent into account which is clearly the reason he chose those two in the first place. Tony defends AJ, saying he's doing his best, and doesn't help matters when he notes out loud to Carmela that they'd done tests in the past to check if he had ADD (he didn't). AJ of course latches onto this lifeline, immediately declaring that if he's learning disabled he gets unlimited time to complete his SATs. Carmela, as eager as anybody else for a reason beyond laziness why her son can't match up to her daughter, asks if this is true and Wegler has to force them back onto track, dismissing AJ to return to class so he can continue with the parents alone. They have had AJ see a counselor who has reported back that AJ is effectively a completely normal kid, a little churlish which is normal for his age, but with his grades so low they need to figure out a way to motivate him. Wegler suggests a psychologist but Tony and Carmela are in rare agreement, Tony laughing and claiming people use it as a crutch to hide his own desperate need for it, and Carmela remembering the near disaster of Dr. Wendy Kobler almost sending Meadow to Barcelona. Tony repeats his oft-stated question of what ever happened to Gary Cooper, confusing Wegler who points out Gary Cooper wasn't a 16-year-old boy ("He was at one time!" Tony retorts, as if he's nailed Wegler on that one). Carmela cuts through the bullshit, telling Wegler that the fact is AJ is just lazy, so she's going to push him harder to study, get him a different tutor and make him get those grades up through sheer hard work. Wegler, who has no idea last year Carmela was tearfully rejecting his interpretation of Billy Budd, has been very impressed by her through the entire meeting (less so with Tony) and this last declaration only increases his admiration for her. Leaving Wegler's office, Tony isn't pleased to see AJ shooting the poo poo with another student, still convinced he can sell being learning disabled and get an advantage on taking his SATs. Before he can get into too much trouble though, a crying student rushes by and Wegler emerges to learn from one of the admin staff that there has been a car crash and one of their students had died and another is in a coma. Tony and Carmela are astonished and concerned, the fact somebody their son's age has just died hitting far too close to home.   Melfi enters her waiting room to collect a waiting patient and spots a giant gift box on the couch beside him. He didn't bring it, he promises, it was there when he arrived. Carmela has hired the new tutor as promised, and he sits with AJ at the dining room table struggling to get him to answer about as straightforward a question as he can. AJ can't even make a guess though, and is quickly distracted by a honking outside. Looking out the window, he's amazed to see Tony with a bright yellow SUV, and rushes outside like an over-excited toddler. Carmela cannot believe it, walking out to stare in disgust at this completely inappropriate and unearned gift, while Tony tries to sell it as a safety measure in light of what happened to the students at his school. The tutor leaves, his hour up having achieved nothing, and Carmela reluctantly climbs into the car with Tony and AJ while the tutor heads down the driveway in his beat-up old car while his dimbulb student gets to play with a brand new SUV before returning to his McMansion to play his brand new drum kit. AJ is thrilled with the car of course, but then his face falls as he remembers how SUVs are gas guzzlers and kids at school are probably gonna talk poo poo about him driving it... but promptly decides gently caress them, he wants the big expensive car with lovely mileage! But having made that decision, Tony shows that he at least considered something when buying this car, as he agrees that AJ can take it out for a spin... once. After that it gets locked in the garage and never leaves until AJ gets his grades up (to a C, he isn't expecting miracles). Carmela, who still dislikes the car, is completely onboard with this strategy which just riles up AJ further, snapping at her that he didn't ask what she thought about it. Carmela, wounded, leaves the car, and Tony hits AJ with another blow: he's giving the keys to Carmela, so if AJ doesn't treat her right he's only going to be loving himself over. Inside, Tony attempts to defend his impulse purchase, saying it'll be a good motivational tool and it's important to use the carrot as well as the stick when dealing with teenage boys. Carmela isn't so much upset with Tony anymore though (she clearly liked his idea to dangle the car in AJ's face then make it clear he needed to work to earn it) but rather AJ's continually hateful attitude towards her. What was once her sweet baby boy has become a sullen little poo poo, and Tony commiserates in saying he remembers feeling a similar distress when Meadow got old enough to stop being daddy's little girl. For a moment they are in rare unison, a father and mother united in common ground... but it doesn't last, and Carmela breaks it first to give him his bills, including one for a new cheap sound system to replace the one he pulled out. He cracks a joke about her friends doing a film club and is taken aback when she responds that at least she has friends (like Angie?), and she mocks him for surrounding himself with flunkies who dutifully laugh at his jokes, lie that he isn't going bald etc. When she explains that he's the Boss and that makes them scared of him, the look on his face is almost heartbreaking, as you see the horrified realization that there's truth to what she is saying. Of course that is quickly consumed by rage, as he throws in a classic bit of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism]Whataboutism[/url, accusing her of being a cynic, bringing up Artie, then proclaiming it doesn't matter even if it is true since he's running a business and not a popularity contest. But he also gets the gently caress out of the house, because no way does he want any further confrontation with the truth.   Dr. Melfi attends a therapy session with Elliot Kupferberg, where with a mixture of revulsion, amusement and horror she reads out Tony's rambling apology letter that came with the gift basket, spelling mistakes and all. Tony has clearly put great effort into writing the letter, trying to sound reasoned and intelligent and demonstrating more clearly than ever his lack of education as a result (semester and a half of college notwithstanding). He apologizes for his "fowl" language, writes in run-on sentences (I feel you, Tony) and tiptoes carefully around the "vile" word he used. "oval office, right?" asks Elliot, causing an exasparated,"Yes, Elliot..." response from her. Tony still holds her in great "rigard", but once she finishes the letter and Elliot agrees that Tony is seeking ablution, she points out that in all that flowery language Tony continues to essentially blame her for his aggression towards her. Carmela is doing laundry at home when her phone rings. It's Mr. Wegler, who wants to discuss some further strategies he has devised for AJ, and he suggests they meet for a meal and coffee to discuss them. She's delighted by the offer, impressed that he seems to be thinking of AJ, apparently not for a moment suspecting that he might have some ulterior motive for wanting to take her out for a meal. She been married for a loooooong time. That night over dinner, she attempts to build bridges with AJ, attempting to match his interests by discussing The Beatles and marveling at drum-beat in Birthday. The trouble is she got the name wrong, it wasn't a solo, and AJ thinks the drumwork in that song is basic at best. When she tries to make small talk about Pete Best, he contempteously mocks her attempt to find common ground. They take passive aggressive snipes at each other, AJ not wanting to engage but then getting pissed off that she gets pissed off at him being pissed off etc etc. He accuses her of being a martyr but she's determined to stamp her authority down and forces him to go to his bedroom. Ironically, they've both gotten what they wanted - him to his bedroom, her to make him do as she says - but neither are happy. Tony sits in on another night of THE EXECUTIVE GAME. He's enjoying him, especially as Feech is being quiet for once, but when he tells another player that he pulled the GPS out of his new Escalade, he notices Paulie's far too obvious asskissing and Carmela's words come back to him. As Paulie wins a hand, it is mentioned how SUVs used to be a good tax write-off, and this perks up Feech who cracks a joke about the Pope and a Jewish accountant. The room laughs genuinely at the punchline, and more again when David Lee Roth adds in that he used to be able to write off condoms as a business expense too. Tony tests the waters in this mix, cracking a pretty lame pun that might be good for a chuckle of two... and the room explodes with laughter. Tony's eyes move around the table, seeing forced laughs which aren't quite on the Henry Hill terrified of Tommy DeVito level but aren't that far off.  Carmela goes up to AJ's bedroom where he is specifically not studying, and offers him a compromise deal in an effort to break past his lovely attitude. She has reconsidered letting him to to the Mudvayne concert in New York City, but only on the condition that he take a cab straight to Meadow's afterwards and spend the night there, then return home by 10:30. Still unable to force himself to do anything other than the bare minimum display of gratitude, he offers a wary thanks and she kisses him goodnight, reminding him not to stay up too late. Later in the week, others are busy at work. Fried's daughter's wedding has happened, and as everybody celebrates inside with great merriment and abandon, outside the valets have been tied up at gunpoint while expensive cars are loaded up onto a truck and driven off. Their work done, the mobsters leave and one valet frees himself and rushes inside, reporting the thefts to the singer of the band who announces it over the mic. Guests rush outside, one proclaiming that all the American cars were left behind. Two of the valets are kneeling beside another with a fractured skull, and Fried - a prick doctor but a doctor nonetheless - rushes to his aid to help him. But as he looks the severely beaten man over, the father of the groom lambasts him after learning his brother's SL55 Convertible was among those stolen. After all, that valet may have his brains leaking out of his skull... but this rich guy's brother was on a waiting list for a long time to get that car! 
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Sep 30, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 15:11
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Meadow and Finn are watching Frida on television when AJ calls from the just finished Mudvayne concert to inform her he isn't going to spend the night at his apartment, he's going to stay at the Hudson Suites with his buddies just like Carmela told him not to. Meadow is pissed but also tempted by Finn's tickling, so she warns him not to do anything stupid and to be home on time, and she'll cover for him when Carmela calls. Hanging up, she and Finn start making out. Carmela tries to enjoy a quiet evening at home in the bath, but can't relax. Getting out, she calls Finn and Meadow who have completely forgotten the movie to enjoy each other instead. Meadow explains that AJ is asleep already, making a small lie to cover for his larger one by "reluctantly" admitting that he was a little to drink and so she put him to bed. Carmela is irritated but not furious, at least he went to the apartment, and tries to chat with Meadow who quickly cuts her off by saying she and Finn are in the middle of a movie. She apologizes and hangs up, and Finn and Meadow go back to getting hot and heavy, enjoying unexpectedly having the apartment all to themselves. AJ, of course, is watching porn, smoking huge amounts of weed, drinking beer and has made a huge mess of the suite with his friends. One of them has already passed out next to a toilet coated in vomit, and another friend returns with a permanent marker so they can draw all over his face in the time-honored fashion. At the Bada Bing, Tony is doing shots with a topless dancer who is eagerly telling him about her passion for painting while he stares at her tits. Fried arrives and Tony half-jokes thinking he's brought the wedding party with him to enjoy the strip club, until Fried lays out the disaster of the wedding reception. The cars were stolen, his daughter had to be sedated, a valet got his head cracked open, the cops have been called but he has no faith in their ability to do anything. So he's come to Tony in desperation, hoping to recover the cars before they get all chopped up, particularly the SL55 Convertible. Tony tries to beg off, claiming he's not really in that business, but Fried is begging, wanting to do anything to get out of his son-in-law's father's bad books. The next morning a ringing phone wakes groggy teenagers who have over-imbibed, including one poor bastard who had his pants pulled down and "INSERT WOOD" written on his rear end with arrows pointing towards his rear end in a top hat. Carmela hangs up when she once again doesn't get an answer from AJ, and calls Meadow who sees the Caller ID and immediately realizes that AJ has hosed up, and takes the cowardly but prudent action of just not answering and going back to sleep. After (we later discover) calling Todd whose mother initially booked them the room, she gets the number and for the Hudson Suites, but when she calls they won't put her through to the room due to a block on the line, and she raises holy hell until they finally acquiesce. That ringing phone finally penetrates AJ's bleary head, and he shouts at his equally groggy friend not to answer, knowing it must be his mother. The phone stops ringing and AJ tries to get up... and realizes his face is stuck to the rug, he's been glued to to. As housekeeping knocks on the door, AJ gets his face peeled off the carpet, leaving chunks of it behind, and discovers that his eyebrows have been shaved off and replaced with giant arches in permanent marker. At that second, housekeeping lets themselves in. Also somewhat the worse for wear is Tony, who answers the phone to a frantic Carmela, who has called him as her last resort. She explains that AJ didn't come home and she can't get hold of him, and since his friend Todd did make it home she's panicking that he'd OD'd or is lying dead somewhere. Tony promises to take care of it, telling her to calm down, and after she hangs up she hears the door open and rushes out to see if it is him. It is, and in typical teenage fashion he thinks he can just go to his room and somehow avoid confrontation long enough that the problem will just... go away? But she twists him around and is shocked to see his (lack of) eyebrows, and blasts into him for going against his word. He hauls himself away, offering a,"gently caress you!" when she calls him a liar, and when she chases after him she trips on the stair, hurting her knee. That stops him for a moment, but only long enough to see she is okay and thus it is safe for him to rush on to his bedroom to try and hide from consequences. A scrapyard worker gets a call from Christopher about the stolen cars, but has nothing to offer, saying nothing came through his yard. Christopher explains the need to get the SL55 in particular back, and he promises to make some calls. AJ is lying in his bed, probably thinking he's the victim in all this when he hears the sound of an engine and squealing tires and feels his stomach drop. Racing to the window, he's terrified to see his father storming out of the car and coming towards the house, having somehow not grasped that Carmela might call him even in spite of their separation. As he rushes to think of some way to escape his father's wrath, Tony strides into the house wanting to know where he is, his suspicions flaring when he sees Carmela has hurt her knee. She doesn't care about that though, she isn't even angry, she just can't deal with the fact that not only did he lie to her but that Meadow did as well to cover for him. Tony doesn't think that is so unusual, his mindset closer to that of a kid than a parent, understanding that kids will team up against an adult. Carmnela, meanwhile, likes to think of the close bond between her and her children and think it would stand in the way of something like that. When she tells Tony AJ cursed at her, his brow darkens more, perhaps thinking about the "vile" word he called Melfi, wondering if it was as bad as that. He prepares to storm upstairs when AJ just so happens to come down, "surprised" to see him as boy howdy he was just taking out the rubbish like a good boy! Tony is taken aback, not by the incredibly lame lie but by the fact something is noticably off about his son. Tony Soprano, Mob Boss lauded for his strategic thinking and big picture planning.... can't grasp what it is, but something is wrong. Something isn't right. But what? What?  Tony demands to know who did it and seems to accept AJ's answer that they were just screwing around, but when AJ admits he said the f-word to his mother, Tony immediately grabs him by the neck and with shocking ease presses him against the wall. AJ offers no resistance but even if he had it wouldn't have meant much, it is always easy to forget just how big and powerful Tony is even in spite of his increasing fatness over the years. All AJ can offer is a whiny response that Carmela wouldn't even let him talk, and Tony steps back and with great disdain asks to hear this so-called explanation that would somehow make everything okay. So he spins some bullshit about not being able to find a cab, trying to make it somehow Carmela's fault for wanting him to just stay out in the middle of the street rather than use the perfectly good hotel right next door. Carmela doesn't buy that excuse for a second, any give she had for him is gone, but unfortunately for her Tony's fears are not in lockstep with hers, he's had a different concern ever since he saw the shaved eyebrows. To both AJ and Carmela's shock, he demands to know what kind of "sexual proclivity" he's got going on with Wegler, saying they need to know. Yes, it all goes back to Billy Budd. Tony was charming at the dinner at Meadow's apartment while Carmela made an rear end of herself, but he was locking away those details in his head and forming his own conclusions. Just like he did with the Fish and Game worker who Carmela was making eyes at, he's assumed that Wegler is gay. Why else teach a gay book!?! If he's gay, therefore he's a deviant, and therefore responsible for shaving AJ's eyebrows during some depraved teenage boy orgy at the Hudson Suites. "What went on up there?" he demands as Carmela and AJ both stare in slack-jawed shock at him,"Poppers and weird sex?" AJ is quick to deny any such thing, promising that it was just him and his buddies and they just drank some beers. Carmela of course doesn't believe a word of it and AJ complains that she never believes him and his word should be good enough. It's laughable... except Tony buys it. The moment he says,"You had a couple of beers?" you can see the relief wash over AJ's face even without eyebrows to lend expression. Tony makes him repeat that he didn't do any drugs, and then to Carmela's disgust he turns, looks at her, shrugs and quietly agrees that it was just a couple of beers. Sure ground him, but it's not the end of the world. That's the final straw. Utterly fed up with both their bullshit, unable to believe Tony hasn't even been able to do the one thing he was good at it: terrifying their son into doing as he was told, she washes her hand of the whole thing. AJ can go live with Tony, she's done with him. Tony rolls his eyes at her being dramatic and snaps at an eager AJ to shut up when he declares he'd love to go live with him. Carmela is seriously though, and Tony sends AJ out with the trash so he can sit down and seriously discuss what they are REALLY gonna do. No really. Seriously. What are "we" gonna do that doesn't involve him having to take any responsibility? He tries to push again the idea this was just typical teenage bullshit, reminding her of the time they locked Artie outside in the snow and he almost lost his fingers. Carmela does agree that it is typical teenage bullshit, but that's the problem, she just can't deal with that anymore. He's testing his limits, pushing her buttons, and she failed to handle it because she made the mistake of trying to compete with Tony who gets the benefits of being the cool dad who takes him places and buys him things while she handles the boring stuff. She let him go into town knowing he couldn't be relied on to do as he was told, and she did it because she was so desperate for him to love her as much as he loves Tony. Tony tries to assure her that of course AJ loves her, but she won't be moved. She can't be the villain anymore, and so freewheeling bachelor Tony finds himself lumbered with a teenage son, suddenly having more responsibility and duties than he did when they were "happily" married. For AJ it's paradise though, as we soon see him hanging out with his dad and Artie, eating pizza and watching The Honeymooners, not having to worry about cleaning up or dressing nicely. It's the kind of squalor he'd relish like a pig in poo poo, which is to be expected for a 16-year-old... but how sad to see two middle-aged men with kids like Tony and Artie still living like that at their age.   Christopher brings Feech into the back of the Bada Bing, he's been summoned and has answered the call. Watched by Silvio, Tony instructs an immediately wary Feech to sit and outright asks him if robbed the wedding. Feech is amused, asking if that is a problem, and Tony reminds him that he very specifically told Feech that Fried was "a friend of mine", the implication being clear. Feech, still amused, apologizes to the "godfather", saying he thought Fried was just another pigeon, infuriating Tony who warns him not to call him that again. Don Antonio was fine, in fact it was welcomed, but "Godfather" is clearly a mockery. Rather than be contrite, Feech works himself up into moral outrage, saying no matter how long he's been away it has never been the case that you had to ask permission to ply your trade. He hauls out an envelope of cash and slams it on the table, pointedly noting it's Tony's end of the scam, and Tony - no fool - asks if he was ever going to get that if he hadn't asked about the wedding heist. After all, he didn't get his end on the landscaping deal until they needed him to settle the beef between Feech and Paulie. Feech continues to be outraged, trying to deflect, but Tony won't be shaken: with this murderous old man he's a hell of a lot savvy than he is with his own 16-year-old son. So Feech wanted to make sure Tony got a cut? Then why didn't the cars go through any of Tony's bodyshops? Feech's answer is only more troubling, as he angrily explains he got a good deal through a connection Johnny Sack told him about. That sets all of Tony's alarm bells ringing: Feech is doing deals/talking directly with Johnny Sack, potentially the next Boss of one of the Five Families? Silvio's head turns slowly, dangerously, like an owl sensing prey when he hears Tony's quiet, menacing,"Johnny Sack?" Feech, pissed off that Tony keeps haranguing him, leaps to his feet to bellow some more about back in his day, and Tony cuts him off to declare he's sick of hearing all those old stories. So unless it's a little local color then he can SHUT THE gently caress UP! Tony's roar is a lot louder than Feech's, and for the first time he seems to grasp that he's REALLY overstepped the mark with "the boy king". Quiet, trembling with rage but knowing this is one person he can't lash out at, Tony stares him down after asking if Feech's attitude is the thanks he gets for helping him out. Feech against swallows his pride, but also his rage, and nods his head submissively and apologizes.... and says the worst thing possible. "You gotta remember, Tony," he offers in a low voice,"I still think of you as a kid." Tony absorbs that, as well as Feech's cowed promise that he will learn. This marks a particular potential turning point, this could be the moment that Tony brought a powerful, talented high-earner to heel and strengthened his Family as a result. Except, as he stares up at Feech's still proud face, the laughter of the other night from his lame joke echoes in his ears. He remembers the scene, the laughter around the table, the pointing, the close to frantic attempts to be seen to appreciate and like him... and in the background, Feech La Manna staring at him in abject disgust, the only person there working for him who wasn't a flunkie.  Tony blinks, comes back to the present, and standing up he hugs the contrite Feech and assures him they're all right as Feech actually seems to brush back a tear. Tony tells him to get the SL55 back, they pretend to box a little at each other, and Feech leaves seemingly broken to Tony's will. His submission certainly impressed Silvio, who admits that maybe he was wrong about him after all... and is surprised by Tony's reply. "Did I learn nothing from Richie Aprile?" he asks, having a moment of self-reflection,"Nip it in the bud." Silvio didn't see that coming at all, he means to rid himself of Feech? Tony blinks back tears and wipes his own nose, but he is determined. He agrees with Silvio's assessment that Feech is well-liked and his loss will be mourned (unlike, for instance, Ralphie), but notes that this itself is another reason it must happen. Feech is following the exact same path as Richie: out of jail, immediately back into the game, clashing with a Boss he still thinks of as a kid.. but unlike Richie people actually like and respect him. Feech is a threat to Tony, a legitimate contender for Boss with just a little more time, and while he was cowed here, Richie was too at different points but ended up trying to turn the other Captains against Tony. All sensible and reasoned thoughts to have... but all largely secondary to the real sticking point for Tony: Feech isn't a flunkie like everybody else around him, and Tony has proven that in spite of Carmela making him aware of this, he prefers the positive reinforcement of the flunkies. Action is swift. A couple days later Christopher and Benny pop by Feech's place with a suit that Christopher promised him, asking him to try it on so they can see how the sleeves fit. It looks nice, and Feech offers them to join him for wine and peaches, but Benny begs off, saying they've got a job that needs doing. Christopher wouldn't mind some peaches though, surprised at Benny's insistence they go, causing Feech to ask what's the big hurry? Benny clams up but Christopher admits that a cousin of his accidentally burned down his garage while welding, and now they don't have a place to park their truck. Now he clams up when Feech asks why they don't park on the street, causing him to laugh as he realizes that Christopher realizes he's said too much. Shrugging at each other, Benny and Christopher decide to let him in on the whole thing, and his earlier reference to them as a double act couldn't be more true. Between the two of them, they've convinced him to "drag" the story out of them through his charm, and he learns that they're stashing a hijacked collection of flatscreen plasma televisions for a couple of days until a guy from Montreal can come buy them. Feech immediately offers to stash them in his garage, saying it makes more sense as he'll be around to keep an eye on them. Christopher smells something fishy and asks what he wants in return, his suspicion only deepening Feech's desire to get in on this action. He wants 2k and a television thrown in, and Christopher finally allows himself to be "convinced" to do as Feech asks. Carmela has lunch with Wegler as promised, where he admits his plan was to get AJ into Rutger's summer program but without eyebrows that's unlikely to happen. Carmela can't help but smile at that, but admits she was a wreck after she couldn't reach him, her mind fixated on the girl who died driving to school. Wegler admits that has been tough for everybody and they've brought in grief counselors, and seems surprised when he learns AJ doesn't seem to have been affected by or shown any interest in it at all. She lets him know he's moved in with Tony for the time being, and then takes a gamble and decides to ask Wegler if he's heard "things" about Tony. He admits he's heard "some", both of them being very polite about acknowledging Tony is a mobster, and Carmela finally offers her take on AJ and his future, the cause for her deep and continuing concern far beyond any normal mother/teenager hostility. She's proud of Meadow being in Columbia, but she wants AJ to go to college because she's terrified of what will happen to him if he doesn't. She knows he has no work ethic, she's fully aware he's lazy and entitled. Her greatest fear is that if he doesn't go to college, he'll quickly become bored with a regular job and be attracted to the money and prestige of Tony's "business"... and just like Tony she knows that AJ would be torn to shreds in that world. She's raised a baby, a boy without survival instincts because he's never needed them: look at his reaction to that bear, all he could do was stand and weep for his mother, he didn't have fight OR flight, he simply shut down. Having vented herself, admitting that like AJ when she was young and stupid she was attracted by Tony's lifestyle and his magnetic personality, she realizes she's kind of blurted that all out and asks him to talk about himself. He admits he was married too for much the same reasons as Carmela, to "escape the quotidian", a reference to an ordinary, unexciting life that flies completely over her head. What she focuses on is that this handsome, slim, well-spoken man WAS married. Their meals arrive and suddenly he asks her about Madam Bovary, firing up with excitement as he talks about the themes of the book, suggesting she read it. She is thrilled at the recommendation and makes a note, but while his passion kindled something in her, the fact that speaking to her reminded him of a book about a lonely, empty woman trapped in a fantasy that destroys her never really registers with her. Feech is surprised by his doorbell ringing, and opens it to discover Supervisor Curran from the Parole Board has come by to make a site visit. It's not his usual Parole Officer, who is sick, and uneasily he follows him around the house as he looks it over, noting the flatscreen TV playing in his living room (a bequest from a dead friend, he promises). Curran notices the garage through the window and asks what is inside, and when Feech gets cagey he becomes insistent: he WILL look inside that garage. Tony, AJ, Artie and Tony B are watching baseball in the mess of an apartment that was once the meticulously clean home of Tony's mother (and where he ranted at Janice for not keeping it clean). Artie has hotboxed the room, roaring with laughter as AJ gets a whiff. They explain the difference between hotboxing and a Dutch Oven to a delighted AJ, who smirks that Tony might be surprised when he jokes that AJ needs a girl in bed before he can do the latter. Tony agrees, he WOULD be surprised. After Tony B gets a whiff and flees the room, a laughing Tony tells AJ to go upstairs and do his Spanish homework, and AJ casually says he will in 15 minutes. No. Now. Tony is still smiling but his voice brooks no disagreement, and after a few seconds of a state-off AJ capitulates and leaves. This minor triumph doesn't seem to leave Tony with any satisfaction, perhaps he remembers Carmela's explanation that a teenager will always push against their boundaries. Or perhaps he thinks it really is that simple and Carmela was complaining about nothing, but this minor clash of wills has reminded him of the dirty work he just did. Because Feech La Manna is "dead". Unlike Richie Aprile and Ralphie Cifaretto, Tony has simply neutralized Feech by turning his own nature against him. People liked him but he was trouble waiting to happen, and the fact he was willing to pull a side-hustle with these televisions so soon after getting chewed out over the wedding heist just proves a confrontation was coming sooner or later. So he orchestrated a violation of Feech's parole at Feech's own hands, creating more than enough obfuscation that even if Feech suspects what has happened, nobody could ever truly say it wasn't just pure bad luck. He's going back to jail, out of the life once more, going back behind concrete walls and iron bars. No more New Zealand peaches or dandelion salad. No more Executive Game. No more running his own bakery or regaling young up-and-comers with stories of the old days, those tales belong to the losers who get caught and go away now. A sad old man sits on a prison bus and stares out the window at a far from glamorous New Jersey, knowing it is a paradise compared to where he is going.  Once again, the Sopranos has overturned expectations, with the new Richie/Ralphie disposed of within 4 episodes. Feech La Manna is no more. Tony steps into the back room of the Bada Bing, where Silvio tells him Feech is gone. Tony doesn't answer, sitting down to eat, and Silvio assures him he made the right choice. Tony, who handled this whole thing far better than Johnny Sack did with Lorraine, is still upset at himself for having done away with a "legend". Silvio promises him that Christopher agrees it was the right call, and Tony grunts an acknowledgement but says it doesn't matter if he does or not. Because Tony Soprano - who just dumped a high earner back into jail for (among other reasons) not laughing at his joke - is NOT running a loving popularity contest! Carmela returns home with her shopping. Heading towards the door, she has a sudden flashback to a young AJ riding his Big Wheel down the driveway eagerly calling for her to watch. She remembers a younger version of herself racing after him in a panic that he would get hurt once outside of the safety of her home. The current day version of herself stands on the doorway, knowing her son is out there now, outside of her ability to help/shelter him anymore. The driveway he once careened down on a Big Wheel and so recently practised driving a car on is now empty. She steps inside the house, huge and empty, the drums silenced, the bedrooms deserted. She was once warned by a psychiatrist to abandon Tony, the house and all her possession and take only the children with her. She refused, thinking by some minor "sacrifice" of a few luxury items she could somehow have it all and retain some kind of moral superiority. She finally took the right step in separating from Tony, but her fantasy of a home and family that would remain full and present was just that. A fantasy.   Season 5: Two Tonys | Rat Pack | Where's Johnny? | All Happy Families... | Irregular Around the Margins | Sentimental Education | In Camelot | Marco Polo | Unidentified Black Males | Cold Cuts | The Test Dream | Long Term Parking | All Due Respect Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Sep 27, 2019 15:12
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If I'm not mistaken, some supporting characters that didn't appear all that often were contracted only through season four, which is why we got a new Barbara and a new Dr. Fried and I think there were a few others as well.
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Sep 27, 2019 15:24
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Jerusalem posted:, and it stands out particularly given how interestingly written Annalisa in season 1 was. Season 2? Ralph Wiggum: I made a contribution. loving loving these write-ups man. I look forward to each one. Totally agree with the utter disgust for the way Lorraine Caluzzo was portrayed. What is that thing about Artie almost losing toes? escape artist fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 18:06
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Agent Burt Macklin posted:Has anyone ever noticed that Tony gets right into bed quite frequently without washing up or brushing his teeth of anything after being out doing god knows what? I am rewatching and up to S4. I have lost count the amount of times he walks in the door, strips down to his under shirt and boxers and jumps into bed. It's really more that it would get boring really quick to watch him brush his teeth and wash up every time before bed. Same reason no one ever says "good bye" on the phone in movies or tv.
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Sep 27, 2019 20:34
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I get your criticisms and issues with the treatment of Lorraine's character but I honestly think it was shown that way to sort of rapidly establish Phil, Billy, Johnny and that crew as not only formidable ruthless enemies but also on a different level than previous ones. They needed to ramp it up and give the Soprano crew and Tony a foil so, to me, in a show where everyone is an rear end in a top hat, a criminal, a murderer and a liar, by making her death a benchmark like they did it sort of raised the stakes and made for a "Man, these guys are assholes but these OTHER guys are REALLY assholes!" and, in an odd way, allowed us to choose sides. Further, it's not the first time that the show uses adversaries being assholes to women in order basically add notches to their "rear end in a top hat belts" and set them apart from their rear end in a top hat cohorts. Ritchie smacks the poo poo out of Janice and consentually rapes her with a gun. Ralph murders Tracy in the parking lot and goes back for seconds and thirds once she's dead. It upped their "bad guy" quotient and made the viewer hat them more than the already hateful main crew. And even then Chris is shown brutally beating Adriana and almost killing her more than once. Tony almost choked Gloria to death and busted up Angie's car. Sil smacks Tracy around for missing work and pimps her out for money he's owed while Ralph laughs. None of the women in this show have any agency or power and are routinely punished for doing so, which is part of the structure of the mafia, toxic masculinity and all that. It consistently drives nearly everything and is also demonstrated in the Vito side story when they look at it from the viewpoint of a beta male. Is it just the nudity and sexual overtones that set it apart for you? Because they took great pains to make sure we knew that Vito had a pool cue up his rear end, put him on his knees and duct taped his mouth when they killed him. That, and Tony's curb stomping scene in the final season are as brutal as anything IMO and are both the result of a male dominated social structure. You (and others) had similar views on Melfi's rape scene and, yes, of course it's all terrible to watch but depicting these things in and of themselves doesn't automatically make it bad storytelling since a big part of the show's structure is showing us the horrible things that a male dominated power structure leads to. Employee of the Month is showing us how hard it is for even a smart, educated, successful strong woman to resist the temptation to exact street revenge and buy into this sort of thing even though all it would take is a phone call. I'm rambling but even more interesting to me along these lines is how much Livia is the catalyst for nearly everything we see happen and how much power she truly wielded despite never once resorting to violence.
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Sep 27, 2019 22:18
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