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The Vosgian Beast
Aug 13, 2011

Business is slow
Given Trump's ties to the mafia, there is a non-zero chance that in-universe Tony Soprano was in the same room as him at one point.

Carmine Lupertazzi DEFINITELY was

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Matt Zerella
Oct 7, 2002

Norris'es are back baby. It's good again. Awoouu (fox Howl)

hi liter posted:

I could see Hillary but not Warren. I doubt anyone who spends as much time complaining about reverse racism in the mid-aughts as she did became less racist. Especially rich people.

I'm trying to parse this post but my brain keeps rebooting.

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

The Vosgian Beast posted:

Given Trump's ties to the mafia, there is a non-zero chance that in-universe Tony Soprano was in the same room as him at one point.

Carmine Lupertazzi DEFINITELY was

The odds are good Carmine, Johnny Sack and 45 played golf together.

banned from Starbucks
Jul 18, 2004




Dawgstar posted:

The odds are good Carmine, Johnny Sack and 45 played golf together.

Johnny Sack was in Trumps wedding party. Organized his whole bachelor party, lesbian show, whores peeing on him. Fuckin disgusting.

ruddiger
Jun 3, 2004

Trump writes an Op-Ed on a real down-to-earth American hero who bootstrapped his way into success, Tony Soprano.

crispix
Mar 28, 2015

Grand-Maman m'a raconté
(Les éditions des amitiés franco-québécoises)

Hello, dear

banned from Starbucks posted:

Johnny Sack was in Trumps wedding party. Organized his whole bachelor party, lesbian show, whores peeing on him. Fuckin disgusting.

The pee went on his hair.

Disgusting.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
One of Trump's long time bodyguards/fixers/bag men is this guy:


His name is Matthew Calamari lol

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.
Matt the Squid sounds a lot better.

ruddiger
Jun 3, 2004

Oh, it’s Matty Inkblots ova here.

Harold Stassen
Jan 24, 2016

escape artist
Sep 24, 2005

Slow train coming
Julianna Margolis playing a character named Julianna takes me out of the show a bit. I thought that arc, and those episodes, were the nadir of the show when they originally aired. I was a teenager then, now in my thirties. Was also in the closet, versus out. So the Vito storyline is affecting me in a way it didn't before. Gannascoli may be an unpleasant personality but I thought he did a great job with this arc. "Sometimes you tell a lie so long, you don't know when to stop." is a great line. It's also more poignant since the actor who played Johnny Cakes took his life just a couple years later.

Taking an infant on a ride at an amusement park is Janice's most damnable offense, to me. Worse than killing her serial killing domestic abuser.

escape artist fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Nov 16, 2019

Matt Zerella
Oct 7, 2002

Norris'es are back baby. It's good again. Awoouu (fox Howl)
https://twitter.com/nickusen/status/1195761127160000512

:lol:

crispix
Mar 28, 2015

Grand-Maman m'a raconté
(Les éditions des amitiés franco-québécoises)

Hello, dear

escape artist posted:

Julianna Margolis playing a character named Julianna takes me out of the show a bit. I thought that arc, and those episodes, were the nadir of the show when they originally aired. I was a teenager then, now in my thirties. Was also in the closet, versus out. So the Vito storyline is affecting me in a way it didn't before. Gannascoli may be an unpleasant personality but I thought he did a great job with this arc. "Sometimes you tell a lie so long, you don't know when to stop." is a great line. It's also more poignant since the actor who played Johnny Cakes took his life just a couple years later.

Taking an infant on a ride at an amusement park is Janice's most damnable offense, to me. Worse than killing her serial killing domestic abuser.

I'd forgotten that incident. Wasn't it the teacups? :(

I remember those episodes you refer to with Julianna feeling for the most part meandering and kind of boring, but it seems the scene with Tony high as a kite yelling "I get it" is probably the thing I remember best from the last season, aside from the ending.

Also I was young and gay when I watched the Vito storyline and honestly I felt it was a little on the nose even back then. Like the bar where Vito is seen by the two mob guys, it was your Baptist grandmother's idea of what homosexuals do together. The scene where Vito and Johnny Cakes fight and then the train going into the tunnel metaphor... it all felt very off to me, by the usual standard of the show's writing.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

It's an incredibly basic joke but I always loved this scene from the Vito storyline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUgHDXOdUos

crispix
Mar 28, 2015

Grand-Maman m'a raconté
(Les éditions des amitiés franco-québécoises)

Hello, dear

Jerusalem posted:

It's an incredibly basic joke but I always loved this scene from the Vito storyline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUgHDXOdUos

Hearing people thinking into themselves was also an unprecedented thing.

I remember thinking the Vito story felt a lot like watching Six Feet Under which I have not watched since it was new and mercifully have mostly forgotten :/

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

It was funny to watch Vito learn 'working in construction' is not the same as working in construction.

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005
What is the explanation on why Artie is in Tony's dream with the dead guys?

Eau de MacGowan
May 12, 2009

BRASIL HEXA
2026 tá logo aí

Bip Roberts posted:

What is the explanation on why Artie is in Tony's dream with the dead guys?

tony hosed his wife, and wants to gently caress his wife again

(per a previous post, prime rib and hamburger)

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

My take on it is that Artie is Tony's projection of his own failings. Artie's a balding, kinda pathetic middle-aged guy who blew his marriage in the pursuit of empty sex with younger women, but while that also describes Tony to a T, he only sees it as pathetic when Artie is doing it. In the dream, Artie is the only person who actively tries to help him which is basically Tony trying to help himself, and it results in him encountering Carmela in their house and vowing to at least consider no more "horse" in the house. In other words, he's contemplating openly for the first time giving up and capitulating in order to get back the family life he's finally realized he wants and needs more than anything else.

That's just my own personal take on it though, I'd be interested in hearing others.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
I thought Artie getting lumped in with all the dead people in the car was some sort of reference to his suicide attempt.

Harold Stassen
Jan 24, 2016
A lot of the dead people in his dream died at his command- Artie might represent Tony being “unprepared” to do what needs to be done. Tony ended up not hurting him (what “needed to be done”) when he lost the Armagnac money.

I wonder who was in the suv with the music playing when Artie directs him down the alley, for some reason I thought it was Little Carmine but I can’t actually see who it is.

Pope Corky the IX
Dec 18, 2006

What are you looking at?
I figured the SUV had a few unidentified black males in it considering the windows are tinted, there's smoke coming from the one window that's slightly open, and there's a deep bass of the music being played.

I know that sounds stereotypical as hell, but it is Tony's dream and earlier Lee Harvey Oswald was shooting at him, so...

ruddiger
Jun 3, 2004

COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:

A lot of the dead people in his dream died at his command- Artie might represent Tony being “unprepared” to do what needs to be done. Tony ended up not hurting him (what “needed to be done”) when he lost the Armagnac money.

I wonder who was in the suv with the music playing when Artie directs him down the alley, for some reason I thought it was Little Carmine but I can’t actually see who it is.

He also let Artie live after pointing that rifle at him. Artie’s one of the few people who Tony tries not to taint (but still does in a lot of ways).

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.
He's his only actual friend.

Your Gay Uncle
Feb 16, 2012

by Fluffdaddy

Jerusalem posted:

It's an incredibly basic joke but I always loved this scene from the Vito storyline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUgHDXOdUos

I thought this was going to be the " Vito's a real come from behind kind of guy" line.

UNRULY_HOUSEGUEST
Jul 19, 2006

mea culpa
I always thought that Artie represented the life not lived for Tony, and his ambivalence about how things could have turned out for him if he never went down the path of violent crime (mirrored in how Artie sees in Tony all the hypermasculine prowess he envies). That's why he's in the dead men's car and why he's the one to offer Tony a way out, which is obviously a concept revisited the next time we get a dream sequence this long.

Solice Kirsk posted:

He's his only actual friend.

This is broadly true but I will say that season six makes clear that Silvio still sincerely regards Tony as a friend, whereas Tony has built up so much emotional remove and mistrust for his mob associates that Silvio has to get riddled with bullets for him to revisit that sense of brotherhood. When Tony finds out Silvio murdered Burt Gervasi rather than give him up to New York, he's basically bemused, like he doesn't see the angle.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
Yea I think as the series goes on Tony abandons the idea of having a true friendship with anyone in the garbage collection business. He actually has a conversation with Silvio in one of these last two episodes of this season that I think sums up his way of thinking pretty well. The gist of it is that the only person who knows the loneliness of being on top is the boss, and nobody else, not even his loyal consigliere, can truly relate to him.

Artie is apart from all that, and that's why I think Tony is able to see him as more of a real, honest friend that he can have a relationship with and not worry about some sort of betrayal coming around the next corner.

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

Watching S3 finale last night, just as Jackie leaves the project house gf gets up to get comfortable again, sits back down and he's dead in the snow. "Wtf happened?".

They had to give Vito the tiniest pea shooter they could find didn't they. I forgot how huge he was

zakharov
Nov 30, 2002

:kimchi: Tater Love :kimchi:
That was a weird scene all around. They just shot him in broad daylight, probably with witnesses around.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
That's exactly why Vito was using that gun though, he specifically wanted something where he could fire a shot or two and then just walk on without anybody noticing what happened. A lot of shootings go down that way actually, someone fires a few shots but the people around don't really clue into what's going on until long after it's over.

Vichan
Oct 1, 2014

I'LL PUNISH YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR CRIME

zakharov posted:

That was a weird scene all around. They just shot him in broad daylight, probably with witnesses around.

Poor Jackie probably mistook Vito's huge shadow for his father's.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

How Doers get more done
Fun Shoe
I love how much trouble Vito has getting into the car after shooting Jackie. It's so good.

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

Vichan posted:

Poor Jackie probably mistook Vito's huge shadow for his father's.

this was good

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

Basebf555 posted:

That's exactly why Vito was using that gun though, he specifically wanted something where he could fire a shot or two and then just walk on without anybody noticing what happened. A lot of shootings go down that way actually, someone fires a few shots but the people around don't really clue into what's going on until long after it's over.

Yeah, and also the implication is gunshots were not an uncommon occurrence in Boonton.

Ungratek
Aug 2, 2005


Dawgstar posted:

Yeah, and also the implication is gunshots were not an uncommon occurrence in Boonton.

This was my take away

potee
Jul 23, 2007

Or, you know.

Not fine.

zakharov posted:

That was a weird scene all around. They just shot him in broad daylight, probably with witnesses around.

They likely weren't that concerned about any of the nearby residents talking to the cops, particularly about a mob-affiliated white kid turning up dead in their neighborhood.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

Ungratek posted:

This was my take away

Same. It was another way of pulling off an "unidentified black males" hit that could be explained away as a drug deal gone bad or what have you. Even Meadow bought it. Shot by drug dealers.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Season 5, Episode 12 - Long Term Parking

Adriana La Cerva posted:

I've been trying to protect us.

FBI Agent Sanseverino meets with another Agent/Technician called Walter, who called her in to show her something interesting he found while reviewing surveillance footage. On the pole camera set up overlooking the Crazy Horse, he has footage of Adriana La Cerva leaving for the night and throwing the garbage out as she goes. So far so normal, except as Adriana heads for the car she suddenly stops, thinks twice, then goes back to the dumpster and recollects the bag she threw away and gingerly takes it with her in her car. There's no indication of exactly what is in the bag, but the fact she feared leaving it in the dumpster has spiked Sanseverino's interest.

Unaware of this scrutiny, Adriana is making a visit to her doctor, where she is getting the results of a colonoscopy to try and find the source of her ongoing bowel problems. The good news is that there is no sign of cancer, the bad news is that she has severe ulcerative colitis. Adriana's mother is present, looking like she's got herself somewhat more together since the last time we saw her and she was begging Adriana not to take Christopher back. She's concerned about her daughter, especially as her condition had been improving only to flare up again in the last week. The doctor suggests a steroid that she's seen successfully treat the condition, but it does come with temporary side effects including weight gain and a swelling of the face. Adriana's mother shows she really has her priorities straight, as she hears that her daughter's health will come at the cost of a "moon face" on a temporary basis, and immediately complains that Adriana is supposed to be getting married!



Tony is for once welcome at Carmela's, where she's asked him to try and get the downstairs television working after AJ and his friends managed to change all the settings. As he works away on resetting everything, they chat about AJ recently going to her parents' home to do chores like raking the leaves. Carmela mentions her mother was continuously asking AJ if she and Tony were going to get back together, but makes no statement one way or the other about how she feels about that. Given her recent announcement that she was seeking a divorce perhaps she feels nothing more needs to be said, but Tony takes the opening to bring up that he recently dreamed that he had moved back in. She doesn't comment on that either, and Tony being Tony takes a lack of protest as a sign of encouragement. For the first time I can recall, without reservation he admits that his "activities" were wrong, that HE was wrong.

Carmela is paying attention now, but though he's finally admitted his fault, she points out that just knowing he was wrong is only half the equation. Bemused, thinking he gave an inch and now she wants a mile, he asks what the other half is... and gets an unexpected reply. Because Carmela starts talking about what changes would have to be made if "theoretically we did get back together." Tony it seems has taken himself as far as he is willing to go just by admitting fault, and falls back on "I am what I am" as if that excuses him. Worse, he points out that she had her own "indiscretions", and when that confuses her (he has no idea about Wegler, which was post-separation) he reminds her of Furio. She doesn't get angry but she can't believe he has the balls to equate her yearning for Furio to his constant, repeated and brazen infidelities, and Tony explains that he's just trying to point out that they're all only human. It's still equating their actions as somehow the same, but the conversation continues amicably enough, with Carmela admitting she does share some of the blame in letting him get away with this for so long, and lays out to him exactly how horrible it was for her to have to live with that and his lifestyle. Tony accepts that, and as the television kicks back into life like some kind of sign, assures her that if they got back together - again, theoretically! - then none of that stuff would ever happen again.

But as Tony finds himself in the oddly unexpected position of his estranged wife talking even theoretically of their reconciliation, another mobster is suffering from the permanent severing of a member of his family. Phil Leotardo sits inside the Averna Social Club, tortured by the memory of the death of his brother. Seen in flashback, the images and sounds are wild and disconnected, Phil's memory scrambled by the trauma, the suddenness of his brother one moment talking to him and the next dying in his arms. The only truly clear image aside from that of his brother coughing up blood is the ice-cold face of Tony Blundetto as he killed Billy and winged Phil.

The repercussions of Blundetto's revenge spread further than Phil though. Little Carmine is staying holed up in his home, refusing Rusty Millio's advice that he get out onto the street to prove he isn't afraid, warning that if they bunker down at this point it sends a message that they're too scared to face Johnny Sack. Carmine isn't going to be swayed by promises of "easy" victories and being greeted as liberators this time though. Now Angelo is dead in addition to Lorraine, Tony Blundetto has thrown everything into chaos by killing Billy, and while Little Carmine is dumb enough to call a quagmire a "stagmire", he's not so dumb as to have not seen that things have taken a step beyond his capability or willingness to engage any further. Rusty seems to sense his opportunity to be Dick Cheney has slipped through his fingers, and doesn't protest or put up any more of a fight when Little Carmine rejects his plea for him to get out on the street and take the reigns.



At the Crazy Horse's office, a suited Tony and Silvio discuss the current situation created by Tony B. Tony is livid over how Blundetto has hosed them all over after Tony "bent over backwards" to help him get back on his feet, because now he's going to have to go down on his knees to make things right with Johnny Sack. Christopher, also in a suit, shows up at last and cracks wise about being late by quoting a Bruce Springsteen song (which Steven Van Zandt -Silvio - provides the backing vocals for!). Adriana arrives with a drink for Christopher, not pleased when he cracks a joke about her bowel problems in front of the others. Tony is more alarmed though to see she's brought Christopher a beer, asking him what the gently caress he's doing. Christopher waves it off, he can have A beer every now and then, it's not a big deal! Despite Tony cracking jokes/poking fun at him only recently about lightening up, he isn't pleased to see his only recently sober nephew/cousin slipping back into using alcohol again.

Christopher cracks a few more jokes at Adriana's expense, not for the first time mocking the idea she has anything to be stressed about when she has the whole world at her feet. Tony says it is time for them to leave, but sticks around a little longer to stress to Adriana that she doesn't need to take Christopher seriously, he just takes his own health for granted. It's rich coming from him, who still doesn't fully grasp just what being an addict means, but he's quick to shift to his favorite subject: himself. Making a pretty strong leap in logic, he tells Adriana that he and Carmela are "maybe" getting back together, something that so far has only been loosely discussed in purely theoretical terms. She's delighted for them both though, and Tony has already moved on from maybe to "when" as he decides that once back with Carmela he'll have Christopher and Adriana over for a family dinner. He's already got the whole thing laid out in his head, all without any discussion with Carmela.

The reason for the suits becomes clear as Tony, Silvio and Christopher head to Averna Social Club to meet with Johnny Sack for the sit-down. Also present is Johnny's consigliere Jimmy Petrille (who quickly abandoned Little Carmine at his father's wake)... and Phil Leotardo. Tony offers his condolences to Phil for his loss, and gets offended when Phil tells him to stick his sorrys in his rear end, reminding him he could have been a heartless prick and said nothing. Phil is no mood for the usual fake respect though, especially not for what he considers the "Boss" of a glorified crew, and he reminds them his little brother died in his arms coughing up blood and unable to say his final words. He asks if Tony has ever experienced that with a loved one or family member, and when Tony admits he hasn't, Phil savagely notes that maybe he could arrange that for him. Tony, willing to be polite for appearances sake, isn't taking that lying down and warns Phil - who he hasn't ever gotten on well with anyway - that this is enough. Jimmy Petrille tries to get Phil to go get a drink but he refuses, until Johnny Sack quietly agrees and motions to a couple of his Muscle to provide an "escort" for Phil to go to the bar.



But if Tony was expecting things to improve once Phil was gone, he was sadly mistaken. Johnny is more contained than Phil but no less angry, defending the right of his top Captain to be present at the sitdown and reminding Tony that he and Phil are the aggrieved parties here. He gives no credence to Tony's claim that Blundetto acted alone, admitting that while he may have "flipped the gently caress out" over Angelo's death there is no such defense for him being the one to kill Joey Peeps. Tony doesn't defend his cousin on that one but also doesn't admit that he just made up the alibi for him either, simply throwing his hands up and asking Johnny what exactly he wants him to do about things that have already been done. Johnny wants Tony B on a spit, and when Tony and Silvio both say that nobody has any idea where he is, Johnny repeats Phil's own earlier threat with a much clearer target, looking to Christopher and saying maybe he'll make do with an alternate.

Christopher is alarmed and angry at this, but Tony keeps his own cool, tamping down the flaring tempers and all but saying that Johnny is just flexing. Johnny though isn't interested in any negotiation, simply stating the facts: unless Tony B is handed over to him, he's going to rain down poo poo on Tony's Family in a manner he wouldn't believe. Tony for his part takes this threat coolly, showing no concern or loss of temper: he may fly off the handle in almost every other aspect of his life, but here is where he thrives and is in the greatest control of his emotions. Perhaps because this is one of the few things in his life he knows he'll face immediate (and deadly) consequences for if he gets it wrong. After Johnny declares the meeting at an end, a silent gesture brings his Muscle to gather around, making it clear that Tony and the others need to go or there will be trouble. Tony casts a look back as he goes, if his old friend Johnny Sack wins this war with Little Carmine, he now knows exactly the kind of troubles he's going to have at any future sitdowns: this Johnny Sack is very different from the Underboss he once worked so well with.

Down on the shore, a Sea Scout leader is taking a group of Sea Scouts on a beach walk, noting points of interest. Three boys peel off to crack jokes about a conch being called a "knobbed whelk", but as they joke about they spot something far more interesting that has washed up... a bloated corpse. They rush to get a closer look, the Sea Scout leader demanding they stay clear and not touch the body as he puts through a call to the cops.

Tony and Carmela have dinner at Vesuvio's, where Artie gleefully talks about how Meadow will soon be getting married and perhaps not longer after that Tony and Carmela will be grandparents. He leaves them alone and Tony decides the time is right to broach the subject he has already come to a foregone conclusion on: their reconciliation. Telling her exactly what he thinks she wants to hear, he says that their earlier conversation really hit home for him and he FINALLY came to realize the mistakes he had made. However, he's not the only one who came with a script prepared in their head, as Carmela considers his statement and then launches into her own pitch. Being alone has made her consider a great deal of things, and she admits partial fault in the fact she's come to realize with Meadow getting married and AJ soon to be done with school that her life is empty. She needs more, and she's realized what that is.

"You want another kid" nods Tony, without a moment's hesitation, seeing zero issue with the idea of suddenly starting up an entire new cycle of parental responsibility (for her, not him) just as the other two were almost taken care of. But Carmela quickly disabuses him of the notion, paying it not a second thought (she did once bring it up as a possibility when she decided against him getting a vasectomy), saying she had something else in mind. Tony becomes more confused as she starts speaking about an acre-sized lot in Crestview, and she explains that what she'd really like to do is build a spec house there.... well, with her father as a partner, anyway.

Tony's guard is now fully up as he sees the angle at last. This is the cost of taking him back, as well as her way of getting out from under the dependence she only finally truly grasped she had on him when it became clear no divorce lawyer would take her case. A spec house would fill her life with something to do but also provide her the chance to sell it and keep the legal profits for herself, to have her own money beyond the "allowance" he gives her, to maybe even build a career using the money she wants now as a springboard. How much money? 600k. That's the cost of the lot, a staggering sum well over 10 times the cost of even the fabulous necklace he once bought her for Christmas... but it comes with an enticing extra: he can have back the marriage he destroyed in the first place.



Tony considers, just for a moment, this interaction is just as pivotal as the one with Johnny Sack earlier even if not potentially fatal. Keeping his cool, not exploding or accusing her of only caring about money, he swallows any objection he might have to the frankly huge amount of money she's asking for and promises to call Ginsberg and organize a down payment. It isn't Whitecaps, but this house could end up saving their marriage so it's worth the cost. "And then?" Carmela asks, and with a smile Tony states that then he will move back into the house. It isn't quite that easy though, the cost is to earn forgiveness (or something close enough to it) for past misdeeds, not a free pass for future ones. She wants to know he isn't going to go back to the same old problems that caused their separation in the first place. Swearing on their children, he promises his "mid-life crisis problems" won't intrude on their home life anymore.

Not that he will stop, but that they won't intrude.

It's good enough for her though, and just like that after a full season of the two being broken up but endlessly circling each other like two black holes trapped in a death-spiral, their estrangement is over. Tony offers and she accepts a kiss, and they go back to eating their meal in apparent domestic bliss. Carmela never took her psychiatrist's advice to heart, continually trying to wrest as much material benefit from the marriage as possible while trying to hold a moral high ground over her husband. Now though she has made it clearer than ever that her morale outrage can be quelled by money and things. The only difference is, now SHE is the one who has set the price. That's.... progress?

Christopher and Adriana have also come for dinner at the restaurant, and pop over to the table to pay their respects. Tony isn't too happy to see Christopher though, especially since he's carrying a glass of wine, another example of drinking. He asks to speak to him in private, and leads him into the bathroom where he erupts with anger (partly justified, partly a way to project any negative feelings over Carmela's deal-making) about a gently caress-up in the cigarette smuggling. Their contact in North Carolina has been contacted by the ATF due to unstamped packs of cigarettes being found in a bodega in Newark. Christopher is upset too, justifiably so as he DID explicitly give instructions about the bodegas having to stamp their own packs. But Tony isn't looking for a defense, he is looking for a target for his rage. When Christopher tries to change the subject to Tony B, Tony instead dismisses that and then informs him that Paulie is now going to be supervising the cigarette smuggling and Christopher will have to split the money down the middle with him. Christopher is appalled, a mistake was made but it wasn't really on him, and besides which this is a hell of an overreaction, especially as he has a wedding to pay for. Tony can't resist getting in a final dig, suggesting he "cut out the open bar" as he casts a meaningful look at the glass in Christopher's hand. He leaves the bathroom, Christopher fuming as no matter what he does he can't win: if he doesn't drink it is a mark of weakness because he can't control himself, if he does drink it's a mark of weakness that he couldn't restrict himself. Unfortunately, Christopher's reaction isn't exactly the mark of a man with iron self-control.



After smashing his wine glass on the urinals, he and Adriana have returned home where he knocks back directly from a bottle of vodka (last time he did this he came after Tony with a gun) bitching about it's all a bunch of bullshit and the only thing any of the mobsters truly care about is money (no poo poo). Adriana is understandably upset to hear him unloading, commiserating to an extent but clearly worried by his excessive drinking. She becomes even more upset when he mentions that he could easily "take out" Tony in a second, reminding him that he is a better person than that (he isn't). But what really infuriates Christopher - who hid a heroin addiction from Tony and tried to kill him once, and is not only still alive but highly ranked and making money - is that Tony never gives him any chances but is willing to bend over backwards to look out for Tony Blundetto despite getting them all in trouble with New York. Weeping as her fiance screams his defiance, she rests her head on his shoulder as he settles wearily onto the couch beside her. "That the guy, Adriana" he tells her quietly,"My Uncle Tony. The guy I'm going to hell for."

Back in the FBI Surveillance room, Cubitoso, Harris and Sanseverino watch fresh footage from the Crazy Horse pole camera. Long Branch Police Detectives have come sniffing around the location, caught on camera, and from the looks of them the FBI assumes they're Homicide Detectives. This has REALLY got their attention now, and they decide to put in a call to see what they were looking around for.

A happy Tony visits Valentina in the burn ward, where he assures her she'll look great with short hair. Concerned about him looking at her burns but happy to see him, she gets ready to get up as he's taking her home... until he mentions that he can drop her off but can't stick around. Wary now, she asks why, and he settles into the chair and reminds her again that all of her medical bills are going to be paid for, at which point she immediately reaches the correct conclusion and lets out a quiet,"You motherfucker" as she realizes that he is dumping her. She can't believe THIS is how he is leaving her, reminding him that she was making HIM a snack, accusing him of being a selfish gently caress when he explains he is going back to his wife. She breaks down crying while he offers the usual platitudes about her finding somebody else, as well as frequent reminders that he told her from the very start he wasn't looking for a long-term relationship. Mentally he's already checked out, focusing on his phone when a call comes through. To the extent that when she wails that she is going to kill herself, he just cheerily excuses himself because he needs to take a call. If Gloria's suicide hit him hard, it was because of how it affected HIM. Valentina's threat doesn't interest him because he'd already lost interest in her even before she got burned up. So after killing her boyfriend, dumping her till she begged him to take her back, then unceremoniously dumping her when she was in the burn ward, he walks out of her life leaving a trail of devastation behind him... but a smile on his face, because he's getting back together with his wife!



The person on the other end doesn't speak, but Tony knows it is Tony B, and demands to know where he is. On the other end, Blundetto hangs up the payphone and walks away, unable to bring himself to speak. Tony puts through a call to Silvio and tells him to get his friend from the phone company to call him: in an unusual turnaround, he is going to put a trap on his own phone.

Later that nigh, Adriana leaves a herbal medicine store where she finds herself flanked by Sanseverino and Harris, who instruct her that they're going "for a talk". She protests but they pay her no mind, taking her by the arms and walking her to a car that has just pulled up.

As she is being taken away, Tony is returning home. His real home. Carrying heavy bags into the house, he drops them to the floor and looks around, the lights are dimmed and nobody is around. He calls out and AJ walks in, and Tony asks him to help him get the rest of his stuff out of his car. AJ agrees, but also asks WHERE the luggage should go, which in itself speaks volumes for how awkwardly technical this reconciliation feels. Tony instructs him to put in the bedroom, of course, and then Carmela comes in from the kitchen and greets him pleasantly, a smile on her face but clearly also not quite sure how to approach things. He hands her a package, a small gift for the homecoming, and she gushes over how beautiful the cloth inside is. She grabs his shoulder and leans forward for a kiss, and he gives her one, but on the cheek. He's trying, she's trying, even AJ is trying... but nothing changes how unnatural this entire thing feels.

They settle in for dinner at the table together, eating quietly as a family, Tony sighing with pleasure at the home-cooked meals he once took for granted. Carmela offers him whipped butter if he'd like but he assures her everything is fine. Their every move and words is scanned intently by AJ, who is trying to wrap his head around this new/old situation, and finally he speaks his mind: this is loving weird!

Despite herself, Carmela giggles, undercutting her warning at his language. Tony laughs too, agreeing it is right, this IS loving weird. He suggests they not try and pretend like everything is normal, and instead celebrate. Retrieving a bottle of champagne, he pops the cork and pours a beaming Carmela a glass and even allows AJ to have one too. The ice is broken at last by this, as they hold their glasses high and Tony offers a toast "to the people I love", noting something he should have known all his life: that nothing else matters. AJ knocks back his glass whole, and Tony tells him to calm down, he should have savored it, the ability to do that is important in life. Carmela radiates approval, and for this one moment at least they truly do feel like a family again.



Later that evening Carmela loads the dishwasher while Tony eats ice cream and watches television. She stares at her husband, back inside the house, back in her life, everything back to normal. Her face is emotionless, her hands mechanically go through the motions of cleaning up without her paying them any mind. Her entire focus is on this man who has returned to her life, and while she doesn't seem to feel the contempt or dread she showed in previous episodes when watching him, nor does love seem to issue from her either.

The FBI show Adriana the footage of her taking the garbage out of the dumpster and putting it in her car. The room is silent, and finally they break it to ask her why she took the garbage out, ignoring her question on whether they're allowed to film her without her permission. She insists she did it because the garbage included bills with account numbers, which might have possibly flown a couple of days ago if they hadn't seen the footage of the Homicide Detectives. Now they show her the picture of the body that washed up on the shore and was found by the Sea Scouts, asking if she knows him. She's disgusted by the picture of the bloated corpse, and they explain his name is Gilbert Nieves... and he had a stamp for the Crazy Horse on his hand. She insists she doesn't know him, catching herself in a lie because they point out they already spoke with Long Branch PD and they told them that she admitted Nieves was in her club recently. Cubitoso, fed up with years and years of false starts, aborted operations and disappeared CIs, lays it on the line: they wouldn't have brought her in if they DIDN'T know what was in the garbage bag, and it's time she started being honest with them.

Miserable, at the end of her rope, feeling trapped, Adriana lets it all spill out. Matush the drug-dealer has continued to be a patron at the Crazy Horse even after the beating her took from Furio or the fact that Christopher has made it clear to him dealing IN the club is still forbidden even with Furio gone, every so often getting Adriana herself some Ecstasy. In a flashback, she recounts how she let him and a friend called Kamal use the fax machine in her office to send a copy of his passport to a prospective landlord. He was spotted by Nieves who confronted Matush in the office over an allegation of selling him stepped-on drugs, and a fight broke out that resulted in Matush - who once fled in terror Jackie's attempt to rob a card game - stabbing Nieves to death. Adriana walked in on the scene, and didn't need much convincing to wait for the club to shut down so they could mop down the office, then Matush and Kamal dispose of the body by taking it through the basement and then dumping it in the ocean. That left only the bloody rags they used to clean up, which Adriana ended up taking with her.

The FBI Agents have listened to all this in great surprise, having assumed it seems that the murder was mob related. But she REALLY sparks their interest further when she tells them she helped Matush since he such a nice guy. They already know she has terrible judgment about men, but they can't quite believe her naivety when she explains Matush has gotten extremely religious and prays all the time. She recounts how he stopped doing drugs himself and now only sells them in order to send money back to Pakistan for a "prep school for young boys" run by his brother. While it is possible this is all on the up-and-up, in 2004 a Pakistani Muslim who has gotten hyper religious and is engaged in illegal activity to send money to a "training school" in Pakistan is going to sending up a huge amount of red flags.

Putting that aside for the moment, Cubitoso takes the change to apply more pressure than even as he explains to Adriana that she is currently "guilty" (he can't make that call, he's not a judge) of obstructing an ongoing investigation into a drug-related homicide. Harris and Sanseverino chime in to add to the pressure, telling her she's facing 25-to-life (again, for a judge to decide), that she can't claim ignorance or pretend she didn't know what she was doing (she can, even if it laughable). They warn her they can arrest her right now and have her formally charged, and if she wants to avoid that... then she's going to wear a wire and she's going to get Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti on tape admitting to crimes. If she won't, she's all out of options... which is when she finally does what she should have done months ago, and asks for her lawyer. She doesn't actually have one, and Sanseverino suggests she ask Christopher. Adriana is disgusted by this, but the Agents are through giving her any leeway, they don't have to anymore, they have her exactly where they want her all thanks to Matush and a fax machine.

Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 11:52 on Nov 20, 2019

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

In THEIR bedroom, Tony is loading up the wardrobe with his clothes and realizes he left some shoes "over there". Carmela says she'll iron his shirts tomorrow and he tells her to send it to the cleaners, but she smiles and says she misses it, her ironing wrist has gotten a little weak. Playful, Tony suggests they give it some exercise and she giggles again, surprised when he keeps insisting. She kisses him back when he leans forward, and while both are active and enthusiastic participants as they make out, I can't help but think back to that blank stare she was watching him with as he sat watching the television earlier on and couldn't see her looking.

Christopher, pouring himself yet another drink of vodka, calling Adriana's phone from their apartment, getting her voicemail yet again. He leaves what is apparently not his first message, asking her where she is.

That would be the women's toilet at the Taskforce Building, where Sanseverino sits outside reading a newspaper while inside Adriana sits miserably in a stall and overhears two women talking about holiday preparations for one of them as a newlywed. Hearing the normality that she was so close to having and now sees threatened forever, Adriana wipes tears from her eyes. Sanseverino knocks on the stall door, telling her it's been 40 minutes and she can't stay in there forever. She's been in the building for 8 hours waiting on her lawyer though, not believing their claims they've made 3 calls but the public defender's office is backed up. Leaving the stall, she looks at herself in the mirror, mortified by the mess she appears to be.

Sanseverino is back to being the reasonable Agent now, telling her not to discount the offer they've made which is a pretty good one. She still refuses to wear a wire though, saying she's already betrayed Christopher enough, and she doesn't put any stock in the Witness Protection Program. Sanseverino keeps pushing though, she is still young and healthy, and when Adriana scoffs at that in particular the Agent reminds her that living with this stress is what is doing the damage to her insides. They're offering her a way to escape from all of that stress, she insists, without admitting that it was the FBI who has loaded all this stress onto Adriana anyway.

That morning Tony sits outside in the lawn chair, smoking a cigar as he remembers past times with Tony B, including when they were teenagers at Uncle Pat's farm.

Sanseverino goes to Cubitoso's office to see him and Harris after having taken Adriana outside for a cigarette. The news is that Adriana still refuses to wear a wire.... but she does think she can convince Moltisanti to become a witness and given evidence. They're surprised by this but Adriana's reasons match up with things told to them by other CIs as well as wiretaps they have: Christopher is currently upset with Tony over something to do with Tony Blundetto, and it might be the opening they need to get at Tony. But if she won't wear a wire then they can't give her protection or even have her under surveillance, so she'll be approaching her often violent, drug-and-alcohol addicted mobster fiance all alone to broach the subject of working with the FBI. Sanseverino says she's made Adriana fully aware of that, and has been careful not to make her any promises beyond saying they can look into possible immunity and relocation for the two of them. Cubitoso, who must be feeling all kinds of pressure himself to deliver some results after years of investigations and the failure of the Junior Soprano trial, agrees with one caveat. She only has till 9am on Monday morning to get results, any later than that and they'll hand her over to Long Branch PD.



In the back room of the Bada Bing, Silvio lets Tony know that Jimmy Petrille is on the line for him. Tony takes the call, and Jimmy explains that "my guy won" the "tennis match", because the son dropped out. Tony asks if the son got hurt but Jimmy assures him it was just settled and that's that. Tony thanks him calmly and hangs up, and then informs Silvio, Carlo, Paulie and Raymond what the actual message was: Johnny Sack is the new, undisputed Boss of the Lupertazzi Crime Family.

Paulie is outraged that Little Carmine caved, raging about how now Johnny's ego is going to be even more out of control. He's overcompensating for the fact he got manipulated by Johnny for months, but he has a point. As Silvio - Tony's #2 - points out, some people are better suited for being in the secondary role rather than the top spot. Tony agrees, when Johnny was the Underboss he was a great ally, a smart and calculating man who saw the value in business over violence. Now though he's gone mad with power after a lifetime of having to settle or follow the instructions of others... and that was before Tony's cousin killed Joey Peeps and Billy Leotardo.

Adriana has returned home, and after sleeping, showering and cleaning up returns to the lounge where an expectant Christopher is waiting impatiently for an explanation for her lengthy disappearance. Trying to rally her courage for what is to come, she tells him they need to talk but he demands an answer to his question - while it might be fine for him to just gently caress off and not come home for days, her disappearing for half a day is utterly unacceptable. Again she tries to be open with him but he's already jumping to conclusions, having decided she is cheating on him and demanding to know if it was with Bobby DeMarco. Finally she manages to get through to him that she NEEDS to talk and he needs to listen, and he finally shuts up long enough for her to tell him that a year ago... she was arrested.

Michael Imperioli is a fine actor and a better writer, often overshadowed by the superb talents he works with in James Gandolfini and Edie Falco in particular. This scene is where he shines his brightest, as Christopher listens wide-eyed and with steadily growing horror as Adriana lays it all out for him at last, expelling the misery and stress and despair that has marked the last year of her life. She tells him about the arrests, the drugs, "Danielle" being an FBI Agent, the demand for information, the threat of jail, the minor bits of info she gave them that slowly stacked up, the murder in the club and her attempted cover-up, and the impasse it has brought her to. He goes from constant shouting interruptions to silence, sitting in bewildered terror in his chair, unable to hold his body still, his eyes darting left and right like a cornered animal as he truly grasps just how utterly hosed he is... because of her. Now his eyes find focus, now his terror becomes rage, as he stares at her with utter hatred and, of course, lashes out with violence.

Not for the first time he strikes her, a hard punch that knocks her to her side with an anguished yelp. He's on her immediately, choking her, screaming that they're dead, demanding to know what she's done, already speaking of her in the past-tense, saying that he loved her. He chokes her and she lays there, crying and flailing but not fighting back, not scratching at his eyes or attacking him. Not because she wants to die, but because she has been so emotionally and physically wrung out that she has no fight in her. He chokes her and she eyes bug out and for just a second it seems like this is truly the end... and then Christopher comes to his senses and releases his death-grip. She gasps for air as his head falls into his hands and he lets out a soul-wrenching moan of his own, crying out, asking what the gently caress are they going to do now? Perhaps most pathetically of all, as he freaks out, the woman he almost just strangled to death sits up and pats his head, worried even now about how he feels.



Tony is watching television at home again when his phone rings. It's Tony B again, and this time he speaks when Tony answers. He apologizes, starting to talk about his reaction when he heard about Angelo, and Tony gruffly snaps at him not to talk about it on the phone, reminding him yet again of the dangers of wire-taps. Blundetto apologizes and asks what he should do now, and Tony tells him what NOT to do: don't come back to Newark. Blundetto knows, but he's worried about his boys, and Tony promises him he'll take care of them, though not without complaining about how it is yet ANOTHER thing he is doing for his cousin. Blundetto seems satisfied with that even though it's exactly the same situation that caused his daughter to go off the rails, and apologizes again for leaving a pile of poo poo in his lap. Tony hesitates, then finally speaks up to get something off his chest. He tells him the truth about his panic attack 17 years ago, how he lied about getting mugged and always felt guilty that Blundetto went away while he got away with just a few stitches in his head. But now after everything he's done and the trouble Blundetto has gotten them into, he considers them even. Tony B absorbs this and agrees, and finally hangs up. Tony's reason for telling him wasn't entirely to unload 17 years of guilt though, he wanted him to stay on the line long enough for a trace. Calling back Silvio's contact Gerard, he gets Tony B's location: Roy's bar in Kinderhook, New York. The place they went to when they stayed at Uncle Pat's.

Tony considers briefly and then makes a call to Miami, to the "old folks home" (not retirement community?) where Uncle Pat now lives. Getting a brief flash of his mother when Pat complains he doesn't like the other people who live there, he pushes through and Pat's regular good mood resurfaces as he asks him if he heard accurately about trouble at the old farm. Pat is happy to share the gossip, the developer is being hamstrung by "some environmental crap" so the old farmhouse is sitting empty with nothing happening demolition wise for at least a little while. With this, Tony's suspicions are confirmed, Tony B is hiding out at Uncle Pat's old farm.

Christopher and Adriana have spent the night going through their options. Or rather, Adriana has spent the night trying to talk Christopher into agreeing into going into Witness Protection with her. As she has many times before, she talks up the chance for them to get away and make a new start somewhere away from Jersey and the mob. Someplace he could go back to his writing, and he does seem enticed by the idea of "finally" doing his memoirs. Warming up, she comments about how they could get a house with a fireplace, cuddle up together, just the two of them. She accepts they can never come back here, even though she falls quiet when he points out that would also mean abandoning her mother forever. But the hurdle seems to have been jumped, he's gone from rejecting the idea to listening to discussing potential obstacles to seemingly accepting the inevitability of a new life. He gets up and anxiously she asks if he wants some eggs, but he says he needs to clear his head with a walk outside to get cigarettes. Freaking out, she admits she's scared if he doesn't stay he'll be tempted to drink or worse, and he seems amused, promising her that he loves her and it just a walk after a long night without sleep. Almost desperately she says she loves him too, and then he's out the door leaving her alone.

She puts through a call to Sanseverino to give her the news, that Christopher is going to do the deal. She's pleased but all business, asking when they're coming in, and isn't happy to hear they need a few more hours to get some things together. This wasn't the deal, she was told 9am or get handed over to the cops, but she insists that if she tries to push Christopher too hard he'll shut down and refuse. Caught between a desire to finally reach a conclusion on this case and not wanting to gently caress it all up at the last second, Sanseverino agrees that she has till 1pm to get him to come in.

At the gas station, Christopher is filling up his SUV when he spots a family exiting the station having loaded up on snacks. Staring with fascinated revulsion, Christopher watches the white trash family loading up into the beat-down old car with luggage strapped to the top. Two kids rushing around, a blond wife whose body has started to go south arguing with a scummy looking husband glaring with distaste at her as she walks to the car. The man himself is unshaven with a mullet, cigarette tucked behind one ear, looking miserable and fed up with life in general. He also bears more than a passing resemblance to Christopher himself, but a Christopher who never mobbed up, a Christopher who didn't live a life of ease as a criminal. A Christopher that Christopher can see himself becoming if he takes the deal and loses the mob connection he chased his whole life. He sees his own future laid out in front of him and it doesn't look pretty... and as a result he makes a decision with fatal consequences.



It's almost 1pm and Adriana is loading her suitcase up as she allows herself to imagine a bright future ahead at last. Her phone rings and she answers, and is surprised to hear Tony on the other end. Standing at a payphone, he quickly assures her that everything is okay, which is greeted with silence as her mind races trying to figure out what that statement means. Admitting he isn't entirely sure what to say, Tony says he's calling about Christopher... he tried to commit suicide. She recoils in shock, immediately asking if he is okay, and Tony quickly promises her he is fine. He overdosed on pills in a diner bathroom and was found by a trooper who took him to the hospital. His mother is on her way up now, and Tony is calling to let Adriana know but also to try and figure out WHY he would try to kill himself, did he say anything to her?

Wracked with guilt, assuming he did it because of the situation she put him in, Adriana sobs that no he said nothing and didn't appear suicidal. Tony says he's heading up to the hospital himself now, but he's going to get Silvio to come pick her up and bring her there too if that is okay. Of course it is, her only thought is for Christopher, especially when Tony says he's worried he might have been feeling the need for heroin again given his recent drinking. He hangs up and Adriana settles on the couch, her so recent feeling of impending freedom shut down again, her open suitcase on the bed a mocking reminder of how close she came.

Or is it?

Because suddenly we see her driving her own car, the suitcase on the passenger seat beside her. As Leaving California plays over the scene, she finally makes the break she always should have. She drives away from New Jersey, an uncertain fate in the future but at least following a direction she has set for herself. After years of beatings, emotional abuse, being cheated on and disrespected, Adriana has finally found freedom, and it feels so good.

Or does it?

Because the song is actually the radio, and she's not driving. She's simply daydreaming of what she could have done as she sits miserably in the passenger seat as Silvio drives her to the hospital. He fills the empty air by assuring her that Christopher will probably just need a few days of observation and some tests, but he's sure he'll be fine. Christopher is strong and resilient, he'll get through this. She nods in agreement, but can't help but openly cry. Is she weeping for her own failed chance to get away? For their mutual escape she thinks has been ruined now by his suicide attempt? Or does she know? Probably not the latter, not yet. Because it is only when Silvio suddenly pulls off the remote tree-lined road and heads up into the forest and pulls into an empty clearing that she suddenly grasps what is actually happening.

In 2004 there were some things I knew and some things I didn't. I knew that Drew de Matteo had been cast in the FRIENDS spin-off Joey, which at the time was a pretty big loving deal (it barely outlasted The Sopranos itself). There were a lot of assumptions that had been made about what this would mean for Adriana as a character, especially given she was working with the FBI on the show. When I first watched this episode and Christopher began choking her, I assumed that was it, this was to be her exit from the show. When she was first shown driving away by herself I thought,"How wonderful, this is how she gets out, how nice she gets away in the end" until I suddenly realized it was a fantasy. But I always assumed the suicide story was real, that Christopher really would rather kill himself than have to live as a "nobody". When I saw her in the car with Silvio I assumed she was going to the hospital, that she would somehow do double-duty on Sopranos and Joey, that the story would be resolved in season 6. Foolish, perhaps, but like Adriana I didn't see what was coming until it happened.

Silvio exits the car without a word and with a chilling business-like demeanor heads around her side of the car to get her out. Panicking, realizing too late she has let herself be taken to her death, she tries to crawl out the driver's side. Sounding almost irritated at being forced to work harder, Silvio grunts at her to "come on" as he grabs her by the legs and hauls her out of the car, only getting emotional when he snaps angrily that the girl he's always been so charming and friendly towards is a "loving oval office". He tosses her to the ground and she crawls desperately away, crying and begging for her life, wailing,"No! No! NO!" With complete indifference, Silvio strides after her as he pulls his gun from his waistband. Walking just out of frame, the sound of two gunshots are heard and Adriana's pleading halts.



She was brought in as a bit part in the Pilot that turned into five seasons of a surprisingly nuanced, interesting and compelling character. Drea de Matteo won an Emmy for her performances in this her fifth and final season of The Sopranos. She died ignominously, killed with bored indifference by a charming, funny, charismatic, monstrous exploiter of woman who used to call her darling and beam paternal approval on her operation of the Crazy Horse. She wasn't without sin herself, but nothing she did warranted the cruel use, abuse and ultimate discarding of her by both the FBI, the mob, and especially her fiance.

Back at their apartment, Christopher hurriedly finishes packing her suitcase of her clothes. Sealing it up, he drives to the same place where Tony almost killed him over the perception of an affair with Adriana, and dumps her suitcase in the tall grass. Her belongings discarded with the same indifference shown to her body, he drives her car to the airport and leaves it in Long Term Parking. He walks away without a second look, a monotonous recorded voice repeating over and over again that this is Long Term Parking.

As Christopher finishes cleaning up, Tony goes to see if he can finally deal with another less. He meets with Johnny Sack near the George Washington Bridge, where he congratulates him on becoming "The King of New York", and the two embrace to celebrate his ascension. But Johnny quickly turns things sour, as he proclaims that they won't be meeting like this again in the future as it is... undignified. Tony lets that pass, wanting to keep on Johnny's good side right now since he's going to be asking him for a pretty heavy favor. He admits that he suspects he knows where Tony B is holed up, and he also knows that Blundetto MUST be dealt with for his infractions... but as a favor to him personally, he is asking Johnny to let him handle it personally. Johnny doesn't even blink before saying no, claiming it isn't something he can do. Upset now, Tony reminds him that he is finally the Boss like he always wanted and that means he CAN do whatever he wants to, that was the whole point. "I choose not to, then" smirks Johnny, and Paulie's warning is proved correct: his ego has completely blown out now that he no longer answers to anybody, and he's enjoying being in the position of dictating terms and expecting everybody to fall into line.

Tony takes this in silence, as before and also with Carmela, he's restraining his natural emotional responses in the interest of achieving his goals (like Melfi has tried her best to make him do in all aspects of his life). So he swallows his pride, puts aside his request to be able to handle it himself, and agrees to hand Tony B over to Johnny... but only if he has his promise that it will at least be quick. But Johnny won't even give him that, taking great pleasure in telling him that he'll be handing Tony B over to Phil and giving him the freedom to do it whatever way he wants for as long as he wants. Taken aback, Tony reminds him of their longstanding friendship... and Johnny drinks in the fact Tony Soprano is all but begging him, drunk on the power that comes with being the Boss, utterly determined to offer zero capitulation now that he no longer needs to. He was a great Underboss because he was contained and that made him sensible, but clearly he always chafed under the restriction. Now he intends to run wild and bring everybody else beneath him - including the "glorified crew" of the DiMeo Family - into line.

Tony walks away to gather himself, mind racing through all the potential angles, all the steps he could possible take, and reaches the only conclusion he sees viable. Turning back to Johnny, he tells him he's going to show him a real example of what is undignified. Choosing his words carefully, he looks the Boss of the Lupertazzi Crime Family directly in the face and tells him to go gently caress himself.



Tony returns to the Bada Bing, where he finds Christopher watching The Three Amigos on television. Putting aside the issues with Johnny for the moment, he asks if he is all right. Christopher's answer triggers a warning in his head and he takes a closer look, and realizes that he is high as a kite, he's on heroin again. Furious, he slaps Christopher with one of those giant meaty paws of his, finally given a target to take out all the pent up frustration he's been building all episode. He boots Christopher in the gut in a rage, infuriated that he claimed he couldn't take the pain, offering to show him real pain while demanding to know if he thinks he's the only one who is hurting.

The FBI aren't. Sanseverino sits with Harris in Cubitoso's office, where she defends her decision to give Adriana more rope with an extended deadline to bring in Christopher. She admits it was a mistake but it was her judgement call and it felt right at the time. But she becomes disconcerted when Cubitoso and Harris kind of just shrug and move on to discussing Christopher's current movements, noting he was last seen with Tony at the Bada Bing. Sanseverino hauls them back on point, noting that it is possible that Adriana just went on the run by herself, but their silent looks back are all the answer she needs: they all know that Adriana is dead, just like they all knew Pussy was dead, and since they're dead they're no longer of interest or use to the FBI and not worth investigating further. Containing herself as she's always done so well, Sanseverino excuses herself from the office, leaving behind Harris who asks how they'll progress on the Nieves murder. Cubitoso notes there is a potential terrorism angle so they'll take it from Long Branch PD (who will probably be happy). That's more than a nice gesture though. While he might have put Adriana behind him, Cubitoso has just lost ANOTHER CI and yet ANOTHER potential avenue in the Soprano investigation, and he's at a point where he really, really needs a win. Uncovering and putting away a terrorist or even uncovering a link to a wider network might be just what he needs to keep the wolves from the door.

In a similar clearing in the woods to the one where Adriana met her end, Tony and Carmela walk to inspect the lot where Carmela will put up her spec-house. Through the trees you can barely see the neighboring houses, it really is a great deal for 600k. But as Carmela looks around, Tony settles on a tree stump after feeling slightly overcome with sadness. Carmela approaches and asks if he is okay, and he smiles and holds her hand and agrees everything is fine.

What is the source of his sadness? Ordering the death of Adriana? Clashing heads with Johnny Sack over his cousin? The idea he was willing to kill his cousin or let him be killed even if he wasn't willing to go so far as to let him be tortured? Christopher becoming a liability yet again? Or maybe it's simply the fact that even this moment of togetherness with his wife is spoiled by the obvious fact that his marriage reconciliation is a (pleasant) sham built on money. Once again Tony Soprano has gotten everything he wanted without really deserving it, and once again he's not happy regardless.



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 15:12 on Apr 23, 2020

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Comrade Blyatlov
Aug 4, 2007


should have picked four fingers





RIP Adriana, you had a good heart but possibly the worst judgment of anyone in the series

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