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I just thought the pussy thing was a joke...a last ditch attempt to try anything to get them back on his side and maybe not kill him. This is one of my favorite episodes on the series and the write-up was fantastic. Can't wait for you to hit some of my other favs. The thing I find weird is that Tony has so many close calls with rats and understands perfectly well how the FBI targets family men who are more willing to flip for the sake of their (real) families and then is so cavalier about Patsi and Carlos dumbass kids getting into poo poo in season 6.
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May 18, 2019 03:57
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I saw a Soprano's cast reunion thing for the 20th Anniversary, not sure if other people have seen it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSUFaSVPCRQ. I feel bad for Tony Sirocco it sounds like something happened, he seems to have aged a ton in the last few years. Also good writeup, I think season 2 is the best season of the Soprano's the dynamics of everything works so well, and David Proval as Ritchie was not the longest lasting, but the most intimidating of the antagonists. Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 05:55 on May 18, 2019 |
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May 18, 2019 05:49
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Season two was always my favorite. Just everything about it flowed together and really solidified the characters and their motivations. Everyone kind of sticks to their lanes from here on in with the exception of Chris, but that ends about how you'd expect that late in the series. And even with everyone moving forward, but remaining the same, it feels like all the characters keep growing. It really is an amazing show.
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May 18, 2019 06:01
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Something that really stands out to me is just how "easy" the season is for Tony, in that things largely go his way the entire way through and even when things go badly, it's happening to other people and he either benefits from it or quickly gets to resolve it in a way that makes him feel better about himself (avenging Christopher, cleaning up after Janice etc). Which is why I love that he also spends the entire season utterly miserable or bubbling over with rage and constantly looking for a fight or something to take his anger out on. Melfi nails it at the end when she points out that his rage itself is simply to hide his sadness, and it's really neat to see how Tony will never find peace no matter how successful he is or how well things are going, because he refuses to face up to the core issues that cause his problems even as he blames Melfi for not "fixing" him in spite of the money he's spending (kinda like Paulie and the Church!). It's hard to choose a favorite season, but season 2 really is excellent and I couldn't argue against anybody who put it up there as their top season.
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May 18, 2019 06:38
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banned from Starbucks posted:I just thought the pussy thing was a joke...a last ditch attempt to try anything to get them back on his side and maybe not kill him. He's in denial about how doomed he is, and trying to set the narrative as "I explained the whole 'disinformation' thing and they bought it. We're all buddies again! Let's talk about something else now. Here's a funny story..." It's why Tony saying "Hey Puss. Did she even really exist?" is such a powerful moment. It cuts right through his bullshit and lets him know he's not getting away with it.
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May 18, 2019 07:19
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Jack2142 posted:Also good writeup, I think season 2 is the best season of the Soprano's the dynamics of everything works so well, and David Proval as Ritchie was not the longest lasting, but the most intimidating of the antagonists. Season 2 is the best until 4, when everything had found a mostly stable groove. Richie gives S2 the edge because unlike Ralphie who never directly challenged Tony, Richie actively tries to usurp Tony and is a credible threat in that regard. He's also integrating with the family in a way that raises the stakes, and ends up spending more time with Livia before her death than Tony (!).
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May 18, 2019 15:54
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Ralphie wasn't ever really supposed to be a threat to Tony. He was just a really good earner who was also a huge rear end in a top hat.
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May 18, 2019 20:33
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He also acted as an interesting mirror of Tony, in that he earned so well that he got a lot more leeway than most guys just like Tony did in the past, only now Tony was in the position of watching this guy coming up out of nowhere, demanding promotions and authority supposedly beyond his years but being too valuable to shut down.
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May 19, 2019 03:54
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Not to defend Ralphie too much (because good heavens) but it does feel like the only reason he wasn't made capo of the Aprile crew was because Tony didn't like him. Which I totally get, don't get me wrong.
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May 19, 2019 14:50
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So in the hypothetical world where Albert does back Richie and they manage to take Tony out, does the rest of the family even back Richie after that? I feel like they would have all gone to Sil. None of that crew respected Richie. Felt like a doomed venture from the start and I guess Junior does realize that sooner than later but that he even considered it in the first place was a risky proposition.
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May 19, 2019 18:32
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Ginette Reno posted:So in the hypothetical world where Albert does back Richie and they manage to take Tony out, does the rest of the family even back Richie after that? I feel like they would have all gone to Sil. None of that crew respected Richie. I don't think they'd have much of a choice in the matter. It would all be up to Junior unless Tony's guys wanted to go full on war and Sil wasn't a boss. Also, Junior was playing both sides; pragmatic in his own way. No matter which way the thing shook out he'd still be in charge and either way had an "out". Plus, he still had the trump card of "Tony was seeing a shrink. Who knows what he was blabbing to her about?" to play if he needed it. Dawgstar posted:Not to defend Ralphie too much (because good heavens) but it does feel like the only reason he wasn't made capo of the Aprile crew was because Tony didn't like him. Which I totally get, don't get me wrong. He was also a loose cannon who ran his mouth too much and whose assholishness tended to create situations that were less than ideal for doing business no matter how much he was earning. Thinking on it for a second, did anyone who wound up banging Janice make it out alive? BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 20:42 on May 19, 2019 |
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May 19, 2019 20:38
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BiggerBoat posted:Thinking on it for a second, did anyone who wound up banging Janice make it out alive? The 19 yr old from Seattle who can go all night
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May 19, 2019 21:02
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banned from Starbucks posted:The 19 yr old from Seattle who can go all night I forgot all about that, probably for good reason.
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May 19, 2019 21:15
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That narcoleptic guy who enjoyed telling everyone the good news about Jesus.
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May 20, 2019 00:52
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Kevyn posted:That narcoleptic guy who enjoyed telling everyone the good news about Jesus. Have you heard the good news?! 
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May 20, 2019 00:57
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They really got their money's worth out of the comedy fart soundboard in season 2 didn' they? 
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May 20, 2019 01:02
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Kevyn posted:That narcoleptic guy who enjoyed telling everyone the good news about Jesus. the guy under the boardwalk
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May 20, 2019 01:13
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The roadies.
Kevyn fucked around with this message at 01:26 on May 20, 2019 |
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May 20, 2019 01:23
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banned from Starbucks posted:the guy under the boardwalk With his schlong in Jan’s mouth!
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May 20, 2019 04:49
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I think the dream sequences in Funhouse were good, but a bad precedent for all the surreal stuff that followed like The Test Dream and the Kevin Finnerty debacle. The Sopranos is at its best when its good actors acting really good and stuff. It gets bad when they gently caress around with the artificiality of it all, whether thats Janice seeing Livia's face on the DO NOT PUSH sign or the Carmela yikes freezeframe or Silvio eating soup and then going into slowmo when the guy opposite him gets his head blown off.
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May 20, 2019 10:24
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Eau de MacGowan posted:I think the dream sequences in Funhouse were good, but a bad precedent for all the surreal stuff that followed like The Test Dream and the Kevin Finnerty debacle. The Sopranos is at its best when its good actors acting really good and stuff. It gets bad when they gently caress around with the artificiality of it all, whether thats Janice seeing Livia's face on the DO NOT PUSH sign or the Carmela yikes freezeframe or Silvio eating soup and then going into slowmo when the guy opposite him gets his head blown off. I think you're lumping together some very different stuff there. The freeze frame or the Silvio slow-mo were editing choices that didn't work very well, where I think the surreal dream stuff (including Test Dream and the coma) were some of the best parts of the show, and part of what elevated this show over a standard drama. The Test Dream works less well for me, but the coma stuff I still find haunting and fascinating, and that imagery of the beacon and the big house has stuck with me ever since. And then there is the dream about Tony being the Italian worker, which is the scariest non-scary thing since Mulholland Drive and the dumpster.
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May 20, 2019 13:44
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I honestly skip the dream sequences...Jerusalem's recaps have been useful at revealing the meaning behind them but I think Tony Soprano is just 1000x more interesting in the "real world". Still the best single character performance to me, even if I rate the Wire higher as a whole show. He is just sort of helpless in the dreams, and it contrasts with how he is in reality. Just such an uncompromising domineering boss (except with the women in his life, I suppose).
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May 20, 2019 13:56
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That's part of what I love about the dreams, Tony has to put on a front in real life but he's a giant bundle of neuroses and at heart he feels like his life is forever spiraling out of control or that he isn't the master of his own destiny, and his dreams really capture a lot of that really well. Of course part of what is so fascinating is that he's also a pretty monstrous human being himself, which makes his desperation to be remembered as a better parent than his own really strike a chord. He's an exceptionally complex written character realized by a phenomenal actor, the only tv series character/actor I can really think of who compares is Walter White/Bryan Cranston.Ishamael posted:And then there is the dream about Tony being the Italian worker, which is the scariest non-scary thing since Mulholland Drive and the dumpster.  Both those scenes are amongst the most unsettling I can ever remember seeing, and absolutely perfectly capture nightmare-logic. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 14:11 on May 20, 2019 |
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May 20, 2019 14:08
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The Kevin Finnerty dream did lead to my favourite ending to a Sopranos episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bgi3z4M-Mo
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May 20, 2019 14:19
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I'm not sure how you could watch the Sopranos and come away with the idea that Tony ISN'T a helpless schlub in real life that simply uses old school mafioso bullshit, violence, and his large frame to intimidate people into not noticing how helpless he really is.
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May 20, 2019 14:24
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BiggerBoat posted:I don't think they'd have much of a choice in the matter. I could maybe see them falling in line in the short term but long term I think there would have been war over it. And who would even have been in charge? Junior? I don't see Richie showing him any more respect long term than Tony. And with how hot headed both Junior and Richie are that would have inevitably led to conflict between the two. Junior at least seems to keep his emotions in check when he's not the real boss but in season 1 when he did think he had the power his pride and anger got him hosed over all the time. I liked the Silvio slow-mo. One of the recurring themes in the show is how quickly and brutally murders happen and that Silvio slow-mo helps hammer that point home. One moment Sil is talking and everything is normal and the next he's got blood splattering on his face from a murder.
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May 20, 2019 14:39
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He's not really a helpless schlub. He's rather powerful and acts out more of his weird impulses than anyone. Melfi points this out to Tony when he's going on about how he feels like he's a sad clown and she asks him what about anything he does resembles a sad clown. Helplessness is part of Tony's fantasy, "why are you making me do this?" But Silvio had a seizure when he saw how much freedom the boss really has.
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May 20, 2019 14:43
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Vichan posted:The Kevin Finnerty dream did lead to my favourite ending to a Sopranos episode: Man, I haven't seen that scene in years and it still gives me chills. Gandolfini was next level.
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May 20, 2019 14:47
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My favorite thing about the coma dream is that the only person to actually reach Tony is Paulie and his complaining.
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May 20, 2019 15:30
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"Silvio Slo Mo"...are we talking about the scene where some dude gets his head blown off at the table and SIl gets the blood splatter and hears the ringing? Because that poo poo was dope.
BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 22:30 on May 20, 2019 |
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May 20, 2019 15:57
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GTAfq3i9Bs Paulie almost literally annoying Tony to death is one the best examples of how deftly they wove comedy and drama together. loving wrinkles like an old ladie's oval office.
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May 20, 2019 19:48
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Your Gay Uncle posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GTAfq3i9Bs God drat, I forgot how good that scene was. OK, I might have to rewatch the whole series again.
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May 20, 2019 20:05
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I just remember thinking "Man, Janice is loving annoying" a lot.
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May 20, 2019 23:33
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Meadow: He needs positive thoughts. Paulie: You got it..... OH MADONNA HE LOOKS TERRIBLE!  loving beautiful.
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May 21, 2019 04:10
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Season 3, Episode 1 - Mr. Ruggerio's NeighborhoodTony Soprano posted:I heard maybe you got a loving problem, like you don't like being here? Season 1 of The Sopranos was a revelation. Season 2 was arguably even better than the first season. Season 3 thus had a lot to live up to, since we now knew that 1 hadn't been a flash in the pan and now we were expecting the supremely high quality of the show as a baseline standard. Season 3 had one enormous hurdle to overcome right from the outset, the death of Nancy Marchand had derailed the planned major storyline for the season: Tony having to make nice with his mother in an attempt to avoid going to prison for the stolen airline tickets procured through the Davey Scatino bustout. That created its own opportunities though, there was enormous potential material to investigate in Tony's reaction to and handling of the sudden death of the figure that loomed largest in his life. But in this first episode of the season (which aired with episode 2 as part of the season 3 premiere), it very much feels like they were still scrambling to find a new hook and the result is a rather stop-start affair which feels more like a number of scenes roughly stapled together via frequent clumsy fades to black and cross-dissolves. The FBI's attempted surveillance does work as a solid device to catch us up on all the major characters, but editing wise it's a rough start to what would turn out to feel like a somewhat aimless season that nonetheless set the scene wonderfully for things to come and does feature some of utter standout moments in the shows history. To the tune of Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife, the sun rises over the Soprano home and Tony lumbers down the driveway to collect the newspaper, frowning to see a story about mob interest in the garbage business creating concerns about possible violence. An immediate cut to a grainy black and white photo of Pussy also cuts the music, replaced by a recording of Pussy chatting to Tony about Livia. Presumably recorded between Richie's death and Pussy's, Tony mentions his ex-goomar's cousin will be looking after Livia now. When Pussy tries to bring the conversation about to Matt Bevilaqua and specifically mentions the night he was murdered, Tony ignores him to call over a waiter, asking what Pussy wants to eat. That is it, the closest Pussy ever got to getting Tony on tape talking about the murder. The FBI taskforce assigned to busting the North Jersey mob are seated around a table going through the transcript, photos and crew structures pinned up everywhere, reviewing where things currently stand... and they're not good. Skip is present and with little emotion notes that after this length of time with lack of contact from Pussy, they have to consider "Informant 16" is compost. Cubisoto callously dumps the picture of Pussy into the trash, his only regret that they considered his testimony vital to the Webistics case and now they can forget that. So what is their next best shot against Tony (who is still listed as Street Boss and beneath Junior on the DiMeo Crime Family chart), the airline tickets? That seems a tough sell, after all the testimony of Livia Soprano is vital for that, and what kind of heartless monster from hell would testify against her own son? No, they all agree that the garbage business is where they'll find their best chance. After all, they're all absolutely certain that Tony had Richie Aprile killed, none of them any the wiser as to what really happened. Harris agrees the garbage business is their best shot, but how to get Tony on the record given how diligent he has about talking "business"? Skip (who has his final appearance in this episode) gets what he can out of the vestiges of Pussy's intelligence, noting that Tony would sometimes talk out by the pool but feared parabolics, but felt safe talking in the basement due to the loud air-conditioning ducts drowning out any eavesdroppers. Cubisoto and the DA quickly follow up on this, taking his application for a "sneak and peek" warrant to a judge. They want to enter the Soprano home twice, once to scout out the best possible place to place a microphone in the basement, the second time to actually place it. The judge is wary but agrees, taking pains to point out it must be a simple in-and-out to the basement only, not an excuse to rifle through drawers or look through the house.   With the order signed, the FBI goes into surveillance mode to try and figure out the schedules of everybody who occupies the house, to find a 2 hour window for their entry and exit. Tony is driven out of the house by Furio and stops by a "mosquito abatement truck" to joke with the obvious agents inside that they don't need to follow him, causing Furio to laugh uproariously. But they're not interested in following right now, and soon Harris and his team have figured out that Tuesday between 12pm - 1:45pm the house is empty, thanks to the maid and her husband attending an English language class and then enjoying a picnic lunch afterwards. They "joke" that they'll run her husband's name through Anti-Terrorism (this aired 6 months before 9/11) and then check the rest of the schedule: AJ is at school, Carmela has a tennis lesson and Tony is at "work". That only leaves Meadow, who in the end forwent her dream of Berkeley for the still prestigious but ultimately safer, closer to home Columbia University. They decide to put an Agent on her too, just to be on the safe side in case she decides to pop home for any reason. Come the next Tuesday, "Baby Bing" is picked up by his friends and driven to school, "Bada Bing" drives by singing Steely Dan, "Mrs. Bing" heads to her tennis lesson and "Princess Bing" walks back to her dorm from a class. The maid leaves and the FBI moves in to the "Sausage Factory" as a mash-up between The Police and Henry Mancini plays. If the video editing leaves a little to be desired, the music is spot on, as they jump between the Agents shadowing the "Bings" and the Agents breaking into the Sopranos house. Tony arrives at the Bada-Bing where he meets Patsy who has had Carmela's fur reinforced and hemmed after it was somehow torn (perhaps during their celebratory sex after he gave it to her?). Tony's agent, Skip, backs up and waits, perhaps contemplating whether a promotion or some other kind of step up in the ranks is on the cards if his advice on the basement meetings bears fruit. Inside, Tony is pleased to discover Hesh, Silvio, Christopher, Paulie and Gigi are all present and just dishing up a meal, and is quick to join them at the head of the table. As everybody settles in to eat, Paulie is at the sink washing his hands, and when Silvio tells him to sit and join them he goes off on a tangent about the filth we walk in every day, and how shoelaces collect grime and germs even if they're not dragged through urine in a men's toilet (Paulie, who has clearly never been in a woman's toilet, believes them to be pristine compared to the men's). The others are caught between revulsion at what he is saying and amusement, while Silvio - who must regret saying anything to have kicked this off - demands he shuts the gently caress up. The FBI disables the alarm line to the phone company and then uses tools to unlock the door to the interior of the house. Tony, enjoying the camaraderie even if the subject is disgusting, notices Patsy sitting glum down a far side of the table next to Furio. He offers him some braciole but Patsy begs off, he has no appetite, revealing today would have been "our" birthday: he and Philly "Spoons" Parisi, his twin brother. Tony shares a pained look with Gigi (who murdered Spoons), who puts on a brave face and wishes Patsy a happy birthday. Christopher, intrigued and not unsympathetic, queries who was older, and it seems Spoons was Patsy's "kid" brother by 11 minutes. Tony, growing uncomfortable, agrees it was a tragedy but "what are you gonna do", hoping to put an end to it. Gigi tries too, noting this is the life they chose, but Patsy is clearly still struggling, noting that Philly was never a heavy guy so he can't understand who could have possibly had it out for him. Unfortunately for both of them, Furio is only just getting caught up on things and asks for more information, he only just realized that Patsy had a twin brother. Tony tries to manage things, explaining that friends (like them!) called him Spoons, but "somebody" whacked him a couple months before Furio came over. Gigi has a flashback to murdering Spoons, something he'd probably never think twice about except he's now looking right into a living face identical to that of the man he murdered. Tony passes down a plate of salad and tries to talk over Patsy as he sighs about the "twin bond", not happy that an oblivious Christopher also seems interested in continuing the conversation. He brings up that sometimes twins die within days of each other, and everybody gasps out in horror when Patsy says that would have been fine with him. They can murder, they can main, they can beat and torture and lie to their best friend's face about it.... but suicide? That's a horror beyond contemplation, life is sacred! Tony quickly tries to lighten the mood, saying he can leave the morbid poo poo with Junior's crew (where he came from) and have a happy birthday. He cracks a joke about tying your shoes if you want to commit suicide, calling back to Paulie's shoelace obsession, and they all laugh in appreciation. Everybody goes back to eating, all smiles except for Patsy and Gigi who just stare at each other, the latter pondering if the former knows who killed his beloved twin brother.   Meanwhile, of all the agents on surveillance duty, at least one is in paradise. Two agents have been put on Carmela, and she attends a tennis lesson joined by her future cousin-by-marriage (and probably already distantly related anyway) Adriana La Cerva. The agent is in horndog heaven, leering over Adriana and her tiny, form-fitting outfit as Carmela introduces her to her tennis coach. He has bad news for Carmela though, he told all his other clients but forgot to tell her, his wife got a great job in San Diego and he's moving across the country. Carmela, all forced smile, mumbles that she didn't even know he was married (so much unspoken yearning and fantasy in that statement, he was another Vic Musto for her) as he introduces her to his replacement: Birgit, a young braless woman whose immediate and obvious interest in Adriana makes her a kindred spirit with the FBI Agent watching them. The former trainer, Ed, asks Carmela if he can have a letter of recommendation and suggests she check out his wife's new company since they sell antiques online. They moved across country on a Dotcom job to sell antiques online... they're loving doomed. AJ's Agent spots "Baby Bing" and his friends leaving the school property, and casually wanders after them as they head down to a local pizza place to smoke cigarettes and complain about the school not letting them use their skateboards. They're typical aimless teenagers (with dialogue written by a middle-aged man) and are adamant they're not going to do any extra-curricular activities for a place they're forced to go. But one thing does catch AJ's eye. Their friend Egon is dropped off by his mother from the orthodontist and he's wearing a JV football jersey. They mock him for risking becoming a quadriplegic but can't help but admit his shirt is pretty cool. AJ's mind is spinning, not with any desire to play or be involved or have school pride: but to get his hands on a sweet jersey like that. In the Soprano house, they turn on the air-conditioning and start taking sound levels, looking for the idea place to set up their mic. In spite of the judge's warning, one Agent casually wanders about the house looking through their fridge and leafing through the mail. At Columbia, Meadow's roommate comes back to the dorm, waking Meadow from her nap as she eagerly sings the school theme. The roommate is Caitlin Rucker from Oklahoma, who is thrilling at the freedom of being in New York, taking every opportunity to go out drinking and dancing and having the time of her life. She's been out all night and skipped a class, but promises to settle in and study now. Meadow admits she hasn't studied for her own Bio Lab and Caitlin, who lives 1300 miles away, asks if she is missing New Jersey which is only a 30 minute drive away. Meadow says she's just struggling with the transition from home life to college life, despite the fact she's a quick drive away from home and frequently visits, a far cry from her earlier desire to put as much distance between herself and her parents as possible. Caitlin though is an ecstatic convert to what she thinks is the New York lifestyle, having traded in alcohol for a personality as the Absolut Vodka magazine ads she has torn out and placed on her wall attest. The FBI Agent listens in from outside the doorway as Caitlin sings New York, New York and then crashes into bed, quickly falling asleep. Meadow, still exhausted, rolls back into her own bed to nap as well. Lilliana the maid and her husband Stasiu are having a picnic (with a cooler from the Scatino bustout!), their English lesson for the day finished. Lilliana is quizzing Stasiu on his citizenship test, but he's more interested in the food and offers grumpy answers he knows are incorrect. She becomes irritated with him and begins nagging him in Polish, asking if he really means to ruin this beautiful day and their brief chance to picnic together because he's upset at being forced to drive a cab to make ends meet. The Agent may not understand the words, but he can pick up on the tone, and simply settles in on the park bench with a newspaper he isn't reading to keep an eye on them. As his fellow Agents film around the basement in the Soprano home, Stasiu lays out a very compelling reason for his lack of enthusiasm, even if it is a complaint the more pragmatic Lilliana has heard all too often. When they lived in Lodz, he was an engineer with 20 employees and a grant from the State to do autonomous research.... now he drives a cab. Their argument turns to the fact she's stealing cutlery from the Sopranos (and plans to steal champagne glasses tomorrow!) because she knows they have stacks of expensive things they've forgotten they even bought during some bout of depression or misplaced rage. It's kinda neat to take such a quick look at these characters, largely incidental in the show to this point, and see how everybody has a backstory behind them. Presumably they came to America in search of the better life promised after the collapse of the USSR, only to discover that prejudice and the language barrier had preceded them. They are in fact the same type of immigrants that Tony puts such great stock in while looking back on his own family history, without realizing the utter disdain he holds for people in a similar boat in the current day. Their surveillance complete, the FBI return to review their videotape. Skip is included in the select group of Agents who gets to watch back the video, everybody cracking jokes about what the Sopranos keep in their basement, cracking wise about AJ's weight and noting Tony's taste in home tools. They spot the 120 gallon water heater, impressed since even Cubitoso has to worry about using up all the hot water... then notice a patch of brown water leaking from the heater. They're delighted, the heater is going to blow in probably six months or so. They laugh about the idea that Tony could find out he needs a plumber when they get to the discovery portion of his trial, but since that is about a year away it'll be far too late and he'll have already been put out personally and financially. Enjoying Tony's (future) misfortune, they get back to business and take note of a lamp on a desk (perhaps Livia's that Tony promised to bring to Green Grove?) right underneath the noisiest section for the air ducts. That will be where Tony feels safest, so if they can switch it out for an identical model with a microphone in it, they'll have their inside source. At Quantico they set to, buying the same model and then carefully using the video as a model they recreate every paint smear, dust coating and aging of the shell to create an exact duplicate.   With the lamp prepared, Harris and his crew get into position again the following Tuesday. As each member of the Soprano family leaves the house they are tailed, Tony this time going to the Bada Bing, watched from the adjoining parking lot by Skip. Inside the back room, Tony settles down and gets an update from Gigi on how their new bullshit stock is doing, and it is good news. Proving his due diligence is born not just from discipline and paranoia but also ignorance, Tony warns Gigi to log off his laptop before discussing another sensitive issue, since,"That cookie poo poo makes me nervous." Gigi's concern is Patsy, not just what he was saying at lunch the previous week but in other places as well. A friend of Gigi's hangs out at The Next in Bloomfield, and Patsy has been a regular there, drinking himself into a stupor. The owner asked what was wrong and if he could help, and apparently Patsy ranted about how one can smile to your face but still be a villain, he knows how Philly died and he knows who is responsible. Paulie, who had his own part to play in that assassination, has been listening in, and Tony asks for his take. Paulie is confused, how could he possibly know they were the ones who killed his brother? But Tony thinks the answer is obvious.... twin telepathy! This is the man the FBI are spending huge amounts of time and money and failing to nail, by the way. Paulie, who last season genuinely believed Christopher had a vision he was going to Hell, figures it is more likely that somebody is putting ideas in Patsy's head. Tony notes how quiet Silvio is being and isn't pleased, cracking a not so faux-angry joke about interrupting the golf game he is watching. Silvio, who pointedly is not looking, finally notes that maybe a cop is trying to flip him. His reticence to talk is understandable, not so long ago he joined Paulie and Tony in murdering one of their oldest and closest friends and now it looks like another (albeit newer) friend is soon to join him. Tony considers, he isn't happy about the thought either. Gigi asks what they should do and Tony lays out that the entire reason they brought him over from Junior's crew in the first place was to keep an eye on him considering what they did to Philly, so for now that's exactly what they'll do. Gigi agrees, but points out that he's sure part of Patsy loves Tony for bringing him up to the main crew but that isn't going to help the burning anger from having to look in the eyes every day of the guy you KNOW had your brother murdered. Not only that, but having to smile while you do it. Carmela leaves for her tennis lesson, where the horndog Agent cackles with pleasure watching Adriana fail at tennis while being praised by Birgit who loves watching her every move, much to Carmela's irritation. The other Agents continue to wait for Lilliana to leave but she is nowhere to be seen, and after waiting they get the go-ahead from Harris to get up a little closer to see what is going on. They pull up close to the driveway and check through their binoculars, the maid's car is still there, and faintly they hear Lilliana suddenly gasp out,"Oh my God! Oh my God!" in Polish. Meanwhile, Birgit takes her own chance to get all up on "assisting" Adriana with her swing while the stray balls are collected by Carmela who, whether she knew it or not, was really taking these lessons for the chance for a safe fantasy "affair" with her instructor and is now watching Birgit do all the things with Adriana she'd hoped Ed would do with her. Her phone rings and gets her attention, she blinks back tears of frustration she probably isn't even aware she is crying as she answers... and then suddenly bolts out of there, catching the Agents, Birgit and Adriana by surprise. Skip simultaneously notices Tony leaving the Bing with Furio, almost running over a couple of pedestrians as they get the hell out of there. They're both returning home, and Harris quickly calls an abort and orders all the Agents to get out of there. The phony New Jersey Gas and Electric van heads down the street just as Carmela races up it, and the only thing they can guess is that there has been a family emergency. AJ or Meadow? No, both their Agents have them where they should be, so what could it be. For the viewer and their pre-existing knowledge at the time, the only possible answer must have been that Livia Soprano had died, right?  Nope! The 120-Gallon Water Heater has burst, flooding the basement and leaving furniture floating and boxes of memorabilia ruined. Tony and Carmela try to retrieve boxes of family photos including their wedding album but it's a lost cause, they're under 120-gallons of water. Their plumber Mr. Ruggerio arrives, shocked by the sight and that, more importantly, the guarantee must have expired by now. The small FBI crew meanwhile are trying to figure out what happened, still in the dark as to why Tony and Carmela suddenly rushed home. Harris insists it must be a family emergency and cuts off an Agent who points out that a plumber's truck went up the drive shortly after, warning him not to speculate. Two of the Agents excuse themselves, they're scheduled to go do a job in two days, a mosque (again, this was pre-9/11 and the fervor that would soon follow for these "investigations"). The next day Agents posing as New Jersey Gas & Electric workers pop by the Cusamano house and ask Jeannie if they could go into the back of the property to trim the growth off some of their trees to prevent hazards to powerlines. She's happy to let them, but is unable to help them with the vague question on if they or their neighbors were affected by the "shortfalls" since they have a record of another crew being up this way yesterday. She has no idea what they mean but suggests they ask the neighbors themselves. She catches herself as she starts to whisper-gossip that they're in the maf-, simply excusing herself and closing the door. Climbing a tree in the Cusamano yard, they peer into the house with binoculars but all they can see is Tony's arm in a robe as he eats breakfast. Somebody approaches and passes Tony but they dismiss it when they realize it is just Lilliana, nothing is going on worth watching in there. Except of course it is, by coincidence and just the wrong angle, they can't see that Tony is having a breakfast meet with Gigi openly discussing business since he can't go into the basement. They mention "The Cuban" being at the Casino on Bloomfield Avenue, "Big John" (Johnny Sack, presumably) being good with a 60-40 split on something (the Casino?) since they own the building it is in. The Agents do notice something pretty out there though, Patsy Parisi has just staggered through the backyard and is standing drunk as a skunk by the pool glaring with evil intent with a gun pointed right at Tony Soprano, the man who ordered the hit on his brother. They draw their own weapons and huddle together, trying to figure out exactly what they should do. Luckily for them, the drunken wreck that is Patsy can't bring himself to pull the trigger, instead breaking down sobbing at his failure to avenge his brother. Inside, Tony - none the wiser - takes Gigi downstairs as far as he can so they can continue to talk once Lilliana enters the room. Outside, Patsy whips his dick out and pisses in Tony's pool in a minor act of rebellion before staggering away, leaving the Agents utterly bewildered.   Harris pops into Cubitoso's office to let him know what happened, something he could have done earlier if he'd listened: the water heater blew and flooded the basement. Cubitoso is surprised to hear about Mr. Ruggerio hauling the old heater out, noting that his sister knew Mrs. Ruggerio, leading to Harris delivering the episode title (every time I watch this again I forget and think it was a play on a Mafia version of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood). Harris' bigger concern is that their warrant is only valid for so long, and since they've had his phones bugged for 4 years and gotten nothing usable this is their big chance and they have to take it. Next Tuesday HAS to be a success. Once again the Agents set up on the house, though Harris being in the same place 3 weeks in a row has caught Tony's eye and he makes a point of cheerfully flipping the bird as Furio drives him by. Carmela leaves and once again that just leaves the maid, and once she is gone the Agents are quick to cut the alarm wires and get inside. Lilliana and Stasiu set up for their picnic, squabbling again as Stasiu - an educated man with a chip on his shoulder - bitterly complains about their English teacher for criticizing his answers to a test, betraying an (understandable) issue with context as he fumes about "Stop. Men at work" having different possible interpretations. But Lilliana has had enough, she came out here for a nice picnic in the grass with her husband and all he wants to do is bitch, so she tosses the (stolen) steak knives down and storms away, snapping that she's returning to work as a now frantic Stasiu pleads with her to come back. Their Agent spots them and knows this will ruin their last change to get inside, and so rushes to intercept her at her car, terrifying her as he desperately tries to come up with a reason for what he just did. Quickly he asks if the West Essex Language School is nearby, making up a bullshit story about his Polish grandmother and his desire to find a good language school for her, asking her to tell him about the place. Stasiu soon arrives and is immediately suspicious, who the gently caress is this and what does he want with his wife? Inside the Soprano house, the basement door is locked so they have to get through that as well which also slows them down at a time they can't really afford it. Meanwhile back at Carmela's incredibly frustrating tennis lessons Birgit is once again all over Adriana as she gushes over her shoes. They bend over to get a closer look and the horndog Agent moans like a cartoon wolf at the sight of her leopard print panties. What started as a joke at the Agent's expense has become increasingly inappropriate to the point of being tasteless not just to the character, but to everybody involved. The voyeuristic camera shots, open panting and lovingly framed shots of Adriana's rear end just feel creepy at this point. The Agents in the basement realize that the table has been moved from the air duct they'd wanted to use, and agonize over whether moving it will be noticed, and if it is whether Tony will just assume Carmela or the maid did it. Finally they make an executive decision to move it the couple of feet back to where it was. At Columbia, Meadow brings Hunter to her dorm room. It appears Hunter has chosen to defer college for a year despite getting into her first choice, and she's catching up Meadow on the gossip: it appears that Eric Scatino hates going to Montclair State and has started taking a lot of Acid. Meadow, who is fully aware of the issues that caused Eric to lose his place at Georgetown, just laughs it off with a comment about how straight edge he used to be. It seems poor Vic Musto is pouring what little money he has into another Scatino pouring it down the drain, but ALL of the Sopranos have already moved on without another thought to the damage done to a family of what were supposedly close friends. Inside the dorm room they find Caitlin huddled up on her bed with a 1000 year stare. It seems the initial euphoria of New York has worn off, she's stopped drinking and went to the Health Center for a problem she was having swallowing and was prescribed BuSpar. Hunter, who knows a thing or two about clinics given her eating disorder, recognizes that as an Anti-Anxiety medication. Whether Caitlin has taken it or not, she now seems to be in a state of raw horror at the utter indignities and miseries heaped upon the city that nobody seems to care about doing anything about. All Meadow can offer is a shrug and a simple statement of,"New York".   Furio brings Tony to Satriale's, making a point of wiping down the car he's so proud of once Tony heads inside. Nobody is there except for Patsy, who is working on the betting receipts from last Sunday's game, adding up their profits (what happens to those accounts, I wonder?). Tony checks through the mail as he sits at his own desk, but pauses and decides now is the time to take direct action as it is just the two of them. Confrontation seems the best course of action for him, and so he just outright asks Patsy if he has a problem, immediately putting him into a spot where he essentially has no choice but to answer in the negative. Patsy, confused, asks what he means and Tony is direct again, he heard maybe he has a problem, that he doesn't like being there as part of their crew? Patsy assures him he likes being there, and Tony asks him several times if he is sure, and every time a nervous Patsy says he is and Tony simply asks again, telling him not to say he is sure if he isn't. A long, uncomfortable silence falls and Patsy's face slowly falls with it as the enormity of what he is being asked sets in. Without saying it, Tony is telling him that he knows Patsy knows about who killed Philly. He knows, and he is forcing Patsy to agree that everything is fine or suffer the consequences. To really hammer it home, Tony (unknowingly aping Pussy's own failed technique to open him up about the Bevilaqua murder) asks who was it who told him that Patsy was able to afford to buy his daughter a nice new house after he joined up with Tony's crew (the Boss' crew, remember)? Patsy forces a smile and nods, agreeing it was a wonderful thing to be able to do that. Tony hits him again, bringing up Philly and asking him if he has recovered and put his grief behind him? Swallowing his pride, unable to meet Tony's gaze, Patsy forces himself to nod... but even this isn't enough. Tony tells him he wants to hear him say it, and Patsy forces himself to look Tony in the eye and outright say it: he's put the grief behind him. With that, Tony is all relaxed smiles again, stepping up to go get a coffee, stopping to point out that Patsy has a son, he should bring him to the house to hang out with AJ, they can even swim in the pool. Patsy's face remains blank, even if mention of the pool might bring to mind the tiny revenge of pissing in it, but there can be no doubt that he has been utterly cowed. This is the horror Tony Soprano is capable of. It wasn't enough that he could say he was a friend and smile to Patsy's face while really being a villain. He had to be the villain who forced Patsy to smile into HIS face and call him a friend. He has put Patsy into his place, but he has also forced him to absolve Tony of the guilt he feels for having Philly killed in the first place. How can Tony Soprano be a bad person if the brother of the man he killed has put it behind him, hell Tony even was kind enough to invite him to his house and suggest their sons be friends. Patsy had to sit there and take it, he had to sit there and take it with a smile. Because Tony is in charge, and that means the world revolves around him and his neuroses and the hell with how it might hurt anybody else's feelings. Sound like somebody else in Tony's life?   The lamps are switched in the basement, the bug powered through the Sopranos' own electricity after they plug the lamp into the wall. Confirming the bug is working, they lock up the house, reset the alarm and drive away, their job a success. At Verbum Dei, AJ has tried out for the team to get his hands on one of those sweet jerseys, working on the tackle dummies as the coach screams at him to try harder if he wants on the team (he wants that jersey!). His Agent is told he can leave, as are the guys on the tennis grounds, who high five and leave without a backwards glance even for a final look at Adriana. With the bug in place, they're ready to hear what magic they've been missing all this time. As the sun rises and Tony again lumbers down the driveway to collect his newspaper, the FBI are set up in a surveillance van drinking coffee and reading their newspapers, waiting for the lamp to pick something up. They hear footsteps and immediately start up their recorder and the clock: they get 40 seconds to hear something pertinent, if not they must wait two minutes before they can start listening in again. At first they're excited, as Tony and a mysterious foreign voice discuss a wetwork job that could get messy but which he'll be amply compensated for. But they soon discover it's just Stasiu, called in because Tony remembered that he was some kind of engineer something in Poland, right? So he wants him to rig up some kind of piping that will divert any overflow of water to a sump pump should his water heater blow again. Stasiu, who ran an Engineering Company with a State Grant to do research, has no idea how to put together a quote or work out the cost of materials, but agrees to do the job, saying he'll take some measurements and work it out. With the tape off and the mic volume down, they wait for the two minutes to pass. Inside the basement, Tony and Carmela have a minor, amicable argument about who will use the Elliptical (both insist the other take it), neither of them hearing Stasiu's lament to them about his prior status in Lodz. Instead Tony points out the mildew smell Stasiu noticed and Carmela complains they need to air the place out. As Carmela folds Meadow's laundry (she REALLY did the opposite of a clean break to Berkely) Tony casually tells her about "some Russian girl" he's brought in to look after Livia. Carmela, only slightly interested, asks where he found her and surprisingly he doesn't say,"She's the cousin of that girl I've been loving" and just says he went through an Agency. Carmela doesn't take much notice, after all they're both used to bringing in immigrants to do the poo poo jobs they don't want to.  The Agents switch the sound back on and start recording again, remembering that despite their excitement about getting into "the Sausage Factory" and setting up the bug, most surveillance is dreary and boring. Tony and Carmela discuss the new brand of coffee they're drinking and Carmela insists he have more roughage in his diet. Tony complains about having something stuck in his teeth and she reminds him to try the other floss. On that dull note, the first episode of the third season of The Sopranos ends. It's not a particularly great or memorable episode, even if it does set up a lot of important things going forward. I can see why they aired it as a double-header with episode 2 way back when, I don't think people would have been happy if this had stood alone at the time. But the season will improve, and in the meantime the lamp sits waiting, listening to it all and just waiting for Tony to slip up and say something he shouldn't. The time will come, the lamp isn't going anywhere, and eventually the FBI's hard work will pay off.  Season 3: Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood | Proshai, Livushka | Fortunate Son | Employee of the Month | Another Toothpick | University | Second Opinion | He Is Risen | The Telltale Moozadell | ...To Save Us All from Satan's Power | Pine Barrens | Amour Fou | Army of One Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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May 21, 2019 12:16
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DQkScJ94qg Obligatory mash-up, loved hearing it the first time watching.
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May 21, 2019 12:57
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quote:(every time I watch this again I forget and think it was a play on a Mafia version of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) It's both! Ruggerio is just the Italian version of Rogers so there's no way they weren't making a Mister Rogers Neighborhood joke.
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May 21, 2019 13:30
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The episode itself is reminiscent of how two FBI agents bugged the house of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in the 70's, which they wrote a book about and it's a fascinating read. It was a lot more difficult for them to get the 'sneak and peek' warrant back in those days and they also had to do fun things like drug the Dobermans Castellano kept onsite. They wound up bugging a phone in the kitchen and got a lot of good stuff from it even if John Gotti himself would take care of Catellano's, uh, prosecution later.
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May 21, 2019 13:55
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"Francis Scott Key" "gently caress his whore of a mother" Gets me every time. Stupendous writeup of an okay episode (hell, the worst Sopranos is better than the best almost anything else). Too many fades to black but goddrat if the Peter Gunn/Every Breath You Take isn't an inspired use of music (again, that is standard for this particular show but it really stands out). If rewatching this show had a drinking game, taking a drink for every product placement would get you the warm and fuzzies. "Hey, he's got the Black & Decker! I got one of those!"
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May 21, 2019 23:19
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TIL "Marone" means "Madonna" (the Virgin Mary) . I bought some marron glace (candied chestnuts) from the Italian store a while ago- they are expensive and loving delicious and whenever they said that, I always thought of those 
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May 21, 2019 23:27
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