Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
codo27
Apr 21, 2008



Hasn't replied yet with his selection

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

ruddiger
Jun 3, 2004

codo27 posted:



Hasn't replied yet with his selection

Maybe he picked Born to Run?

MrMojok
Jan 28, 2011

banned from Starbucks posted:

The Colombo family is still called that even though Joe's been dead 40 years.

This reminds me of a time early on in the series where Meadow was being a wiseass, and started reeling off the names of the NYC families in front of Tony, Carmela, and AJ, I believe it was.

I wish I could find a clip, but I don't remember which episode it was. Do any of you remember it?

It was kind of odd because she used the actual, current, real-life names for like three of them, and used the original names for a couple. Like, she used the original "Profaci" instead of "Columbo". And I don't think she mentioned Lupertazzi at all.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

MrMojok posted:

This reminds me of a time early on in the series where Meadow was being a wiseass, and started reeling off the names of the NYC families in front of Tony, Carmela, and AJ, I believe it was.

I wish I could find a clip, but I don't remember which episode it was. Do any of you remember it?

It was kind of odd because she used the actual, current, real-life names for like three of them, and used the original names for a couple. Like, she used the original "Profaci" instead of "Columbo". And I don't think she mentioned Lupertazzi at all.

Season 1 if my memory is right. I think it was the first time she went into "you're in the mafia" mode and it was early on.

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

We've been rewatching Brooklyn 99 and Janice is on that too! It's funny because she says she "dated all her brothers mob friends" which I'm sure, while very pertinent to her character, was no coincidence

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005
Last scene is Thunder Road and Clarence Clemmons walks in with a tenor sax and a members only jacket and it cuts to black at the solo.

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005
Do mob families even have official names (as opposed to names in the press or law enforcement) since they aren't exactly official organizations?

GoutPatrol
Oct 17, 2009

*Stupid Babby*

Bip Roberts posted:

Last scene is Thunder Road and Clarence Clemmons walks in with a tenor sax and a members only jacket and it cuts to black at the solo.

It was going to be Sun City when Lou Reed kicks in.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Van Zandt wanted it to be "I Serve a Risen Savior" and have it cut to black on,"HE LIVES! HE LIVES! HE LIVES!"

MrMojok
Jan 28, 2011

Bip Roberts posted:

Do mob families even have official names (as opposed to names in the press or law enforcement) since they aren't exactly official organizations?

They've been wiretapped referring to themselves as "Gambinos", or referring to other families as "the Luccheses", etc.

Jack2142
Jul 17, 2014

Shitposting in Seattle

Even if they didn't actual mobsters are still Americans and love media, like look at the random mob movie actors like I think the guy who played Barese, or the idiot in season 2 who tried to kill chris that get a toehold into organized crime crap. Also I believe it was Frank Vincent who said in interviews that he would get approached by mob guys saying how much they loved him in like Goodfellas.This isn't even counting Tony Sirocco who I think was probably an IRL Colombo Associate when he was younger.

I can absolutely see mobsters just eventually running with whatever name gets them the most street cred.

This

Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 09:32 on May 4, 2020

crispix
Mar 28, 2015

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

Hello, dear
In a different universe where the English were the minority newcomers to the new world there'd be Fauntleroy and Sidebottom crime families, I like to think

Ishamael
Feb 18, 2004

You don't have to love me, but you will respect me.

COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:

“All their sons were either named Peter or Paul, and all the daughters were named Marie”

I can confirm that. On my Italian side of the family I have (no lie) 6 cousins named Marie. Not as many Peters or Pauls, but there were 3 Phils, and there was a group of the uncles named Hick, Vic, Nick and Dick. (Hick was the nickname of Uncle Angelo, not sure why)

Vichan
Oct 1, 2014

I'LL PUNISH YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR CRIME

MrMojok posted:

This reminds me of a time early on in the series where Meadow was being a wiseass, and started reeling off the names of the NYC families in front of Tony, Carmela, and AJ, I believe it was.

I wish I could find a clip, but I don't remember which episode it was. Do any of you remember it?

It was kind of odd because she used the actual, current, real-life names for like three of them, and used the original names for a couple. Like, she used the original "Profaci" instead of "Columbo". And I don't think she mentioned Lupertazzi at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2RlyAz6VQ

"ANTONIO MEUCCHI INVENTED THE TELEPHONE AND HE GOT ROBBED! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!"

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.

Ishamael posted:

I can confirm that. On my Italian side of the family I have (no lie) 6 cousins named Marie. Not as many Peters or Pauls, but there were 3 Phils, and there was a group of the uncles named Hick, Vic, Nick and Dick. (Hick was the nickname of Uncle Angelo, not sure why)

On the Italian side of my family I have five cousins named Vincent and four Peters.

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

Sadly I have no Italian relatives but thanks to friends of the family I can vouch about Italian Thanksgiving which was in fact a full course Italian meal plus a full course Thanksgiving meal. I had never been before or since so thoroughly fooded.

Precambrian
Apr 30, 2008

joneswt posted:

So why is it still called the DiMeo family? It's been, what, like 10-15 years since the DiMeo boss got put in jail? Do they just keep the name out of respect?

When Joe Massino took over the Bonanno Crime Family, he attempted to rename it the Massino Family, citing that Joe Bonanno broke omerta when he wrote his tell all (which a lot of mobsters still really hated him for), and Massino was the one who basically returned the Family to its prestige after they got infiltrated and humiliated by the FBI. If anyone could rename a Family, it'd be him. It didn't work, even before Massino turned states evidence. Mafiosi are traditionalists, they're a bunch of old men in a family business, and they don't change easy, especially on dumb symbolic poo poo.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe
Looking forward to these next two write-ups but also partially dreading them because I don't want this to end. I can't tell you how many hours at work were made to pass much more easily due to these write-ups.

BrotherJayne
Nov 28, 2019

Heh. Scared to see it end myself... But I still check for updates probably 3x a day

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

If you're wondering why this latest write-up took so long to post, you won't be when you finally emerge from the other side of this volume of War & Peace I apparently just wrote.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Season 6, Episode 20 - The Blue Comet

Dr. Jennifer Melfi posted:

I don't think I can help you.

Burt Gervasi picks up his paper from the driveway on a pleasant Sunday morning... and turns to find Silvio Dante standing beside him, having appeared from nowhere like something out of a horror movie. Burt is startled but not scared, it seems a visit from Silvio wasn't entirely unexpected, and Silvio's comment that he didn't want to talk further over the phone buries any concerns he might have had. Burt assures him they can talk in private as his wife is at Mass, the only living thing present in the house is her little dog, which Burt clearly doesn't like.

He leads Silvio into the house, cool as a cucumber as Silvio notes that he's discussed the concerns Burt recently raised with him. Burt is interested, how did they react? The answer he gets is definitive and final, as Silvio suddenly wraps a garrotte around his neck and pulls tight. Burt clutches at the wire digging into his throat as he stumbles backwards, taking Silvio with him crashing into one of his wife's cabinets. He can't breathe and the wire is also slashing through the skin and biting deep into his neck. The last thing Burt - only so recently Made after a lifetime in the Mob - hears is the sound of his wife's little dog yapping, and then he goes limp. Silvio lets the corpse crash to the floor, his message delivered.

In New York, another message is being delivered, and in no less uncertain terms despite the lack of violence. In Averna Social Club, Phil Leotardo quietly pronounces to his top guys Butchie and Albie that he's come to a decision. He snaps at the others by the bar to take a walk, then declares his intent: The Soprano Family needs to be dealt with. Ignoring or talking over Albie's diplomatic protests, he makes his case: The Sopranos are a glorified Crew and not a "real" Family; they don't follow the rules or the old customs re: Making Ceremonies; Tony has never done any real jail time; he stepped over his own Uncle to be made Boss and has no respect for anybody or anything; he harbored a "human being" in his own crew etc. It revolts him that he let Tony reach out to him when he was in hospital with his heart condition, because he refuses to recognize him as an equal or a peer.

Butchie, of course, concurs with everything Phil says. He notes tha tthe Sopranos have "redundant management" eating up most of the financial kickbacks, and if they remove them then they can either deal with or absorb what is left. That's Phil's plan, to decapitate the Family by taking out their top brass. "Make it happen" he declares definitively and then walks away, leaving behind a concerned Albie and a delighted Butchie.



What was the breaking point for Phil? Johnny Sack once complained bitterly,"Is it all just about money?" and for the most part he was right: it was. That puts too neat a bow on it though, in Phil's case I believe the money was the excuse, and one of his own devising. All the points that Phil makes in his "defense" are smaller excuses that for the most part don't bother anybody else, or at least not to the extent that they bother Phil. But it's the money that gives him the edge, it's the money that Butchie immediately goes to as a justification in his argument towards Albie. It's the money Phil has used again and again as a means to testing Tony or poking at him for a reaction.

They've long tolerated working with a "glorified crew" because of the money it brings them in, regardless of if Tony harbored a "human being" or if he pushed past his Uncle to get the top spot or if they don't have a sword and a gun on the table during Making Ceremonies etc. The only person who cares about any of those things is Phil himself, and even he doesn't REALLY care about them, they're just part of the patchwork of reasons he has created to justify his own violation of long-held traditions.

Only recently Phil told Butchie that he would never sanction the murder of a Boss, that even if it had been done before it was wrong then and would remain wrong now. But within a few weeks (months?) of that statement he's had Doc Santoro killed and now is ordering a hit on Tony Soprano. The truth is, they got in his way of his pursuit of a power he feels he's been denied his entire life, and ironically in his pursuit of never compromising his ideals again he has continually compromised his ideals.

But while an argument could be made for Doc's murder (within the context of the hosed up world they exist in), can the same be made for Tony? He's been reasonable, he's offered diplomacy and counter-offers and even at one point humbled himself and was prepared to offer complete capitulation. Phil has refused to be moved at every point, and purely because he's wanted to lord his power over Tony... and more to the point, to make it clear that he considers Tony beneath him. Because I truly think that on some deep, subconscious level, Phil is afraid of Tony.

The younger man, more charismatic, a seemingly natural leader, considered with favor by Phil's predecessors, born into power as a third generation mafioso... but also just some wet-behind-the-ears kid back when Phil went to prison. Now Phil's out and this "kid" from a backwater "pygmy thing" attached to the Five Families is somebody who outranks him? Now that Phil's a Boss he's supposed to consider the prince of some garbage pile his equal? And the scary thing is... he is. Tony keeps surviving, living on past Carmine Lupertazzi and Johnny Sacrimoni, always at the top of the pile, raking in the cash and maintaining an iron grip on his power in spite of a litany of "mistakes" that Phil thinks are plain for all to see.

It was Tony Soprano who ran him down in a car and physically assaulted him with utter contempt. Tony who he is positive must have been at least tangentially involved in the murder of Phil's own brother. Tony who took away even his chance for revenge by murdering his cousin himself rather than let Phil torture him. Tony who caught him in his most vulnerable moment and reached out to him on a human level... and Phil reached back and accepted that outreached hand, a fact that haunts him to this day. Tony lives rent-free in Phil Leotardo's head. Phil is now the Boss of one of the Five Families, he had Nancy Sinatra do a private gig for his benefit... and Tony is still there seemingly reaping all the continued benefits without ever having made any of the sacrifices that Phil has, which must also make Phil realize that none of those sacrifices were really actually necessary. Phil may not be scared of Tony as a person... but he's sure as hell petrified of what Tony represents: the pointlessness of Phil's own accomplishments.



In the common room of the care ward, AJ and another male patient find themselves staring at the legs of a female patient as she adjusts them. AJ focuses on the scars on her upper thigh, while the other patient not-too-quietly notes that he almost got his first hard-on in a month watching her play basketball yesterday. Overhearing him and disgusted, she gets up and walks away... which means now AJ has a clear view of the woman moving through the back of the room to a seat by the window: Rhiannon.

Yes, it's the underage girl who AJ's dirtbag friend Hernan picked up in a nightclub what must feel like a million years ago to him now. He joins her and learns that she has some "food issues", and also that she broke up with Hernan after he fingerbanged her cousin on a ski-lift (yep, sounds about right). Carefully avoiding answering her own question about why HE is there, he asks if it is true she started modeling, and she plays it down but can't help throwing in that she's signed with Elite.

Tony and Carmela meet with one of the hospital administrators downstairs, where she explains that they're not really providing therapy for AJ so much as they are a calm space he can exist in stress free. Tony has to bite his tongue on the idea of his spoiled son having anything to be stressed over, but when he pops open the bill on the way up to see AJ he can't help but complain that they're paying $2200 a day. When they arrive at the ward and see AJ playing video-games, he has to take a moment to compose himself before following Carmela in. THIS is what they pay $2200 a day for? So that their son can sit around watching TV and playing video games all day like he could have done at home?

Agent Harris sits inside at Satriale's, staring out over the grey of New Jersey. Tony pops in from out the back to grab a bite to eat and spots Harris, and joins him at the table. They make forced small-talk, the Mob Boss and the FBI Agent who spent a not-insignificant amount of time trying to take him down, now... well, not friends, but collegial at least. Tony can't resist asking, making it into a poor attempt at a joke: are the Arabs he informed them about now tucked away in Jordan getting their testicles electrocuted? Harris, in no mood for humor, grunts back that for all he knows they were simply pistachio salesmen, all he did was pass on the info he got from Tony.

A little bitter himself, commenting on how the War on Terror is keeping him from his friends and family, Harris complains that FDR wasn't handing out info on Hitler to Vito Genovese just because he helped patrol the Brooklyn Naval-yard during World War II. Offended, Tony grunts a,"Go gently caress yourself", grabs his order and leaves to get some fresh air. Harris is left behind, tormented by knowledge he wants to share but knows he can't... and finally the fact that Tony broke his own code to pass on info to HIM recently tips him into a momentous decision.

Rushing out onto the street after Tony, he tells him that if it was more solid Tony would have been given an official warning in any case... but a friend of his with a snitch in Brooklyn (Albie?) has said the wheels may be in motion for previously abandoned plans to take Tony and maybe those close to him out. Tony, suddenly all cocky and unconcerned, openly chewing his food, shrugs and notes,"Implying" as if he doesn't take it seriously. Harris has said his piece though and leaves, and now Tony loses all pretense, tossing his barely touched sandwich into the trash, his appetite gone.



At the Bada Bing, Tony is getting some money out of the safe when Silvio enters. Tony grumpily asks where he's been, one of the strippers fell off her shoes (presumably giant stilettos) last night and they had to get her treated. Silvio grunts that he was taking care of business, then pours two drinks and passes one to Tony. Tony isn't in the mood for booze, but when Silvio insists, he realizes that something serious is on the table. Silvio gets right to the punch: Burt Gervasi is gone.

Tony is shocked, more because it's Burt Gervasi who - Made or not - is a relative nobody, especially when Silvio explains that Burt had been playing both side of the fences and negotiating with New York. More troubling than that, Burt is not the only person who had problems with the current situation, many of those lower on the totem pole are struggling due to the financial squeeze of the cold war with the Lupertazzis. Burt was seeing if there was an interest in a "change of management", and Tony realizes that Silvio was approached with an offer to give up Tony in exchange for a higher position for himself. "He got an answer" replies Silvio coldly, the bandage on his hand where the garrotte bit into his own flesh noticed by Tony but left unremarked on. Silvio, naively or perhaps purely out of misguided hope he knows won't come true, muses that he hopes Phil takes the message and comes back to the negotiating table. Tony, privy to his own information thanks to Harris, know that isn't likely at all. When Bobby arrives and senses the tension in the room, Tony says aloud what they've all been thinking and hoping to avoid (unlike Phil),"We gotta hit first."

At Vesuvio's, the three have lunch to discuss the situation. Without going into the details, Tony reveals he already knew that Phil was gunning for him. Silvio notes it's a big move, and he could be referring to either Phil's planned assassination of Tony or Tony's plan for a pre-emptive strike on Phil... both would be accurate. In Phil's case, he had Butchie all primed to jump at the chance for bloodshed while Albie agreed in principle but tried to take a more diplomatic approach. Now here, Tony knows Silvio has his back but asks Bobby - once derided as the harmless, pathetic last-man-standing saddled with caring for Junior Soprano - what his guidance is. Bobby considers and notes that he counseled turning the other cheek when Phil left Tony to pay for Vito Jr's "treatment" (being sent to a camp to take beatings to repress his emotions), but now it's become clear that appeasement doesn't work with "a gently caress like Phil".

The Intermezzo from the Cavalleria Rusticana plays over the restaurant's sound system right at this moment, and all three Italian-American men are delighted by what sounds like a sign from the heavens. It is the main theme from the film Raging Bull, and Tony and Silvio play-act slow motion boxing as Bobby laughs with pleasure. Like so many of us, these men have lived their life through the prism of various media, and for just a moment they delight in a moment of levity despite the gravity of their conversation. Scenes like this are one of the many reasons The Sopranos struck such a strong chord with so many viewers both on first airing and even now 20 years later: this isn't just a Mob Boss and his consigliere holding a strategy session to overthrow a rival Mob Boss. It's three human beings who exist in a fully realized world that doesn't stop and start within the narrow confines of the scene's narrative purpose. It also juxtaposes wonderfully with the Phil/Butchie/Albie scene: one dark and confined with a Boss squashing all dissent, and the other open and light with a Boss who is determined but willing to hear alternative takes. One ends with the Boss walking out, his decision declared and his table divided, the other with the three men at the table unified and feeling appreciated.



At the unlikely location of Flatbush Bikini Waxing and Beauty Shoppe, the plot to take down the Soprano Family as per Phil's instructions take shape. Present are Butchie, Albie, Dominic and Raymond "Ray-Ray" D'Abaldo. Butchie's idea is to take out the top three in the Soprano Family within 24 hours so there is no chance for them to either strike back or go into hiding. Paulie's name is mentioned as a possible target but discarded, in spite of his decades of service and closeness to Tony everybody knows he isn't "management", a classification that would probably hurt his feelings even if he was relieved not to be targeted (it also proves the ridiculousness of his belief in Johnny Sack's assurances that Carmine Lupertazzi held a deep interest in and respect for him). No, it's Tony, Silvio and Bobby. Ray-Ray is surprised, Bobby? He used to be Junior Soprano's driver? Albie, who is going along out of duty but has little enthusiasm for this task, reminds Ray-Ray that he was selling laser printers out the back of his Crown Vic car not too long ago, getting a laugh from Dominic. In the background, Butchie fussily puts away beauty products left on the shelf: an indication of nervousness? Or is he one of those types that constantly feels like they could do a job better than somebody else?

AJ completes his final week of "being calm and stress-free" and returns home. Meadow is pleased to see him coming downstairs in the morning apparently well rested, noting happily that he slept well. AJ, seemingly relaxed, simply comments that he wasn't sleeping, ignoring Carmela's question on what he wants for breakfast to note he can't find his belt. Carmela shrugs and says it must be somewhere, and grumpily he asks if she hid it, leaving it unsaid that she may fear he would attempt suicide again. In response she simply gives him a big kiss on the cheek, and despite himself he finds himself enjoying the attention.

She tells him she'll make real oatmeal and he asks her to let him know when it's ready, then heads over to his familiar spot on the couch and surfs through the channels till he lands on PBS. He watches footage of US soldiers in the Middle East, gunfire and explosions going off loud enough to jerk both Meadow and Carmela's heads around. But while Meadow is concerned at her recently suicidal brother being fixated on war, Carmela is firmly and defiantly in denial, simply smiling to herself as she prepares food for her baby boy: the best way to show love she knows how, via feeding.

In the back of the Bada Bing, Bobby is playing pool and Silvio is buffering his shoes when Tony walks in looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. He pronounces that he has decided that they'll call Italy to get "cousins" to take care of "our friend with the gray hair". It's a heavy announcement, one he hasn't come to easily in spite of their united front in the restaurant, but the decision is made now. Bobby asks who he wants to deal with it and Tony simply stares meaningfully at him, and Bobby gets the message, nodding that he'll deal with it. Tony immediately leaves to get new tires for Carmela's car... and also not have to stew in the tense atmosphere he has created (or have a chance to change his mind).

Dr. Melfi attends a dinner party with friends, including her own therapist Elliot Kupferberg. Their hosts are the Bellows, and the wife Stacey tells Melfi about how her daughter in involved with somebody who has become fixated with being penpals with an incarcerated armed robber. One of the other guests ponders what it is that makes some people fascinated with criminals, and Elliot declares authoritatively that it is a rescue fantasy, they think they can "fix" them. A pointed comment but one that could be brushed aside or go unnoticed by Melfi.. until what comes next.

Stacey, looking directly at Melfi, insists that she got really worried for her daughter's sake and so looked up the latest research on sociopaths... and she found a fascinating article about how the "talking cure" is ineffective for them. She even found another study that claims Sociopaths use treatment to their own advantage. Another guest agrees that she remembers reading that back during her Residency, and Melfi admits that she's read that other study too... but who is a true sociopath? It's a good point that punctures the generalities they're speaking in, until the other guest mentions she treated a slow poisoner at the State Asylum who mimicked empathy, crying on command when he felt it would benefit him.

Melfi has had enough, it might all be a coincidence and maybe she's being paranoid, but it all seems far too tightly focused to speak directly to her situation. Infuriated, she asks Elliot if he put them up to this, just so happening to bring up a study on sociopaths? Arnold Bellows down the other end of the table spots the sudden change in tension and asks if everything is alright, and Melfi contains herself and through gritted teeth diplomatically agrees that the study is food for thought. That would be the end of it, but Elliot can't resist rolling his eyes and saying she's blowing them off.

Freshly infuriated, Melfi snaps at him and Arnold carefully suggests they change the subject. Elliot wants to defend himself though, protesting to Melfi that he simply wanted her to reevaluate working with "leadbelly" or potentially face moral or even legal consequences. She's horrified that he'd make even an oblique reference to her patient's identity, and now everybody at the table is fascinated and wants to know more: Leadbelly? Elliot takes things a step further (far too far) by saying the answer is a female opera singer and gangster. Immediately they get the reference, morbidly fascinated: she's treating Tony Soprano!?!

Melfi is horrified, even moreso by Elliot's blase dismissal that she chill out over this incredible ethical overstep since they're all professionals here. All talk about how sociopaths aren't worth treating is forgotten now, like eager rubberneckers they all want details. Arnold is savvy enough to again try to change the subject and asks how she rates the wine, but Melfi is insulted by a comment from another guest that all Italians have big noses, which he insists was in reference to the Italian wine. Mortified, outraged, but also shaken by colleagues she respects essentially calling the work she has done a fool's errand and her a manipulated tool, Melfi struggles to keep herself composed. An awkward silence falls over the table, Elliot's smug assurance that they're all professionals proven a lie by their eagerness for gossip. Elliot of course is the worst of them all, because he has thrilled to the third-hand accounts of Tony's inner life while making a spectator sport out of the brutal reality of the mob, only to now dare to speak as if he is some sort of moral authority (keep that in mind for next episode). When Stacey offers the olive branch of noting that Melfi's treatment must have been fascinating, Melfi can only swallow her outrage, maintain her outward calm, and offer back a sickly and now guilt-ridden,"It is."



At the Bada Bing, it seems Carlo is either unaware of his brother's murder or has no idea that it came at the hands of his own Family. Bobby interrupts a conversation at the bar he is having with Paulie to ask the latter to join him in the back, where he finds Silvio waiting. Paulie is shocked to hear the news when they tell him: two "zips" are flying over from Naples to deal with Phil Leotardo, and Paulie is in charge of arranging the middle-man for them to work through. Bobby offers the awestruck Paulie the info on when Phil can be found: at his goomar's every Friday night.

Paulie's first question catches Silvio by surprise: does Tony know about this? They're shocked and not a little offended that they'd think he didn't, and Paulie and Bobby end up in each other's face (Bobby yet another "newcomer" who Paulie has seen pass him by in the ranks over the decades). Silvio calms them down, and Paulie explains that he barely survived the 1970s when the Colombos were going at it (actor Tony Sirico allegedly was associated with the Colombos in real life at this time). Paulie has no objection to Phil being murdered, quite the opposite, but he does want to make sure everybody is aware this may be kicking off a string of related deaths. Silvio assures him everybody knows, and after another glare at Bobby, Paulie heads out to start working on his unenviable task.

Melfi sits in bid at night, revolted but unable to put down the Yochelson and Samenow study on "The Criminal Personality". Words from the report take up the entire screen, line after line that make a mockery of the close to a decade last year of her life. The criminal's sentimentality reveals itself in concern for babies and pets. The criminal uses empathy to justify heinous acts. Therapy has potential for noncriminals; for criminals it becomes one more criminal operation.

The scene unfolds in perfect silence, the camera inter-cutting between words and closer shots of Melfi's horrified face. Tears well in her eyes, a sinking feeling deep in her stomach. She recognizes Tony Soprano in the study's words, and the horrible thought will not die down in her racing mind: has she been wasting her time? Has she in fact been HELPING a criminal be a better criminal all this time? Has she completely failed as a psychiatrist?

Paulie sits at the bar with Patsy (Carlo nearby with a loving arm around his son's shoulders as the two Jasons watch strippers gyrate) assuring him everything will be fine. It seems he has gone one step further and is using Patsy as another middle-man, and he becomes upset when Corky Caporale walks right up to him to inform him "those guys" are outside. Paulie and Patsy head into the bathroom where Paulie passes the responsibility to Patsy, who is taken outside by Corky to meet the Italian Assassins, Paulie making a quick exit in his car... though not without craning his head to get a good look at them first: after all, it's not every day you get a good look at two guys who are going to murder the Boss of one of the Five Families. He won't know it, but they're Italo and Salvatore, the two assassins who killed Rusty Millio.

Tony waits for his therapy session, leafing through a magazine and spotting a chile pepper recipe to add to steak. Without a second thought or a moment's hesitation he tears the page out of the magazine and tucks it into an inside pocket. Melfi stands in the doorway and calls his name, and in silence he joins her. The first thing out of his mouth is characteristically blunt: how much does she earn a year? She doesn't dignify it with a response, but she does raise an eyebrow to indicate she wants to know WHY he would ask such a thing. Putting on a sad face, he explains that Meadow isn't going to be a doctor after all.

Melfi gives no response at first, but when Tony keeps leaving his statements open or asks questions, she forces herself to speak. Her hostility is clear, in spite of her efforts to remain professional she's angry (mostly at herself) and is more aggressive in probing for the reasons behind his statements. When he says it would have been nice for her to take care of sick babies, it must bring flashbacks to the article. Tony explains both he and Carmela is upset, though he makes a point of saying Carmela is MORE upset. It bothers him though that after all the years of worries and expense and fighting to get her through private school, Colombia etc... she's probably going to end up spending a couple of years in the workforce, then get married and squeeze out a couple of kids. He doesn't say it, but in other words she'll end up largely just like Carmela.

Despite herself, or perhaps because she's feeling hostile, Melfi testily points out that SHE is still working despite being a mother, and isn't impressed by Tony's casual retort that she's divorced. He smoothly pivots back to Meadow, explaining she'll be taking up Criminal Law. He's worried about her interest in civil law, dealing with Muslims and.... blacks.... but that he hopes she'll end up in a big firm working white collar crime instead. But for all his dancing around the subject or insisting Carmela was more bothered than him, or that he was upset over the "waste" of money and time... there seems to be genuine regret in his voice when he comments that it would have been nice for there to be a "Dr. Soprano" in the family.

But when he looks up and she sees the sorrow in his face, the tears in his eyes, all she can think of is the article and Elliot's claim that sociopaths fake empathy and manipulate their psychiatrists. Alarm bells ring further when he compliments her unnecessarily, saying her parents must be proud and how despite all the suffering in the world SHE has made a difference, helping people like him. But then again real emotion seems to shine through when he notes the good people who tried to help AJ, and even offers a genuine sounding "God bless 'em". For a second, perhaps even less, Melfi seems on the verge of dismissing the article... and then Tony just has to add in an aside about how it cost $2000 a day for that help, and his Plumbers' Union insurance only covers 10% of mental care, leaving unsaid his complaint that he has to pay the rest out of pocket.

With that complaint out of the way, Tony again notes with compassion how AJ is really hurting, before his face hardens and he complains that he really should have disciplined AJ physically. Melfi intercepts his line about putting a shoe up AJ's rear end, hostility becoming clearer. Put off his game by this sudden interruption, Tony decides not to push any further down this road and grunts that they've talked about this... and makes a dismissive gesture with his arm that is 100% pure Livia Soprano, almost chillingly so.

Melfi never met Livia though, she hasn't seen how Tony's physical gesticulations have borrowed more and more from his mother over time. Even if she had, she's too distracted and frustrated to have noticed anyway. Instead she agrees with a complaint of her own, they have talked about this... and talked and talked. Even now, confused and put off his game, Tony is still too wrapped up in himself (to be fair, it is HIS therapy session) to have noticed how aggressive she is being. That all changes when he starts to complain about Carmela mollycoddling AJ again and she talks over him, and when he starts to talk about his father being a tough disciplinarian she outright asks him: does he think he turned out the way he wants his own son to thanks to Johnny Boy's physical punishments?

Now the conversation has turned entirely away from Tony talking through his personal issues to the two of them thrashing out their own problems. Tony is bewildered and upset when she dismissively reduces his issues with AJ and Meadow to stereotypical and outdated masculine/feminine ideals. He takes issue with HER taking issue with him referencing "my loving wife" when complaining she's acting like Carmela (and repeats that same Livia-inspired arm wave). All pretense is gone now after Melfi tried to claim he was projecting by saying she was being hostile, and she outright asks him if he gave even a second of thought to tearing the page out of the magazine? Did he think of anybody else who might have gotten some use or value out of it? Or did he only think of himself and HIS needs?

Now he's slightly amused, THIS is what has been upsetting her? He insists her magazines are already a mess and hard to read, and she says something that is more a statement of realization to herself than a comment to him: she can't help him. Tony misunderstands, saying she can just get some more, but when she elaborates that she means therapeutically THAT cuts right through everything and goes directly into his brain... because this affects HIM.



Assuming this has something to do with her recent ultimatum about not missing sessions, he points out he's only missed three since then! But she ignores that, instead explaining that the new big thing is "psychodynamic therapy" and if he wants she can give him the names of a doctor in Bloomfield he can call to take over his treatment in this field. Alarmed, he asks if she is really "firing" him because he took a page out of a magazine, and in an attempt to keep up a facade of professionalism she stonily offers back that she's simply offering her considered medical opinion. Falling back on the blame game, still misunderstanding the situation, he reminds her angrily that missing appointments is to be blamed on his condition, and with barely restrained contempt she asks him what he ACTUALLY knows about his condition? Laying it on the line (and also firmly putting the blame on HIM and not herself), she says he misses appointments because he doesn't give a poo poo and he has no respect for either her or the science of psychiatry. Then she throws down a final gauntlet, why doesn't he go ahead and say she's like his wife now?

She stands up to signal the end of the session, asking if he wants names or not, marking the finality of this decision. Leaping to his feet as well, he starts to go into a long monologue about all the ways he's going to restrain what he could say but she shouts over him to just say what he's going to say. So in slightly more flowery language he declares she must be going through menopause. Unimpressed, she opens the door for him to go and he realizes this really is it, she's kicking him out. Just like with Carmela at the end of season 4, he doesn't want to accept the reality of this situation, and now he turns to blatant emotional manipulation so transparent she must wonder how she never saw it before. She's going to turf him out now after all their years of progress and work.... right after his son got out of the hospital for trying to kill himself?

Her retort is simple and to the point, if he's really in crisis then she won't waste him time by continuing sessions that are achieving nothing. Stunned, infuriated now, Tony heads for the door but just can't help himself, he can't let himself be kicked out without one final tantrum, one final thumbing his nose that only serves to showcase just how deeply shaken he is. He declares - not without some justification - that her actions are immoral. Then, theatrically pulling the folded up magazine page from his jacket pocket, he triumphantly returns it to the magazine and then turns a smug look on Melfi, as if he has somehow proven some point. He wants to make it look like he is leaving under HIS terms, that this is his decision and he has made HER look foolish. He heads out the door and she waits to make sure he is truly gone... and then closes the door on him forever, a shot that can't help but bring to mind probably the most famous door close in film history.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

This was Lorraine Bracco's final appearance on the show, and now seems as good a time as any to discuss both her portrayal of Dr. Jennifer Melfi and the therapy sessions that dominated the show so heavily in the early seasons but became less prevalent (with good reason) with the passage of time. Melfi herself was a fascinating character, intelligent and capable but also unmistakably flawed right from the get-go. A lesser show would have made her a moral paragon, but Melfi was a messy and all-too-human character with her own insecurities, who was prone to making hasty decisions she would later regret.

Her hardest moral choice in the series came in season 3's Employee of the Month, with the incredible final shot of her saying "no" to Tony in what for him was a simple response to a casual question but which for her and the viewer was a massive moment of moral strength that many would not have been capable of. But it wasn't the only one, and she didn't always get it right. In this episode she gives up on treating Tony, in complete contrast to the rest of the show where it was frequently Tony who insisted he no longer needed her but her who was always there for him (with the exception of early in season 2 where she declines to take him back, but it wasn't her who caused the end of their sessions in the first place). But in that same Employee of the Month she also made a drastically selfish decision, when she talked Tony out of guiltily taking her up on her suggestion of Behavioral Therapy even knowing it was what was best for him.

Even now when she finally makes the pivotal decision to cut off her relationship with him, it comes about from a position of selfishness (again, all too human). She was humiliated by Elliot at the dinner party, but she also recognized some element of truth to the fact the therapy wasn't working, just not perhaps for the reasons he claimed. She accused Tony of projecting, but she was more than guilty of that herself. Her hostility and aggressiveness towards him is certainly unprofessional, and much of it comes from her anger at herself for letting the wool get pulled over her eyes. It's just whether it was Tony or herself that did the pulling that is the question... or perhaps she allowed Tony to do it in the first place to get what she wanted: the guilty pleasure, the secret thrill of access, the safety of detachment from harm (outside of the end of season 1/start of season 2) while stil somehow being a part of the secret society.

Bracco was asked to audition for the role of Carmela Soprano but declined due to having already played the mob wife in Goodfellas, which was about as good as you might ever expect that role to get. I wonder if she ever regretted that decision, since Carmela ended up being such a gigantic character in the show and Edie Falco's performance won endless (deserved) plaudits. Certainly in the early seasons, the Tony/Melfi relationship was significantly more prominent, but I don't think it is a coincidence that the sessions became less prevalent with the passage of time.

Just as Melfi had accused him, Tony largely stopped giving a poo poo about the therapy beyond being a chance to put the world on hold for an hour and just get the excuse to vent about things bothering him. As his panic attacks stopped being a visible issue, the impetus to deal with them lessened and the urgency of his therapy changed to simple routine... but why did the panic attacks stop? Was it the therapy? Was it simply that Tony's emotional resonance with anybody outside of a tight (and growing tighter) inner circle had become muted or burned out? Was Elliot's smug assertion - based on third-hand knowledge - that Tony was a sociopath accurate?

Addressing the latter question... no. In my opinion at least, classifying Tony as a sociopath is far too broad and simple. Yes his empathy was most in effect with babies and animals, but I put that down to the simple notion that Tony Soprano - much like his mother - was a narcissist. Babies and animals are simple because they take you as they are, they express themselves openly, they don't hide things or betray you or make you question your status as the most important person in the world (unlike Christopher Moltisanti). But Tony did care and love for people, primarily his own children and family of course which is understandable, but others too. Much of it was wrapped up in his thoughts for himself, but his genuine love for Artie is present throughout the entire series, and he obviously cares deeply for Silvio up to this point even after straining his relationship with the likes of Hesh (irrevocably?) and Paulie (the beaten dog who always comes back).

It's true that he made use of his therapy to be a better criminal, but was that due to the ineffectiveness of therapy as a tool? I'd argue not. Tony's therapy was ineffective because Tony himself never chose to TRULY engage with it. Not out of any conscious choice, but a mixture of laziness and an aversion to facing up to some unpleasant truths he didn't want to confront about himself. The article as explained in the last two episodes seems to indicate a conscious and willing deception by the sociopath/criminal, but what wasn't what we got from Tony. His failure to engage was part and parcel of a mindset he shared with Carmela and many others: therapy was a tool/service that you paid money for, and then somebody else took care of the work and you claimed the credit. Look back on the show and think about how many times Tony didn't follow up on something Melfi told him to do like writing in a journal. Think about how many times she got him to the verge of a breakthrough and then he forcibly shifted the conversation to safer ground and wouldn't let go. Consider how often he would complain about how much he was paying her without result, as if money was his only required contribution to the process.

Now think about the panic attacks. Initially kicked off by what appeared to be fear of his children growing up and leaving the nest (as represented by the ducks), the trigger was later considered to be meat bringing to the fore uncomfortable memories of his parents, sex and violence. But as the years progressed, his panic attacks lessened, his bouts of depression became manageable, he even became a more present and engaged father and husband (though never a faithful one). The therapy was partly to credit for that, and Elliot himself noted in an earlier season that Melfi had done good work with Tony... but she'd also taken him as far as she could. Her refusal to let him go and her own self-deception re: her fascination with him - the same seen from the the other guests at the dinner party this episode - is itself a significant reason why the therapy stopped being effective, or at least as effective as it should have been.

When Tony survived the gunshot, his panic attacks went away too. There wasn't a magical switch that went off in his head, I'd argue it was because Tony lived a comparatively more settled life after that. His tattered marriage was back together, his Uncle's betrayal had been there for all to see this time which made him the sympathetic figure despite abandoning him to rot in a mental facility, his daughter was getting married and going to medical school, his home life was stable outside of the typical issue of a moody teenage son, he was eating somewhat more healthily and exercising to get his mobility back. Coupled with his medication and an ongoing - if surface level - continuation of his therapy, it's no surprise the panic attacks were gone. He'd removed a great deal of what gave him anxiety in the first place, as well as having the massive trauma of being shot to put a lot of his other issues into perspective.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying Tony was a sociopath is an absurdly blunt and simplified reading of a far more complicated human being. As mentioned earlier, the characters on this show are complex and well-realized. It would be easy to just make Tony an evil or irredeemable television character. That would also be far less interesting than what we got, which was Tony Soprano the living, breathing human-being. No wonder Melfi stuck with him for so long, just like we all stuck with this show: we came to see the criminal and we stayed to watch the man.



Italo and Salvatore are parked across the street from Yaryna's home on a Friday night, waiting for Phil to arrive for his usual evening with her. A car pulls into the driveway and a white-haired man gets out, and they check the photo they have of Phil... yes, it's a match. Italo heads to the door and knocks, and his target opens it on the chain, Italo explaining in his thick Italian accent that he's here from DHL to deliver a package to "Mr. Philip" and needs it signed. "Mr Philip" opens the door as Yaryna comes down the stairs asking what is going on as he takes the package to sign, and Italo shoots him in the head. Yaryna screams and Italo shoots her too, perhaps to avoid testimony except she has no idea who he is and he will of course be flying back to Naples almost immediately. She screams in Ukranian as she clutches at her stomach, tumbling down the stairs where he shoots her coldly in the head before making his exit. "Mr Philip" lays dead on the foor, blood pooling beneath him, an ignoble end for a Boss of one of the Five Families.

Corky seems to be a step up from shooting up heroin in an alleyway nowadays, but not much higher as he's hanging out in a video store watching a porno playing on the monitors with mouth agape. His phone rings and Italo informs him it is done and they're leaving now, and adds in that his daughter was there and needed to be taken care of to. Corky is confused, why would Phil's daughter be at his mistresses? They don't know, Italo heard her call him daddy is all... also wasn't it weird that Phil spoke Ukranian? Italo recognized it because his niece married a Ukranian. Corky has no idea what any of this means but he's also not paid to worry, so he hangs up and puts through a call to Patsy to inform him. Patsy isn't happy but also not all that concerned about Yaryna being dead, and is agitated and confused by Corky asking if Phil could speak Ukranian. He hangs up and calls Paulie to inform HIM that it is done, and Paulie will tell Silvio and Bobby, and they'll tell Tony, and that'll be that. The war is over, or at least the major driving force behind it is gone.

Tony and Carmela have dinner at Vesuvio's, where his time in therapy is bookended as he informs her that he has ended it, just like he once told her in a similar setting that he had begun it. Just like then, Carmela fully supports his decision, admitting that apart from a slight improvement around the shooting, Melfi didn't do her husband - who now spends more time at home, is more engaged as a husband and more involved as a father - much good. Tony of course couches it in terms of HE decided to end it and HE decided he would never go back.

Charmaine approaches and they brace themselves for the encounter, not out of malice towards her but an understandable wariness about meeting friends for the first time after AJ's suicide attempt. Artie joins them and they stick to comfortable territory, which as for so much of the last twenty years has been Meadow. Charmaine was delighted to see Meadow having dinner with Patrick Parisi there recently, but things get on more shaky ground when she asks if it is true Meadow quit Pre-Med. It is, but both Tony and Carmela insist that they're relieved and happy that she did so.

Carmela explains that hospital cutbacks and insurance companies looking over your shoulder mean that being a Doctor is stressful and (most importantly!) not high-paying, while Tony simply states,"AIDS" as a reason for not being in medicine. Artie kindly notes that Meadow would have been good at it had she stuck with it, noting how she was always intellectually curious. To Tony's surprise, Carmela kinda throws her own perfect daughter under the bus, stating that compassion and patience don't come naturally to her. So what will she be doing now? Carmela tries to find a suitably impressive answer and a now frankly irritated Tony - this is their special girl that Carmela is apparently embarrassed of now - grunts,"Law." Neither Artie or Charmaine seem particularly impressed till Carmela just straight up lies and declares she's studying Constitutional Law, and they DOES impress them.

As they inevitably must, they ask after AJ and Tony and Carmela insist he's good but can think of nothing more to say. Artie saves the day by quietly pointing out to Tony that "mangenius" is dining in tonight, and a happy Tony explains to a confused Carmela that it is Eric Mangini, the coach of the New York Jets. He decides he needs to go and greet him, and Artie takes him over to say hello. This leaves Carmela and Charmaine alone, where the seemingly safe subject of Meadow and Patrick comes up again... until Charmaine points out it must be awkward what with Patsy being Tony's underling and all. Carmela simply notes that Cupid's Darts will land where they may, and Charmaine happily offers to send some limoncellos over to celebrate. She heads away and Carmela can finally let her strained smile drop. She is left alone at the table, considering this strange world where her perfect daughter is a disappointment, her son is suicidal... and the Buccos - closed and beloved friends she's also long felt superior to - appear to have the world in the palm of their hands.



This also marks the final appearances of Artie and Charmaine in the show. It is a kinder exit for them than many. Vesuvio's is full again, prominent people dine there and the old people with coupons appear to be a thing of the past. The bills are paid, the food is good, and most importantly Artie and Charmaine seem happy together again. After endlessly loving things up for himself in a bad both for glory and the pursuit of a bullshit masculine ideal, Artie appears to have come out the other end of his midlife crisis a happier and more grounded person. Charmaine has reached an equilibrium where Tony's presence no longer discomforts her, accepting he will always have a place in their lives thanks to his childhood friendship with her husband... but he's no longer the threat she once thought him. They've grown up, their lives are good and they are grateful for it. The first episode of this show ended with Artie's restaurant being blown up, and is life spiraled down from there in often hilarious but also devastating ways. To see him survive everything INCLUDING his friendship with Tony (alas Davey Scatino) is a bright and optimistic thing and, if not well-deserved, at least well-appreciated.

Paulie meets Silvio at the bar of the Bada Bing during a quiet part of the day (so quiet Murmur is literally sitting on the edge of the stage reading a newspaper), complaining he was trying to call him all night. Silvio explains Gabriella had food poisoning, and the news Paulie gives him cheers him right up, "the gray goose is gone". Paulie adds in that Yaryna was also killed but callously says who gives a gently caress... after all she caused a drunken scene when they all took their goomars to see Jersey Boys, he actually felt bad for Phil!

Mention of Jersey Boys gets him morose though, and Silvio - who didn't blink an eye at the fact an innocent woman was murdered purely for convenience's sake - offers a slightly sympathetic ear when Paulie points out that mentioning Jersey Boys reminded him of Nucci dying on her way back from a performance. He offers that Paulie is going to be making Tony's day when the news gets to him... until they both get bad news. Murmur laughs and shows them the newspaper he was reading, pointing out a recently murdered Ukrainian man (whose daughter was also killed) looks just like Phil Leotardo!

Tony - taking no chances - is emptying out the pool when Janice shows up to say hello on her way to her card game, with Carmela having volunteered to look after Nica (not before Janice, emulating her mother, warns her not to cry because only babies cry). But of course she had another motive for coming, and small talk about the pool (neither one of them believes Tony's statement it's empty because of the heating bill) soon turns to the real reason. Uncle Junior's accountant called her to let her know that he's finally run out of money, and can no longer afford to live in the (comparatively) plush Wycoff Psychiatric facility anymore. They think he might have money hidden somewhere but he can't remember where, and his accountant's artificial voicebox upsets Junior who thinks he's a spaceman (that at least gets a smile from Tony).

Tony is unmoved by the fact Junior is going to end up in a State Facility if nothing is done, and Janice doesn't blame him... but she also knows a State Facility is a snakepit where people are tossed away and forgotten. Tony still doesn't care, he has no intention of paying any money to keep the man who shot him in the belly comfortable... will Janice? She admits she and Bobby can't afford that but says they would contribute... then makes sure to add in that it is Bobby who really feels strongest that something should be done, he stills feels something for the man who was once his mentor. Sarcastically Tony offers her a single bill pulled out of his pocket, and seeing there is nothing to be gained by pushing any further she takes her leave.

He shouts after her she has a lot of nerve, but she simply keeps walking without looking back. That more than anything upsets him, or rather causes his inner upset to spill out past the phony cheer. Seeking to hurt her, a petty toddler lashing out at the person who made him mad, he proclaims that Bobby is "exile on main street". That does get her to spin around, gasping that he shouldn't say something like that. Tony complains that he trusted Bobby and brought him along, and for what!?! Turning on her heel again, seeing that he's just spoiling for a fight, she walks away as Tony roars after her his disbelief and indignation that Bobby could still feel sorry for Junior.

His day isn't done being ruined though, Carmela lets Silvio out the back to see him. He gets right to it, it's bad news. They head into the garage, Silvio explaining that Paulie has taken full responsibility for the debacle... but also that he wants Tony to know it wasn't his fault! Tony keeps composed but he's shaken up by this, especially when Silvio explains that they've tried to figure out where Phil is now and realized that NOBODY has seen him for almost a week. Tony realizes only then that Phil has already set things in motion and disappeared into the wind, and that they never had a shot at a pre-emptive strike.

"Going to ground, they call it," notes Silvio, confusing Tony who asks who,"They" are, and not for the first time in this show has to have it explained to him that this is just an expression. That said, Tony knows their only play now is to make EVERYBODY aware that the Lupertazzis could be coming from them, and keep trying to find Phil so they can cut the head off the snake.



Bobby pulls up outside a hobby store and heads inside, leaving his cell in his jacket in the car and missing a call from Silvio. Inside, kids and parents are enthralled by model trains set up on tables, and the shelves are stacked high with different trains, carriages and assorted paraphernalia. Bobby only has eyes for one model though, the man behind the counter proudly showing off a near mint-condition Blue Comet. They take a moment to consider with warm nostalgia the days you could ride this train between New York and Atlantic City. The owner suggests you'd have a better class of people and Bobby - who knows he's not one of those better class - shrugs and says who the gently caress really knows.

But the fantasy is nice all the same, he imagines riding in the carriage car, sipping on a negroni, a (perception of a) simpler time. The asking price for the set is 8k, which is steep even for such a fine piece, and the owner makes the age-old warning that other people are interested in it.

Two men enter the shop, moving with purpose through the aisle.

Bobby peers with longing down at the model, he's getting paid well and lives in a huge house now, but Janice wasn't lying when she said they couldn't afford to cover the cost of Junior remaining at Wycoff Psychiatric, especially not with two kids in private school and a third growing fast. But some things are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and with great pleasure Bobby makes a decision: he's gonna go for it.

The owner is pleased (8k for a single sale!) and adds in that Bobby's son will like it too. Bobby has no illusions on that front, of course, noting with a sad smile that Bobby Jr doesn't care about model trains. No, this is for Bobby himself, this is his treat. He doesn't cheat on his wife, he doesn't overindulge on alcohol or drugs. But model trains? That's his passion, and he is giving himself a gift today.

Model trains race along the tracks, cameras showing their perspective, model citizens watching them pass. The owner packs up the Blue Comet and places it on the counter. The two men move inexorably closer to the front, lifting shirts to reveal concealed guns. Bobby continues to pore lovingly over the main engine of HIS Blue Comet. The trains whizz around the track, horns sounding, engines chugging. One man steps out from one aisle and draws his gun. Bobby hears it happening. The gun fires, hitting him several times but not killing him. Bobby stumbles back. The owner cowers. Children scream. The model figures fixed painted stares no longer look wonderstruck but horrified. The second gunman opens fire. Bobby's body jerks about from the repeated impacts. A stray bullet hits a train and derails it. Like an enormous giant, Bobby crashes down onto a model town and destroys it. A train flies off the now broken track and crashes to the ground below. The two gunmen casually walk out power a cowering father and his two children, dropping their guns as they go. Bobby Baccalieri is dead.

At the Bada Bing, Silvio is collecting up every bit of paperwork he can to work on while going to ground himself. An impatient Patsy wants to get them out of there quickly, collecting the girls' payslips and passing them over for Silvio to pack away in his carry bag. They head out to the parking lot, climb into their car and start to pull out... and a car turns in to block them. Ray-Ray and Petey B emerge, guns firing as Silvio tries to grab a gun from the back seat and Patsy returns fire. Several bullets strike Silvio, but Patsy is able to get out of the car and force the two assassins into cover. He breaks for the treeline, shooting behind as he goes, disappearing into the parking lot saved only by Ray-Ray running out of bullets.

Ray-Ray screams at Petey B they need to go, spotting that the entire Bada-Bing - including topless strippers and of all things a priest! - have emptied out of the building to see the commotion. They rush away in a panic when spotted, but the Lupertazzi Assassins have to go now rather than risk a final shot to assure Silvio's death. They content themselves with driving by, and Silvio lays motionless in the front seat, bloody and obviously shot several times. He appears to be dead, and that will have to be good enough for them. The carnage isn't over though, they rush into traffic at such speed they cause a motorcyclist to crash into the ground and be run over by another car, the Bada-Bing crowd now oohing in shock over that tragedy, Silvio already momentarily forgotten.



This marks another final appearance in the show, outside of a single later flashback. Played by Steve Schirripa - a Las Vegas Entertainment Director who got the acting bug after playing an uncredited extra in Casino - Bobby Baccalieri started life as the comic relief, an enormous fat man from the bottom ranks of Junior Soprano's season 1 crew to be the go-between for Tony and his Uncle during their initially tense private meetings post Junior's attempt to assassinate Tony. Constantly the butt of jokes, harassed endlessly by Tony, he slowly worked his way up to a position of begrudging respect, then friendship, and then something akin to being part of the family in addition to the #3 position in the Family.

Bit by bit, small reveals added weight (no pun intended) to the character. His hunting skills came from a treasured connection to a loving (if deadly) father. He was faithful to a wife he loved to the point of obsession after her sudden death. He was skilled at intimidation, accomplished at debt collection, reliable to a fault when it came to meeting obligations no matter what the circumstances. Frequently berated by Tony even after proving his worth due to Tony's own disdain and suspicion of his sister, Bobby even overcame that to the point that he was able to get away with finally snapping and beating the utter poo poo out of Tony in a fair fight... though it came at the cost of being forced to commit a murder for Tony's petty revenge. Bobby went through poo poo and despair and tragedy and came to a point of relaxed, assured confidence in his worth to the organization but also his own self-worth. He bought that Blue Comet for himself because he knew he deserved it, and it is a horrible thing that his own musings on death did not prove true in his own case: he heard the bullet before "it" happened, he knew death was taking him, and he died a pollutant in the midst of the one thing that gave him a pure and honest joy, sullying even that for him in his final moments.

Tony barrels into his home in the middle of Carmela and Rosalie happily going through photos of their Paris trip. Taking his wife aside, Tony doesn't mince words: Bobby is dead and Silvio is in the hospital. He wants her and the kids to leave, he'll be staying somewhere else for their safety. Hammered with multiple shocking statements, she doesn't know how to react, simply stunned until she grasps the significance of what he is saying: they are coming after him next. He assures her that she and the kids will be safe, she knows family is never touched (tell that to Yaryna and her father) but he will feel better if he knows they're not just sitting out in the open every night in this house.

But is it as simple as that? Where do they go? He suggests the house she recently bought in an Estate Sale as her next Real Estate project, and when she balks at that idea he suppresses his frustration and tells her to stay in a hotel then, it doesn't matter it just can't be here. But now 1000 other things are racing through her head: What about Janice? Has anybody checked with Gabriella? Should she go ahead first now to prepare things? Meadow has been staying with Patrick so that's okay, but can they get AJ to leave the house? Tony assures her with forced calm that he will ensure AJ leaves, even if it has to be laid out on plywood.
Rosalie, having overheard part of this, asks if there is anything she can do to help. But she is well and truly out of the picture now, with Jackie, Jackie Jr and Ralphie all long dead she is now simply a widow with no real connection to anything anymore. So Tony just calmly shakes his head and Rosalie says she'll go home, and Carmela manages to mumble out that she'll call her. Rosalie's concern was real, but thanks to all the tragedies that have befallen her she can at least go home and sleep in her bed tonight safe in the knowledge that nobody is coming for her.



In AJ's bedroom, he's lying in bed while Rhiannon sits at his desk poring over the news, the both of them drinking in with morbid fascination the endless news of tragedies befalling the world and all the reasons everything is terrible and doomed, reinforcing their bleak worldview and determination that it is pointless to try when nothing will ever get better. Tony storms straight in and tells Rhiannon to leave them alone, and when AJ tells her to hang downstairs Tony adds,"Better yet, don't," making it as clear as crystal she needs to leave. Once she's gone, AJ complains about the invasion of privacy, who knows what they might have been doing in here? Tony points out they were doing nothing, trying to ignore his 20-year-old son acting like he's still a 16-year-old.

Sitting down on the bed, he makes AJ sit up and then gives him the same blunt message he gave Carmela: Bobby's dead. This blasts past AJ's numbness, but he seems more angry than anything, demanding to know what he means, how it happened. Tony isn't going into details, simply stating he doesn't have time for a debate, he needs AJ to join the others because they have to leave the house for a few days. This just bewilders AJ more, till he belatedly grasps what Carmela picked up on much faster, that Tony is in danger. Tony promises him this is all just a precaution, but that he needs AJ to help Carmela. Biting back his frustration when AJ demands to know how, he calmly explains he means with chores and such, and then makes the mistake of asking him not to make life harder for her. AJ is furious, what does that mean? Tony doesn't bring up the suicide attempt, just restrains himself and says he means he doesn't want him breaking her balls, just being there for her.

Realization finally dawns fully on AJ... Bobby is dead. Tony, galvanized to action as he always has been by the presence of danger, seems uncertain why this fact would bother AJ. But when AJ slumps down and mumbles that is really depressing for him and he was already having so much trouble maintaining, Tony snaps. He's contained himself till now, he's been doing things, taking action, keeping busy, not having time to think. Hearing his son moan about being sad enrages him, not least of all because of course he recognizes in his son all the things he hates about himself. He grabs his now openly weeping son and hauls him out of the bed, sliding him along the floor to the wardrobe and tossing clothes down onto his body. He demands he pack and meet him downstairs, then turns to storm out... and as always finds a moment of regret seconds after giving vent to his rage as he spots the website Rhiannon was reading, with its focus on the same threat of terrorism that he has himself often obsessed over. But he doesn't apologize, he doesn't have time, he just leaves.

Who does he see when he looks down on his sniveling, weeping, weak son who drowns in a despair he actively seems to seek out? On at least some level, Tony must realize that he's looking at the part of himself he detests, which makes him resent his son all the more. He recently said AJ should have the world in the palm of his hands, he should be out there taking it by the balls. Because that's what Tony wishes he could do: be 20-years-old again (but probably with all the knowledge of his adult life) and out there living it up, with no worries about responsibilities or a wife (not that this ever stopped him) or negotiating with New York or ensuring he gets his cut. Just a life of responsibility-free leisure, the life he gave his son and which his son doesn't appreciate or even enjoy. A son who, in fact, tried recently to end the life that Tony gave him.



Carmela and Meadow arrive at Janice's (just Janice's now, there is no more Bobby), and find her sitting in silence across from her step-children, who have lost their mother not too long ago and now their father... and all they have left is her.

Paulie helps Tony close up the Soprano house and pack his own things. Tony has been trying to get info on Sil from the hospital without luck, but Paulie has news from Gabriella's brother.... Silvio isn't expected to regain consciousness. Tony takes this in silence, then walks away without a word. He gathers plastic bags and hands one to Paulie to pack up food, but Paulie has noticed AJ speaking with Rhiannon outside. Leering at the underage girl openly, Paulie notes it is nice to be young. Tony, who as mentioned above has very specific thoughts on how his son is enjoying his youth, doesn't reply.

In a safehouse out in the suburbs, Tony is joined by Dante, Paulie, Walden and Carlo (we have seen no reaction to Burt's death) and they pile into the home. Walden says he'll set up a bunk for himself here in the lounge, and Tony tells Dante to go home to look after his wife who has the flu, and tells Paulie to go too. Paulie laughs off that comment, where the gently caress does he gotta be? He's staying. Dante is too, and Carlo shows no sign of going either, saying he'll order in some pizza.

Tony heads upstairs as the last of his inner circle animatedly chat about what to eat. Trudging into the bedroom, he settles warily down on the side of the bed and finally has a moment to think. Withdrawing the rifle that Bobby gifted him back at the start of the season, he remembers Bobby's words: "You probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?" They joked about death then, but it's all too real now.

Bobby is dead, Silvio is in a coma, Phil Leotardo has disappeared, Tony is separated from his family. Laying back on the bed and clutching the gun to his chest almost like a security blanket, he stares at the door, through which death might come at any moment... if he hears it coming. Tony Soprano is alone and as vulnerable as he has ever been in his life.



There is only one more episode of one of the greatest television shows ever made to go.

Season 6: Soprano Home Movies | Stage 5 | Remember When | Chasing It | Walk Like a Man | Kennedy and Heidi | The Second Coming | The Blue Comet | Made in America | The Final Scene
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2

Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 12:08 on May 17, 2020

Dr Kool-AIDS
Mar 26, 2004

I don't know if Tony hits all the diagnostic criteria for sociopathy or not, but in a colloquial sense he's definitely a sociopath. Yeah, he seems to love and care about people, but he didn't seem to be filled with regret when he ordered Adriana's murder, or when he killed his former protege. I think it's one thing to be able to rationalize their murders as necessary evils, but he never seemed broken up about it at all. He did seem uncomfortable with having killed Pussy, so maybe it's a sign of his degeneration over the course of the series that he gets so comfortable with killing people who were genuinely important to him (if he'd gone through with killing Paulie, for instance, I don't think he would have felt particularly bad about it). I do think he was capable of feeling remorse, but he had an ability to turn it off that "normal" people don't have, and leaving that switch in the off position seemed to become his default over time.

I was pretty resistant to the idea that he was a sociopath for a while too, and like I said, I don't technically know if he fits all the criteria or not. I think as an audience we fell into the same trap that Melfi did though, where we buy his into his occasional crocodile tears and overlook what a monster he is deep down.

Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 18:10 on May 6, 2020

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005
That was a bad business day at the train shop.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

Basebf555 posted:

Looking forward to these next two write-ups but also partially dreading them because I don't want this to end. I can't tell you how many hours at work were made to pass much more easily due to these write-ups.

Jerusalem did a good thread like this one on The Wire if you haven't read that.

Maybe we can prod him to take on another show after this?

Six Feet Under? Breaking Bad?

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

They did such a good job with Bobby. By meeting the bare minimum of being a decent human strictly in relation to his wife and co-workers and then giving him the model train hobby which is like one of the most harmless things ever, one is sorely tempted to say Bobby was too good for this world. The world, though, is organized crime and he wasn't. The show almost tricks us into thinking that, and it's so well done.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe

BiggerBoat posted:

Jerusalem did a good thread like this one on The Wire if you haven't read that.

Maybe we can prod him to take on another show after this?

Six Feet Under? Breaking Bad?

Sadly yes, I've already read The Wire thread. I'm running out of new Jerusalem material unfortunately.

Maybe I'll start a rewatch of The Wire and actually read along episode by episode with the write-ups though, like I did with this thread.

Dawgstar posted:

They did such a good job with Bobby. By meeting the bare minimum of being a decent human strictly in relation to his wife and co-workers and then giving him the model train hobby which is like one of the most harmless things ever, one is sorely tempted to say Bobby was too good for this world. The world, though, is organized crime and he wasn't. The show almost tricks us into thinking that, and it's so well done.

Bobby is really a super interesting character and just throwing him in the good pile or the bad pile is definitely underselling him. I love how, even though he never kills anyone for the majority of his life in the mob, you never get the sense that he feels above anyone else because of it. He knows that his lifestyle and his ability to provide a good life for his kids is directly tied to the violence and death perpetrated by his associates, and he owns it. That's why he doesn't really hesitate when Tony gives finally gives him the order to kill, because he always saw that as an essential part of the business that he just never had to participate in up to that point. And yet, when it's over he clearly has conflicted feelings about it, and he owns them to. He hugs his daughter and in that moment comes to terms with the the fact that yes, I'm willing to do these things to provide for these people I love. So he has remorse, but with no excuses.

Contrast that with basically every time one of the other guys kills someone, they always come up with bullshit rationalizations and reasoning why the person deserved it, why they had it coming. Bobby has no illusions about the guy he killed, I think if you asked him he'd probably say he did what he had to do and it's as simple as that.

Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 6, 2020

JethroMcB
Jan 23, 2004

We're normal now.
We love your family.
I pulled up this episode to check a few scenes as I read. Even with the War on Terror constantly in the background, the stuff that screams "Holy poo poo, the mid-2000's" is all with AJ at the start of the episode: they're watching the pilot episode of Metalocalypse on the common room TV, with the opening lines of "Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle" audible as Rhiannon sits down and opens a copy of David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day. Then he's playing a Core model XBox 360 - memory card in place, you'd think at $2200 a day they could spring for the Elite - with authentic Halo 2 audio (plasma pistol/SMG combo in full effect) on a very bulky flatscreen TV, a lot like the old top-of-the-line 32" I purchased around the same time.

The resolution of Melfi and Tony's relationship always struck me as a rushed plotline, with the first Melfi/Kupferberg scene in ages just one episode ago and the dinner party, research and decision to end treatment all coming in the first half of this episode. I know she'd hemmed and hawed over Tony throughout the series, but as one of the central pillars of the show it felt like something they could have threaded through the 6B episodes a little more organically, rather than loading it all into the back end.

JethroMcB fucked around with this message at 03:01 on May 7, 2020

MrBling
Aug 21, 2003

Oozing machismo

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

That is the wholesome content I crave in these trying times.

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005
I'd say if you're looking for a tv show worthy of critical attention rewinding from the wire to Homicide: Life on the Streets is a way to go.

Dr Kool-AIDS
Mar 26, 2004

Basebf555 posted:

Bobby is really a super interesting character and just throwing him in the good pile or the bad pile is definitely underselling him. I love how, even though he never kills anyone for the majority of his life in the mob, you never get the sense that he feels above anyone else because of it. He knows that his lifestyle and his ability to provide a good life for his kids is directly tied to the violence and death perpetrated by his associates, and he owns it. That's why he doesn't really hesitate when Tony gives finally gives him the order to kill, because he always saw that as an essential part of the business that he just never had to participate in up to that point. And yet, when it's over he clearly has conflicted feelings about it, and he owns them to. He hugs his daughter and in that moment comes to terms with the the fact that yes, I'm willing to do these things to provide for these people I love. So he has remorse, but with no excuses.

Contrast that with basically every time one of the other guys kills someone, they always come up with bullshit rationalizations and reasoning why the person deserved it, why they had it coming. Bobby has no illusions about the guy he killed, I think if you asked him he'd probably say he did what he had to do and it's as simple as that.

Yeah, I think a big difference is that he's not sadistic and doesn't actually enjoy loving people over. He'll do it, so we shouldn't be under any impression that he's a good guy, but like you said, this is just a job to him. It's hard to imagine him killing a waiter over a tip, for example.

I think the most ruthless character in the whole series might be Silvio. Other than crumbling under the pressure of being Boss when Tony's in a coma, and I guess his loyalty to Tony, is there really any hint of humanity in the guy? I don't think he gets off on cruelty the way Ralphie or Richie might, but the guy's loving cold.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
RE: Tony's failure to engage with therapy. Short answer: he CAN'T. How is he supposed to get to the root of his issues by glossing over the violence, the murder, etc? To say nothing of extortion and theft. Therapy doesn't really work if you can't be honest and that's completely incompatible with his line of work and the things he has to do

Dr Kool-AIDS
Mar 26, 2004

BiggerBoat posted:

RE: Tony's failure to engage with therapy. Short answer: he CAN'T. How is he supposed to get to the root of his issues by glossing over the violence, the murder, etc? To say nothing of extortion and theft. Therapy doesn't really work if you can't be honest and that's completely incompatible with his line of work and the things he has to do

It's funny because that's what he told her from the start. He didn't trick Melfi, Melfi tricked herself.

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.

BiggerBoat posted:

Jerusalem did a good thread like this one on The Wire if you haven't read that.

Maybe we can prod him to take on another show after this?

Six Feet Under? Breaking Bad?

True Blood! Focusing some of this amazing insight onto something that is just so indulgent in campiness and zany plot lines would be a treat.

BrotherJayne
Nov 28, 2019

Jerusalem, at the end of this, if you want to throw together a PDF or some such, I would be happy to help with editing.

Honored, even.

Jack2142
Jul 17, 2014

Shitposting in Seattle

I also just saw True Detective, I feel like that would be a great show for these in depth writeups and isn't as long a series as some other suggestions.

Basebf555 posted:

Sadly yes, I've already read The Wire thread. I'm running out of new Jerusalem material unfortunately.

Maybe I'll start a rewatch of The Wire and actually read along episode by episode with the write-ups though, like I did with this thread.


Bobby is really a super interesting character and just throwing him in the good pile or the bad pile is definitely underselling him. I love how, even though he never kills anyone for the majority of his life in the mob, you never get the sense that he feels above anyone else because of it. He knows that his lifestyle and his ability to provide a good life for his kids is directly tied to the violence and death perpetrated by his associates, and he owns it. That's why he doesn't really hesitate when Tony gives finally gives him the order to kill, because he always saw that as an essential part of the business that he just never had to participate in up to that point. And yet, when it's over he clearly has conflicted feelings about it, and he owns them to. He hugs his daughter and in that moment comes to terms with the the fact that yes, I'm willing to do these things to provide for these people I love. So he has remorse, but with no excuses.

Contrast that with basically every time one of the other guys kills someone, they always come up with bullshit rationalizations and reasoning why the person deserved it, why they had it coming. Bobby has no illusions about the guy he killed, I think if you asked him he'd probably say he did what he had to do and it's as simple as that.

I think this ties back into his dad being a "Terminator", his dad made that same rationalization in regards to Bobby and his other kids, we don't see much of him however it seems less like he "likes" killing and more its a job for him. Just he was asked to kill tons of people and Bobby wasn't.

quote:

Phil may not be scared of Tony as a person... but he's sure as hell petrified of what Tony represents: the pointlessness of Phil's own accomplishments.

I think this is what I was trying to get at, Phil is terrified at how easily (to him) Tony has handled everything. I feel this is almost like when Tony was bitterly commenting on his sister Barbara's father in law "The Happy loving Wanderer". Phil doesn't necessarily see Tony's internal misery, he just sees this lucky "young" upstart who seems to never loving lose and walked the easy way to power and prestige without earning it like he did.

Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 21:09 on May 6, 2020

Dr Kool-AIDS
Mar 26, 2004

Jack2142 posted:

I think this is what I was trying to get at, Phil is terrified at how easily (to him) Tony has handled everything. I feel this is almost like when Tony was bitterly commenting on his sister Barbara's father in law "The Happy loving Wanderer". Phil doesn't necessarily see Tony's internal misery, he just sees this lucky "young" upstart who seems to never loving lose and walked the easy way to power and prestige without earning it like he did.

Even if he did see Tony's internal misery, he'd look at Tony the way Tony looks at AJ or Christopher when they deal with their issues, except with even less recognition or sympathy. 'What the gently caress do you have to be miserable about? I'm the one who did 20 years in the can and buried my brother.'

Jack2142
Jul 17, 2014

Shitposting in Seattle

Sinteres posted:

Even if he did see Tony's internal misery, he'd look at Tony the way Tony looks at AJ or Christopher when they deal with their issues, except with even less recognition or sympathy. 'What the gently caress do you have to be miserable about? I'm the one who did 20 years in the can and buried my brother.'

Yeah that too, even if Phil is seeing it he feels he is gonna win the misery Olympics.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Torquemada
Oct 21, 2010

Drei Gläser
I think there’s a real danger that there’s not actually that many shows that can stand up to the kind of analysis Jerusalem provides. That said, maybe something a bit simpler might be a nice change of pace for him? At the risk of asking him to sign his life away, I wouldn’t object to Breaking Bad, The Shield, or Deadwood.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply