The song playing just before Tony B is wacked…same song as Tony tried to get into his house at the end…Title and performer anyone?
Vinny Delphino (see Doogie Howser, M.D.)/Benny Fazio has been an associate hanging around Christopher since season 4. Earlier this season we saw him on bear duty at Casa Soprano, then helping Chris set up Feech with the hot plasma TVs. He got his face smashed because, for one, he wasn’t a made guy (ala Joey Peeps), and two, he is a known underling to Chris.
Poor kid, but it probably wasn’t a particularly smart idea to be hanging around the Crazy Horse to begin with. I guess the free drinks and food that probably came his way were too much to resist.
(BTW, Max Casella still has a bit of baby face…he just turned 37 on Sunday. Happy Birthday, you’re (probably) off the show!)
ltfire, that was Glad Tidings, by Van Morrison.
“And they’ll lay you down low and easy - and the lips that you kiss will say ‘Christmas’.”
I thought of this, too–it would certainly explain Little Carmine’s laying down the way he did. But they said the indictment went all the way up to Carmine Sr., had he still been alive, so wouldn’t Little Carmine’s ass be in a sling, too? Or would he be spared, since the snitch was part of Johnny’s crew and Little Carmine wasn’t in his chain of command?
There were a lot of really great scenes in this episode. We got to see Silvio act like an actual consigliore–and we got to see why he doesn’t do it more often. The scene when Tony returns from taking care of Tony B., and Silvio, Patsy, and Bobby all seem to know he’s finally done the right thing. Tony turning and running from Johnny Sack when he saw the feds was one of the most shocking moments the show has had in a while–how often do we get to see Tony scared? And who didn’t think that it was going to be Phil Leotardo coming out of those woods, gunning for Tony?
Yeah, if Tony hadn’t taken out Tony B., the NY mob would have been in such a weak position next year that there’s no question he could have made all their troubles go away, especially now that he knows Phil has a price and Johnny was already trying to pay it. Still, Tony had to do it, because it was people second-guessing him that got them into this mess in the first place. There’s a big difference between people following your orders because you outrank and intimidate them and people letting you lead them because they trust you to do the right thing.
Anyway, the gang war that they were sitting on the edge of seems to have been averted and then made moot. This can’t be anything but good for the Jersey mob, and with Tony acting like a strong leader again, they could be in better shape than they’ve ever been. But that’s not going to make Tony feel any better about shooting his cousin.
Would Ade really have only done five years? They were quoting her numbers like 25 to life, and it seems unlikely that they’d be cutting her any deals if she didn’t give anyone up.
I’ve mostly forgotten what drug evidence they had against her (did they have her on tape? Did they have anything besides possession? Or was it just what the FBI agent saw?) if it was the latter she would have walked out of the courtroom with a good lawyer. The former a good plea bargain would have been five years easy.
I think Tony’s whacking of Tony B was still necessary even though it turned out to moot with regards to the New York mob. He was losing respect and trust within his own family. Silvio’s speech had to have rattled him even if Tony didn’t show it because Sil is the definition of a loyal, unquestioning bulldog. Taking out Tony B. got Tony S. his stature back in his own family. Even if he had known about the impending bust of Johhny Sack, Tony would have still had to deal with resentment and mistrust from his own crew as long as his cousin was alive.
…and so much for the supposed friendship between Tony and Johnny Sac. They smile. They bear hug and pat each other. Tony spots the gun toters over Sac’s shoulder, and BOLTS without a word…no uh-oh, not ‘run for it’, no nothing. Just Sac standing there with a WTF look on his face. Great scene.
Well, it was enough to make her puke and scare the little dog. 
Keep in mind that we only have the word of the FBI agents on the evidence against Ade, agents who were more interested in getting a mole rather than making a drug bust, hence they probably gave Ade the worst case scenario (bad lawyer, convicted on all charges) to scare her. Had Ade lawyered up (especially if she got Tony’s lawyer) I doubt she would have served a full sentence. Then again, the charges were drug related (and of the intent to distribute variety IIRC) so perhaps even a good lawyer wouldn’t have been able to wriggle a light sentence with “War on Drugs” mandatory minimums and such, and Chris’ “five years” may have still been on the low side.
I think they were quoting her those numbers to scare her into cooperating–they knew that the idea of going to jail scared the hell out of her, and that was what they hung over her head for information. For a first time drug charge, with a plea bargain and a good lawyer… it probably would have worked out to Ade serving 5 years in the end.
JustPlainBryan and I were discussing after the show, about the huge power vacuum that’s now left in NY… a perfect set up for next season.
I loved so many of the scenes in this episode that were mentioned earlier:
—Tony watching a History Channel documentary on Rommel.
—Carmela’s fascination with building the new house–she’s seen looking lovingly at the plans for the house, and going through decorating magazines.
—The reaction of Tony and Carm to AJ’s desire to go into ‘event planning’.
—‘The Bear’/Tony in the final scene.
There’s no way they’d get a conviction on intent to distribute. They had nothing beyond posession and that was shaky.
Of course Ade was too stupid to realize that, and no doubt Chris knew she was too dumb to figure it out. He has to tell himself something though to justify it.
I got the impression that the FBI was more upset about the murder in the club and they think the perpetrators of that are connected to terrorists.
That crime is going to come back and be important in the last season I think. They wouldn’t have bothered showing it in such detail if it is just going away.
Grabbed my disc to check that scene. You’re right, the attorney says “Brooklyn AUSA took down the entire Petrille crew, plus Johnny…woulda reached all the way to Carmine Sr. if he hadn’t died.” I think Jr. is probably clear since he was based in Miami up 'til his father’s death. He remained in Miami for a while even after the funeral.
But she was a traitor to him, and to the family. Chris was exactly right to feel betrayed. For more than a year, Ade was actively cooperating with the people who want to put Chris and his associates in jail forever, or even to have them executed. That her cooperation was less than complete hardly negates the betrayal inherent in that cooperation. If she wasn’t a traitor, why didn’t she tell him about it from the beginning?
Not at all. Ade was trying first and foremost to save hereself. She only went to Christopher with the witness protection program idea when the FBI threatened to lock her up immediately unless she wore a wire. Because she was unwilling to wear the wire–again, presumably, because of concerns about self-preservation issues–she tried to get Chris to follow her into her betrayal. Ade didn’t have any moral objection whatsoever to Chris’ occupation. It was, at most, a legal inconvenience to her.
Chris’ complaint that she sold him out because she wasn’t willing to do five years for him was cold, but completely accurate. I have no sympathy for Adriana.
Of course, I don’t have any sympathy for any of these characters. 
I’ve got to completely disagree with the posters who think that AJ may be moving toward the family business. Although the party was of questionable legality, it seemed clear to me that the fight sequence was intended to demonstrate his complete inability to engage in physical violence (even though he enjoys watching it). He may not be gay, but he’s definitely a wimp. He reminds me of Prince John in The Lion in Winter: he has no strength of his own, and must rely entirely on his father’s. The only difference is that Tony has no expectation that AJ will be his heir.
I’m concerned about the continued loyalty of Paulie and Silvio. Both of them have reasons to be quite pissed off at Tony, and it’s not clear that Tony S. has completely fixed the situation by killing Tony B. Pauly has already shown his willingness to switch sides, and he looked pretty annoyed as Tony left with the painting.
Nor has Silvio been 100% loyal (what was that stuff he stole after being told not to?), and he had every right to be ticked off at Tony’s dismissal of his advice. I thought there was some foreshadowing of a possible split from Tony in the scene of Sil’s saying goodbye at the end of the episode. There seemed to be a lingering significance to his departure.
Have they said when the next season will start airing? It was 18 months between the last two seasons. I can’t wait that long again!
Diogenes the Cynic said:
Absolutely. Tony B stepped outside the rules, whacking a made man in direct defiance of Tony. As a result, he put all their lives in danger. As boss, Tony’s job was to make sure justice was done, and set things right with New York. Even with Johnnie Sack gone, Tony B. had to be dealt with, or Tony risked losing the trust and respect of his crew.
This is at best a non sequitir and at worst, vaguely insulting. “He may not be straight, but he’s definitely a macho shithead.”
The whole “isn’t that kind of gay” thing was definitely played for laughs, IMHO, ironic much as Tony & his crew’s malapropisms are.
She didn’t tell him because she thought she could squirm her way out of it, it seemed, by cooperating as little as possible. I don’t think she ever gave them anything on anyone that they could actually use. Did she?
If she really wanted to save herself, she’d either have given up the whole crew as best she could, or worn a wire. Instead, she stupidly thought she could either get the FBI off her back or that she could get Christopher to flip and they’d both escape. She’s not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
I think this whole season we were seeing Adrianna considering how she and Christopher could get out of “the life,” leave the Mafia and be normal. The scene where Chris saw Mullet Man and Family in the gas station just proved to him that he couldn’t live that normal life, couldn’t choose Adrianna and exile.
I don’t have a ton of sympathy for her either, but I don’t think she was a conniving cunt who wanted to betray Chris either. Stupid is the best choice of words to describe her, possibly also naive.
Most everything has been said. My recollection/opinion on a couple things. . .
First of all, it only got about 3 minutes play, but Anthony running the illegal party and making cash off it was a HUGE development.
JMO, but I thought they were definitely setting us up for him entering the family next year. That would be a nice way to end the series, hinting that the next generation will keep things going. Why else show him running an illegal activity and cracking down on the violators? Why else show him say “I got my own money” and talk about how he and his buddy split it up (like Tony B and Tony S did as kids)? Why else demonstrate to us for the last two seasons that he’s completely incompetent at every thing he tries, but finally pulls this off successfully? Does anyone think he’s finally going to “hit the books” and have a good college career?
And, that would add some drama to the show and be a huge source of material. It will bring in the mobsters, Melfi, and completely force Carmella’s hand. Tony and Carmella will finally have to fully confront what it is that he does and make a choice, “do we want our kid going into it?”
In lesser news. . .
Tony kind of DID take Silvio’s advice. Not entirely, but at least he “got” the gravity of the situation to the family and knew he had to do something ot at least keep his own people on his side.
I think the feds were going to send Ade away for “accessory to murder” because she helped clean up.
Carmella “welcoming” Tony (bear) back into the house has definitely tied up “married to the mob” line that’s been running through this season. IIRC, the first shot of the first episode was that bear crashing through the bushes in the backyard, or at least hanging out by tht pool.
Finally, a GREAT season, IMO. I didn’t like the previous season much at all, but this season was superb. Great finale. Great episode when they “whacked” Ade. Great episode when Tony and Ade crashed the car. Some good violence. Some memorable side characters (Buscemi and Loggia). Some real funny parts. Good Tony/Carm stuff. Tony and Chris both had some great moments of acting. I probably enjoyed this season as much as seasons 1 and 2.
I also have to agree that it looks like AJ is comnig into the family. The harping on the ‘event planning’ and the illegal party seems to show that this guy can organize things. That, and it doesn’t look like he’s going into college. The club that Ade was running will need a new boss and AJ looks to be that person.