# Sopranos 2006/3/19 (beware the spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071 "2006-03-20T01:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/21 "2006-03-20T05:06:27Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **JoeyP** , thanks. Maybe she was at Olivia’s funeral? She’s been in a few episodes over the years with her husband and kids. They were in the episode after Livia died and they had the wake at the house. They keep their distance and live a totally straight life. ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/22 "2006-03-20T05:17:57Z")
Carmelo did a great job with this. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/23 "2006-03-20T05:37:45Z")
Great episode. I also liked in the dream sequence the religion references. You had the Christian commerical on the TV (they focused on it for a split second too much to just be in passing), and, of course, the Buddhists. Wonder what that says for Tony’s view on Hell. Also, I’m not sure, but wasn’t the group he was with in the bar people he had taken out during the show? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/24 "2006-03-20T05:52:57Z")
I guess I focused on the Christian commerical for a while because I picked that point to get up and get the rest of my dinner out of the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/25 "2006-03-20T05:58:21Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Also, I’m not sure, but wasn’t the group he was with in the bar people he had taken out during the show? I didn’t catch that. This ep definitely needs a second viewing. I had a phone call, took up the first 10-15 minutes. So Tony/Kevin joins this group (after the woman smiles at him) and then they make him pick up the check? The thing about “selling patio furniture” rings a bell, maybe from one of Tony and Carm’s arguments. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/26 "2006-03-20T08:46:28Z")
First of all, we all know Tony ain’t gettin’ whacked as there are already plans for a full length movie version once the HBO series ends…however, I think it was brilliant to “almost” whack him in the first episode! We now get to see what would happen if he actually did get killed…the in-fighting, the family, the press…very cool start of the season! Oh, and Ms. Falco just won her next Emmy. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/27 "2006-03-20T09:09:00Z")
Totally Edie Falco’s episode, as far as performance goes. I also liked that AJ did the “What? I can’t eat in my own house?!” routine. Word-for-word, inflection and all, a parroting of one of Tony’s lines from a few seasons back. Combined with the hearsay “Anthony Soprano isn’t going to die,” it seems like something of a coping mechanism: Without that around the house, things are unfamiliar and insecure – so he provides it himself. Tony being a salesman in the fantasy parts – I don’t think that’s random. The writers like to play with Tony’s Roman heritage from time-to-time and, being the god of trade and travel, Mercury is naturally associated with the image of a commercial traveller – and Mercury is _also_ charged with the task of conveying the souls of the dead to the underworld. I’m so freaking chuffed that this show is back, and totally solid out of the gate. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/28 "2006-03-20T09:17:54Z")
I agree Edie’s acting was phenomenal, and she owned this great episode. But did anyone else find Robert Iler’s (AJ’s) acting to be phenomenally… sub par? He sounds like I think I’d sound if I tried to act… like reading lines. Or is he brilliantly doing that on purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/29 "2006-03-20T12:24:45Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > I agree Edie’s acting was phenomenal, and she owned this great episode. > > But did anyone else find Robert Iler’s (AJ’s) acting to be phenomenally… sub par? He sounds like I think I’d sound if I tried to act… like reading lines. > > Or is he brilliantly doing that on purpose? Yeah, I found it sub par. The actually pissed off, break-down part was OK, but I’ve never thought he was that good. But, the turning of the AJ has begun. (geez, no one saw that coming) They could turn the whole thing on its ear, but the shooting, coupled with the fact that he flunked out of school, and tripled with Carmella’s speech about “family”. . .well. . .that would certainly be a cool storyline I also saw a replay of last week’s episode and there’s a scene where AJ is eating cereal and Tony says right to him, “you can’t trust anyone except your family.” Which also leads to. . .the other _very_ interesting part of this episode: Chris talking to the FBI guys. Yeah, sure it was supposedly about Arab guys, and Chris DID tell them to fuck off. But, I think that the fact that conversation started at all is significant. They were eating in his favorite place, and it wasn’t the first time. So, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/30 "2006-03-20T12:28:29Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > I agree Edie’s acting was phenomenal, and she owned this great episode. Astounding to think she thinks Tony has a shot at going to heaven. She was right the first time. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/31 "2006-03-20T12:32:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m still trying to work out the symbolism for the dream stuff … Yeah, I think there’s a LOT going on in this sequence that we haven’t noticed yet even (of course I was hoping for the reverse-sequence idea so what do I know?) I caught the quick glimpse of the doctor checking Tony’s eye when he looked up at the helicopter. I also think the noise of the helicopter was the commotion going on around him in the ER. Have you ever incorporated something real into a dream, like your alarm clock buzzing or a noise outside? The helicopter is also constant scrutiny. “_They’re looking for a perp_” the woman shouted. They’re watching Tony every time he steps outside. Could also be the judging eye of “God”. The slap in the face from the monks? **Kharma**! You’ve spent your life doing all this horrible stuff, so now you’ll spend eternity in the worst situation you could imagine (as an average Joe with a total lack of control, with a touch of Alzheimer’s for good measure). ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/32 "2006-03-20T12:35:25Z")
Oh yeah, forgot to add about AJ… I don’t think Tony would ever allow AJ to get into his lifestyle. But with Tony down this is the only time it will happen. If AJ goes off and does something rash and the boys have to bail him out he’s in for better or for worse. And when Tony comes to, there’s nothing he can do about it. Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/33 "2006-03-20T12:45:47Z")
I read the alzheimer’s thing as a fear in Tony’s mind - June has it - and there’s no proof it isn’t hereditary - He’s afraid of getting it, so of course in Hell, he has it. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/34 "2006-03-20T13:23:54Z")
I saw Tony’s ‘alternate’ job in his dream as more of a Willy Loman type; travelling salesman (ish), standard boring American job, same boredom, etc. And the table of guys asked how he got from selling patio furniture to optics things. Wayyy back in the series there was this dialogue: Tony: There was a time, Mead, when the Italian people didn’t have a lot of options. Meadow: You mean like Mario Cuomo? [Tony stares at her] Meadow: Sorry. Tony: You know I put food on the table. My father was in it. My uncle was in it. Maybe I was too lazy to think for myself. To consider myself… A rebel. \*Maybe being a rebel in my family would have been selling patio furniture on route 22. \* ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/35 "2006-03-20T13:47:02Z")
AJ doesn’t last the season - you heard it here first. If he is stupid enough to try to whack Junior, he’s dead. You don’t whack a made-man, and the boss (in name only) of any crime family. Even Tony wouldn’t be able to save him. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/36 "2006-03-20T13:57:13Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > You don’t whack a made-man, Sure you do. . .if he got another made man, or was a snitch. Junior may have done it out of being deranged, but keep in mind he tried to get Tony before, and AJ isn’t going to see the outcome of an insanity defense. Besides, who would whack him back? Junior’s made, but he’s the Soprano crew. Chris, Paulie, Silvio? Do they have any more love for Junior than they do for AJ? Still, it’s hard to imagine AJ pulling off a whack-job without a hitch. Maybe they’ll have to send him to Sicily for a year. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/37 "2006-03-20T14:09:01Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Which also leads to. . .the other _very_ interesting part of this episode: Chris talking to the FBI guys. When it comes to this kind of stuff, I tend not to read into things far enough, but I just took that as Chris trying to act more like Tony (We saw Tony chit chatting with them in the last episode), especially now that Tony’s down. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/38 "2006-03-20T14:11:02Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Still, it’s hard to imagine AJ pulling off a whack-job without a hitch. Maybe they’ll have to send him to Sicily for a year. Hmmmm, who could he live with? Who else in Sicily doesn’t like a few key members of the Soprano family??? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/39 "2006-03-20T14:33:39Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Astounding to think she thinks Tony has a shot at going to heaven. She was right the first time. I remarked, when watching the episode, how carefully her words were chosen. She said “You are not going to Hell, you’re going to come back to us”. She didn’t say anything about Tony going to Heaven, just that it wasn’t his time to leave yet. So I’m not sure she thinks he’s going anywhere but down below. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071/40 "2006-03-20T14:33:48Z")
An order to kill Junior Soprano has to come from high. That’s why they’ll wait for Tony. A rival family might try, but it still has to be a made-man. Whacking the boss is not a thing you farm out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-2006-3-19-beware-the-spoilers/349071.md?page=3)