Sopranos 3/21

Cafe Society
1

No one’s started a thread yet so here goes.

Highlights:

-Paulie with the shovel was funny as hell. I loved it that he also took their mowers.

-Uncle Junior thinking that Larry David was him on the television.

-The fight betweem Tony and Janice with poor Artie getting tagged in the eye.
Other thoughts:

Feech is a stone psycho and a complete loose cannon. He needs a smackdown and fast.

Tony’s plaintive question to Uncle Junior at the end was very sad. Tony is figuring out that no one really loves him, amybe not even his kids. His reaching out to Artie was also emblamatic of that.

Janice is a horrible stepmother and her marriage with Bobby is undoubtedly doomed. Let’s just hope that Bobby doesn’t end up getting whacked like the rest of the guys that she’s slept with.

I would have liked to have seen more Steve Buscemi.

I think this is the first episode that did not have Carmela in it. Very strange. AJ and Meadow also have barely been on the show at all this year.

2

I absolutely loved the CYE scene. I couldn’t stop laughing even if the scene was kind of sad.

The power struggle between Little Carmine and Johnny Sack is the plotline right now that has me the most interested. I can’t wait until next week to see who fires the next shot.

And how can I forget about Janice. I hate the character so much, I feel so bad for Bobby. He’s such a nice guy and she’s such a bitch. The Sunday dinners are so important to her but Artie has to cook all of the food. God, I hate her so much.

And there better be more Buscemi next week.

3

Did it seem to anyone else like Tony almost started crying when he was fighting with Janice?
And, yeah, I feel bad for Bobby and his kids. Janice sucks.

Happy

4

I was totally ROTFL when Paulie stole the mower. That’s so like him. I’m gonna miss him if he gets whacked.

Kinda surprised that Steve Buscemi’s character is turning out to be a nice guy – I totally expected his character to be a stone-cold psycho like Richie or Ralphie. Guess this show is always full of surprises. :slight_smile: I wonder where they’re going with him.

Is Lorraine Bracco off the show for good now? I didn’t catch her name in the credits (though I might have blinked…) When that other “Lorraine” chick walked into the bar I thought it was Dr. Melfi at first, LOL.

New actress for Tony’s sister Barbara? Curious.

Lots of great plot twists – if they keep it up, this season’s gonna be a winner. (If not, they could always spin off Tony & Artie as “The New Odd Couple”…heh.)

5

Prediction:

Adrianna is going to off herself. Notice how all the spark seems to be out of her?

6

Lorraine Bracco is still listed second in the credits after Gandolfini. It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll bring her back into the show. We got to see a lot of Tony’s “issues” this episode, I kind of think Tony might just be crawling back into therapy sometime soon.

Four stars to Paulie for earning his ass off this episode. Free mower too. Woohoo! :slight_smile: Plus, we learned that Paul is his middle name…a quick check of his cast page at hbo.com says he’s “Peter Paul Gualtieri”, which I never noticed before.

Loggia certainly looks to be having a ball…I just can’t see him living past mid-season. :slight_smile: Then again, it took a season and a half to deal with Ralphie…

7

Great episode, though I didn’t think so until most of the way through it.

–I lost it when Uncle Junior’s lip started trembling at the end. That scene was perfect.

As I’ve said before, this is going to be the overriding theme of the season–Tony looking back at his life for the first time, and realizing that he’s let a lot of shit go bad right under his nose. It’s just building and building. (Best pregnant exchange: Junior: “There’s a lot of things I’d like to forget.” Tony: “You and me both.”)

This is the plot that will bring Lorraine Bracco back to the show.

–So it’s finally pretty clear that Uncle Junior’s going 'round the bend. I suspected last season that we’d eventually find out that his “crazy old man” act wasn’t all an act. As they made sure to remind us there at the end, he is still the boss of the family.

One of my favorite things about this show is the way they bring old-school values face-to-face with modern-day psychopathology, as they did from day one with Tony’s depression. I’m sure that same culture would have seen Uncle Junior as “just a crazy old man”, but now they can look at it as Alzheimer’s (or, technically, multi-infarct dementia). There isn’t anything else they can do about it, but I’m sure it changes the perspective. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

–Anybody want to put odds on the longevity of Little Carmine vs. Johnny Sack? My prediction: Little Carmine face down in a swimming pool within three episodes.

–Paulie is bugshit crazy. Feech is bugshit crazy. I really hope they have these two up one another’s ass for the rest of the season–I’m enjoying it.

–My only worry is that they’re introducing so many major plot lines to be resolved: Adriana vs. the FBI, Johnny Sack vs. Little Carmine, Uncle Junior vs. multi-infarct dementia, Tony vs. Tony B., Tony vs. Carmela, Tony vs. Tony. That’s not counting potential side plots like Feech vs. Paulie and Janice vs. her own uselessness. It’s an awful lot to wrap up in one season, especially considering that they’ve barely even introduced Steve Buscemi’s character. I think they’re setting us up for two seasons in a row, all the way through the ending. (Does anyone know for sure if Buscemi is supposed to be around for more that one season?)

Dr. J

8

Another excellent episode.

Nice distribution between the comic violence with Paulie & Feech and the emotional drama of Uncle Junior’s mental deterioration and Tony’s deepening isolation.

Definitely choked up at the end, there.

Junior and the old woman on the bench was good, too. Funny, but Junior’s anxiety and confusion was still totally credible and frightening. Takes damned good writing and acting to fit that in the same space like that.

For sure Tony’s going to be back in Dr. Melfi’s office next week with his hat in his hand – and no bullshit.

9

Can anyone elaborate on what is so bad about Janice? I have only seen the last two episodes. (The first time I’ve ever had HBO!) I’m getting really into it. Unfortunatly I am a little behind…
Anyway the I hate Tony so much (and have seen so little of Janice) that Janice hitting him brought me to my feet. I feel like I have been waiting years for someone to hit that mysoginistic bastard. It’s hard for me to drum up sympathy for whatever is happening to him right now. But, like I said, first two episodes. Maybe my immpression will change.

10

I’ll say. :slight_smile: Janice showed up in Season Two to pick over the bones of her institutionalized mother – namely, a house and a $400 car. She got engaged to Richie and pressed him to “make a move” against Tony (and eventually shot Richie in the head, one of her few “good” acts.) After Livia died, she stole Svetlana’s wooden leg while trying to get back some valuable records she wanted to sell on ebay. I repeat…SHE STOLE A WOMAN’S WOODEN LEG! There’s more, of course. And I haven’t even touched on the kinky sex acts…

You really need to rent the first four seasons to catch up on all that’s going on.

11

I’m sure I won’t be the only one to suggest this, but you might want to head over to your local blockbuster or Hollywood Video, and rent the earlier seasons. If you do though, either watch them really fast, or continue watching the current season at the same time. Chances are, this season won’t be on DVD for a good two years or so.

12

Am I the only one who doesn’t think Janice is all that terrible to Bobby’s kids? I don’t think she’s all that bad to Bobby either. Not great, mind you, but I think she does feel like they are her family.

13

I hope so! I think the scene where she casually takes Bobby Jr’s milk and dumps it in the sink without even acknowledging his presence is a nice capsule picture of the way she is relating to them.

Even if she’s motivated by the idea that the kid could stand to shed a few pounds, her approach is not exactly brilliant parenting – no explanation, no communication at all – just a seemingly punitive act. Do you think she denies herself that way? Not Janice!

She even scapegoats Bobby’s kids’ for her unwillingness to help out with family dinners – she’s only asked to bring freakin’ appetizer (macaroni with two quick sauces - safe bet their store-bought, too) and figures it’s a terrible imposition, when her sister is bringing the entrees (veal pizziaola and chicken parmesan!) all the way from Brewster! Self-centered bitch.

Not to mention broadcasting Bobby’s bedwetting within earshot of another child – which means every kid in their social circle has the news, now.

Janice is unspeakable. (I love her anyway, though.) :smiley: