Yeah, really well done. And I found myself getting paranoid, too. “Is that blonde topless hottie he’s banging a Fed? Has Beansie flipped? Is that Asian kid in with Uncle June an agent sent in to spy? What about these Hispanics he’s arranging a deal with?” If that’s what Tony has to live with 24/7, I can guess that there will be some hefty repurcussions down the road.
And I will really miss Uncle Jun, the take-no-shit but get shit upon anyway old man from the first few seasons, at least. You could always count on him to add zest to an episode… until he went senile.
Paulie’s dream was a very nice touch to the episode. He asks big pussy to tell him when his time comes. I took that to mean he is terrified that he could be killed at any moment, with no one telling him. It shows that underneath the tough guy act he is constantly tortured by the fact that he is never safe from death. Not even from his friends. That’s got to be hard to deal with.
It is a kind of ironic that he demands an answer from Big Pussy, a man that he killed without a warning.
I think the recurrence of Big Pussy in dreams and portents shows that Paulie and Tony aren’t over having to kill him. They do have consciences, no matter how twisted and stunted. They loved the guy, but they had to whack him and dispose of his body, which was very upsetting to them and brings home the point that no one is safe in the mobster life.
Whether Tony was thinking about killing Paulie or not, that was some brutal teasing. Chase and company have to know how many people want that character dead.
From watching the episodes this seaon, especially this one, I got that impression that what we are seeing is The Decline and Fall of the New Jersey Mafia. Every scene seems to bear out the disintegration of the Soprano family, especially when you compare it to the New York “family.” Phil is dynamic (whacking his competitor), while Tony has to run away. The New York family meets in fancy dining rooms with linen table cloths, while the Soparano “family” meets in the Bada Bing. The New Jersey Mafia lives in the past, while the New York family is planning for the future.
Larry Boy Barese, who was arrested for violating his bail at the Cleaver afterparty. Seasons earlier, he was arrested with Junior but got a mistrial. Now he is under house arrest, I think for violating his bail so often. I got the feeling that, since he’s obviously going to jail, the Soprano crew is having him give up false info that suits their needs.
No, I think you’re pretty much on target. Phil sounded a little like Tony during his monologue at the end of last week’s episode, but at the end of it he decided to step up and take charge. Tony can’t do that.
But wouldn’t Tony know that? I mean, he and Paulie seemed genuinely worried about (and resigned to) possibly being charged with the murder of Willie Overall (Did they say he was black? Just curious). I also think Paulie was getting on Tony’s nerves a lot, so he was really thinking about letting him have it (or how it might feel to) . But then, he ends up admitting he really loves 'em.
Kind of conflicted about him, likes he’s beginning to seem conflicted about everything and everybody. Remember the “heartfelt” hug at the christening, but the weird looks on both his and Chris’ faces – great acting there on both their parts. I think this inner turmoil will be key to the ending.
And it seems to go without saying that they’re summing up by sort of having him go through his relationship with everybody around him – Bobby, Chris, Paulie. A major personal crisis is coming up.
The writing in the letter to Cheney was brilliant! And it was spooky that Junior’s sidekick was an Asian-American with mental health issues.
I agree that it seems odd that Tony and Paulie would go on a trip when they just could have had Larry put the rap onto Jackie. Maybe it simply took some time to get the word to Larry, so Paulie and Tony needed to lay low until the blame could be placed elsewhere.
Yeah, I think there was a contrast being set up between Phil, who is willing to whack his own underlings, and Tony, who seems to want to go easy on his guys (except Bobby).
I think Carm’s going to be mad at him too in upcoming episodes. Maybe conflict with AJ too coming up, if Blanca is pregnant.
Oh, maybe I misunderstood then. I thought there was a phone call saying the blame had been put on Jackie by Larry, and that it was established that the story had already been told to the DA, or whoever, before they left for the trip. I could be wrong though.
It is indeed “Sing, Sing , Sing” and it’s the original.
It was a weird episode. The writers acted like we knew this Doc character - but of course he’s barely been on camera. I little more development of the guys would be nice before you rub them out.
My take ( based on the comment by Paulie early in the episode that word on the street was that Larry Barese had ratted out where the body was buried ) is that Larry Boy was buying some goodwill with the Feds by giving them something. This wasn’t deliberate disinformation by the DiMeo/Soprano Family - they have no reason to want to have that ancient history dug up. Rather Larry Boy, under pressure, acted alone. But knowing on which side his bread is buttered, he carefully pinned the blame on a dead guy. It’s just that incarcerated he had no way to rapidly get word to Tony et al that he was dissimulating.
It’s really quite clever - Larry Boy gets attaboy points from the Feds for being cooperative. The Feds get to wrap a case. The current DiMeo/Soprano associates are off the hook. It’s interesting that Larry Boy is the ONLY ( Tony excluded ) DiMeo capo from season one to survive semi-intact with a functioning crew into the current season. The others are dead ( Altieri, Curto ) or neutralized ( Junior Soprano ). The Bareses seem to be clever, slippery sorts - remember they refused to back a proposed coup against Tony, when Junior was faintly considering a comeback ( egged on by Richie Aprile ).
Chase and company have to know how many people want that character dead.