Melfi and Bogdanovich have talked about that stuff before, but I think he got through to her. It was really No Sympathy Night for Tony - Carmella didn’t care about his problems, the guys were no help after AJ’s suicide attempt… I can’t really imagine Tony ratting them out, but I can imagine him thinking about it. Especially with the way his two lives came together in this episode.
That would be neat. Tony, Janice and Paulie have talked them up so much. I’d be concerned it would be another Goodfellas though.
Excellent espisode. I had a hard time watching Tony beat Coco’s brains in but I completely bought into his rage. Meadow had to know what was going to happen once she told her Dad what happened. It reminded me of another scene from several seasons ago (and probably my favourite scene ever) when during an argument with Tony Meadow sarcastically notes that she doesn’t want to tick off the “big bad mob boss”, Tony’s reaction to that was genuinely frightning.
All that being said, why is Tony antagonizing NY? They’ve made it very clear that the NJ family would be wiped out by NY so why is Tony seemingly so willing to get into a fight with them?
Really good analysis of last night’s episode. The author uses Tony’s bus analogy as a way of describing how none of these characters are able to leave the mob life.
I think that was the crux of the episode, and a good part of this season.
Tony said something to Melfi like, “I’m one of the good guys. I love my family.”
He has thought all along he could keep it separated, keep it isolated, but it came back to get him with Meadow and AJ last night. It bleeds through – no way around it.
One could argue that AJ’s recent moblite activities have catalyzed this bout of depression. Regardless of what some posters here have said, there’s no question that he found the beating of the Somali distasteful, and was – at best – ambiguous about the acid-toes incident.
It’s all coming home to roost for him. It seems to tie in nicely with some of this “poisoning the well” asbestos symbolism.
Speaking of which, I liked the opening shots of this episode, with the dusty asbestos pile poisoning the meadowlands (quintessential New Jersey). . .cut to Tony sleeping peacefully, cut to AJ tossing and turning.
And Meadow didn’t even tell him everything - only that Coco said she had whipped cream on her mouth - not the other massively repulsive stuff. I think Tony would have killed him if she had totally disclosed.
VCNJ~
Coco’s conversation with Meadow was such a stupid thing to do that it almost seemed to be a setup to get Tony like Sonny at the tollbooth in The Godfather. (As I remember, the characters have previously indicated familiarity with The Godfather, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they modeled a hit after a scene in the movie.)
“Curb stomping”, I think it’s called. The first time I encountered it was years ago, in a zombie novel, The Book of the Dead. Grossed me right out, and I managed to forget about it until last night.
Seems like it’d snap your neck, as well as ruin your mouth and jaw. Harsh.
As others have said, excellent episode.
Last week, while the credits rolled at the end, we finally saw what looked like the true face of Tony; a selfish psychopath completely lacking in empathy or real concern for others. Tony was no longer a likable character. Yesterday, though, we saw what seemed like real concern for his family; his vengeance for Coco’s comments to Meadow, and his reaction to Anthony Junior’s suicide attempt; anger mixed with comfort, and at the very end a visit to the mental ward. Were those demonstrations of family love an act, though?
I’ve wondered about that too, but I don’t think Tony could have possibly faked his reaction to AJ’s suicide attempt - it was too gut-wrenching. He’s ashamed of AJ, but it’s clear that he still loves him. In fact I think Tony’s love for his children may be his only redeeming quality, and may ultimately be his undoing.
Anyone else wonder briefly whether Tony would actually save A.J., or decide to hasten his departure instead, à la Christopher?
on Slate’s TV Talk Jeffrey Goldberg has a short talk about the implication of what is sometimes called a “Russian Mouthwash.” I won’t quote the details, it’s toward the end of the entry.
He also touches on the show’s fearless march into cliche territory when they have AJ quoting that Joni Mitchell song (Actually Yeats’ “The Second Coming”). It reminded me of a scene where Meadow had to explain Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening” to AJ a couple of seasons ago.
I didn’t see them as demonstrations of family love. I saw them more about Tony’s taking them personally, not about the other people. Tony knew Coco was just trying to show disrespect to Tony. It really had nothing to do with Meadow. His reaction was to show that no one messes with anything of Tony Soprano’s and gets away with it. He was showing he wasn’t afraid of the coming fight, he welcomed it. It was about showing he was strong, not weak.
And Tony’s main concern about AJ seemed to be about what other people would think of Tony, now that he has a son who tried to kill himself. Would that make him look like a bad father? Would people see that as Tony passing on bad genes? He is going through the motions of doing what is best for AJ, but I really think his main thoughts are still about himself. “Poor me, why do I have the son that is totally messed up?”
And AJ is still so young, so I can give him a break, but I had to laugh during that family counciling session. He won’t take any responsibility for his actions, just wants to find others to blame. He just tried to kill himself, and brings up the fact that his mother made him wear a yellow raincoat in second grade. And she called him an “animal” after his confirmation. Well no wonder he wanted to off himself! Who could stand to live after being treated so bad? He has definately picked up Tony’s “poor me” attitude.
I’ve never liked AJ because he’s a spoiled, whiny idiot and all the rest of it, but this latest depression storyline has hit home a little - one of my brothers has struggled with many of those problems.
However, it’s no coincidence that when AJ tries to voice some of his inner conflict, you always want to laugh at him, and why Tony’s comment about him being an idiot is so funny. Israel-Palestine is “dicked up?” “Why can’t we all just get along?” The raincoat thing? Tony blames Carmela for this stuff, but she’s not the one who turns everything into a source of misery.
You forgot how AJ was self-medicating with pot.
I had a laugh-out-loud moment when Tony said, “I’m one of the good guys”. AJ is a chip off the old block - nothing is ever the fault of either one.
As for Tony’s violent outburst, I think it was 50/50. 50% about how his image amongst the NYC mob and 50% about his daughter. Tony does love his family, but only in the sick, twisted Tony way.
My favorite lines:
Dr. Melfi: Do you think this might have been a cry for help?
Tony: Aren’t you listening to me. He was crying for help. Good thing I came home early.
When Tony talks to Little Carmine, he admits that he lost control. Which is what he did because he really loves his daughter. Tony would know that beating one of Phil’s men is really bad for business. Plus no one would have known if Tony chickened out of a confrontation because Meadow could have easily kept that encounter to herself. We saw Phil making fun of Tony and Tony keeping his cool. All Meadow had to say was that Coco made her feel awkward and then Coco ends up with a Russian Mouthwash.
Thank you **LateComer **for that link.
Great episode. And, imho, this entire season has been excellent. Maybe because it’s the final and everything seems to be a little more intense.
This is not a prediction, but if I were one of the writers, I might consider having Vito Jr. come back from boot camp, figure out that Phil killed his father, and was responsible for the newspaper article outing Vito Sr. and as the song goes “got himself a gun” and kills Phil. Maybe himself too, ala “Full Metal Jacket.”
No all out war. And Tony, Carmela, Meadow, and AJ begin to pull it together.
Throughout seasons five and six, a frequent observation in Sopranos threads on various message boards was that AJ is “turning into his father.” With Meadow dating Patrick Parisi, the son of one of Tony’s hitmen, I thought “Could Meadow be turning into her mother?” Granted, Meadow is a college graduate, and destined for law school, but it’s a step down from her previous desire to attend medical school - at least in the eyes of her parents. What if she takes an other step back?
I don’t think everyone is going to the mattresses, just because there isn’t much time to do it and it would be hard for a war to live up to everybody’s expectations. How this plays out is beyond me, which is what I like about it.
Yeah, I’m going to say she is. She had to be dimly aware what was going to happen when she told Tony about her encounter at the restaurant.
I just can’t believe more of Tony’s crew aren’t trying to stop this from going to a war. NJ don’t have a chance. Remember how ansy they got when Tony was protecting Tony B.?
Patsy seems to think there are wedding bells for Meadow and his son so the Carmella theory has merit.