Was really hoping for more based on last week’s previews, but that’s not the first time that has happened. Still, some interesting interaction between Tony S & Janice and Christopha & Tony B. The way that Tony B & Christopha got along until Tony S was added to the mix. The way that Tony S had to pick at Janice’s new found peace until she blew a gasket. How many times is Tony going to beat up the Bing bartender? Was this the last time? I doubt it. Tony S & Johnny Sack seem to have stepped out onto the slippery slope. Just wish the writers would let their foot off the brake a little bit and let the story lines advance.
seeing Janice tackled by the cops was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Priceless.
Gotta love the contrast between Janice in the Anger Management class and Tony. It’s like Tony was jealous of the ‘better’ Janice, which is why he was an ass at the end. Christopher is going to do something soon (maybe turn) after his views on Tony S. and Tony B. have been validated… and for a moment, I thought Tony B. and Chris would be friendly.
Tony was a world-class jerk this episode. It’s almost as if he can’t stand for anyone to be doing better than he is. He couldn’t stand it that Janice was doing well with the anger management, so he had to provoke her. Same thing with Christopher, when he was trying to bully him into taking a drink. Tony seems to be very uncomfortable when people have control of their own lives, rather than him having control of them.
I don’t know why I’m still so fascinated by this show – there’s not a single redeeming character or likable character in it. For many seasons, Carmella and the kids were my focal point, the normal human being with some scruples caught in a world of monsters. But the kids are gone and Carmella is too naive for me to care about her any more. The Steve Buscemi character provided a focal point for a while, as it seemed that he was reformed, but that got blasted out of the water. There’s no likable character in the show, yet I watch with horror and fascination.
I hope they all get what’s coming to them.
No spoilers here, just speculation:
Johnny Sack will be dead by the end of the season.
That said, I don’t think Tony B and Christopher HATE each other, especially after their tender moments smashing up the skeleton. It is more of an old moment when the older cousins get together, same deal as when they were kids. I don’t anticipate that going any further.
What threw me off guard was the film editing they used when Carmella ran into the guidance counselor. She said what she said, and that was all well, but then they went into that whole dreamy-thing, tape slowing down. I couldn’t tell if that was intentional or not, but it seemed horribly out of place.
I seriously thought my TiVo was dying on me in front of my very eyes. WTF was up with that? There seemed to be no reason to do that – it was very out of place for the episode, very out of place for “The Sopranos”. And then the right-to-left wipe to get to the next scene?!? Bizarre.
I agree that Johnny Sack has less than 3 episodes to live – but I don’t know who’s going to be pulling the trigger. If it’s Tony’s crew, then season 5 will basically be the mob war between NJ & NY. If it’s little Carmine’s crew, then I imagine we’ll see the Soprano family get more power than ever because of what’s going on between the Sack crew & Carmine’s crew…
My speculation for a “tidy” solution, plot-wise? It’ll be a mutiny from within. Somebody in Johnny’s own family does the hit.
That seems to be the case with lots of shows nowadays. Will and Grace immediately sprang to mind when you made this statement.
Of course, I actually enjoy watching The Sopranos.
The episode was directed by Mike Figgis. I just assumed that this was a big time (sort of) director having some fun with us.
Regarding the guidance counselor played by David Strathairn. I’m speculating that we haven’t seen the last of him. It seems like whenever they have a famous guest in a recurring role, they often end up victimized by someone in the family. Tim Daly earlier this season and Robert Patrick last season, just to name a couple.
My guess is that Tony finds out about his relationship with Carm…most likely from her, stupidly. You can imagine the rest.
I also noticed the slow-mo and wipe after the little scene with Carmella and her erstwhile lover. Suddenly it was like a late-60’s tv-movie.
Did anybody else feel some real sympathy when Christopher was getting teary-eyed while driving home in his Hum-Vee? Even though the world would be better off with Chris either dead or locked up, you can see that there’s a real person down in there. Good acting. (Though the real-life Mafia guys can all drop dead, as far as I’m concerned.)
Chris has also provided some of the more surreal incidents, like giving 12-step advice to the guy whose car he’s taking after beating the shit out of him over a loan-shark payment. (“Remember, there’s no chemical solution to a spiritual problem!”)
Really enjoyed Tony explaining to his shrink what a beautiful thing it was in the old days when the parasitic slug-creatures who ran the Mob used to control their tempers and take their revenge more discreetly. (“Revenge is like eating cold cuts.”)
In most episodes of the Soprano, Tony S. is shown as a very flawed, yet oddly redeeming, character. You kinda root for him. The whole “sure he’s a mass-murdering, self-absorbed, Marchievellian, but he has panic attacks, mother-issues, and he loves animals, so he can’t be all that bad” idea. I was a bit surprised when they ended the episode with Tony being a complete and utter bastard. The only slightly redeeming thing was that he was being a complete and utter bastard to the character I hate more than any other, Janice. This whole anger-management is the exact same thing she goes through every year, hell, every day, and I, for one, knew it wouldn’t stick at all. Still, Tony S. was completely unredeemable.
I found the episode very interesting in it’s exposition of the relationship of Tony S, Tony B, and Chris when they were kids and now. Not a whole lot has changed.
More and more, I am becoming convinced that Tony B is a honest to got psychopath. Although I was rooting for him when he took a shot a going legit and with his kids, more and more he shows himself to be completely ruthless, utterly without any degree of empathy for others. His betrayal of the bond him a Chris had built up was so cold-hearted that I think he honestly is a psychopath. Makes him more interesting, and more scary.
I also liked the subtle humor of this episode with the “can of peaches” and “revenge is like cold-cuts”. Only three episodes left, so it should be interesting.
Oh, one more thing.
Did I hear correctly that there is only an eight-year age difference between Christopher and the two Tonys? Christopher told Adrianna that the incident at Uncle Pat’s when they left him in the woods happened when he was 11 and the two Tonys were 19. I just don’t see it. I thought the age difference would have been more like 15 years. How old are Tony S./Tony B./Christopher supposed to be anyway?
I missed it due to mothers day obligations. Can someone spoil it for me?
Here you go, Ryan Mahoney.
Darn it. I hate when I do that. :smack:
Just go to the HBO site.
That little malapropism also recalls the way Tony’s panic attacks are bound up in the associations he has between casual violence and meat products.
Melfi’s eliptical little reference to Yeats was good, and Tony’s reaction of “What the fuck are you talking about?” was perfect, cutting her off before she got to “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Of course, she didn’t press the point.
I too have gotten to the point where there is absolutely no-one on this show that I’m “rooting” for–they’re all sick characters, in one way or another, some to greater degrees than others.
My son came in after the show (he’s going on 17) and asked me what this show was supposed to be about - it was “all over the place and didn’t seem to carry over from last week” and after I thought about it for a while, it came to me … it was all about how sick, psychologically sick and demented Tony S. really is. He goaded Janice until he knew she was going to explode. He cause the camaraderie that Tony B and Christopher had established to go poof, then tried to goad Christopher back into drinking.
I’m honestly questioning why I continue to watch the show now–they’re all morally bankrupt and it’s really become un-entertaining to watch. I’ll probably catch the end of this season, however… and then will be waiting for Six Feet Under to start up again.
I kinda enjoy the fact that there are no redeemable characters in the Sopranos. It’s totally different from any other show out there and more ‘real’ to me. I’d imagine in the mob, there would be many people like in the Sopranos.
A brief aside: is this or is this not the final season?
It is not. One more after this. Supposedly.
Now…any takers as to who Johnny Sack’s shooting in the little snippet for next week?