Hugh is played by Tom Aldredge. This season he shaved his beard which changed his look a bit. He looked thinner at the Christmas party scene to me, but it was definitely him I thought.
yeah same actor just minus his beard.
The dedication was for John Patterson, who directed the final episodes of seasons one through five, as well as a number of other Sopranos episodes.
First, have you ever heard about the calm before the storm? I believe that war is emminent. Talk is cheap & perhaps Tony’s conversation w/ Phil was only a formality. The war may start w/o Phil’s consent? See when Tony left the hospital room? Tony told him that when he come out to concertrate on his grandchildren. But his exit from the room seemed hostile w/ that guy standing in Tony’s way to provoke him.
Second, Agent Harris warning to Tony was just a professional courtesy? I say that because of what I’ve read in the newspaper. That is Silvio & Paulie have not signed their contrat for the last 8 episodes.
It wasn’t a great episode. I thought Margolis’ character was too rushed. Suddenly she’s a junkie? Eh, didn’t do anything for me.
That said, I loved the part where Tony tells Sil to lean on the building inspector just to get Carmela off of his back.
I think the fella who blocked Tony off when he was leaving Phil’s room will start a war. Someone is going to get killed and I think it’s going to be Christopher.
Christopher is regressing back to his druggie days and simultaneously betraying Tony with Juliana. Meanwhile, AJ is working construction, managing a “family” and negotiating with low-lifes. I predict that by the end of the series, AJ will be the obvious successor to Tony and Chris will be dead…or…the exact opposite will happen…unless…they set up a potential AJ vs. Chris battle for power to end the whole thing in a neat way (since The Sopranos began with Tony battling his uncle for supremacy).
Just keeping my bases covered.
I suggested this in my previous post, but let me expand.
Initially, I thought AJ was being a wimp for giving away his bike to get rid of the noise-makers. However, I think that he has the instinct that a mafia boss must have. You can’t go to war every time. There have been plenty of occasions that Tony has given up some of his business to New York in order to prevent a fight. My guess is that early next season, AJ will again leave the apartment, go to his trunk, and come out with a baseball bat.
OK I’ve now watched the “season finale” twice and I think they goofed on something in the editing. Early on there’s a scene with Christopher and the real estate agent having sex, followed by him smoking on the bed and her asking him “what are we doing?” Then five minutes later we see Chrissy first meet her at an AA meeting. Huh? That first scene should have gone AFTER they meet and BEFORE they fall off the wagon. Its not like **anything else ** in the entire episode was shown out of sequence - so why was this scene done so?? It confused the hell out of me the first time I saw it. I thought it was Chris’ “black” girlfriend and that she was just light skinned or something. So am I the only one who was confused by this?
Otherwise I’m with most everyone else in feeling dissapointment. The freakin “Big Love” finale was the bomb. In my mind they blew the Sopranos away.
I think that part about the AA meeting is what’s known as a “flashback.”
It’s also SOP for mob guys to avoid confrontation and grease wheels by spreading a little green around. A hundred bucks in the pocket here or there simultaneously opens doors and generates good will. Not everything has to be about intimidation and violence. Bribery is a time-tested and reliable tactic as well.
I’ve heard rumblings (in another thread here, perhaps?) that when Chase was talked into doing 8 extra episodes for this season, most of this past season is what he came up with - leaving his original “final episodes” to air last, next year. I don’t know if the production time line supports this - but it makes sense in a way. It gave him all sort of self-indulgent time to fool around w/ all his commentary on the human condition, but he still gets to end the series the way he’d originally planned.
Tell that to the submorons on the IMDB discussion forum. “omg AJ is such a f*ckin pussy!”
I suppose - but there was nothing to mark it as one. As I mentioned previously, nothing else in the episode is done via flashback, its all in chronilogical order except that one scene. Why do it that way? Its very confusing and sloppy. However from the lack of responses I guess I’m the only viewer who was tripped up by that. So never mind.
I seem to recall that right after that scene they briefly showed Juliana with a sappy look on her face. That was supposed to let you know that it was a flashback, I guess, but she doesn’t emote well.
You’re not the only one. I thought it was clumsily done and unnecessary. Who cares how they met? If the writers thought we’d be confused, they could have explained it in some conversation between the two of them.
I don’t know how they’ll play it out, war with NY or whatever, but I’ve been picking up some heavy foreshadowing hints that one of the Soprano kids is gonna get killed before this is all said and done. Especially in the Carmela storylines, her dealing with Adrianna’s mom, the discussion she had in Paris with Rosalie about Jackie Jr.
Real-life gangster? Can you elaborate, as I know nothing about the guy…
Wow, that so-called finale sucked. Last week was set up so well, with NY Phil whacking Vito in the most horrible and disturbing way possible…and what’s Tony’s reaction? “Think about your grandchildren, Phil.” WTF???
At least I got a laugh when Carmella read the letter from the Building Inspector: “Tony, is this from you?” 
From Tony Sirico’s IMDB profile:
Yeah I saw that, but I don’t see that as meaning he is a gangster… just that he committed some crimes. There is a vast world of difference between the two, as I’m sure you realize…is there more to it than just that?
Courtesy of The Smoking Gun: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/sirico/sirico.html
Now, I hate to make light of real-world mobsters, but I have to admit that does sound amusingly close to the Paulie “Walnuts” we all know.