I could probably start a new thread on this, but I put it here and see what happens…
I just re-watched the very first episode and would suggest that everyone else do the same. There’s some interesting things that are coming back around such as:
1)Tony and Carm are having dinner somewhere (Vesuvios maybe) and Tony said “Life is sometimes good” to which Carm responded “Life is often good.” This EXACT dialogue was just repeated a few episodes again, when Tony was out of the hospital.
2)Adrianna was the hostess, but she was billed in the credits as “Hostess” not “Adrianna” (I’ll find out the answer to this soon, but…)was the hostess Ade, or was that a different role.
3)Chris’s first hit (I think) was Amil, right after he shot him, they zoom out to show a bunch of pig heads in a case. I don’t know the significance of it, but someone in this thread was mentioning all the pig symbolism in the most recent episode.
4)Probably the most important thing to come out of the first episode. Tony discussed with Melfi how he feels that his father got in at the ground floor of ‘the business’ and he feels like he got on at the end. He goes on to mention that he feels his business is winding down and that it’ll probably be gone soon due to the feds cracking down, and people just having a lack of respect for each other like they used to. Junior mentions some similar things as well.
Dunno about 1 and 3, but yes, the Hostess was Drea in what was supposed to be a one-shot extra role. Chase liked Drea, though, and decided to gussy her up and bring her back as Adrianna. The Hostess herself has no relation to Ade, though.
4 is a great catch! Yes, he did get in on the end, and now the end is accelerating all around him.
I think she said that Finn had taken a year off, which was good because she could be close to family during the crisis, not that he took a year off just because of the shooting. I don’t believe they established a timeline there.
Last episode (or two ago), I got the feeling that about 6 months had passed in between. Chris had a new girl out of nowhere. There was snow on the ground in New Hampshire. And, the Tony/Paulie conversation about he cancer indicated time had passed.
A guy I work with noticed an interesting shot: Phil was physically coming out of a closet after a cut-away from Vito. Hmmm.
Just before Carm leaves to go to Paris, Tony tells her that, “We’ve had a rough year. Me being in the hospital and you there round the clock”. Which suggests to me that it’s been quite a while since Tony got shot but not a full year. I’d guess it’s been about 9 months or so since the first episode of the season.
But trying to figure out the timelines of Sopranos seasons always gives me a headache.
Anyone notice the light beacon in Paris? It looked a hell of a lot like the One Tony saw in his coma dream.
Is Phil also Gay? There is something odd in his reactions during and after Vitos death (The close up of his hand sqeezing the bed, he’s restless night and the anger towards the bodybuilder show. Then again he just might really really hate gays.
I’m wondering about the pigs too I googled the following:
I thought it was a more straightforward thing - a representation of the fact that these men are butchers who slaughter people whenever they decide they want to.
To me, the pig just symbolized the business since it’s a big logo on Satriali’s (sp), the cafe/butcher shop where a lot of their business is done. It has a fairly major shot in the introduction of every show.
Drea DeMatteo played a hostess in an NYC restaurant in the very first episode. The hostess wasn’t Adriana.
Another interesting thing about the very first episode is that Junior and Tony are fighting over where Junior can whack Pussy Malenga a/k/a Little Pussy. Junior wanted to do it at Vesuvio and Tony opposed that because it would have been bad for Artie’s business, so Tony had Sil firebomb the restaurant to prevent Junior from doing it there. Anyway, it’s interesting because when Junior shot Tony, he said something about Pussy Malenga and was muttering about him in that episode when they were digging around in the back yard.
I doubt Phil is gay. Would be a needless plot-twist. He’s a homophobic killer but I think he hates Vito as much because he is with NJ as he does because he is gay. I think this was all a pretext to start a war with NJ.
Considering that Drea’s “Hostess” wasn’t given a name… is there any reason to think that the character WASN’T Adrianna? Y’know, PRE-naming. Maybe they liked Drea’s look and presence enough to create a character for her. TV shows do that from tiem to time. Only example I can give at the moment is from Buffy TVS. Clem the floopy skin demon first appeared as a namless demon in an early episode of season 6. He was brought back and made a semi-recurring character with a name because the show people iked his work. Doesn’t mean that his first appearence doesn’t count.
Junior was paranoid that Little Pussy was out to get him. He thought Tony was Little Pussy when he shot him.
I’m just starting to re-watch the first season, I’ll probably watch one or two episodes a week, so we’ll find out (about Drea) BUT, she didn’t look like Ade, and she didn’t talk like her. Frankly, I’m thinking a nice upscale restaurant wouldn’t have hired Ade as a hostess.
The X-Files hired William B. Davis to perform a wordless cameo at the end of their first episode. I guess they liked the way he smoked his cigarettes, because not only did his character come back, The Smoking Man/Black-Lunged Son of a Bitch became the primary villain on the show.
That I realize, but there was the Neon Pig Carmella looked at in Paris, and I remember a painting of a pig in the background during a major conversation. I’m not saying it is significant, just weird.
The relationship goes even further back. Joe Pesci slammed a car door into the head of Frank Vincent and busted him up badly in Raging Bull. In Goodfellas, Pesci kills him at the bar, as mentioned. Finally in Casino, Vincent gets his revenge by killing Pesci in the desert, beating him mercilessly with a shovel.
Remember how bad Phil wanted to torture Tony B? Tony Soprano had to kill Tony B. because he went off the reservation. He killed him himself because he loved his cousin. He set up a hit on Vito because he was “family,” one of his own crew. Phil killed him first and tortured him. Leaking the info of the details to the newspaper for the kids to read was a bullshit move. This is why I think there will be a NY/NJ war. Sil lost his shit because the NY guy was acting smug and showing that they think the NJ guys are second rate. NY killed one of the (in their opinion) junior varsity guys. Gay or not Vito was a NJ captain.
Has Carmella ever left New Jersey in her life except for the occasional trip to NYC? The trip to Paris is an eye opener to her. She isn’t queen of the realm. There is a huge world out there. I think this is a big character development issue for her.
Rosalie praying for Jacking Jr, I thought was a nice touch to the counterpoint of the killing of her son’s killer (Vito.) I don’t think she knows, or ever will that one of Tony’s crew killed Jackie Jr.
I’m glad Vito is gone. I was sick of the storyline. But it set up the upcoming war with NY.
Tony going off on AJ in a quiet menacing no bullshit way is about time. Earlier he walked in on a conversation about Meadow and if she is going to Law or Medical school. Her potential sucess and his (AJ’s) slacker dead end lifestyle has to be noticed by him. I think getting up at 6am will do him good.
