Maybe – but I took it as more directly meaning that he didn’t like the film and the way the Tony Soprano-like crime boss was portrayed in it, and didn’t need to be reminded of it.
I’m surprised he didn’t smash it, instead of just tossing it into the woods where it likely landed softly and didn’t break.
Exactly.
He threw it over the pool (where the ducks would have been if it wasn’t covered and full of leaves) into the wooded area (where the bear came from).
I think it was less of a “I’m angry - must destroy something!” deal and more “I don’t need this in my life anymore.”
I think Tony tosses the Cleaver mug in disgust, because it’s what essentially led to Chris’ death. Had he not pursued the screenwriting fantasy, and then come up with the idea of doing a movie “loosely” based on real experiences, they wouldn’t have gone down that path.
I think the fact that Chris showed up to a meeting with a Cleaver hat on showed the poor judgment that Tony’s noticed for some time. After the Adrianna situation, Chris was more or less the walking dead unless he really worked to get back into Tony’s good graces. He didn’t. He went off and made the movie, with all kinds of people now exposed to how the Family operates, embarrassed Tony, and more or less blew off the crew. He was trying to live this civilian experience, but that was never going to be possible. Showing up to a meeting with a bunch a crooks with a Cleaver hat on? Well, it’s obvious that you’re connected to that film for some reason.
Also, last week, when Chris talked about his parents being chemically dependent, I think Tony’s response to Chris’ “It’s a disease!” was telling because in his mind, Chris just found an excuse instead of “manning up” and quitting the drugs, etc. I think he also knew that Chris’ judgment was seriously impaired under the influence, and though he presumably doesn’t know about it, the JT murder was only going to one of the things that Chris was going to do, exposing the Family to the wrong type of attention. It seems that Tony was incensed by all of these reasons, but probably mostly because of the unflattering portrait of him in the movie. The last conversation they had - about taking it one day at a time, enjoying life - with Chrissy gone, that’s a huge burden off of Tony’s back.
I think when Tony looked at the car seat, he realized that Caitlin was headed down the same path that he, Chris, and all the other mobbed-up guys went down. They had no choice but to get into the life. Meadow might be considered a “success story” but by severing all the ties to the Family, Kelli gets to grow up without the moral issues of being mob connected.
My point is that, if you don’t break it, it can come back into your life, not that Tony had to vent.
I think Cleaver would be a huge cult movie due to the murder of its screenwriter, the subsequent death of its producer, and all the Mafia connections.
Christopher didn’t die at 3 a.m., did he? I know Tony said it was 2, but I don’t know if they showed a clock. Unfortunately I was in and out of the room a bunch during this episode and I’ll probably watch it again.
Nice point!
Can somebody answer this question for me? It’s been nagging me all season.
I thought that, since Tony had originally put the firm and final kibosh on Chris’ movie career, in order to even take steps to get the movie made, Chris had to have had Tony’s approval to some extent. Since they never dealt with it directly, I thought maybe he was able to convince Tony to approve or even invest by waving money under his face [Soprano’s sic].
I mean, Tony (and a lot of other wiseguys) attended the premiere. And Tony didn’t even appear to be dissatisfied with the story until Carmelo brought it up. He was even giving out the hat and promising people copies of the DVD.
Tony had a lot of reasons to be upset with Christopher but, to me, this one, on its face, isn’t one of them.
Question two: Is anyone else besides me beginning to think this Tony guy is a mean, nasty, rotten, self-centered, self-serving, self-involved, cold, conniving, cunning, manipulative, sociopathic, murderous piece of shit?
Based on my memory, Tony invested in the movie’s production with Christopher’s promise at big $$ returns. Didn’t Chis introduce Tony as a major investor at the screening?
Thanks, flickster, I remember that now. It’s just with so many listing the movie as one reason T was could have been furious with Christopher, I forgot. Some even suggested that it might have been why he hung up on Chris in the first episode, you know, “The McBickerson’s Go to the Lake”, even before the movie premiered and Carm pointed stuff out to Tony.
Also, it seems to me that A.J. is actually turned off by and rather upset at the random violence and racial conflict. Especially so last night, although the toe jam/battery acid test did give him a temporary high the week before.
Interestingly, the bicyclist seems to be refuting that he could be a nigger by asserting that he was from Somalia, had a job and was in school. Snerk. As if they cared about any such putative distinction.
But he’s a coward about it. He laughed with the other guys when they were telling that girl about what happened to the kid on crutches. Toes amputated and they’re laughing. Thank goodness the girl didn’t laugh with them. I fear for society enough as it is! 
Is he going to keep caving to peer pressure or is he going to explode?
I rewound and replayed that whole scene several times. Here’s what I came up with: Immediately after the crash, you can very easily see the shoulder harness across Tony’s chest. But prior to the crash, I don’t see it. And it ought to be visible on the very bulky lapels of the coat he is wearing. Bad continuity screwup, in my opinion.
But Chris… the shadows are too heavy. I can never really see for sure whether he had it on or not. Can someone else rewind and see if there is any scene where it is clear one way or the other? I can’t help wondering if Chris was wearing his belt, but Tony unhooked it to add credence to his story. On the other hand, if he was wearing the belt, it would have made marks on his body that the doctors would have noticed, right?
I just replayed it too. I agree about Tony’s belt – it’s only visible just before the crash. Before that, you can’t see it.
Can’t tell if Chris was wearing his. In one shot, you can see the seat belt hook-up thingie on the panel by the car door, but no belt extending to the driver.
Maybe this is because I was looking for something more, but after Chris is dead, Tony leans in toward the window a little bit and then you hear a clicking noise. It could have been Tony unhooking the belt or Tony flipping his phone open.
I guess unhooking the belt would be overkill. Chris was obviously seriously hurt, and Tony didn’t need to do anything more to make his death look totally accidental.
There was one line of dialogue – Tony told someone that Chris’s death was “instant” or “instantaneous” but it sounded like it could have been a slip of the tongue – “innocent”.
Why did he fly to Vegas when Atlantic City is just a short car ride away?
And, wow, that was some ‘comp’…a private jet. A friend of mine gets a limo comp to A/C from Mahopac, and that’s 3 hours each way. I guess the astronomical high rollers get the jets.
Well, that’s the thing. If he really wanted to have a break, staying in Jersey wasn’t really getting away. If Bobby or Paulie really wanted to bother him, they would be less likely to catch a plane to Vegas than to just drive down to the A.C. and look for him. Besides, that hooker that Chris told Tony about was in Vegas. Maybe he just wanted to give Chris a final “screw you,” to finally free himself from all of Chris’s screw-ups and liabilities.
Ok, watching it again on DVR and pausing right and left. Tony had to break the drivers window, then reach in to open the door, Christofah was wearing no seatbelt.
Tony’s phone showed 1:33 am.
And I see now that Melfi was a dream, I musta blinked too long. 
T.
I’m not defending him, I think you’re exactly right. Unfortunately that’s how lowlife some people (especially young guys in a crowd) can be. And A.J. definitely has the makings of a follower, not a leader. I think if there is going to be any indication of his future at the end of the TV run of the Sopranos, A.J. will end up, not in the life, but a working class stiff of some sort.
Isn’t it interesting the Phil has pretty much pwned Tony recently; this can’t be good. (This opinion has nothing to do with the orders of magnitude beyond how much I dislike Tony that my hate for Phil goes.)
I seem to remember he had to persuade Tony that it wasn’t based on his real life experiences at all - he made it sound more slasher than mob - but seeing the scenes, like the boss talking to the wiseguys in the basement, the Tony references, I think it pissed him off.
He did give the blessing - after some hesitation. The money is what persuaded him, in the end.
Ducks = family. The asbestos (Tony’s job), are polluting the ducks (Tony’s family).
I thought that Tony throwing the cleaver mug was done to show how much he hates being reminded of Chris and what he thinks is a stupid movie.