[QUOTE=ltfire]
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.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe I’m mistaken, but I never thought of Tony as an astronomical high roller. This is someone who lives in a suburban house in New Jersey and who acted like it was the end of the world when he lost some money on the horses and football. I always thought the kind of true high roller who would get a comped jet would be worth a lot more than the 6 million that Hesh apparently put Tony’s wealth at a few episodes ago.
Anyone notice how Tony’s story changed a bit each time he told it? I can’t imagine that would be of any real consequence (this isn’t Murder She Wrote, after all), but shortly after the wreck he claims not to remember anything after leaving Phil’s. He then describes specific aspects of the accident later in the episode. Seems unusually sloppy for Tony.
[QUOTE=Joey P]
For a compleatly unrelated question, what’s with Tony’s heavy breathing? For the past two years or so, he’s been breathing very loudly. The reason I wonder is because it would be very easy to eliminate it (Jim, breath through your mouth), and it’s loud enough that there’s no way the sound guys arn’t noticing it.
[/QUOTE]
This was briefly mentioned in an article in Vanity Fair. I got the impression (from the article) that the breathing is actually an aspect of the character. I wish I could link to the article - it was a very good look at the development of the Sopranos. I can’t believe there are only three episodes left!
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
Maybe I’m mistaken, but I never thought of Tony as an astronomical high roller. This is someone who lives in a suburban house in New Jersey and who acted like it was the end of the world when he lost some money on the horses and football. I always thought the kind of true high roller who would get a comped jet would be worth a lot more than the 6 million that Hesh apparently put Tony’s wealth at a few episodes ago.
[/QUOTE]
I thought the 6 million was a reference to the cost of Tony’s boat, not his net worth.
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
Maybe I’m mistaken, but I never thought of Tony as an astronomical high roller. This is someone who lives in a suburban house in New Jersey and who acted like it was the end of the world when he lost some money on the horses and football. I always thought the kind of true high roller who would get a comped jet would be worth a lot more than the 6 million that Hesh apparently put Tony’s wealth at a few episodes ago.
[/QUOTE]
That suburban house alone is worth well over a million. I would guess close to $1.5 million. What town are they in? I could get a good estimate pretty quick from Realtor.com. I found it, North Caldwell, New Jersey. The closest matches are in the $1,250,000 to $1,850,000 range.
He was on a run where he dropped most of his “fun” money, not money that was vital to the business. He borrowed from Hesh not because he was really strapped, but because he was strapped for spendable cash. Note, he had the money to pay Hesh back at the end of the episode. He must have tapped reserves that he won’t allow himself to use for gambling and other frivolous stuff.
He was looking at Carmela’s money as found money it seemed.
Do we have real idea what his holdings are? How much of the Bing does he own? How many other businesses does he have a stake in? Does he still have part of Artie’s place? 6 million might be very low. I know they also have stock investments. Additionally, Tony may having holdings that Hesh doesn’t know about.
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
I think Tony is not a sadist. A cold-blooded, calculating guy who doesn’t have a problem with murdering someone? Yes. But the kind of guy that would join in the gang-beating of a black guy after he was hit by the door and then aggressively confronted as if he had done something wrong? I don’t think so. There’s never been any indication that Tony takes pleasure in being violent the way AJ and his friends seem to. From everything that we know about his character, I can’t imagine him being pleased if he were to see what AJ did.
In fact, even when Tony did beat up his bodyguard, “Muscles Marinara,” in the first part of the sixth season, he was obviously doing it in a calculated way as a means of re-asserting his strength. And he felt bad about having done it later, too - he even threw up afterwards, which could have been caused by his stomach wounds but were more likely caused by guilt.
The thing that confuses me about the direction that AJ’s character is going in is that he never really displayed any kind of sadism or violence in the past at all. He always seemed lazy, kind of dumb, lacking in ambition, and annoying, but he never seemed like a brute. Is the idea here that he’s enjoying the secondhand violence of Carlo and Patsy’s sons and getting some kind of thrill, or power, from being party to it? Is it that he’s realizing that he can go around with these junior mobsters and have them be his lackeys because of who his father is?
[/QUOTE]
Couple of things:
Tony was throwing up because of his wounds, not his guilt. He only punched the guy a couple times. It was to show us that he was still very weak physically.
I don’t think AJ is a sadist or is particularly enjoying the violent activities of his friends. I get the impression that he’s along for the ride, but his hearts not into it. His conversation with his therapist seems to indicate that it is causing a conflict within him. Also, he’s still in a funk from his girlfriend leaving.
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what youre sayin. - This line is right when Chris turns up the music
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye. - Tony looks at Chris
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.
This was the perfect song for that moment.
I can’t tell either if Chrissy had his seat belt on. Going airborn and rolling 7 or 8 times should have had him bouncing around like a pinball or being ejected. Also they never showed the airbags. Oh well, why let facts get in the way of a good story.
AJ didn’t join in the beatdown. I don’t see him joining a crew, the guilt was too much. Unlike Tony he has a 20 year head start on therapy and anti-depressants. He might be OK after all.
Tony might only be worth a few million when you add up his assets but think of how much he spends. The clothes, cars, jewlrey, meals, parties, gifts and lifestyle is all amazing. I can see the casino having no problem sending a plane for him. The guy who offered the comp knows him on a first name bases. Showing how stoned Tony was by having his shirt untucked and hanging out the back was a nice touch.
Funeral humor is always fun. Kellie showing up looking like Jackie O. Chrissy’s Mom doing a “James Brown” and when “3 to 5 and 7 to 9” was pointed out. Why do they call her that? Because she never misses a wake. I howled at that.
Did anybody else notice a “banker” at both wakes? In the antichamber there was a guy sitting collecting the envelopes.
I’m still not sure what the “I got it” in the desert is all about.
Gandolfini’s breathing as Tony is one of those great little things about the show. I don’t think many actors would even try to make breathing into a character choice.
[QUOTE=msmith537]
Tony was throwing up because of his wounds, not his guilt. He only punched the guy a couple times. It was to show us that he was still very weak physically.
[/quote]
Yeah- remember the way Tony was smiling at the mirror when he finished throwing up, with the blood on his mouth? He was really pleased with himself. That was one of his great “what an evil-looking man” moments- although the slow-mo laughing thing last week was even better.
I’ve never liked the original Comfortably Numb very much, but HBO says that one was Roger Water and Van Morrison. I liked that version a lot.
Mr. Goob… ultimately that’s an internal moment, you know? Whatever Tony feels like he understands while he’s high may not be explicable to the viewer. In any case, we know how long his revelations usually last.
That version of Comfortably Numb was. . .obviously. . .used in “The Departed”. That’s where I first heard it. Great tune. Great version. At amazon, it says,
“Comfortably Numb - Rogers Waters feat. Van Morrison & The Band”
I didn’t know that, but Robbie Robertson (from the Band) has worked with Scorcese before (he was music director, or something for GangsofNY). And, in The Band movie The Last Waltz (dir. by Scorcese), Van Morrison is one of the guest singers (along with Neil Diamond, FYI).
Also, as someone mentioned (I think), Tony was singing the song in a previous episode as he came down the stairs.
[QUOTE=McNew]
That version of *Comfortably Numb * is originally from The Wall: Live in Berlin, 1990.
[/QUOTE]
Interesting. I didn’t know that, and I was into Floyd back then, but for reasons that probably made sense to me at the time, I never really listened to that album.
Wiki had this to say, and it doesn’t even mention Robertson. . .
[QUOTE=Honey]
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what youre sayin. - This line is right when Chris turns up the music
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye. - Tony looks at Chris
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.
This was the perfect song for that moment.
[/QUOTE]
Is Comfortably Numb signaling the end of Tony’s and Christopher’s relationship, or is it signaling that they both gave up their dreams and are “comfortably numb” in their lives?
First it refers to something slipping away as “you” and then the song uses the word “it”. So I don’t know exactly what the song is talking about.
[QUOTE=Trunk]
Interesting. I didn’t know that, and I was into Floyd back then, but for reasons that probably made sense to me at the time, I never really listened to that album.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, the album is hit or miss. There are some good parts, like CN, and some bad ones (Cyndi Lauper? ugh). But there’s an excellent live version of Waters’ *The Tide Is Turning * from Radio K.A.O.S., disc 2, track 12.
[QUOTE=Lakai]
Is Comfortably Numb signaling the end of Tony’s and Christopher’s relationship, or is it signaling that they both gave up their dreams and are “comfortably numb” in their lives?
[/QUOTE]
Not to get too deep into it here, but since they made the song a recurring thing, I think it has to be read as a commentary on Tony. He’s numb and seeking some kind of happiness, which he sort of found in this episode. Christopher in a fog, but I wouldn’t describe him as numb- he actively wrecked his life last week.
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Not to get too deep into it here, but since they made the song a recurring thing, I think it has to be read as a commentary on Tony. He’s numb and seeking some kind of happiness, which he sort of found in this episode. Christopher in a fog, but I wouldn’t describe him as numb- he actively wrecked his life last week.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with this also.
As far as the “I get it” comment, perhaps it means he gets that, in order to have any sort of happiness and contentment in his life, he needs to be numb to everybody and everything (the drugs he’s been taking). Some sort of foreshadowing perhaps? I mean, even when he started to win more and more in the casino, he was kind of nonchalant at first, until he fell back on the floor laughing (beginning to get it?). And didn’t he and the hooker’s next scene take place in the desert (I get it!)?
And not to waste any additional lighter fluid on the already incinerated remains of an equine in the smoldering ruins of a stable, I still don’t think Tony had any real objection to Cleaver (anymore), especially since he stood to make money. In addition to never having it explicitly delineated in words or body language (and JG is good enough to do it), he was giving away movie caps and DVDs until the end. (I’ll stop now.)
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting]
IAs far as the “I get it” comment, perhaps it means he gets that, in order to have any sort of happiness and contentment in his life, he needs to be numb to everybody and everything (the drugs he’s been taking). Some sort of foreshadowing perhaps? I mean, even when he started to win more and more in the casino, he was kind of nonchalant at first, until he fell back on the floor laughing …
[/QUOTE]
I’ve never done peyote. (Ahem.) However: My thought while watching it was that he saw in the casino how absurd his gambling habit is (ie, his sudden eerie ability to predict where the little ball bearing ended up – why did he care, and what did it possibly matter?), and then, as the trip wore on, how absurd his whole life’s struggle is, which is largely devoted to cheating people out of money. I think for a fleeting moment he saw how he could be happy. Psychedelics are know for creating hugely important but ungraspable, unvoicable philosophical thoughts. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard nothing more about this revelation.
[QUOTE=What Exit?]
That suburban house alone is worth well over a million. I would guess close to $1.5 million. What town are they in? I could get a good estimate pretty quick from Realtor.com. I found it, North Caldwell, New Jersey. The closest matches are in the $1,250,000 to $1,850,000 range.
[/QUOTE]
14 Aspen Drive, North Caldwell NJ 07006
Cyberhomes.com: estimate: $909,216, estimate range: $818,294 - $1,045,598
Seems low, really, but the comps I’m finding are all in the same price range.
[QUOTE=Mr. Goob]
I can’t tell either if Chrissy had his seat belt on. Going airborn and rolling 7 or 8 times should have had him bouncing around like a pinball or being ejected. Also they never showed the airbags. Oh well, why let facts get in the way of a good story.
[/QUOTE]
This bugged me, too. In the real world, generally reports of being unbelted in a rollover includes being ejected from the vehicle. At the very least, there’s no way he would stay in place behind the wheel - his skinny butt would have been smeared all over the interior.
I didn’t dare say that to my husband, tho - he hates when I get all analytical. But I can only suspend so much disbelief.
And I’m feeling like I’m the only person in the world who has never heard or heard of Comfortably Numb…
