Last night was the penultimate episode of The Sopranos, and it was a doozy.
Melfi goes from complete anger to denial to acceptance that she is not helping Tony Soprano (and is perhaps enabling him), and dumps him as a patient. Melfi was probably the most stable relationship Tony has ever had with a woman. I wonder when he'll have his next panic attack. Soon, I imagine.
In the meantime, Tony has finally realized that Phil is ready to declare war and Tony decides to put out a hit on Phil instead. At this point in the story I said out loud, "The only person who should whack Phil is Tony. Or Silvio." Instead, they hire the same dudes who killed Frankie Valli and they botch the job, instead killing Phil's goomah's father. D'oh! AND SO IT IS ON. Our first casualty is poor old Bobby Bacala, violently shot while buying trains for his beloved hobby. His death would be a lot more tragic if we didn't know how much Janice will likely milk out of it. Ugh. Hate her.
In an even scarier scene, Patsy and Silvio are ambushed as they leave the Bing. Patsy flees the scene on foot and Silvio is seriously wounded. He's in the hospital, not expected to survive. Tony goes to a safehouse, where he lies in bed, gripping a machine gun and watching the door.
HOLY SHIT.
The Sopranos family curse finally manifests in AJ. We've seen this coming for quite some time.
And god bless him, AJ is too stupid to even commit suicide effectively. Carmela blames Tony for AJ's problems, Tony is sounding more like his mother than ever, AJ seems to really enjoy being depressed, and Meadow is in love with Patsy's son. Interesting.
I cannot even discuss the tooth in Tony's pants cuff.
And the NY/NJ war seems to be heating up. Two episodes left!
If you have not yet watched last night's episode of The Sopranos, go watch it RIGHT NOW. Meet me after the jump.
HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT! Without a doubt, one of the best and most powerful episodes of this show, ever. Christopher Moltisanti is dead. DEAD. We all wondered what would become of him, but never in a million years did any of us think he would die by Tony's hand, being forced to drown in his own blood. Horrifying. The scene was so frightening, so intense, that Lisa and I actually held hands until it was over.
What else is there to talk about? Tony's sense of relief that his Christopher problem is gone, Paulie getting screwed over by Chrissy even in death, AJ's confusion at the existence of violence in the world, Tony's peyote experience and the scene of the mobsters literally poisoning our water. Wow. Just wow.
[guest posted by GeekBoy]
Did anybody else notice that the boob-to-bullet ratio was a bit higher this episode than usual? I think I counted about 427 naked breasts on screen this week, but only one bullet. Granted, that one bullet DID result in a death, so maybe this balances things out a bit. Anyway, here's the quick recap ...
A.J. cries about being dumped. Paulie pisses Christopher off. A.J. cries. Christopher has a barbecue. A.J. cries. Paulie pisses Christopher off some more. A.J. cries. Christopher throws Paulie's nephew out a window. A.J. cries. Paulie rips up Christopher's yard with his car. A.J. cries. Tony tells Melfi he's done with therapy, then has a major breakthrough about A.J.'s depression being genetic. A.J. goes to a shrink, gets medicated, and stops crying. Christopher falls off the wagon, gets drunk, confesses some things to Tim Daly from Wings that he shouldn't, then shoots him in the head. A.J. starts to hang around with mafia frat boys, and gets sucked into the same life of violence as his father. This pulls him out of his funk, and the Sopranos sit down together for a late night snack.
Discuss last night's Sopranos here. I'll say this - every time I start to have any sort of understanding or even compassion for any of the characters on this show, I am reminded that they are all despicable people. Tony, the most.
This week's Sopranos was sooooooooo depressing. Our themes were aging, losing your edge and realizing that the guy you idolized was kind of an asshole. Living in the past, I suppose. Our episode was all about Tony and Paulie.
Paulie has been a father figure to Tony for years and years, and it seems that Tony is finally understanding that Paulie and his big mouth are liabilities. Tony decides to kill him, which SHOCKED me, but couldn't go through with it. But, boy, did he try. He keeps trying to bait Paulie into finally admitting that he's the one who repeated the joke about Ginny Sack, and I still can't believe that one joke from years ago is still having repercussions. Paulie is smart enough to know to keep quiet, which is, well, uncharacteristic. I think he's been neutered for now, but I also think Paulie is full of rage and won't be able to control it forever.
The other storyline centered on Junior in the mental hospital. Seems that he's got his own posse and is running card games and in cahoots with the orderlies. It's like a weird little version of the way things used to be, except he negotiates with buttons and candy bars instead of wads of cash. He stops taking his medication, which causes him to become incontinent. His pride takes over and he goes back on the meds, and we end the episode with him nearly catatonic in a wheelchair.
Meanwhile, the New York family is becoming more and more vicious, as the New Jersey family becomes more and more defanged.
When I saw the title for this week's episode of The Sopranos, I assumed that "Stage 5" would refer to Paulie Walnut's prostate cancer. I was wrong.
Johnny Sack is sick and dying with lung cancer. By the end of the episode, he is wondering how he will be remembered, and dies with his family by his side. Poor Ginny.
Meanwhile, Christopher premieres "Cleaver" for friends and family. Daniel Baldwin's character is an obvious homage to Tony, and Carmella is deeply disturbed to see a scene that suggests that Tony slept with Adrianna. "The Boss" also ends up dead at the end of the movie. Could you imagine Christopher killing Tony in a fit of rage or a drug-fueled frenzy? Holy shit. It could happen.
With Johnny Sack dying, New York needs a new boss. Little Carmine does not want the job. Gerry "The Hairdo" is whacked while at dinner with Silvio, and I didn't realize how much I like Silvio until I thought he was going to get shot. Apparently Doc Santoro was responsible for the whacking, and I imagine that Phil Leotardo is going to go after him now. I think so, anyway. Sometimes I get confused with all these damn characters.
The Sopranos returned with an excellent, if not downbeat, episode last night. Raise your hand if you thought for a moment that Bobby Bacala was toast. Yikes! The episode started out with Tony getting arrested over the handgun he dropped THREE YEARS AGO while running from the feds at Johnny Sack's old house. Tony is assured by his lawyer that the charge won't stick. Later, we find out that the feds have taken over the case, and the charges very well may stick. Oops. In other developments, Janice still sucks, you should never mix alcohol and Monopoly, and Bobby is forced to make his first kill. Do you think anything will come of the victim tearing off a piece of Bobby's shirt, taken along with Bobby's previous comments about "DNA evidence?" Hmmmm.
Apropos of nothing, I am in awe of Edie Falco. She's such a great actress and she is looking sensational.
And don't forget The Sopranos kicks off its final 9 episodes this Sunday. I think I might watch last June's finale episode so I can remember what the hell's been going on with Tony and the crew.
Last night was the last episode of The Sopranos until next year. It was kind of, uh, boring. I get it - "calm before the storm" and all that. But really, the episode felt weird and I didn't care for how choppy it was. And watching Carm stop caring about what may have happened to Adriana in favor of calling the roof guy for her spec house? Blegh. How messed up is it that AJ is the only one living a decent life at this point?
Interesting episode of The Sopranos this week. Johnny Sack pleaded guilty and had to do the allocution - namely, admit that Cosa Nostra exists and that he was a part of it. He is dead to the family now. Will they kill him in jail? Tony manages to get Sack's house, and lets Janice buy it out from under Ginny in some sort of gesture of forgiveness for treating her and Bobby so badly in the past. Bobby gets mugged and nearly loses an eye. Bobby couldn't be more pathetic. Tony thwarts Carmela's real estate aspirations (although she doesn't know it's him that's shutting everything down) because he wants her to stay home, cook and listen to Meadow talk about her sex life. In the storyline that surprised me the most, Vito and Johnny Cakes moved in together and professed their love for each other. Vito got a job, realized he's incapable of making an honest living, and left poor old Johnny Cakes. He is so lazy that he is willing to shut the door on a life that could be happy and fulfilling, so he can go back home and make money by doing nothing. I am curious to see if he is accepted back into the family. If I had any doubts that Vito might regret his decision, they were put to rest when he killed a man on his way back to Newark. It's in his blood. He'll never be able to be any different, and that is really sad. Also? Paulie has cancer and I don't care.
More proof this week on The Sopranos that "things aren't the way they used to be." The mob of yesteryear, where it was easy to take money from people, is over. People are more savvy, it's more difficult to get the easy money, and a lot of Tony's guys are realizing that their lives are changing. Paulie might have cancer; Chrissy is married with a baby on the way. But the more things change, the more they stay the same...Chrissy and Tony see some bikers stealing wine from a warehouse and immediately jump in and steal the wine from the bikers. The two of them get a huge high from the caper, which ends with them getting shot at and laughing about it. In his excitement, Tony offers Chris a glass of the wine to celebrate, and unknowingly confirms Chrissy's relapse into using. The big theme this week was that people seem to have a need to always return to the thing that hurts them. Janice's baby with the street fair ride, Paulie with his aunt, Chris with heroin, and Tony seems to be drinking and eating way too much (as well as making eyes at the real estate agent). Also? Carmella may be twigging to the fact that Adrianna did not run away.
"What's happening to this neighborhood?" ask the older mob guys who don't understand why a Starbucks won't pay protection/neighborhood dues. Later, Tony sells one of his buildings in the old neighborhood to Jamba Juice, which means another business that won't pay protection. Looks like, at least in this arena, the mob is becoming irrelevant, huh? I'm sure that there's a theory to be explored about how when the real world gets uglier and uglier, there's less of a need to have the mafia around. Anyhoo. This week on Sopranos, we had the return of AJ's panic attacks and his overall inability to follow through on ANYTHING, including killing Uncle Junior. Tony came thisclose to having sex with new character, realtor Julianna Margulies, but actually stopped himself! Brand new Tony, indeed.
In other news, Vito realized he is living in a Simpsons episode as he finds out the entire fire department is flaming, if you will. It becomes clear that the diner owner guy likes him, and right as they are going to kiss, Vito freaks out and they beat each other up instead. Ugh. Later, though, Vito seems to begin to make peace with who he is, and apologizes to Hot Diner Motorcycle Man. They ride off into the sunset on their motorcycles and have a little shirtless picnic. No, seriously, they do.
I don't have time for a big recap this week, but talk amongst yourselves. Between Lauren Bacall getting punched in the face, Artie's hand in the marinara, and Ben Kingsley's sublimely muttered, "Fuuuuuuuck" on the airplane, a stellar episode, in my opinion.
[guest-posted by the geekboy]
Who knew that Italians had so many words for gay people? Or that the writers could work in so many gay jokes in one short hour? Anyway, it's interesting to see that Tony really is taking his post-coma epiphany about the one-ness of mankind to heart. Although one wonders how long he can keep it up. The troops are restless, and they want head ... that is, they want Vito's head. But first they'll have to find him in that quaint little New Hampshire town he's holed himself up in. I'd love to think that Vito will be able to stay here, and reinvent himself as a kinder, gentler, antique-buying (instead of leather-wearing) gay man. But I can't shake the feeling that his wife is going to mention Vito having a cousin in NH to Phil, and that by the end of the season, Vito's "new life" will end in death at the hands of either the NY or NJ crew.
This was a mellow episode, overall. But very revealing for each of the characters. What are your thoughts?
Interesting developments in last night's Sopranos, eh? Seems everyone is concerned about showing weakness. Tony collapses at Johnny Sac's daughter's wedding, and later beats up his own bodyguard in order to prove to his men that he's still the boss. Afterwards, he vomits blood in the toilet. Ugh. Johnny Sac gets out of prison for six hours to attend his daughter's wedding, and is pushed around by the federal marshalls in front of everyone he knows. At the end of the reception, he is dragged out in handcuffs and begins to cry, thereby losing any respect he ever had from his men. AND! Vito is discovered at a gay club, in full leather gear. What was he thinking, going to a club that's obviously under mob "protection?" Dummy. He checks into a hotel room with a gun, presumably to kill himself. Will he? Won't we? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Also of note: In last week's episode, we heard the first verse of the song "Three Bells." In the first verse, Jimmy Brown was born. In the second verse, played this week, Jimmy Brown got married. In the third verse, one that perhaps we'll hear next week, Jimmy Brown dies.
This week's Sopranos had Tony on the mend, getting better every day. He's settled into hospital life, befriending the scientist down the hall, as well as the rapper who got shot. Speaking of the rapper, his partner (Treach from Naughty by Nature, by the way) hired Bobby to shoot him, too, so he would get some attention. Bobby promised to shoot him in the fleshy part of the thigh, but to me it looked like he straight up shot him in the ass. Good times. Paulie Walnuts visited his sick aunt, and she made a deathbed confession - she was Paulie's real mother. Obviously Paulie took this news quite well by refusing to pay for his "mother's" assisted living anymore. Later, after being moved by watching another mother beg Tony not to hurt her son, he decides he'll pay for the assisted living after all. By forcing the previously-mentioned son to give him the skim off his sanitation business. He also breaks the guy's knees. I hate Paulie.
What did you think of the talk of evolution? From the dinosaur book to the born-again preacher speaking of intelligent design, to Tony revealing that he doesn't feel "himself," it seems changes are afoot.
"It was total mayham!" God, I hate Paulie Walnuts. Last night on The Sopranos, we find Silvio taking care of business while Tony remains in a coma. Silvio is not good at taking care of business. In fact, by the end of the episode, he's in the hospital recovering from an asthma attack. Meanwhile, Paulie and Vito make a big score, Paulie gets kicked in the walnuts and then nearly kills Tony by talking him to death. Nice job, Paulie! He and Vito don't want to give Carmela their cut of the score in case Tony dies. The two of them are douchebags. Later, when Tony comes out of his coma, they give her the money, and you can tell that Carm knew something was up.
As for Tony coming out of his coma, it looked like he was really close to death. He followed the beacon light to find himself at a house where there was supposed to be a Finnerty Family Reunion. Instead, his cousin Tony B. was there, and told him everyone was inside, waiting for him. Tony didn't want to give up his briefcase, though, and kept hearing a voice in the bushes crying, "Daddy, don't leave us!"
AJ is having some issues being taken seriously by the family, and pisses off Carm by speaking to the media. Finn returns to Meadow, and gets a creepy welcome from Vito. Ugh. Chrissy's Hollywood aspirations have returned. They've brought back JT and are forcing him to write a screenplay - Saw meets The Godfather. Chrissy wants to call it Pork Store and JT wants to call it Cleaver. I always love the Chrissy/Hollywood storylines. I wonder if we'll get to see them cast the movie and all that stuff.
This week's Sopranos showed us that Tony isn't dead, but he's damn close. The family has pulled together around him - with Meadow really stepping up and being an adult and AJ flunking out of school. Everyone under Tony is jockeying for position, generally acting like assholes, even while they pay their respects to Dead Gene. I do have to admit cracking up when Janice asked why Gene committed suicide, and Vito said, "Maybe he was a homo and couldn't tell anybody. It happens."
Tony is trapped in a medically-induced coma and having a dream about an alternate reality. Where he's Tony but not-quite-Tony, suffering from a case of mistaken identity. In his dream, Tony finds out he has Alzheimer's disease. It ends with him sitting alone in a strange hotel room.
The Sopranos returned last night with a frickin' bang, and if you haven't seen it yet, stop reading this post right now.
We catch back up with the family after a year has passed...Janice and Bobby have a baby girl, Carmela's spec house is unfinished and possibly haunted by Adriana, Johnny's in jail, Eugene wants to retire and move to Florida, and Tony and Carm have discovered a mutual love of sushi. Their marriage seems strong, and the money's pouring in. Uncle Joon's dementia is getting worse. Tony refuses to put him into assisted living, telling Dr. Melfi that Joon is his responsibility, for better or worse. He says that you don't abandon family. Eugene learns this when he tells Tony he wants out. There's a lot of speculation over whether or not Tony will let Eugene go, and I was surprised to hear some of Tony's guys talking about who will be in charge when Tony dies. Anyway, his request is denied, his marriage and family start to fall apart, and goodbye Eugene, we hardly knew ya. More about abandoning family - Janice and Bobby don't step up to watch Joon one night and Tony angrily goes over there to do it himself. Tony's other sister tells Tony that Junior's been "agitated" all night. And the credits roll after we see Tony, bloody from a gunshot wound, unconscious on Junior's floor. Wow. What did everybody think?
As we all continue to suffer from major Sopranos withdrawal (how many more months to go--like 7 or something?), you may get a kick out of looking at these recent wedding reception pictures from Joseph "Vito"/"the gay hit man"/"the guy on Celebrity Fit Club" Gannascoli's website. Play Spot Your Favorite Cast Member!
Some information about the upcoming final(?) season of The Sopranos. And I guess by "upcoming" I mean in about eight months or so.
It will be two years until we see a new episode of The Sopranos. I don't mind the wait, if it means more stellar writing and acting from our favorite mobsters and friends. [via tv tattle]
I got sucked into the ABC Family Channel this weekend because they were showing prime Sunday-afternoon coma viewing (Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Drive Me Crazy, etc.), and I saw an ad for an original movie called Crimes of Fashion. The description is at the bottom of this page. And all I have to say is, SERIOUSLY????