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Don’t bitch to me.
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May 6, 2019 20:31
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| # ? May 20, 2024 16:49 |
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I love that scene because the crew doesn't even remotely know that Italy has local cultural/regional feuds.
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May 6, 2019 22:33
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Dawgstar posted:HO! HEY! I love these reactions whenever they happen 
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May 7, 2019 02:09
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Kevyn posted:Don’t bitch to me. No bitch 'a to me
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May 7, 2019 05:47
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This episode is longer than most this season, and it wasn't till I was done that I realized it was about 9000 letters over the forum limit. I started to go through to prune it down, but in the end decided to just divide it into 2 parts like I used to do in The Wire thread. I don't want to make a habit of this, I'll do my best to keep everything down to single post writing as best as I can going forward.
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May 7, 2019 14:19
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Season 2, Episode 10 - Bust OutPussy Bonpensiero posted:loving bygones are never bygones A good citizen sits with the police and does his civic duty with pride. His name is Mr. Arthur and he's sick of scum getting away with crime because good, honest people like himself don't stand up and say something. So when he heard firecrackers while changing a flat tire recently, he realized he was actually hearing gunshots and hid in the ragweed as the perpetrators drove away. He called the cops immediately and now he's here in the station identifying the one man he saw from a photo line-up, though to his disappointment he didn't get a good look at the other, heavyset figure. The man he points out with 110% certainty is one Anthony Soprano, seen by an eyewitness at the scene where officers found the bullet-riddled corpse of Matthew Bevilaqua. The cops butter Mr. Arthur up, thanks to people like him maybe they can make a difference, but when he asks if the poor victim was caught up in something like crack, all they'll respond with is that it was "something like that". No need to give him any more info, after all he's made a positive ID and is willing to testify, and on that alone the cops are confident they can bring charges. Good on you, Mr. Arthur, you're a stand-up guy! Tony Soprano himself sits watching a carousel at the mall when he hears a child calling for his mother. Immediately he flashes back to Bevilaqua squealing for his mother in the second before he died, but puts this aside quickly to approach the child. With a kind face, he asks the kid if he needs help just as his mother arrives to scoop him up. Tony smiles and says his own son was just the same at that age, but she isn't interested in chatting with his big Frankenstein looking motherfucker she just found looming over her child and walks away without a word. Richie Aprile arrives, having requested this meeting, apparently all too used to the mall meet-up system now. He's pissed off abut Dick Barone, who owns/runs Barone Sanitation which Tony and a number of other Wiseguys use to generate both illegal income as well as a legitimate source of money/employment. Richie has just discovered that Barone is charging the trucks that run through Richie's own garbage "business" double to use his waste management facility. Tony doesn't see how this is an issue though, he can just pay Barone and then charge the townships he services extra for the pickups to offset the cost: everybody wins! (well, except the poor fucks with no choice on which garbage "service" to use). But for Richie it's a matter he isn't so willing to overlook. He has the smallest number of routes of anybody else in their "association" so why does he pay more? It's not actually an unfair point, but Tony responds with a saying borrowed directly from Uncle Junior, saying Richie is just like a widow crying for bread when she has a Virginia Ham under her arm. Richie is confused, what the gently caress about a ham? Tony, who doesn't really understand the saying himself, says not to worry and explains Barone's reasoning: Jackie Aprile as the Boss never really worried much about using the garbage routes to bring in cash, since all the money was funnelling up to him anyway. Now Richie runs them it is an extra load on Barone so he charges more. Tony does promise to at least discuss it with Barone in any case, and Richie leaves unsatisfied after pointing out the real issue behind all of this: Tony owns part of the company, and though it goes unsaid the implication is that it is because of Tony that the rates are so high, or at least are high with his blessing. Tony simply smiles after Richie leaves, back to feeling like everything is going his way once more after the recent scare of Christopher's near death. Carmela is in bed reading a book (still Memoirs of a Geisha) as Tony brushes his teeth and prepares to settle into bed. As he undresses, he talks about wanting to spend more time with AJ, noting that even though Meadow is soon to leave the house he isn't worried about her being able to handle herself. Carmela is mildly sarcastic at first but then apologizes when called out for it and admits she thinks it is a good idea. To Tony's pleasure, she talks enthusiastically about a recent Harvard study she read about it Time Magazine which played up the many benefits that sons who spent quality time with their fathers experienced. While he agrees, and is puffed up by her endorsement of his notion, he explains his major concern is toughening AJ up. She of course is more worried about him learning to open up with his emotions, but he points out the dangers of being exploited or falling in with the wrong crowd, and cites Christopher as an example of what to avoid... as well as that "other poor prick they found dead". Quietly he notes that he was only 23 years old, revealing (unknown to Carmela) some of his own deep-set guilt at his recent direct involvement in a straight up murder.   At Ramsey's Sports Store, piles of deliveries are coming in including boxes of Ramlösa mineral water. Tony tells one of the employees to put three into the back of his car for him and that isn't questioned at all. At the front counter, Davey Scatino is insistently making an odd order: 14 gross of a plastic picnic cooler, assuring the person on the other end that their job is to ship them, he'll worry about selling them. Paulie opens a bottle of Ramlösa for himself as pizza is delivered, while Richie Aprile tells Davey to make sure he orders the red and not the blue. A delighted Tony agrees with Richie's assessment that red will sell better, and informs the deliveryman to put the pizza on the store tab. As Davey attempts to make use of an offered deal on the blue coolers so they can get a deal on the red, Richie shuts him down, pointing out it's not like the shipper is gonna get paid anyway. Miserable, Davey insists on the red, as all around him vultures peck at the corpse of what was once his pride and joy. He rubs at his head as Richie - who apparently is getting his 8k and more in value out of a shared part in this stripping of Davey's store - explains to Tony that coolers are like scissors: everybody wants one, nobody knows how much they cost, so if they see them being sold on the street for a few dollars they'll snap them up. Tony meanwhile is interested in more big-ticket items, literally tickets in this case as he wants a bulk order of airline tickets. That seems to be a breaking point for Davey who bemoans that this will surely raise red flags, a sports store buying plane tickets? Nah, Tony is calm about that, he can just say it's for a store promotion. But Davey still doesn't understand, how long do they want him to do this? Till his credit runs out is Richie's answer, unless he can pay the principal he owes Tony and Richie both? Tony simply nods in agreement, in complete lockstep with Richie on this one, and the broken man goes back to making more phone orders. Apparently with a clear conscience, Tony goofs around back home in the backyard with AJ as they prepare to take a swim. AJ goes to crank up the heater from a control device in a nearby wooden box but leaps back in alarm when he sees a spider. Tony sees this as an opportune time to toughen AJ up, demanding he come back and kill it, and when AJ refuses he reaches in to grab the spider then lunges at a horrified AJ who leaps into the pool to escape. Tony laughs, it was actually only a leaf all along, but the good times quickly end as Lilliana steps out to inform Tony that the police have come calling. Upset, he asks if she let them in the house and snaps at her that she needs to ask to see a warrant before she lets any police in. Storming inside where he immediately puts on false cheer, he greets FBI Agent Harris, and the other man introduces himself as Detective Harold Giardina from the Essex County Task Force. He tells them to leave unless they have a warrant and Harris explains they've done him the courtesy of an in-person visit as they want him to come into the police station at his own volition. He's not going to do that of course, telling a nervous AJ who has wandered in after him to go back to the pool and he'll join him soon. Harris and Giardina leave, but not before telling him that what they want to question him about is Matthew Bevilaqua. He affects indifference, but once they're gone he's left to stew: of course the death of the running partner of the guy killed while trying to shoot Christopher would raise suspicions about himself, but the cops wouldn't be there unless they had something, right? Returning to AJ, he insists there is nothing wrong, but still asks that he not tell Carmela about this as she'd only overreact.   Pussy meets with Skip in his car down at the shore, handing over a partial(?) list of the major investors in Webistics. Skip accepts it calmly enough, and when Pussy says he hasn't really seen much of Tony lately, Skip's equally calm if he means other than the night Tony killed Matthew Bevilaqua? Pussy, to his credit, manages to look genuinely confused by this, asking what he means. Skip is immediately in a rage, demanding to know if Pussy has hosed him, declaring that Tony was spotted and warning Pussy he'll spend the next 50 years behind bars if he knew about it and didn't tell them. Pussy, agitated but also playing the calming role that Skip usually plays with him, is adamant he knew nothing. He only loses his temper when Skip keeps pushing him, and it is Pussy playing Skip effectively for a change, flipping the usual handler/informant relationship and pumping him for information. In his effort to get Pussy off-balance, Skip overplays his hand and reveals that while a "husky accomplice" was seen they could not be IDed. Pussy of course is immediately relaxed, denying he was the accomplice, and Skip tries to pretend he knows otherwise but he's already given away that he doesn't. So his threats that he will let the judge lock him up and throw away the key mean nothing. His warnings to Pussy that he doesn't want to see his darker side mean nothing. He does demand that Pussy get Tony on tape admitting he killed Bevilaqua which he agrees to try, but both of them must know there is no chance of that happening. Skip lost his authority the moment he sat down with Pussy and had a joint bitch session about being unappreciated and overlooked. Now he's just another guy that Pussy has to try and play, and he doesn't even respect him enough to offer him chickenshit disguised as inside information anymore. Now he's not even hiding that he's giving him only partial information on Webistic's investors. Pussy still knows he's in danger both from Tony and from the FBI, but Skip for him is no longer the face of that FBI danger, he's become too familiar and exposed too much of himself. Tony meanwhile is finally free to demonstrate his own worries, as he visits with his lawyer Neil Mink to get both assurances and advice. Mink earns his retainer here, as he gets the facts and lays out the hard truths. The police don't have enough to charge him... yet. But they have enough to investigate, and if they can get him to give a statement then they lock him into a story where any deviation can be sold as contradiction/perjury. Since he hasn't agreed to go in, they can continually procrastinate until the police force their hand or move on. In the meantime, they'll be watching even closer than usual looking for an in to get at him, so he wants Tony on his best behavior and far, far, far away from anything illegal. Mink, always charming and eager to please, now becomes harder and more authoritative as he demands the miserable Tony repeat what he just said about not giving them an in. Tony, who knows a murder conviction would put him away forever, is racked with guilt and anger for having done something so stupid when he could have left it to Pussy and Furio. But he gives no answer when Mink not unkindly asks if he wants to talk about what is eating him up (a midlife crisis?), he has somebody else he can go to for that. Meanwhile Carmela meets with other mothers from Verbum Dei to discuss Senior Night, and included among them is Christine Scatino, wife of Davey. After they wrap up, Christine stays behind to wait for her brother to pick her up, as Eric has borrowed her car to go to a fencing lesson (because Davey gave Eric's to Tony). Alone at last and seeing Christine's obvious overwhelming of emotions, Carmela brings up the prickly subject, deeply apologetic as she insists she had no idea what was going on with Eric's car. Christine, to her face at least, is quickly to dismiss Carmela's concerns. The only person she blames for this is Davey. They quickly bond again in their shared hopes (and fears) for their respective kid's College changes. The responses will be arriving from April 1st, and Eric is pinning all his hopes on Georgetown, something Carmela wishes Meadow was fixated on too since her first choice is Berkeley. Christine sympathises with why Carmela is against that, and then her brother arrives to pick her up and now it is Carmela's turn to to be overcome with emotions. His name is Vic Musto, a handsome, well-built general contractor who is almost clearly immediately taken with her. He compliments her on the house and she thanks him, though is unable to resist downplaying it by saying she's considering freshening things up. Christine points out that Vic does wallpapering jobs and he passes Carmela his card, cracking a joke about being state certified but still dangerous. From anybody else it would be corner, but from a handsome, well-built Italian male? Carmela is floating on air. They leave, Carmela and Christine assuring each other they'll have lunch soon, perhaps at the new Vesuvio's, and once they're out the door Carmela's face falls. Not because she's upset, but she's a little wowed at acting like a giddy schoolgirl just from being in Vic's presence. Outside, Christine is quick to warn Vic to keep his distance from Carmela, she's married to Tony Soprano. Vic, a stand-up guy, assures her he respects the ring and wouldn't approach her no matter whose husband she was. That's good, because Christine - all sweetness and light with Carmela earlier and insistent on Davey being the bad guy - clearly holds Tony at least in nothing but contempt.  Speaking of pathetic sack of poo poo loser idiot fuckheads, Davey Scatino, ladies and gentlemen! Lying on his pool table in the basement, he presses a handgun to his head as he contemplates the complete wreck he has made of his life. Coming to an inevitable conclusion, he jams the gun into his mouth, squeezes his eyes shut and prepares to pull the trigger... before he hears Christine coming down the stairs calling for him. Alarmed into action, he leaps onto the table and quickly pushes the gun up through a ceiling tile. Christine walks in on this scene and asks what the hell he is doing, and in near tears he shouts back he's fixing the light, overexplaining in his panic. Pissed off, she reminds him that HE is the one who is always worried about the felt being damaged and leaves. He stands watching her go, reduced to tears once again. Like a million gambling addicts before him and millions more to come, he is upset that he can't share his grief and self-loathing with her, because of course HE won't tell her what he has done or what he is going through. Meanwhile, a couple who have no issues communicating with each other are Richie Aprile and Janice Soprano, as they gently caress on the couch in Livia's lounge while Richie holds a gun to her head and she moans that he's the best! As Richie bangs her from behind, gun pressed to her temple, Janice continually moans how great he is, how big, how he's the best, how it should be him, he's the Boss, he's the Boss! Immediately Richie is pulling out, upset and demanding to know what the hell she is thinking. She pretends to be confused but he's having none of it, what the gently caress does she mean by it should be him? Calculating her response, she tries to insist she was just playing the part to work him up, but with surprising genuineness he explains that he can't be thinking about that type of thing while having sex. He can't understand how SHE can (even putting aside she's indirectly referencing her own brother while they have sex), pointing out that it means she isn't in the moment, implying that she is playing a game or trying to manipulate him while he's only interested in being with her physically and emotionally (with a gun to her head, but I won't kinkshame). She lights a joint and considers how best to respond to that before trying to soothe his ego by explaining she finds powerful men erotic. He - forever mindful of his size - asks if that is another dig at him and she laughs at him for being ridiculous. He kisses and again speaks from the heart when he tells her that he must be loyal, and sighs when she considers for a moment before retorting,"Tell that to Paul Castellano. He reminds her he is Old School, so she shifts in that direction to appeal to him again, pointing out that Uncle Junior still has allies, reminding him without directly saying so that technically speaking Junior is still the Boss of the Family and thus under Old School rules is owed Richie's loyalty ahead of Tony. She passes him the joint and he takes it along with her point, considering once again that loving jacket which Tony so casually discarded. But not things are going a little further than Janice expected, as she was clearly thinking of a powerplay and not a bloody coup. When Richie comments that Tony has made him angry enough to want to slice off an ear, she tries to pull him back a bit but is distracted by the sound of Livia's stairlift coming down from the upper floor. Leaping up as they pull the rest of their clothes back on, Janice insists that Livia tell them if she wants something and they'll bring it. Livia, not in the slightest cowed now that she is back in her own home, demands to know if they've been smoking marijuana and insists she wants to settle in to watch some TV. Janice muses about getting her a set for her room as Livia steps out of the stairlift, and Livia mocks her, acting like Rose Kennedy with all her money all of a sudden.   Carmela isn't having sex, but she's getting closer to an orgasm than she has in a long time as she lies in bed and has an erotic dream about Vic Musto. Waking with a start, she quickly looks to the other side of the bed to see if Tony noticed, but he's nowhere to be seen at 1:20 in the morning. That inevitably leaves her wandering if his assurance of faithfulness from the last episode hasn't already wavered. Surprisingly it hasn't, he's at Davey's store sharing a drink with Pussy as they discuss the police visit to his house. Pussy sees exactly what Mink saw, that they were trying to get Tony locked into a story, but Tony has another concern: How come they haven't come looking for Pussy? By now used to paranoia, Pussy handles himself smoothly, saying that the cops are sure to come calling sooner or later to try the same thing on him. There's a slightly too long pause as Tony considers this, and though Pussy's composure is maintained inside you can guarantee he is reading 1000 different meanings into every millisecond. Grabbing another drink, Tony considers the potential charge: Murder in aid of racketeering. Pussy lifts his drink, noting it'll mean 20-to-life, but Tony is in no mood to joke. Paulie and Furio arrive, the former having pumped his police source for information and it isn't good. Tony, in no mood for Paulie's usual dramatics, grabs him by the collar and demands he just loving tell him what he knows. Paulie takes no offense this time, unlike the instance in an earlier episode where Tony thought he might have killed Pussy, telling him to take it easy and assuring him it is fixable. He's established there is no rat ("Thank God," notes Pussy, with double-meaning) but there is an eyeball witness, a statement that causes Tony to completely lose his poo poo. AN EYEBALL WITNESS? He kicks the counter and demands to know if Pussy saw anyone, and he assures him he didn't. Paulie again tries to calm him, this is only a bump in the road, an assurance that does little to calm Tony down. The eyewitness is a civilian, nobody connected to them in any way, which will make it more difficult for them to find him. Furio makes the reasonable suggestion that Tony should go on the run for a little while and Pussy agrees, saying he keeps a suitcase in his trunk in case of an emergency like this. He doesn't appreciate Paulie cracking a joke about that ("loving bygones are never bygones"), but Tony has no intention of just disappearing into the night. He has to make plans, he has to put things into motion. He needs to move cash, he isn't going to go on the run with nothing, he's taking a fat package of cash with him. He doesn't want to end up like Mickey Massucco, who only got 5 minutes warning and ended up in a fleabag hotel in Elvis Country. As Paulie attempts to explain Elvis Country to a confused Furio (No Jews or Italians), Davey Scatino emerges from nowhere to rant about his own problems. Pussy yells at him to get back into his office, something that would be to all their benefit, but Davey means to vent. He's just opened his mail and there's a lawsuit, a lien on the building itself. Tony, trying his best to keep his temper, quietly tells him now isn't the time, but Davey has gotten started and he isn't going to stop. He wails that they're going to shut down the store, they're gonna figure out he was committing fraud, he's gonna go to jail! "Get the f-GET THE gently caress BACK IN YOUR loving HOLE!" screams Tony, losing his poo poo at last, lunging in Davey's direction. All anger gone and replaced by terror, Davey retreats in a panic into his office, watched with great pleasure by Paulie. Tony stands in the sudden quiet of the store, his anger temporarily sated, and offers the most hilarious piece of belated and inappropriate encouragement of the episode,"Davey.... you're doing a good job!" Returning to the others, they promise him they'll find the witness and deal with it. Pussy agrees with Furio's endorsement and Paulie accuses him of not understanding it (it was said in Italian). Pussy snaps back that he did, and when pressed for a translation grabs a giant dart and sits it means to sit on this, cocksucker! Everybody starts laughing, including Tony, who can't believe he's five minutes away from going to prison for the rest of his life and he's laughing. Paulie is correct when he notes that in a situation like this, you have to laugh. The next day at Vesuvio's, Carmela and Christine have lunch where they discuss how Davey is NOT doing a good job. They commiserate over how romantic their men are BEFORE they marry, but when Carmela comes somewhat to Davey's defense by saying he's probably just busy at work, Christine won't have it. Davey's an addict, he has a disease, and the only upside to it she can think of is that the store itself is in her name, so at least it's protected from him selling it and they'll be able to rely on it to get them through this tough patch. As if the universe was mocking her (thanks whoever I stole that line from), Artie immediately arrives to offer them a special tasting menu and then insists they drink Ramlösa instead of the Pellegrino they ordered, because he got a GREAT deal on it! Once Artie is gone they discuss Vic, and if Carmela was horny for him before she's doubly so when she discovers his life is straight out a Romance novel: he's a widower who was devoted to his wife who died of breast cancer, and now he is all alone and in need of a good woman to help make him whole again!   At home, Tony stops AJ on his way out the door to show him a fishing rod he just got for him (presumably from In therapy, Tony talks about how Meadow did the same thing as AJ at his age: boys and girls would all go out together in a group instead of one-on-one. It isn't something he understands, in his day a boy and a girl went on a date and your father hoped you wouldn't get far enough along to knock her up and face the wrath of her parents. But Melfi knows it isn't about AJ going with a group instead of on a date, it's about the fact he wanted to be with his friends instead of with Tony himself. Tony admits this is something that happens once you reach a certain age, but laments all those years of thinking he had plenty of time to do things with AJ but put them off for one reason or another, and now the opportunities might be gone. Melfi doesn't let him be too down on himself though, he's recounted many times he spent time with AJ, he hasn't been an absent father figure in his life. She assumes that Tony's current melancholy is overblown, while it is a bittersweet time where you enjoy seeing them grow but are sad to lose them, it isn't like he'll be gone from his life. But Tony has a deeper reason and she can sense he's hiding it, and finally he admits he may soon be going away for a long time. He of course insists it is for something he didn't do, and gets mad that she doesn't commiserate with him. Wary of crossing any lines again, she reminds him they can't discuss specifics, which makes him madder because he didn't do anything wrong (apart from murder somebody!) but is going to be punished for it anyway, and she's saying they can't talk about it? He could go to prison for the rest of his life and she doesn't think this is a suitable conversation between psychiatrist and patient? Nervous, uncertain, she braces herself and tries to approach it professionally. How does it make him feel? Clearly in the bargaining stage, he eventually explains that he has to stay around longer for the kids, but once they're off to College and his job is "done" then they can throw him in jail forever and he won't protest. But he has to stick around a few more years for AJ to get through, that's all. Which is bullshit of course, this is him not only trying to escape punishment for a crime but trying to make himself out to be a self-sacrificing hero in the process. Melfi comments that he is scared and he insists that isn't the right word, but as he struggles to think of the right word to say he begins snarling,"You motherfuckers, you motherfuckers!" upsetting her as she braces for an eruption of anger and perhaps physical violence. Struggling to bring himself back under control, he growls that he doesn't deserve this, unknowingly mirroring the same type of thinking that Davey has probably been suffering through for weeks now. Bringing himself under control, he doesn't answer when she asks him timidly how his medication is going and finally she admits defeat, suggesting they stop for the day. Today's session hasn't helped either of them, and set them back significantly in their attempts to re-establish professional norms in their psychiatrist/patient relationship.
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May 7, 2019 14:19
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That night in Davey's store, Paulie is trying on shoes he has no intention of paying for when Tony arrives for an update. Paulie's news is that there is no news, the FBI are keeping all information on this witness wrapped up tight, no local cops know anything and they have no "In" to the FBI (Larry Boy Barese had somebody, but he's in prison). Tony, who has vented some of his anger and frustration in his therapy session (maybe it wasn't a complete waste) maintains his cool and tells Paulie to go home and get some sleep. He assures him he just needs time to think and sends him on his way, then wanders about the empty store which is a complete mess, all semblance of any order long since gone. As he walks though, he spots a pair of shoes outside a tent and notices an arm through the see-through mesh, and approaches carefully to see who is inside... it's Davey Scatino. Yes he's sleeping here now, and when Tony echoes back Davey's question about what he is doing there in the middle of the night, Davey does point out that, you know, it is his store after all. Tony, with no consideration for his own culpability, comments on what a pigsty his store has become. Davey doesn't answer the insult, just informs him the airline tickets came, would he like him to split them between him and Richie? Tony grunts that it was his idea so they tickets are all his. Settling onto one of the benches, Tony commiserates with Davey that sometimes finding somewhere else to crash is easier than going home. Strolling down memory lane, Tony warmly recalls when he first met Davey in 10th grade, when he transferred in as a military brat. Davey smiles at the memory himself and also warmly recalls a time when Tony got surrounded by "those Paterson Guidos" and Davey tossed a rock at a guy to chase him off. Tony - cold as ice - immediately cuts him off, knowing exactly what he is doing, warning him not to reminisce with him. That is something Tony can do with Davey, but not the other way around. Davey considers this for a second and then, as all gambling addicts eventually do when they hit rock bottom, reviews the terrible and often easily avoided mistakes he made to get into the situation. He asked to be in The Executive Game, Tony declined and warned him off and he still insisted on joining. Just like most gambling addicts, he then blames somebody else for HIS mistakes: why did Tony let him do it? Only half-joking, Tony points out he knew Davey had this business and his own nature meant he had to do it: it's like the frog and the scorpion. He points out that if Davey had won, it would have been Tony crying the blues (which is bullshit, the house always wins) and is surprised when Davey asks how all this ends. Somehow Davey hasn't figured this out yet, and he breaks down when Tony explains it to him like a child: it's planned bankruptcy. They extend multiple lines of credit, bring in a ton of products they have no intention of paying for, take those products with them while the poor sucker left holding the bag loses everything he has left to the liquidators. Tony, who to be fair is facing a lifetime in prison, is upset that Davey is upset, pointing out that once Davey is picked clean... he's free to start a new life and move on with a clean slate, his debt (to them) paid. In spite of Tony facing a potential life sentence (or execution), his thoughtlessness in regards to Davey's emotional state really is quite chilling. AJ places third in his swim meet, cheered on by an excited Carmela who eagerly agrees with him that he would have had a second place finish if he hadn't banged his foot. AJ notices Tony isn't there and she explains that though he tried his best to make it, but he had a last minute important meeting he simply couldn't get out of. This was the last swim meet of the season though, but Carmela assures him he will be back next season to watch of course. He seemingly accepts this easily enough, but like Tony said last episode, AJ is just like Tony: he internalizes his reactions and then explodes later. Carmela can tell this has upset him, and she's upset herself, all that bullshit about an important meeting she just made up, she has no idea where Tony is. He is actually in an important meeting, though he hasn't told anybody that. Visiting Mink, he brings him a bag stuffed full of cash, just over $400,000. If he has to go on the run, the money is in place for Carmela. She will show up once a week to collect an allowance, no questions asked, never refused. If she shows up wanting more than the allowance, he'll give it to her. If she shows up wanting all of it at once, he'll give it to her. She won't, because she's smart, but it'll be her money to make her own decisions with. It's an enormous show of faith in Carmela, which would be nice if it wasn't for the fact that he hasn't told her any of this and won't unless he feels it is absolutely necessary. Mink's only question is what if Tony is gone longer than the money lasts? Tony assures him that won't be an issue, the witness can't remain nameless forever. "I didn't hear that," is Mink's response, he's far more flexible when it comes to any legal requirement to inform police of a planned crime than Melfi is. At home that evening, AJ is playing videogames again and sullenly goes to bed only after Tony has to tell him twice. He's confused when Carmela asks if he apologized, and she reminds him of the swim meet he promised to attend. He'd completely forgotten, of course, which outrages her even more, how could he forget? She tells him how AJ's face fell when he realized Tony wasn't there, and Tony complains he saw AJ's face when he wanted to go to the mall with his friends instead of a movie with his dad. Carmela is disgusted, is Tony 6 years old? That's his excuse? He complains he only said he would TRY to be there and she demands to know what his problem is. The whole week he's been acting weird and she wants to know why. Just like Davey, he not only refuses to tell his wife (for her own good, I'm sure they both justify) but he gets angry when she doesn't understand the problems that HE won't tell her about. She asks if he was visiting Christopher in the hospital and doesn't believe him when he agrees, saying it can't have been more important than spending time with his son and showing he cares. He snaps sarcastically that only she cares (doesn't she know he just put 400k aside for her? Well... no, because he hasn't told her) and she loses her poo poo, absolutely sick of his attitude. She lunges at him and flails her arms, he easily blocking her and laughing, genuinely amused and trying to figure out what she hell she thinks she is doing. He has no idea what she is going through, and even if he did he'd consider it lesser than his own problems (which he refuses to tell her about). He shoves her onto the couch and stands and watches as she rushes away stifling sobs and retreats up the stairs, and he tries to settle into the chair to read his paper like nothing is wrong. He can't of course, now that she's gone the facade drops and he's just lift wallowing in his self-inflicted misery. Late into the night, Meadow quietly sneaks back into the house and grabs herself a drink from the fridge. She's startled by Tony's voice and turns on the light, discovering he's sitting at the table, drunk as a skunk having polished off at least half a bottle of some sort of wine. Her initial pleasant surprise to see him is replaced by concern and mild disgust, what the hell is he doing? He insists she come sit with him a minute before going online with her friends (the new mall). He asks what is going on with her, disappointed when she responds in typical snarky teenage fashion she already told him: the chatroom. She wants to go but before he'll let her he embarrasses her by asking a typical drunk question: does she know he loves her? He doesn't let her brush it off though, insisting she answer. Does she know? "Yes" she responds at last, making him smile. He complains that Carmela doesn't think he loves them enough (she never said that, what an rear end in a top hat) and then goes into drunken justifications once more: everything he does, has done and ever will do, he does for them. He tells her she's more like him than Carmela, giving himself a roundabout pat on the back by saying nothing gets by her. Unfortunately for him, that's somewhat true, because as he delves deeper into drunken self-pity by talking about how he knows she thinks he's a hypocrite, she's had enough and tells him she's going to bed. She suggests, not unkindly, that he also go to bed, but he slurs out that he intends to finish his drink first. As she prepares to go, she can't help but offer him a final kind word: sometimes, they're all hypocrites.   Another day, a song by Journey (no, not that one) plays on the radio as Vic and his assistant Ramone wallpaper the dining room in the Soprano house. Tony watches Vic appreciatively, sub(?)consciously comparing this manly, loving, emotionally open man to her closed down husband. She asks him if she'd like to have this spare cooler she has (yes, from [s]Davey[s]Christine's store) since he said Ramone accidentally backed over his. Vic, a twinkle in his eye, admitted he lied about that because he smelled the sausages she was making and wanted her to make him lunch. She's charmed (and horny as gently caress) and even more so when he brings up the subject of his wife, not hiding it from her. Changing the subject, she asks if he has a moment to look at her powder room as she's thinking of making a change too. Stepping into the toilet, Vic is all professional as he considers the vertical striping and how it makes the room feel closed in. She closes the door behind them to show how it even takes up the back of the door too, and now they're alone in the enclosed space, drawing closer as they talk until finally the inevitable happens and they kiss. Passionately. Hell yes, Carmela. Finally Carmela pulls away and he doesn't resist, both of them horrified and horny and apologetic and desperate for more and insistent it'll never happen again and hopeful that it will. He quickly scrambles out of the room, leaving her behind flushed and feeling a mixture of guilt and pleasure. More thought and guilt has gone into that single kiss than anything Tony has ever felt with his many affairs. Junior, supposed Boss of the DiMeo Crime Family, is stuck at home hate-watching The Bold and the Beautiful when Janice and Richie come by to visit. Janice has brought by some groceries and Richie has brought some stuff from Davey's store. He's grateful but his face falls when Janice mentions that Livia sends her love, which he lets go without comment. He tells Richie to dump everything else in his room but leave the sneakers, explaining he's going to give them to "the black kid I let wash my car", he noticed his shoes are wrapped with duct tape so he might as well take advantage of Davey's misfortune. As Richie settles onto the couch, Junior overhears the TV and becomes pissed off, one of the girls said she was knocked up? With nothing to do all day and unable to get out he's gotten wrapped up in the stories despite hating the show (any kid born before widespread internet who took a few sick days off school probably experienced this watching daytime soaps with their mother) but if you don't pay attention they spring this kind of thing on you! He turns off the TV and tells Richie to thank Tony for the stuff. Richie points out it actually all comes out of his end, outside of the sneakers which came from Tony. As Junior adjusts and grunts about his hip, Richie quietly brings up once again his derision for Tony as Boss, making a point of having Junior "force" it out of him. Richie finally, "reluctantly" admits that Tony is loving Junior over and that upsets him: The store bustout is a license to make money and Junior gets some sneakers? Junior's townships on the garbage routes have gone to Tony who is now loving with Richie's too? In spite of Junior's warnings that there's nothing he can do, Richie insists on continuing: they both know that Tony has to go. When Junior insists on his loyalty and is outraged at this statement, Richie reminds him of the failed assassination, they both know Tony was supposed to be dead on Midland Avenue a year ago, so there is no use pretending the idea hasn't occurred to Junior before as well. But here is where we see Junior's growth, or at least that he's smart enough to learn from his experiences. Instead of talking about Tony, he talks about Janice. It's not ramblings, it's not a diversion. Junior Sopranos got played by Livia last season and it cost him almost everything, including his life. Now here is Richie, who showed up hot but quickly fell into line due to his "Old School" mentality... but now he's openly discussing going against the Boss again? Junior knows exactly who has been dripping poison in Richie's ear, and tells a story about Janice stealing from his wallet when she was only 10-years-old. The implication is clear: she's not somebody who should be trusted, not somebody who should be listened to, not somebody you should be looking to for guidance. That's where he leaves it, and Richie doesn't push it any further. He doesn't have to, because even though Junior has recognized Janice's (to be fair, far cruder than Livia's) manipulation, a seed has been planted by this conversation, an idea has burrowed its way into his brain.  It must be April 1st, because Meadow Soprano has her mail and it is a pile of response letters from some of the colleges she applied to. With great anticipation, she opens each one up and reads the news, thrilling as she realizes that she has been accepted to both the University of Berkeley (her first choice) and New York University. All her hard work, the intense studying, the long hours and pressure and extra curricular activities and speed she took have paid off: she's been accepted to two of the most prestigious Universities she could have hoped for. At Livia's, she sits in the lounge watching television (nothing in her room yet, apparently), no soaps for her but ridiculous infomercials she is probably also hate-watching. Meadow - who barely saw her in the hospital despite insisting nothing could keep them apart - arrives and gives her a start, and she just immediately launches into a complaint about Janice not locking the door, even though Livia doesn't trust the new mailman (she didn't trust the previous one either, and almost burned down her kitchen as a result!). Meadow gives her a kiss and the delivery of the good news, and for once Livia is selflessly excited to hear the good news. Meadow has been accepted to Berkeley, NYU and BU, waitlisted at Columbia, rejected from Penn State and Bowdoin. Livia asks about Georgetown, displaying she has at least kept up on Meadow's applications/interests, and learns that she was waitlisted (so much for Carmela's "help"), and immediately waves them off dismissively and says Meadow doesn't owe them anything. It's true, she doesn't, she was accepted to three very good Universities, she has her pick of where she could possibly go. More to the point, she did good and now she gets a reward, and Livia takes great pleasure (as does Meadow) in handing over some cash.... and that's it, Meadow is straight out the door again and Livia doesn't seem in the least concerned about her sudden departure, apart from reminding her to lock the door as she goes. Carmela sits in the dining room looking at the job Vic and Ramone did, listening once against to Andrea Bocelli's Con te partirò, and probably thinking about nothing BUT Vic. The phone rings and she answers, and it is the man himself. He's calling from his car, wanting to apologize for his behavior this morning. She assures him they're both equally at fault and there is no need to apologize, it was just a crazy thing. Mindful of any potential awkwardness, he suggests he could go to another job he has lined up in Wyckoff and leave Ramone to finish up the last of what needs to be done with her. She considers that and suggests an alternative, maybe Ramone could go to Wyckoff and he could come alone? While she's probably not consciously thinking it (or dismissing the thought as a silly fantasy) and he is probably in the same boat, the implication is clear: the two can be alone together in the house where nobody else is around to see, hear or judge what they do together. It is the closest Carmela has ever come to actively pursuing an extra-marital affair, and on some level she knows it as she changes her tone and delivery as she sees Meadow approaching, becoming far more business-like and abrupt as she says goodbye. Her clear enthusiasm as she described the lunch she would make for Vic must have come through though, because Meadow is left pondering why Carmela was acting like one of her schoolfriends with a crush while talking to the wallpaper man. But nevermind that, because here's one of the most amazing scenes the show has ever done. It features Mr. Arthur, the resolute citizen from the start of the episode. I won't bother describing the scene because words simply don't do it justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mckbLaZ9XI Okay gently caress it, here are some words anyway because I love it so much. What a masterclass in constructing a scene. The acting, the writing, the music (oh God, the music), the wardrobe, the props. In just over a minute we have these people's entire lives mapped out for us: their neuroses, their "class", their passive-aggressive relationship, their smug self-satisfaction, their education, their hypocrisy. They are terrible people in an entirely different way to the likes of Tony and his ilk. Judgmental, smug and superior, convinced of their own moral strength of character but crumbling at the first sign of personal risk. The guitar set up in a prominent position is surely decorative, if it has ever been played it would be to strum a few notes of something painfully obscure. I don't know which of the three writers who made this episode is to credit for this scene, but I want to give them a big sloppy kiss on the mouth.  A different kind of terrible person is drowning his sorrows at the bar. Davey Scatino is a broken man, drinking heavily as Vic Musto arrives to deal not for the first time with his pathetic sadsack of a brother-in-law. Davey called him, much to his relief as Christine has been worried sick as he's been gone for days. Vic assures him Christine already knows he's been gambling again, but Davey assures him that this isn't the case: how can he gamble? He's broke! Vic is disgusted as Davey starts sobbing about how he screwed up, but he swallows that down to lay out what they'll do next. They'll get him back into Gamblers Anonymous, work out a payment plan and slowly get him back up on his feet. He's pissed that Davey laughs at the idea, even more pissed with Davey blames him and Christine for not being there for him when he fell off the wagon (never thinking that hiding his gambling from them meant they couldn't help). Davey, perhaps looking to vent or maybe hoping Vic will just beat his brains in and end his miserable existence, continues insulting Christine but Vic doesn't rise to the bait, ignoring these distractions to demand facts from him: How much did he lose? Davey's own rage disappears into self-pity again as he admits he lost everything: the savings, the business, everything. Vic is horrified, and lays down an ultimatum: once they've packed Eric off to college - he got into Georgetown, by the way, no waitlist, no forced letter of recommendation, but Davey didn't even know it - then Davey is packing his things and getting the gently caress out of Christine's life forever. But when Davey somehow becomes even more broken down, a horrible thought surfaces in Vic's mind that is soon confirmed: Davey bet Eric's college fund as well. Revolted by the depths Davey could sink to, far beyond anything Vic thought even he was capable of, he refuses to allow Davey's weakness to ruin his nephew's life. Though he's far from wealthy, he declares he will pay for Eric's education, and Davey is pathetically grateful that this at least has not been ruined. He thanks Vic, calling him a great man, but now that the horror of Davey blowing Eric's college fund is past, something else is niggling at Vic: how could he gamble away the business, it was in Christine's name? Davey has to admit another new low, he didn't gamble the business away exactly, he just got in debt to "some bad people" who used his debt to force their way in as partners to run his business into the ground before leaving him to deal with the liquidators. One of those "bad people" was Tony Soprano, a name that Vic knows but hadn't really truly grasped the dangers of in spite of Christine's warning. Displaying naivete, Vic asks if they can go to the cops, an idea Davey rejects, explaining how they set fire to his dumpster, how he got visited in the middle of the night by two guys with "dead eyes" that made him realize he was a dead man if he didn't play ball.   He's a gambling addict, and so applying reason is somewhat of a fool's errand. But it is interesting to consider that Davey had multiple outs at every single step along the way, and the primary one was that if at any point he'd told Christine he could have salvaged something, if not for himself then at least for her and Eric. First of all he shouldn't have borrowed money from Richie, then he should have heeded Tony's warning about The Executive Game. Both of them turned him down (Richie more than Tony) knowing a degenerate like himself would just take that as bait, but he had that choice. When he went 50-60k into the hole combined to Tony and Richie, he could have come clean with Christine, which would at least have protected the business as she could have removed him from any authority within it. He could have sold their cars (not just given Tony Eric's), their pool table or any of their other little luxuries to raise the cash. He could have asked Vic to help pay the money back. He could have sold the house, cleared the debt, paid as much of the mortgage as possible and downsized/rented. Yes it would have probably lead to divorce, but instead he let them strip everything from his family. And for what? To preserve his fragile sense of ego? His idea that he was the man of the house and the guy who had to take on the weight of all these (self-inflicted) problems, much like Tony and his attempts to salvage his situation? The mad Gambler's idea all addicts face on their way to rock bottom that they can somehow figure out a way to get out of this free and clear with none the wiser of what they caused? Davey Scatino is a perfect representation of a gambling addict? If you're unfortunate enough to have had one in your family, you'll recognize so much truth in Robert Patrick's performance. If you're lucky enough to have had one in your life who actually got help and some level of recovery, count yourself lucky because as bad as it got it could have been worse. At home, Tony gets the kind of call that Davey dreamed of, the sudden salvation from impending doom that almost never comes. While watching a History Channel documentary on Patton and his own attempts to pull himself out of a mire of his own creation, Tony gets a call from Paulie. In typical Paulie fashion, he happily explains,"You know that other party who said he saw something that we know didn't happen? He realizes now he didn't see what we know didn't happen." Tony lets this sink in, a great wave of relief washing through his body as Paulie tells him to sleep well. Tony hangs up and, tears welling in his eyes, looks down at AJ on the floor doing his homework, pausing to look up at him with a smile. Tony moves into the bathroom with the vertical stripes, but he doesn't feel closed in, he feels free as a bird. He came within a whisker of life in prison and then for no reason he understands, he is suddenly in the clear. A momentary sob escapes him, and then a huge grin crosses his face, he gambled... and he won. In therapy, his good mood continues and he insists to Melfi that he's telling the truth when he says he has no idea why the witness suddenly pulled out and recanted his statement to the police. In a good-natured way, he takes exception to Melfi's unspoken suggestion that he's lying about that. He tells her about Italy and Annalisa, saying she reminded him of Melfi, bringing up that she called him his own worst enemy. Unknowingly echoing Tony, Melfi points out this is a bit of cliche but promises she isn't being disparaging. Tony admits though that Annalisa was a "witchy broad" and in Italy they believe some weird poo poo, though he doesn't go into the burning fingernails. He admits he wanted to gently caress Annalisa (after telling Melfi she reminded him of her) but pushes past that to note she was right, he IS his own worst enemy. He brought his latest round of troubles on himself, something he is able to recognize even if only belatedly. Melfi asks the pertinent question, how does he stop himself from doing that? He considers, but then cheerily decides he isn't going to worry about that today. He dodged a bullet, a big one, so today is a day to celebrate, he's had enough therapy for now. With that, he's out the door and she doesn't stop him. But he's not entirely right, because his next stop is to see Beansie in the hospital where he makes a desperate attempt to offload the guilt he still feels about walking about free as a bird while others around him have suffered. He's brought Beansie $50,000, not for him (he knew Beansie would reject it as charity) but so he can donate it to the Spinal Cord Injury Foundation and enjoy the goodwill that comes from it. It's a way for Tony to try and mitigate his guilt towards Beansie (and perhaps Davey, probably not) and his guilt in general. Except Beansie isn't interested, despite a warm greeting he takes offense to the idea of being used as a trophy to make others feel "inspired" by him while also taking pity on him. Tony tries to explain what he means but Beansie isn't interested, so Tony insists again, all smiles and cheer but growing increasingly desperate and more and more adamant. It's a different tack to how Richie did things, but the message is the same: do as I tell you or else. Beansie finally relents, clearly upset and not at all happy about the situation... but Tony leaves with a spring in his step, all his guilt (temporarily) gone as he gleefully marches away having left another broken person in his wake, completely unaware of the damage he has caused to get his own way yet again after already getting away with literal murder.   Carmela is preparing a very special lunch for two that is nothing out of the ordinary and completely normal when the doorbell rings. She asks Lilliana to get it, then quickly gets her apron off and checks her makeup, hair and clothes before heading to greet the man who walks through the door... Ramone. Seeing her empty, confused smile he explains Vic had to go to the other job, and after a moment she pretends that's perfectly fine and sends him through to complete the job. At Ramsey Outdoor (a note in the credits is at pains to point out this was a real location but NOT representative of what actually happens at Ramsey Outdoor stores!) the liquidators have arrived, clearing what little stock is left out as a big For Lease sign is put on the now locked doors. Davey Scatino has been Bust Out, he's "free" now. Tony finally gets his fishing trip with AJ, a smile on his face and a song in his heart as he teases his son about taking the wheel of the ship before relenting him and letting him in. As he gives instructions, he ups the throttle and father and son race through the water, having a loving blast as they knock over a couple fishermen in a small boat with their wake. Why the hell not? Why should driving this boat with his son be any different to everything else Tony does in life? He doesn't even notice them and neither does AJ, the only thing on their minds their own pleasure. Season 2: Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office... | Do Not Resuscitate | Toodle-loving-Oo | Commendatori | Big Girls Don't Cry | The Happy Wanderer | D-Girl | Full Leather Jacket | From Where to Eternity | Bust Out | House Arrest | The Knight in White Satin Armor | Funhouse Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Aug 15, 2020 |
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May 7, 2019 14:19
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If you were to tell me that the series never reached the heights it did here, I wouldn't really disagree. What I really dig is how cagey Junior actually is as opposed to how cagey Richie thinks he's trying to be (and it's all Janice, and she's not). While it's clear Junior isn't any kind of OC savant, he does have the benefit of decades of experience. The scene after Richie fumbles the pitch to Ally Boy is especially great. Only just now with the WASP family did I notice what the dad is reading. Oh, my goodness.
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May 7, 2019 15:26
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 Completely forgot about this, LMAO
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May 7, 2019 17:31
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Tony and AJ capsizing the little boat is the perfect encapsulation of the rest of the episode and indeed their whole lives. Excellent summary. I lose it at GET THE gently caress BACK IN YOUR loving HOLE, NOW
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May 7, 2019 19:15
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Jerusalem posted:But nevermind that, because here's one of the most amazing scenes the show has ever done. It features Mr. Arthur, the resolute citizen from the start of the episode. I won't bother describing the scene because words simply don't do it justice: This is one of the most frequent scenes I've seen mentioned. I've heard hearsay that after season 1 David Chase was getting so disgusted with people telling him how much they loved Tony Soprano and what a great guy he was and that was the basis for that scene; middle class people fascinated with cinematic violence who poo poo their pants at a hint of real life crime involving them.
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May 7, 2019 20:13
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Awesome writeup for one of my favourite episodes. Definitely deserves two posts. I love the ubiquity of the fruits of bust-out throughout the episode- when Richie comes to visit Junior, he brings one of the red coolers, and Junior is already drinking a Ramlosa. The scene with the Arthurs at home is stunningly well done. We really do know everything there is to know about these folks with just a slow pan.
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May 7, 2019 23:23
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Vichan posted:
Just remembered when Artie starts wearing one earring. 
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May 8, 2019 00:00
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COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:I love the ubiquity of the fruits of bust-out throughout the episode- when Richie comes to visit Junior, he brings one of the red coolers, and Junior is already drinking a Ramlosa. Yeah it's everywhere, almost never really brought to attention, but it just permeates everywhere. It is actually almost cruel to see Christine's blissful ignorance of just how vulnerable she is while thrilling to the special treatment Artie is giving them, including water he got a deal on from the mob tearing apart HER store. Tony forcing Beansie to make HIM feel better about himself is really incredible and almost comes out of nowhere, and I love it so much. He really is a despicable piece of garbage.
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May 8, 2019 00:09
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BiggerBoat posted:Also, that Bevalcqua kid (the actor who played him) wound up as much of a gently caress up as his character. Some local morons actually celebrated his release by igniting a huge explosion near the scene of the murder. https://nypost.com/2013/12/30/panic-after-huge-fireworks-explosion-in-bronx/ https://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2014/2/02_boom_2014_01_09_bx.html I was about two miles away when this thing went off. I didn't learn what it was til later, but at the time, it sounded like it was right outside my window.
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May 8, 2019 00:15
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COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:I love the ubiquity of the fruits of bust-out throughout the episode- when Richie comes to visit Junior, he brings one of the red coolers, and Junior is already drinking a Ramlosa. "I got SUCH a deal on these Ramlosas."
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May 8, 2019 03:34
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How much money does Tony have, roughly? He gives the lawyer 400k for Carmella, which doesn't seem like that much based on their life. He gives Beansie 50k. A few episodes after this he won't give meadow's school 50k, but he has 5k In his pocket!I There's also the later storyline about money in the AC unit, i think that's 200k. I assume he must have maybe a million, maybe 1.5 or so?
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May 8, 2019 03:35
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Borrowed Ladder posted:How much money does Tony have, roughly? He gives the lawyer 400k for Carmella, which doesn't seem like that much based on their life. He gives Beansie 50k. A few episodes after this he won't give meadow's school 50k, but he has 5k In his pocket!I In a later season Hesh says he doubts if Tony has 1m to his name because of how he spends and gambles.
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May 8, 2019 03:58
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He also owns a boat which is like throwing piles of money down the drain.
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May 8, 2019 04:07
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The house where the Apriles live was originally supposed to be the Soprano house, but it didn't have a pool for what at the time was a key plot point (the ducks). That house is more realistic for what Tony probably earns.
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May 8, 2019 06:17
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Interesting since I don’t think we actually see the Aprile house until well into season 3 unless I’m forgetting something.
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May 8, 2019 06:23
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Solice Kirsk posted:In a later season Hesh says he doubts if Tony has 1m to his name because of how he spends and gambles. It's kinda fun to think about how he believes Johnny Boy left Livia with nothing, and though he probably bases a large part on something Livia might have said about it I wouldn't be surprised if he also believed it because Livia still lived in the little family home (like Junior) and didn't have a ton of luxury items to flaunt, which he associates with money/success.
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May 8, 2019 08:56
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Solice Kirsk posted:In a later season Hesh says he doubts if Tony has 1m to his name because of how he spends and gambles. I thought he guessed "3". In any event, that reminded me of probably the only other "forced" plot point in this show: Tony's seemingly out of nowhere severe gambling problem. Nothing in the other seasons suggests this is a problem or even that Tony gambles much at all then all of a sudden he's letting it ride constantly and borrowing money.
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May 8, 2019 13:44
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Wasn't that his way of dealing with Chris?
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May 8, 2019 13:50
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BiggerBoat posted:In any event, that reminded me of probably the only other "forced" plot point in this show: Tony's seemingly out of nowhere severe gambling problem. Nothing in the other seasons suggests this is a problem or even that Tony gambles much at all then all of a sudden he's letting it ride constantly and borrowing money. And you even get that bit in the flashback where Johnny Boy tells Tony to never gamble and a man honors his debts, and then we think Tony follows that (even the debt part in his own way) until he's suddenly off the deep end. Like I was under the impression whenever they went up to the Native American casino they were mostly getting comped.
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May 8, 2019 14:35
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Solice Kirsk posted:Wasn't that his way of dealing with Chris? I think so and if it is that way, I have a friend whose brother died unexpectedly in his 30's and he developed a prescription med addiction and a gambling addiction in the aftermath. Rings true to me, especially since Tony must obviously feel incredible guilt.
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May 8, 2019 18:42
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Dawgstar posted:Like I was under the impression whenever they went up to the Native American casino they were mostly getting comped. Only the first time because he wanted Tony to get Frankie Valli to play at the Casino.
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May 8, 2019 21:40
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Dawgstar posted:And you even get that bit in the flashback where Johnny Boy tells Tony to never gamble and a man honors his debts, and then we think Tony follows that (even the debt part in his own way) until he's suddenly off the deep end. Like I was under the impression whenever they went up to the Native American casino they were mostly getting comped. If I'm not mistaken the gambling thing was introduced during the "half" season that was created as a semi compromise/contractual thing or something. It was loaded with filler and I don't think Chase's heart was in it. Even though I enjoyed it, "Season 6.5" or whatever it was, felt shoe horned in and was kind of meandering. Think it ran 6 episodes. The real beauty of this show, and most great TV shows (The Wire, Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under...hell, I'll throw Daredevil in there) lies not only with the acting but the way they're able to write each character as simultaneously sympathetic and loathsome, with hypocrisy and conflicting selfish motivations mostly shown and not told. No one is perfect and they're all sinners, to one degree or another. Some to extreme degrees. You can find yourself rooting for Tony, Chris, Furio or pretty much anyone at any given time and then be brought around to being horrified at the same people. You can feel sorry for someone in one scene and shocked at their behavior the next. The kind of shows that make you interrupt and comment while you're watching them with someone, often to their consternation, are a sign that what you're watching is good. The writing is rarely predictable, rote, cliched, over the top or ham fisted. Humor is used sparingly and to great effect. The show is not about "who gets whacked" but "who does what and why?" The violence, sex and immorality are tertiary to the larger arc of each and every character and never gratuitous. It must have been a JOY to be an actor on this show with so much depth and inherent character motivation to work with along with believable and relatable dialogue. All the actors who worked on the show seem to echo this sentiment. I know we haven't gotten to Pussy's killing yet but a good example of what I'm talking about is when Vincent Pastore tries to spin his working as an informant as a net positive, desperately trying to save his life. "This disinformation thing....it's a loving ace!" is just perfect and the body language, the build up and the emoting in that scene is peak Sopranos. jase1 posted:I know this is a few pages back but the fee for playing in the game is something I have never heard of and I play in big games all the time. It’s mostly just the rake and that’s 10% of the pot up to a set amount. So if it’s small stakes and you are playing Texas hold me with $1/$2 blinds usually the rake would be 5 bucks for 50 and under and if the pot gets over 100 it’s another 5 or sometimes in smaller games it’s just 5%. If it’s 10 percent I expect food and drinks and massage girls. I assume in that game they were taking roughly around $100 rake per hand. You'd know more than me so I'll take your word for it. I think I conflated a buy in fee with the automatic percentage that went to the house. I knew the host got something for running the game along with the interest for any loans or what have you. I thought if you bought, say, a thousand boxes of ziti, the house kept 50, win or lose. No?
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May 9, 2019 01:32
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Is there an episode where Melfi's ex husband is angry that people like Tony give Italian-Americans a bad reputation and Melfi puts him in his place about it? I mean I think that was his general sentiment but I remember an episode where it was an explicit plot point.
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May 9, 2019 06:42
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Yep, in his very first appearance in season one's The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti he goes off on a rant about Italian American pride, and his appearances afterwards tend to revolve around similar tirades. He was one of a few characters that seemed to be present to further David Chase ripping on some of the critics of Sopranos who claimed it gave Italian Americans a bad name.
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May 9, 2019 07:10
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That's the one. Thanks!
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May 9, 2019 07:22
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BiggerBoat posted:The real beauty of this show, and most great TV shows (The Wire, Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under...hell, I'll throw Daredevil in there) lies not only with the acting but the way they're able to write each character as simultaneously sympathetic and loathsome, with hypocrisy and conflicting selfish motivations mostly shown and not told. No one is perfect and they're all sinners, to one degree or another. Some to extreme degrees. You can find yourself rooting for Tony, Chris, Furio or pretty much anyone at any given time and then be brought around to being horrified at the same people. What's interesting is if you hear Chase speak about the characters, he doesn't really sound like he finds them sympathetic or even particularly deep.
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May 9, 2019 09:56
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Pedro De Heredia posted:What's interesting is if you hear Chase speak about the characters, he doesn't really sound like he finds them sympathetic or even particularly deep. Has there been a show runner who's more unequivocal in their "I'm glad you like this show, but these are bad people who should not be idolized in any regard"?
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May 9, 2019 13:42
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Dawgstar posted:Has there been a show runner who's more unequivocal in their "I'm glad you like this show, but these are bad people who should not be idolized in any regard"? He was almost forced into that position by idiot fans though. The Sopranos was definitely the "Who gets whacked this week?" show for a lot of people during the years that it was actually airing, and most of the media coverage reflected that. I imagine with everything going on in the show, for it to be reduced to that in people's minds must have been frustrating for Chase. There was also a secondary group of equally annoying people who were like Mafia fetishists or something, they would obsessively remember every little minor character and where they were in the hierarchy of which Family etc. These types were annoying as hell because if you tried to converse with them about the show they'd get all high and mighty that you couldn't remember every tiny detail of which guy is in that crew and all that stuff. The Sopranos had some lovely fans.
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May 9, 2019 14:18
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my family has seen the Sopranos like 3 times but when Paulie or Silvio was on screen would say “which ones that one ?” they are in every episode plz stop
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May 9, 2019 14:44
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Anybody be interested if I did episode write ups for Six Feet Under or Deadwood? P.S. I feel naked without my Mouzone avatar. escape artist fucked around with this message at 15:31 on May 9, 2019 |
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May 9, 2019 15:21
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idiotic double post
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May 9, 2019 15:30
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Basebf555 posted:The Sopranos had some lovely fans. This. On the loving QUEERS video there are wayyy too many comments unironically saying gently caress yeah, homophobia rules! Like they don’t get that the reason it’s funny is because of how off base and out of line Paulie is with what’s going on around him. Throwing a loving chair at ghosts and insulting them the most effective way he knows how (their sexuality) is funny because of how  it is not because he’s doing what we don’t have the balls to do. Yeesh I do love some of the bad crossover fan art for this show and poo poo like Scarface though.
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May 9, 2019 17:15
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crazy eyes mustafa posted:This. On the loving QUEERS video there are wayyy too many comments unironically saying gently caress yeah, homophobia rules! Like they don’t get that the reason it’s funny is because of how off base and out of line Paulie is with what’s going on around him. Throwing a loving chair at ghosts and insulting them the most effective way he knows how (their sexuality) is funny because of how I've always loved the Scarface fans. "So what happened after he runs down with the gun and starts shooting?"
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May 9, 2019 17:55
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crazy eyes mustafa posted:This. On the loving QUEERS video there are wayyy too many comments unironically saying gently caress yeah, homophobia rules! Like they don’t get that the reason it’s funny is because of how off base and out of line Paulie is with what’s going on around him. Throwing a loving chair at ghosts and insulting them the most effective way he knows how (their sexuality) is funny because of how In the same vein: People who take the Columbus Day episode at face value.
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May 9, 2019 18:01
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