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I honestly never had a problem with Bobby's development as a character. There are different kinds of intelligence and despite most of them being extremely sharp in terms of business nous and ability to manipulate people, almost all of the mob guys often fall comically short in terms of higher intellectual intelligence. There is a nugget of this in almost every therapy session of Tony's that we see with his malapropisms and general misunderstandings about the world at large and we know from the apology letter Melfi read to her therapist that he writes like maybe a typical 12 year old. I don't remember seeing anything from Bobby that made him stand out compared to any of the other people in his mob circle. Actually, in his early appearances I got the distinct impression that there was more to the character - the "to the victor belong the spoils" line and his sensitivity when Tony told him off for leaning on his car and made fun of his weight.
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Nov 8, 2019 21:43
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Vichan posted:Sometimes I like to imagine that Bobby was reminiscent of Claudius, deliberately exaggerating his stupidity in order to remain alive as a former member of Junior's crew. Honestly I think there's something to that. Bobby probably got to a level where he could provide for his family and then kept his head down. When he took over as acting captain of Junior's crew he had to start stepping up, so he did. And then Tony kept dumping more and more responsibilities on him, but ones that also paid well (and Bobby's unique in that providing for his family was the lead motivator) so he rises to the occasion.
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Nov 9, 2019 00:40
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Tony and his lovely housekeeper so perfectly encapsulates who Tony is as a person. If he really cared he'd either clean himself or get a new housekeeper, but he keeps her around so that he has something to complain about. If he has a target for his anger that isn't himself he has a great excuse as to why he feels so lovely and angry. This way he doesn't have do any self reflection or introspection, it's this persons fault that he's angry and lovely .
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Nov 9, 2019 01:18
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And you hear people offer him solutions ("Fire her and get somebody else!") that he ignores, just like he ignores Melfi's advice in therapy for the most part, because he doesn't want solutions, he wants things to complain about and to blame for his problems.
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Nov 9, 2019 03:45
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I think it's giving Janice way too much credit to say that she was on the road to recovery and Tony wrecked it. Tony knew she was putting on a show and was going to push buttons until she couldn't keep up the facade. It was lovely but it's not like Janice wasn't going to be back to being fully a monster in a week.
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Nov 9, 2019 05:29
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If she would have, she would have. She didn't even get the chance to have that week though, because Tony couldn't tolerate even the idea that somebody might be capable of change and thus prove it was his own fault he wasn't making improvements.
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Nov 9, 2019 05:32
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I mean Janices whole character is built upon a series of fake emotional events to manipulate everyone around her. This "change" wasn't any different and if it was it would be wildly out of character. Tony knows because he's her brother and is willing to ruin the show with no regard for the Bacalas.
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Nov 9, 2019 05:52
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does janice show any signs of trying to get back to anger management or is one slip enough to make her say gently caress it?
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Nov 9, 2019 06:20
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The idea that it was fake and tony wasn’t ruining it undermines the whole point of the episode and replaced it with nothing so I’m not convinced
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Nov 9, 2019 15:04
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Tony can be a gigantic prick and Janice can be a fake without cancelling each other out
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Nov 9, 2019 17:14
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I think the difference about this episode is that Janice actually accepted Bobby's criticism and genuinely wanted to change herself. I guess it's possible that self interest was still her primary motivation - she didn't want to get kicked out by Bobby, but imo she wasn't putting on a show - she really wanted to work on herself and stop being such a tornado of a person.
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Nov 9, 2019 17:30
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Maybe Janice was trying but a relapse with her would be inevitable. Tony couldn't stand to see her even momentarily in control of herself though.
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Nov 9, 2019 17:44
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That's why I was asking if she kept trying after Tony knocked her down. That's the real test of if someone truly wants to change or not - whether they keep trying no matter how many times they slip.
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Nov 9, 2019 18:11
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Comrade Blyatlov posted:Tony can be a gigantic prick and Janice can be a fake without cancelling each other out They can be, in this case however it actively destroys the episode tho. Turning another lovely Tony moment into at best a pointless both sides are bad. I honestly just think people just want to hate Janice
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Nov 9, 2019 19:43
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CharlestheHammer posted:They can be, in this case however it actively destroys the episode tho. Turning another lovely Tony moment into at best a pointless both sides are bad. but Janice and Tony *are* both 'bad' i.e. people with incredibly unhealthy personality issues, portraying that isn't pointless, why would it be? why is 'another lovely Tony moment' better? isn't that actually a less nuanced take if anything?
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Nov 9, 2019 20:12
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Comrade Blyatlov posted:That's why I was asking if she kept trying after Tony knocked her down. That's the real test of if someone truly wants to change or not - whether they keep trying no matter how many times they slip. I think she focuses on her kid and basks in being the wife of Tony's number two after, for the most part.
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Nov 9, 2019 20:48
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ulex minor posted:but Janice and Tony *are* both 'bad' i.e. people with incredibly unhealthy personality issues, portraying that isn't pointless, why would it be? why is 'another lovely Tony moment' better? isn't that actually a less nuanced take if anything? No because this is Tony is lovely in a specific way that the episode itself is building towards. Instead of turning it into mostly pointless fluff Making both sides bad is not in itself nuanced it’s lazy
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Nov 9, 2019 20:52
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CharlestheHammer posted:No because this is Tony is lovely in a specific way that the episode itself is building towards. Instead of turning it into mostly pointless fluff Tony would still be being lovely regardless, do you actually think it excuses his behavior if Janis was prone to fail?
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Nov 9, 2019 21:01
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ulex minor posted:Tony would still be being lovely regardless, do you actually think it excuses his behavior if Janis was prone to fail? Yes because then it ultimately means he was correct. He was just baiting out her true nature and justified his own fails. Not only does that completely absolve him but undermines everything the series is going for with Tony
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Nov 9, 2019 21:10
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No it doesnt though? Hes still a gigantic prick for no reason other than to make himself feel better.
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Nov 9, 2019 21:22
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That honestly doesn’t really matter and I can’t care about that, because he is still right and ultimately Janice is the bad guy despite nothing in the episode foreshadowing that
CharlestheHammer fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Nov 9, 2019 |
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Nov 9, 2019 21:53
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....what?
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Nov 9, 2019 22:54
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TIL you are ultimately correct and justify your own failures when you bait a person prone to failure into failing.
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Nov 9, 2019 23:04
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It's well established at this point that Janice does drop dives into different philosophies in phases. She's had a crystal phase, a born again phase, and here she's having a anger management phase. She's always willing to enthusiasticly embrace any new thing, make it aggressively part of her life and use it to feel smug and superior to the people around her. I think these are different mechanisms. She genuinely tries to embrace this stuff, for a while, in the hopes that it will fix her and get rid of the emptiness she feels inside. She also uses her newfound revelations from embracing this stuff to lord over her brother. The difference between anger management and crystal healing is that anger management can work if you try. She's trying, so even if she uses her newfound self knowledge and self control to feel smug, the self control and the knowledge are still there.
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Nov 9, 2019 23:10
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Regardless of whether Tony is correct about Janice, that she really hasn't changed, he proved his point at the expense of Bobby and his kids. But Tony just doesn't care about that kind of collateral damage, the whole world revolves around him.
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Nov 10, 2019 02:11
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The shows not even subtle about Janice being smug about her life changes but literally none of that is presented in this episode so it’s reaching pretty hard I guess some people need Janice to be the worst at every moment forever
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Nov 10, 2019 13:32
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CharlestheHammer posted:The shows not even subtle about Janice being smug about her life changes but literally none of that is presented in this episode so it’s reaching pretty hard this is the second time you've felt the need to say anyone disagreeing with your interpretation of the episode is only doing it because they desperately want to hate Janice, but her having these personality issues doesn't make her the 'worst' or absolve Tony at all. Also as other people already said she never tries again with the anger management stuff after this one difficult instance.
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Nov 10, 2019 13:51
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Because ultimately the anger thing was just to push the message of the episode and once it’s done that it doesn’t really serve any point to continue doing it. It would just get tedious Hell Bobby being at the breaking point in regards to her anger is dropped as well CharlestheHammer fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Nov 10, 2019 |
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Nov 10, 2019 13:58
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Except for that time he beats the poo poo out of Tony for it?
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Nov 10, 2019 18:58
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He bears the poo poo out of Tony because his wife is mad and hurting the family. Seems hosed up by Bobby, should have just kicked her out instead
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Nov 10, 2019 19:06
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Pretty sure that Janice is written as unlikable and finding her so doesn't have any deep rooted origins in a person being a misogynist for its own sake. Unless you're not saying that and I'm reading too much into your fairly odd posts.CharlestheHammer posted:The shows not even subtle about Janice being smug about her life changes but literally none of that is presented in this episode so it’s reaching pretty hard If only there were a bunch of episodes prior to this one that taught us anything about the character. Or some established patterns she had that repeatedly shown that had her moving from spiritual thing to other enlightened thing and constantly virtue signaling about it in an insufferable, arrogant and self serving way before, during and after she loving murdered a guy. I wish the show had set taken some time to set up her character development by repeatedly exploring her relationship to her mother, her brother, her love interests along with her upbringing, her greed, her sense of self entitlement, her glomming onto rising mobsters and her often selfish motivations, often disguised as virtue and almost always dishonest. Probably people just want to hate on her though.
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Nov 10, 2019 22:18
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Season 5, Episode 11 - The Test DreamTony Soprano posted:I had one of my Coach Molinaro dreams. Tony is banging Valentina (those dog pictures are still on the wall) and finishes up, and already looks like he's eager to get the hell out of there. As he steps into the toilet, she heads into the kitchen and offers to make him a meal, and apparently she lacks the killer touch of other women in his life since he doesn't appear too eager. He calls out a reminder to her that he doesn't like shouting between rooms to communicate but either she doesn't hear or doesn't care, more wrapped up in her desire to convince him to take her away on holiday to Antigua. She clearly does okay for herself money-wise, her desire to get away with Tony is more about desiring having him all to herself for a change, since he's always distant or distracted when they're not having sex. As she makes the meal, she shouts away about being irritated he's getting divorced but she somehow sees less of him than ever, and asks if it is so much to ask for just a little atten-at which point she catches on fire. Horrified, Tony rushes after her as her robe shoots up in flames and she screams in pain and panic. He hauls a blanket off of the bed and flings it over her, suffocating the flames, calling out to her that she's going to be okay as the fire alarm beeps and screeches from the smoke rising off her body. At the illegal casino over the hardware store, Tony B is delighted to see Angelo Garepe has finally made his way out (remember New York has a minority share of this place) to see him. They embrace, and Angelo introduces him to his son Charlie, who works in architectural salvage, a fact that Angelo obviously takes great pride in: he's not in the Family business, at least not directly. They retire to Blundetto's "office", which doubles as a maintenance room with cleaning supplies, where he pours them a drink and the reflect on how far they've come since their shared years of prison. Angelo mixes a little business with pleasure, handing over an envelope of cash for the Joey Peeps job. Blundetto is surprised he's doing this in front of his son but Angelo shrugs, offering only,"He's okay." He is apologetic that it isn't ALL the money they owe him, explaining this is the way Little Carmine and Rusty are running things, joking that Rusty probably fucks his wife in installments. Blundetto is mildly put out, after all he did exactly what they asked of him (and even killed poor Heather just for a bonus) but he can't help but laugh at the joke, and embraces Angelo again, kissing his head and telling Charlie that though he doesn't miss prison at all, he fondly remembers all his times with Angelo. They hand over another gift, a novelty "I'm the Boss!" plaque to celebrate Tony B's new position in the casino. Touched, Tony puts it up in a position of prominence on the wall... next to the fridge where the ratty old calendar was. At the burn unit, Tony enters Valentina's room in an outfit designed to prevent giving her infections. She's lost a large amount of hair and has burns over her face, scalp and arm, but Tony promises her he's been told she won't need skin grafts. He also promises that he'll cover the full cost of her treatment so she doesn't need to be concerned by that, but the drugged up Valentina is too out-of-it to grasp what is going on, confusing him for her doctor. At a nurse's urging he leaves, Valentina weakly fumbling at his finger when he offers her a parting touch before going.   At Costco, Angelo has an employee load up a mini-car for his grandson into his trunk, telling him not to bother tying the open trunk down as he doesn't have far to go. Listening to Franki Valli (Rusty's actor!) on the radio, he's irritated by a car behind him beeping at him to speed up, and waves at them to go by. They do, pulling in front of him but then suddenly hitting the brakes. Angelo isn't quite able to stop in time and slightly rear-ends the car in front. Grumpy at this distraction and imposition on his time, he gets out of his car and is surprised to see the occupants of the other vehicle were Phil and Billy Leotardo. They explain they were trying to get his attention, they'd been driving to his house when they spotted him and turned around to follow. Angelo, slightly unsettled but not wanting to show it, complains they should have called since he's an old man and doesn't see so well in the dark. Amused, friendly, showing not the slightest sign of hostility, they ask him to relax, they were coming around because Johnny wanted to see him. Angelo is no fool, it wasn't just the years in jail that kept him alive. He grunts that it is too late to see Johnny and he'll swing by tomorrow, and an apologetic Phil explains that Johnny has gotten into one of his moods so it has to be tonight. Knowing he can't directly say no without offending a man who - while not Boss yet - wields enormous power, Angelo continues to try and control the situation, informing them rather than asking when he says he will follow them driving in his own car. Phil and Billy don't even blink at this suggestion, it's all perfectly reasonable and they turn to return to their own car, their jobs done. Feeling a little more secure, Angelo makes the fatal mistake of turning to return to his own and Billy is immediately on him, wrapping a garrote around his neck and hauling him back to Phil's trunk and jamming him inside. Billy lays in several punches and then covers him in plastic sheeting, preventing him from getting up as Phil pulls out a gun with a silencer. Angelo, once Consigliere to Carmine Lupertazzi and still a man of authority and power despite his semi-retired state, cries out to Phil not to do this, reminding him they know each other: hell, they probably spent at least some time in the same prison. "You couldn't loving retire?" Phil snaps back, the only nod towards any personal feeling he might have, and fires two bullets into his head. With that done, Phil turns to the REAL emotionally devastating problem: his car! He complains that Billy let the car get rear-ended even after all the work he had done on it (at Tony's cost and Angie's suffering) and demands the keys so he can drive it instead. And that's the end of Angelo Garepe, killed unceremoniously in the trunk of a car in an underpass by a couple of guys more bothered about a slight dent in their vehicle.   At Tony's house the next morning, he searches for the paper without luck. He calls out to the cleaning woman, Mirsa, who replies everything is in the kitchen. Moving through the scrupulously clean house (she does good work), he is furious to see she has dumped today's paper into the trash, causing her to let out a,"Ooooooh no". He demands to know WHY she threw it away, but her English isn't good enough to articulate and he'd fed up with trying to deal with that, so he just throws it back in the trash grumpily. She offers to make him enchiladas by way of apology and, trying to bite down his anger, he thanks her for the offer. Later that day he takes his grumpy rear end to Aunt Quin's, where a surprised Tony Blundetto opens the door and is handed a tray of Mirsa's enchiladas while Tony just barrels through the door. Unlike his own home, this place is a mess (like Tony's normally is when the cleaning lady isn't around), with the twins' toys everywhere. Tony has come up to pick up the cash envelope from the casino, explaining he'll tell Carlo he made the pick-up direct, he has to be careful about how cash comes to him now since Carmela is hunting for evidence he has more money than the tax return lets on. With a complete lack of awareness, he explains his own scrupulously clean home is "falling down around my ears" which is why he has decided to go stay at the Plaza Hotel for awhile. Blundetto, not exactly hurting for cash himself at the moment thanks to the casino, is happy to report they had a good night so the envelope is a little thicker than usual. But Tony isn't here to listen or to have a conversation, he's here to bitch and complain to a sounding board. He barrels right past anything his cousin has to say to moan about "that loving Guatemalan" making him dread going home, and is only thrown off track when Tony B offers exactly the same advice Carmela did recently: fire her and get a new maid then? Pausing briefly, Tony complains that she IS the new maid, not quite making the connection that maybe the problem is with him and NOT the underpaid, unappreciated immigrant who has made his house look almost showroom new. Making himself at home, Tony settles into an arm chair and tells Blundetto about Valentina's accident, asking if he ever came across any burn victims when he was working in the prison hospitals. Even the often self-obsessed Tony however can't help but notice that his cousin seems distracted, constantly looking around, never quite managing to meet or hold his gaze, constantly moving to clean up toys left lying around. He asks what the matter is and Blundetto insists the kids have just been up his rear end, calling out to them to come upstairs now after his mother refuses to come downstairs and get Tony a coke. Unable to sit still any longer, Blundetto gets up and moves around the room packing things up and tossing stuff in boxes, irritating Tony who despite it all ends up back on his favorite topic: complaining about his own rough lot in life. Valentina has been a pain in his rear end and he had been planning to break up with her for good on the night she caught fire (remember that the coward told her he hadn't outright said "No" to her question about Antigua) but now he can't because it'll make him look lovely. Wow. Poor Tony. Face softening, Tony admits lately he's been thinking about Charmaine Bucco, and even the distracted Tony B has to stop and admit happily that she has a "nice set". But Tony insists it is more than that (or at least not ENTIRELY that), she's a great cook - better than Artie in many ways - AND she's a licensed notary public! And apparently, this week that is the type of woman Tony believes he needs. Yep, after 20 years of marriage in which he went out of his way to resist Carmela's attempts to find a career, only a few weeks after declaring that Adriana was the kind of woman he could have another chance at "getting it right" with, he's now decided that Charmaine - who has made her complete contempt for him clear as can be - is just the kind of woman he wants. The twins arrive at last and Blundetto snaps at them to get their uncle a coke and then clean up their mess, he's taking them back to their mother's early. Clearly not overly thrilled to be at their dad's anyway, they take this in their stride and head off. Tony finally seems to realize he's being an imposition (or rather, he's grumpy he's not the center of attention) so he decides to head off on his way. Blundetto nods that he really does need to get them over there soon, and the two hug, Tony B saying he'll come visit him once he's settled into the hotel. Tony leaves, and Blundetto - who has been waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire time - lets loose a sigh of relief. Tony didn't come around for the reason he thought he had, which means his own plans can proceed. At the Plaza, Tony's irritation doesn't immediately get resolved when he's asked a series of questions by the valet instead of just taking his car and parking it. Even once inside the relaxing atmosphere of the plush hotel, things aren't looking good. He passes a wedding party getting official photos, checks in at reception under a credit card with a fake name - Mr. Petraglia - and is surprised to spot Dr. Melfi walking by laughing with a friend after a day out shopping. But once in his Deluxe Suite with a view looking out over Central Park, he finally feels at ease. Away from everybody and everything, his every need taken care of, he can finally relax. He unpacks his suitcase, puts framed photos of AJ and Meadow on the desk and then enjoys a shower before settling onto the bed and feeling secure, places a call.... to Charmaine Bucco. "Hello?" she repeatedly asks as he struggles to match fantasy to reality, and angrily she warns whoever "keeps" doing this to stop and hangs up. Evidently this isn't the first time he's called her up out of the blue trying to work up the courage to ask her on a date, something which would probably disgust her even more than the idea of some pervert calling and not speaking.   His fantasy spoiled, Tony eats dinner alone in the corner of his spacious hotel suite with the million dollar view, then sits bored on the end of the bed watching the Plaza Welcome Video on the television. Switching the channel, he immediately takes an interest in the advertisement for Jade Escorts, offering "the gentle pleasures and mysterious ways of the East", promising that New York's "most exotic and erotic girls are waiting to please you". He calls the 1-900 number, as always a slave to his impulses and desire for self-indulgence. Moving the room service cart out into the hall, he spots that nobody is around and there is a copy of the paper outside another guest's door, and quickly grabs it for himself so he can finally get caught up on the news. But when he returns to his suite he notices there is a message on his phone, and checks it before he checks the paper. Silvio's voice quietly explains he has been trying to reach him, Angelo "got it", probably by Phil. Shocked, Tony doesn't look at the paper which probably had Angelo's death heavily featured, instead calling Tony B... who is driving in his car and pointedly ignores his cousin's call. He has business to do tonight, he won't be stopped. Tony quickly calls the casino but Dot, the old lady behind the bar, explains Blundetto hasn't been in tonight. He demands she get in touch with him the moment she sees him, and hangs up. Settling on the bed, his mind races and he makes another call, this time to Aunt Quin to check if she has seen him, but he hasn't been back since he took the twins back to their mother's in the morning. He tells her to call back the moment she sees him and hangs up, ignoring her protests asking him what is wrong. His next call is to the Bada Bing, where Paulie answers in the middle of a pool game with Little Paulie. He hasn't seen Tony B either, but he heard about "that thing last night", a shame since Angelo was a stand-up guy. Tony's sense he is losing control increases as a knock at the door distracts him, it is the Asian prostitute he ordered, but of course he doesn't send her away, he invites her in and she makes herself a drink while he returns to the call with Paulie. Like with the others, he wants Paulie to call the moment he hears or sees Tony B. He's worried, now his cousin's odd behavior this morning makes sense, he must have known about Angelo but said nothing, either waiting for Tony to bring it up or seeing if he knew himself. Paulie actually sees no issue with Blundetto's state of mind, saying he can't blame him since he and Angelo were such good friends... but also that he knows Blundetto isn't stupid enough to do anything about it. He promises they'll call, and Tony hangs up and turns his mind to the now unwelcome distraction of the prostitute... until he sees her bending over by the fridge, skirt hiked up high enough to reveal panties. You can probably guess how much weight his concerns over his cousin had against his desire to get laid. And now the dream begins. The Sopranos has been lauded, and rightly so, for the effectiveness and quality of its presentations of dream sequences. Some have been short, some have been long, with Calling All Cars arguably the high watermark for the series when it came to dreams. This episode, aptly named, produces the longest unbroken run of a dream seen in an episode so far, and it has been somewhat divisive for some viewers. Few dispute its quality, but I have seen it called self-indulgent, overly metaphorical and an exercise in excess. Personally I love it, like Calling All Cars or Funhouse it captures dream logic perfectly, particularly the shift and flow of scene to scene, the changing of people and personalities from one moment to the next, taking the familiar and jamming it into a variety of shapes that seem to fit perfectly and logically in the moment till the slightest focus or attention makes them fall apart. It is not surreal for its own sake, a core theme runs through the entire 20 minute sequence that follows, one universally familiar to dreamers the world over: the test dream. The sense that there is something that has to be done, something you need to do but you are not prepared for, some challenge you will not be able to rise up to. Along the way, Tony's psyche will throw up any number of familiar faces and use them to make a point to us the viewer but more importantly Tony Soprano the character. And it all begins with an Asian prostitute asking Tony if he wants her to suck his dick turning into Carmine Lupertazzi.  Tony rolls out of bed in a panic, Carmine weepily telling him he's so lonely on the other side without his Violet before casting a curious look at something behind Tony. It's the phone, which starts ringing the second Tony looks, Carmine snapping at him angrily to answer it. Tony does, of course, because like in most dreams you react more than you act. Carmine gives a warning though, if it's God please don't let him know Carmine has snuck down into Tony's bed. It isn't God (or at least not quite the one they're thinking of, the voice is David Chase's) but a mysterious voice that tells a frustrated Tony they need him to do something "our friend" has to go, and it's important. Tony snaps that he knows it is important. This is the first instance of Tony being presented with a task he was seemingly aware of but not prepared for. Also yes, the earliest part of this dream is Tony seeing a powerful mob boss who misses his wife. No deeper meanings here! In therapy, Tony explains the dream to his therapist. Here the episode cleverly plays with its own normal structure, as pivotal scenes often immediately leap to Tony in therapy in the next scene to thrash out the issue with Melfi. Here though the therapist is Gloria Trillo, and Tony is both aware and not of who she is: he knows she's dead, he remembers their time together, but she's simultaneously THERAPIST as well. In a dream, the two identities can exist together without issue. They exchange Jackie Gleason quotes (Tony B is not far from his mind) as Gloria happily recounts Tony's physical assaults on her, and he counters with the reminder that she tried to stick a fork in his eye. "That was your mother!" she laughs and he does an over-the-top spit-take of his drink of water, joining in the laughter as they make a mockery of his therapy sessions always coming back to his mother. They roar with laughter and repeat the "It's like taking a poo poo"/"I prefer childbirth" interplay Melfi and Tony recently had, but the laughter stops when he says she'd know better than him and she flatly reminds him she never had children. Suddenly he's looming over her, repeating his attempt to seduce Melfi now with Gloria who will surely be more susceptible. She stops it as effectively as Melfi did, by echoing the mysterious caller and asking if he is really ready to do what he has to. Confident, he promises he did his homework, but she turns and looks, pointing to a television behind them where Tony himself can be seen sitting in the back of a car. Alone in Melfi's office now, he watches as he is driven down the same empty nowhere as he did in Calling All Cars. Inside the car, his father asks him from the driver's seat if he wants to ride up front. He hacks and coughs as he smokes, the emphysema killing an already dead man. Big Pussy sits beside Johnny Boy, turning to cast a significant look Tony's way: here is a test that Tony passed, but can he do it again? More worrying, his father jokes to Pussy that Tony gets sick in the back seat, a suggestion that Tony is going to fail to complete his task. Like the dead Pussy, another successful test sits beside Tony, Mikey Palmice. Tony grumpily decides to inform the man he never liked that he's fully aware he's still dreaming. Mikey doesn't care, Mikey's dead, and that lack of his usual insincere rear end in a top hat jokes seems to trouble Tony more than anything. Not as troubling though as Artie taking his place, the only person aside from Tony in the dream who is not dead. Tony wants to know where they're going but his father doesn't answer, so that falls to Ralphie Cifaretto, who explains somewhat confused that they're driving him to "the job" of course. Except the job is the Soprano home, and Tony is now in the kitchen wearing a tracksuit and with unkempt hair, irritating Carmela who is well dressed and pissed he isn't ready yet for them to meet Finn's parents for dinner. Simultaneously Tony still lives there and doesn't, complaining she didn't wake him but remembering he has no clothes to change into. Unlike with Mikey earlier, he seems to have forgotten he is in a dream, complaining that he just had a bad one. She doesn't care about that, snippishly telling him to wear the brown suit he left behind and remember they have to take separate cars. He's distracted by the television again though, where Chinatown is playing, and he admits to Carmela it's hard to pull away since it is so much more interesting than life. Not true at all she complains, it IS his life, and looking back he sees Scrooge is now playing instead as the old miser realizes the spirits did it all in one night, delivering him an important message that would change his life for the better. Just like he thinks his life would be better if he'd just listen to the message of his subconscious.   Satisfied she has made her point, Carmela snaps at him to get dressed again and he gestures back to the TV to prove he has, and a seemingly happily married Tony and Carmela are seen fully dressed and ready to go. The "real" Carmela seems less than enamored by the idea, leaving to wait in the car as TV Carmela says the same, and TV Tony feels an odd pressure in his mouth... his tooth has fallen out, a common nightmare for many. At Vesuvio's, there is now only one Tony. He and Carmela are warmly greeted by Charmaine Bucco who leads them to their table, Tony distracted when he sees High Noon and his beloved Gary Cooper on the television above the bar. He greets Meadow at the table with a kiss and she introduces him to Finn's parents, who he has never met in real life. So his mind fills in the gaps, Mr. DeTrolio is the long-dead Vin Makazian, while Mrs. DeTrolio is literally film star Annette Bening. They settle into their chairs, Tony trying not to smile too wide and expose his teeth until Mrs. DeTrolio asks how long he can stay and he admits there is something he has to do, which disappoints her. They assure him they know all about what he does and they approve wholeheartedly, relieving Carmela who has Tony show them the tooth hidden in his pocket. He tries to crack a joke about Finn's ambitions to be a Dental Surgeon but another tooth falls out as he talks, and Mrs. DeTrolio admits that they were always told Finn - now replaced at the table by AJ (in a deleted scene, Meadow was temporarily replaced by Tracee from University) - would never amount to anything. Carmela agrees that Finn/AJ won't ever amount to anything, while Charmaine's breasts are jammed into Tony's face as she adds pepper to his meal. The DeTrolio's have a minor argument before Meadow tells the mother she was in the Chamber Singers in High School, and Mr. DeTrolio excitedly declares he was in the Navy Glee Club and launches into an agonizingly never-ending rendition of Three Times A Lady. As he sings, Mrs. DeTrolio beams with love at him until Tony taps her on the shoulders, suddenly delighted as he's realized she is in fact Annette Bening. She nods that of course she is, wanting to get back to the singing, but an excited Tony wants to ask her another question, pissing her off. Suddenly Tony notices Artie frantically trying to get his attention, and he explains to Annette Bening that something bad is going to happen. Mr. DeTrolio finishes his serenade but his wife is now ice-cold towards him, and glumly he decides to go to the bathroom, Tony deciding to join him. Annette Bening warns him as he leaves that she doesn't want her husband coming out with just his cock in his hand. In the bathroom, unlike Michael Corleone Tony fails to find a gun behind the toilet. He joins Mr. DeTrolio at the urinal, where Vin Makazian is relieved to empty his bladder, Tony realizing that he probably doesn't get to do that very often now that he is dead. Vin queries whether Tony is going to be able to complete his task, and Tony again insists he did his homework, waving a dog-eared copy of The Valachi Papers at him. Vin isn't impressed, the gun wasn't behind the toilet after all, and he dismisses Tony's excuse that this is real life. Gunshots sound and glass breaks, and Vin calmly exclaims that this is it. Outside, Tony Blundetto fires his gun over and over again as Tony pushes through the gathered crowd, just in time to see a begging Phil Leotardo being shot in the car Angie fixed for him. Tony laments that he knew this was going to happen, and an angry onlooker demands to know why he didn't stop it. Phil staggers from the car and collapses to the ground, begging please again to his killer as Tony B extends a now empty hand and makes pew pew noises to finish him off. Tony demands to know if his cousin knows what he just did, and Tony B replies that he needs to tell the crowd what happened 20 years ago. Tony doesn't want to, and is saved by the dead Phil sitting up and waving over a reporter to ask her when he can leave. The reporter, Gloria Trillo, turns to Tony for comment and he explains Phil is dead, which seems to confuse Phil since he's got kids and grandkids so this doesn't seem like it could be right.   A heavy wind blows and the gathered crowd - including Neil Mink and Paulie Gualtieri - glares suspiciously at Tony. Some Unidentified Black Males shout out, asking Tony if he wasn't supposed to kill Tony B to stop just this very thing from happening? It's the first time it is explicitly stated that this was the task Tony's subconscious has been wrestling with, but Tony himself nervously says he wasn't sure, while his cousin glares at him. Annette Bening raises a hand and Gloria calls on her, and she explains that there is something Bugsy about Tony. Sensing the crowd's growing discontent, Tony turns and runs, pursued like Quasimodo, a Frankenstein's Monster/Golem that people hate and fear. It's dark and Lee Harvey Oswald takes a shot at him as he runs, Carmela joining the baying mob with flashlights, flaming torches and bloodhounds. All seems lost until Artie appears from an open doorway and leads him to safety. Artie drives him in his car through the night, exhausted, Richie Aprile and Gigi Cestone taking up room in the back seat. Tony is concerned though, why does the living Artie keep appearing with these dead people? He demands to know what Artie is doing to himself, unknowingly questioning his own complicity in his failed marriage and pathetically self-indulgent lifestyle. Artie can't answer though, he's too focused on Tony banging Charmaine in his Deluxe Suite like Tony fantasized might happen when he called her. The sound of hooves outside irritate him, but Artie assures him that's just the carriage rides outside the hotel. Tony goes back to concentrating on sex with Charmaine, who is moaning how much better it was than when they were in high school, watched approvingly by Artie who suggests he rub her muzzle. Slightly confused, Tony does as he is told, petting the neck of the beautiful horse he has ridden into the family home. Carmela is annoyed, she doesn't want him bringing a horse into the house, that's a non-negotiable condition if he wants to move back home like he just told her he did. He promises he'll clean up after her but she's heard that before, there are to be no more horses (whores) if he wants to be back with Carmela. "I'll have to think about it" he sulks, then backs the horse out after showing off his gun to prove that he's ready to take care of that task after all. In the empty corridors of a high school, Tony moves past lockers and stops by a trophy cabinet, seemingly taking strength from the reminders of his past athletic accomplishments. Applying the silencer to his gun, he moves deeper inside to the showers, peeking through to where the gym teacher is smoking a cigar in his office. Tony approaches quietly... until the enormously fat gym teacher calls out that he knows Tony is there, and if he's going to do it, he should do it. Taken aback, Tony gathers his courage and enters the office, nervously greeting Coach Molinaro, his high school gym teacher. Molinaro is unimpressed by his gun, laughs at the notion of showing respect to Tony, and then harangues him for never breaking free of the bums who were dragging him down... especially Artie Bucco, the worst of the lot! That fires Tony up, as he defends Artie for making something of himself, owning his own restaurant. Molinaro doesn't believe it, but even if so that is just the exception that proves the rule. He mocks Tony for blaming his mother in his therapy sessions (though he'd assumed he'd blame his father, just like Carmela assumed way back in season 1) and agrees that while Tony always had a talent for wrapping people around his finger, he also had a tendency to take the easy way out. Molinaro saw potential in him to be a coach, and discounts Tony's protests that he is a leader of men now, and his appeals to wealth because of his big expensive house. Tony claims to have a wife but Molinaro (who is just a character in Tony's dream, remember, and thus just part of Tony's own subconscious) asks him if he REALLY has a wife.   Angry, Tony tries to twist history so that his admission of his dream of being a coach was just him wrapping Molinaro himself around his finger, but it doesn't work on him. Molinaro points out all the great qualities that Tony had he could have used for coaching sports but wasted instead, and stares with amused contempt as Tony shakingly raises his gun and pulls the trigger... only for it to fall apart in his hands. Dropping to his knees in a cold sweat, Tony tries to reload the clip but the bullets melt in his hands as he picks them up. "YOU'RE NOT PREPARED!" Molinaro accuses him, Tony close to a panic attack as he tries again and again to find bullets. "You'll never shut me up!" Molinaro - the nasty, judgmental voice that lives deep in Tony's subconscious - declares triumphantly, as Tony finally, blessedly wakes from his long nightmare in his lavish, expensive hotel suite. He stumbles to the bathroom and splashes water in his face, then returns to the bedroom to answer the phone: it's the reception, apologizing but explaining a Mr. Mantovani is insisting they let him see him. Tony tells them to send him up, putting on a robe and letting Christopher in when he arrives. The news is bad, Tony B struck at last, and managed to kill Billy Leotardo and injure Phil. Tony is confused, his dream seemed prophetic enough he assumed it would be Phil, but things are a lot worse than that: Phil survived, but he held Billy in his arms as his little brother died, and Phil went to the hospital covered in his own brother's blood. There is going to be hell to pay for this. "So he knew" Tony mutters, sitting down as he verbalizes what he has suspected all this time, that Tony B knew Angelo was dead when Tony visiting him in the morning, and he was already planning to kill Phil even then no matter what the consequences. Christopher doesn't know what to say, other than poor Tony B is hosed. That's not the issue though, things go deeper than that, ALL of New Jersey is hosed now, the little brother of the top Captain of the guy currently winning the war for control of the Lupertazzi Family got killed. Christopher isn't sure how to respond to that beyond promising he'll be there for Tony, his eyes drawn to the Toblerone on the table where Tony dumped it when he arrived. For Christopher, who foregoes alcohol and drugs now, sweets have become his substitute addiction, and he timidly asks if he can have it. Tony lets him take it, for once not hungry, and Christopher heads out the door, leaving Tony alone to consider the short and long term ramifications they're currently facing. As in his dream, he failed to take action and now he's facing a momentous task he isn't sure he is up to.  Now the expensive view of Central Park brings no joy. There are no Asian prostitutes who can make him feel less alone. No food that will sate him. He returns to his big, empty bed and sits down, where a thought suddenly occurs to him. It's not quite 5:30am but he makes the call anyway, waking Carmela in her own empty bed to inform her that he has to cancel the fishing trip with A.J. On this she doesn't question or harass him, she was with him long enough to know when something isn't right, and she asks him if he is okay. He assures her he is, and then after a brief pause tells her he had "one of my Coach Molinaro dreams." "Were you unprepared, as usual?" she asks him. All this has the texture of the dream he just escaped, but it's all too real. He admits that as usual the dream found him unprepared, this is not the first time he has had a dream like this and nor will it be the last. They speak briefly of "Mr. Mol", of how he wasn't a bad guy, that he actually did take an interest in Tony's development even if Tony tries to tell himself that was just Molinaro's way of making life easier for himself by keeping Tony out of trouble. But when this strand of conversation reaches a natural end, Tony doesn't want the call to stop. He asks her if it is daylight there yet, telling her about how he is looking out over Central Park, just wanting to keep talking with his soulmate. He asks if Artie is alright given his presence in the dream full of dead people, and is slightly alarmed when she says she had dinner at Vesuvio's recently, clearly paranoid she might be dating now. He's relieved to hear it was with Gabrielle and Rosalie, and laughs when he realizes he can hear Esterhaz the dog barking next door, and makes her laugh when he suggests poisoning it. The camera cuts to black as Tony asks her once again if it is light over there yet, repeating himself now, because he doesn't want the conversation to stop. Carmela knows him, and this is why he called. Not Charmaine. Not Adriana. Not an Asian prostitute. Not even Dr. Melfi. When Tony Soprano needed somebody he could talk to, somebody who understood him, somebody who would know where he was coming from, somebody he has shared intimate and deeply personal fears and anxieties to, who did he call? His wife. The woman he let get away because he couldn't (wouldn't) control himself. Because he had to have that horse in the house. Season 5: Two Tonys | Rat Pack | Where's Johnny? | All Happy Families... | Irregular Around the Margins | Sentimental Education | In Camelot | Marco Polo | Unidentified Black Males | Cold Cuts | The Test Dream | Long Term Parking | All Due Respect Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Nov 11, 2019 12:37
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Do they really have ads for escorts on hotel TVs in NY?
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Nov 11, 2019 14:05
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And of course the funny thing/homage about Angelo's death is that's how Phil Leotardo's actor's character in Goodfellas also went out. (Of course Jimmy and company thought he was dead when they put him in the trunk.)
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Nov 11, 2019 16:25
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https://twitter.com/DGisSERIOUS/status/1193590783720534016
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Nov 11, 2019 17:48
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for the housewarm
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Nov 11, 2019 17:49
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Sopranos is as much a comedy as a drama. There's a lot of dramatic depth to the writing as Jerusalem is pointing out but getting all stuck up about the societal points its trying to make is silly. Yeah it is a drama that does a good job exposing toxic behaviors. It's also really loving funny and I don't have a problem with the actors or fans of it embracing that side of it.
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Nov 11, 2019 19:52
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The amount of humor packed into The Sopranos is something that nearly all "prestige" TV forgets about these days. Almost every episode has at least one decent joke/funny moment.
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Nov 11, 2019 20:28
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I want some gabagool
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Nov 11, 2019 21:08
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