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Pope Corky the IX posted:I always liked those glimpses into Tony being fiercely protective of Barbara and her family. And he genuinely likes Tom. poo poo, he let him get away with the “Here, here!” after Carmela and Hugh flipped out at Livia’s funeral. Yeah, on some level I think he liked Tom and Barb's normalcy, and possibly even envied it but not to the extent he wanted to 'sell patio furniture on the roadside' or whatever his go-to complaint was that then he wouldn't be Tony Soprano anymore. He was genuinely upset when Tom's father died and seemed to respect him beyond doing what he was 'supposed to do.'
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Feb 20, 2020 02:06
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BiggerBoat posted:And come to think of it, unless I missed it, none of that "Where is that that f*g?" or what to do about him even comes up at all in this episode. All the mobsters seem to have forgotten about him and I can't even remember the news reaching Johnny Sack at all at any point- or did it? The more I reconsider this season, it's not quote as tightly constructed as prior ones and some of the pacing feels off. It made sense to me, because Vito being gay isn’t a ‘scour the earth looking for him’ type deal, like if he’d tried to murder Tony’s family or something. The prime consideration for almost everything these guys do is money; hunting down Vito just to pop him is going to cost money that no one, even the most vocal of the crew, would be willing to spend. When the boss doesn’t care that much, the worker bees really don’t. The boss wants his weekly take, and everyone else is hustling to kick up their bit: that’s not going to change just to put a smile on the Shah of Iran’s face for two seconds.
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Feb 20, 2020 08:47
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Also, Phil didn’t start to really apply pressure or eventually kill Vito until Johnny made a deal with the government and allocuted and basically handed the Boss position to him.
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Feb 21, 2020 02:26
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Torquemada posted:It made sense to me, because Vito being gay isn’t a ‘scour the earth looking for him’ type deal, like if he’d tried to murder Tony’s family or something. The prime consideration for almost everything these guys do is money; hunting down Vito just to pop him is going to cost money that no one, even the most vocal of the crew, would be willing to spend. When the boss doesn’t care that much, the worker bees really don’t. The boss wants his weekly take, and everyone else is hustling to kick up their bit: that’s not going to change just to put a smile on the Shah of Iran’s face for two seconds. A spurned and desperate ex-member would have a strong incentive to flip.
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Feb 21, 2020 20:56
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Torquemada posted:It made sense to me, because Vito being gay isn’t a ‘scour the earth looking for him’ type deal, like if he’d tried to murder Tony’s family or something. The prime consideration for almost everything these guys do is money; hunting down Vito just to pop him is going to cost money that no one, even the most vocal of the crew, would be willing to spend. When the boss doesn’t care that much, the worker bees really don’t. The boss wants his weekly take, and everyone else is hustling to kick up their bit: that’s not going to change just to put a smile on the Shah of Iran’s face for two seconds. Except it kind of was. Or at least it was portrayed that way in the earlier episode. The crew all had this "what is there to talk about?" conversation/argument regarding having him whacked on the spot and it crosses over with Phil wanting him dead and ultimately torturing him for it in a way that would rival a serial killer murder. Tony was the only one expressing ANY kind of second thoughts and, sure, money was the main thing as usual but I also think that Tony's therapy played into his semi calm approach to it. I don't think Tony gave a poo poo deep down but his own crew and the rival gangsters sure as poo poo did. Everyone except him was 100% automatically just "he needs to die" and were openly saying they'd refuse to work for him. They were all pretty clear that the crime of sucking cock should amount to a death sentence.
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Feb 22, 2020 00:26
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I think it was a matter of out of sight, out of mind. The moment they found out he was gay they were out for his blood, but once he disappeared from Jersey they all (apart from Phil) just basically stopped giving a poo poo/thinking about him and went about their business. It's only when he chooses to come back that it turns into an issue again. To be fair though, I think if somebody had happened to go through that town and spotted him living there they would have gone after him in a similar way to how Tony did with Fabian Petrulio way back in season 1. They all hated him, but even Carlo's initial push to hire a private detective to hunt him down quickly got forgotten as he got his head around running the construction side of things for the Family.
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Feb 22, 2020 01:23
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BiggerBoat posted:
Good Guy Bobby Bacala just wanted him out of their social club
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Feb 22, 2020 02:30
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BiggerBoat posted:Except it kind of was. Or at least it was portrayed that way in the earlier episode. Them wanting him dead because he’s gay is not in dispute, but it comes across as lip service because they’re not desperate to find him and kill him. It is absolutely not an ‘unlimited budget and manpower manhunt’ in any way. If they spot him buying crullers, sure they’ll shoot him, but no one is inconveniencing themselves in any way to make it happen, which was my original point.
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Feb 22, 2020 10:02
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It's also Tony's responsibility and Phil is not actually allowed to do anything about it. That's why he keeps leaning on the "Marie is my cousin/family" aspect of it, so he can try and justify his outbursts and what he eventually does.
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Feb 22, 2020 13:41
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Torquemada posted:Them wanting him dead because he’s gay is not in dispute, but it comes across as lip service because they’re not desperate to find him and kill him. It is absolutely not an ‘unlimited budget and manpower manhunt’ in any way. If they spot him buying crullers, sure they’ll shoot him, but no one is inconveniencing themselves in any way to make it happen, which was my original point. And people just upping and lambchopping it for slights real or perceived and just vanishing is pretty common in the mob, so I'm not surprised the only one who cared is a hot head like Phil who thought it 'stained his family honor.'
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Feb 22, 2020 14:11
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Torquemada posted:Them wanting him dead because he’s gay is not in dispute, but it comes across as lip service because they’re not desperate to find him and kill him. It is absolutely not an ‘unlimited budget and manpower manhunt’ in any way. If they spot him buying crullers, sure they’ll shoot him, but no one is inconveniencing themselves in any way to make it happen, which was my original point. Most of them wouldn't even kill Vito if they saw him. They might tell their crews they saw him but they wouldn't go out of their way to whack him. Maybe Carlo or some of the more vocal ones might, but most wouldn't.
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Feb 22, 2020 23:46
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That one guy had the right idea and borrowed money from him.
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Feb 23, 2020 00:10
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Did that guy rat Vito out to avoid paying him back? I seem to recall reading that interpretation somewhere, probably an episode review.
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Feb 23, 2020 16:02
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I don't think so, plenty of people knew that Vito was back at that point. And Vito didn't tell him where he was staying or anything. Terry smiling at the end is his reaction to Patsy saying "poo poo, I wish I would've borrowed money from him" because he just got away with a free $20,000.
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Feb 23, 2020 16:43
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I wonder if he actually had the 200k on him he said he'd give to Tony. He was supposed to be meeting him that night at the mall so Carlo could follow him. Wonder if Phil took it.
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Feb 24, 2020 01:29
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While the whole Vito is gay and the made guys wanting to kill him for it, I think crosses over a bit from pure homophobia to an unstated "If he could hide this and cover up he has been banging dudes for years, maybe he is hiding something else... like he is a rat for the FBI".
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Feb 24, 2020 06:11
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Jack2142 posted:While the whole Vito is gay and the made guys wanting to kill him for it, I think crosses over a bit from pure homophobia to an unstated "If he could hide this and cover up he has been banging dudes for years, maybe he is hiding something else... like he is a rat for the FBI". Yeah this is pretty much the stated theme. If you aren't a tough guy, a real man's man, you can't be trusted to stand tall if the cops put the squeeze on you. To take it back to season 1, tough guys don't eat pussy. Having any sort of quality that could be construed as feminine is completely unacceptable. I think maybe Bobby is the only one in the series who this didn't apply to, though I don't think he was involved in anything too high stakes until later seasons.
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Feb 24, 2020 07:50
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Bobby loved trains, machine guns and eating, and his dad was nicknamed the terminator, he's manly as gently caress.
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Feb 24, 2020 09:14
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Suxpool posted:To take it back to season 1, tough guys don't eat pussy. Having any sort of quality that could be construed as feminine is completely unacceptable. This was one of the strangest things to me my first time watching. And kinda still was the second time. Who the gently caress doesn't do that?
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Feb 24, 2020 12:47
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codo27 posted:This was one of the strangest things to me my first time watching. And kinda still was the second time. Who the gently caress doesn't do that? The man should receive pleasure, the feeling probably goes (and is probably not uncommon) and the 'who knows what else he'd go down on' was probably added later.
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Feb 24, 2020 15:04
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banned from Starbucks posted:I wonder if he actually had the 200k on him he said he'd give to Tony. He was supposed to be meeting him that night at the mall so Carlo could follow him. Wonder if Phil took it. I absolutely believe Vito had the 200k on him, that's also why he was so easily able to give $20,000 to Terry.
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Feb 24, 2020 15:06
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I love the idea of Phil counting out almost 200k in free money and still bitching about the spilled vitamins inside the hijacked truck.
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Feb 24, 2020 23:12
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Season 6, Episode 11 - Cold StonesVito Spatafore posted:I want back in. Tony Soprano comes home to sadly all too familiar scene. AJ is sprawled out on the couch, Carmela angrily lambasting him for being a liar. Resigned, Tony asks what it is NOW. Not what is it, but what is it NOW. Because it's always something with AJ, but even he is shocked when he learns that AJ has been fired from Blockbuster. Blockbuster, where they have "rhesus monkeys working as managers". Worst of all, he was fired 3 weeks earlier and has just been openly lying to Carmela whenever she asked him how the job was going. She only found out because she went in to rent Cinderella Man and found out from the staff there. AJ makes pathetic attempts to defend himself, complaining that his theft of promotional items to sell on his own behalf was actually an ecological stand due to the resources that went into producing standees and the posters and the like. When he complains he needs the extra money to cover living expenses, both parents are in lockstep as they mockingly ask WHAT his living expenses are: he lives at home, they feed and clothe him, he pays no rent. Angrily he lashes back that they are forever shutting down his attempts to make money then complaining about his lack of a job, reminding them of his organizing of parties back in high school (they never forgot, they set their hearts desperately on his career as an Event Planner). If they get to have a social life he should have one too, complaining about the cost of New York Nightclubs. Here even he realizes he has hosed up, as he rants about the 2-bottle minimum at the club and Cristal costing $500 a bottle. Tony fumes while Carmela is aghast: he's spending $1000 a night on champagne!?! "N-no... not every night" he stammers, insisting Hernan and the others take it in turns with him to pay the tab for the night. That fires up Tony again, he dislikes Hernan greatly (so do I) and points out that the poor girl who got left in a wheelchair by the car Hernan flipped probably isn't coming along and drinking champagne with them. AJ defends his pedophile friend, claiming the girl's parents is just trying to get a payout because Hernan's father was on the cover of Forbes Magazine. Carmela has had enough and walks away in disgust, and AJ fucks up again by yelling after her that he's looking for jobs online before complaining to Tony that he "can't even speak to her". Tony is enraged, warning his son through gritted teeth that Carmela was the only one saving him from a beating at Tony's hand all the while growing up. He storms out of the room too, and a defiant AJ - after waiting enough time to be sure his bear of a father is really gone - "bravely" flips the bird to the now empty room.   That night Carmela can't sleep, of course, because she's worried about her idiot son loving up his life. She turns on the light, waking Tony who struggles to fully come alert and figure out what is going on ("Somebody call?" he asks) while she is already mid-sentence as if they are continuing a conversation that has only been going on in her head to this point. Finally he grasps what she is talking about as she bemoans the "dead streak" in their son, and tries to assure her that AJ is just spoiled because they gave him too much. She doesn't accept that though, he went to school with plenty of rich kids who are all now in Ivy League schools while he is going nowhere. She dredges up her memory of AJ going through his Nietzsche phase and Tony, face buried in his pillow, mumbles that AJ could yet surprise them. She knows what that's about though, Tony is a "sunny optimist" when he wants to go to sleep. But they can forget any chance of sleep though, as one of her earlier comments comes back to bite her on the rear end. It's Meadow, who like AJ had a privileged upbringing but seems to have turned out okay, knocking on the door so she can come in and let them know at 1:30 in the morning that she's decided to go to California for at least a little while to be closer to Finn now that he has finished his Year Off from Dental School. Carmela is shocked, weren't the two of them having problems? Meadow - who was in tears only the previous episode over Finn not understanding her - is outraged, she never said that! Carmela's eyes widen but she doesn't force the issue. AJ overhears this conversation from the hall, he's either just getting home or, more likely, just sneaking out, and he hears his perfect sister complaining about her tough choice between Medical and Law School. Carmela notes it is a good problem to have, but she thinks the Lab Job Finn's father is offering is just an excuse to chase Finn across the country. Will she at least be home for Christmas? Meadow hasn't even thought that far ahead, and is clearly exasperated at Carmela peppering her with questions she clearly hasn't thought about herself beyond her desire to go. She gives them both a kiss on the cheek and leaves the room, and a stunned Carmela sits letting it all sink in: her idiot son is unemployed, her perfect daughter is fleeing across the country to be with a fiance she was just recently seemingly on the verge of splitting up with. She turns to look at Tony, and of course he's closed his eyes after more than 10 seconds of silence to nod off again. Getting no help on that front, she looks away, and Tony's eyes pop open to check on her. He guilty but also clearly relieved that maybe now he can get some drat sleep.  Tony and Silvio meet with Phil Leotardo and Gerry Torciano to discuss the ongoing facets of the business relationship between their families. Phil explains to a bemused Tony that they're no longer able to make the 5 no-shows they promised him on the Tideland Projects work, claiming that he's also down in cash on the deal. Tony doesn't believe that for a second of course, and says as much out loud without coming right out and saying it, instead noting to Silvio that he should have expected this after he "let" Phil slide on not paying the proper cut on their recent mutual Centrum vitamins theft. Phil plays the aggrieved party here, Tony promised him 1500 boxes but when Christopher delivered the truck there were boxes torn open and pills lying on the floor. He goes so far as to pull a roll of cash from his pocket to be the bigger man and pay "out of the goodness of his heart" but Tony quickly shuts down this theatrical performance. He laments that for all of Johnny Sack's faults, he at least understood the purpose of a mutually beneficial relationship, but while he agrees once again not to press for money owed on the Centrum deal, he is adamant he needs some relief on these no-shows: his Captains rely on them to cover their health insurance. Phil dismissively waves off Johnny without a thought beyond reminding Tony that the disgraced former Boss has that title in name only now, but doesn't argue over the no-shows. His "final word" on the no-shows was simply his opening position and they both knew it, but it reveals a deeper issue that Tony has been concerned about : Phil is renegotiating already done deals that in many cases he helped make, because after Johnny's allocution it is clear that Phil now wants his unofficial spot as Boss to become official. The next morning Tony is sitting at the kitchen counter drinking coffee and watching the History Channel when Carmela - fresh off a workout - walks into the kitchen with an announcement. She's decided that she's going to take the trip to Paris she won in a silent auction at the recent Feast of Elzéar. Tony is bewildered and with angry resignation she declares that despite her talking to him about this at length after she first won it he clearly has no idea what she is talking about. He quickly defends himself, of course he remembers... that... uhhh... she won a trip to.... Paris! With a sigh she presses on, explaining how she wants to go, pushing aside his minor protests with answers to everything. Unlike Meadow, she HAS thought this through extensively. It's a good deal, a week for two for only $5000, and if Tony can't go then she can take Rosalie. They had planned a trip for Italy years earlier (mentioned near the end of season 2) but apparently it fell through when AJ walked through a plate glass window (of course he did) so now she can make it up to her. Plus with Meadow's sudden trip to California and her endless frustration with AJ, she feels like she NEEDS this vacation. Tony puts aside his objections for a moment and actually thinks selflessly for once: she DOES deserve this, far more than perhaps she knows since she mentions how the Spec House falling apart has gotten her down, not knowing that Tony straight up lied about that situation. She's delighted, giving him a kiss and rushing off to start planning, and for Tony there is an extra added bonus: now maybe he can spend a few days not having to worry about coming home to another explosion of "drama" (i.e, giving a poo poo about what their son is up to). As she rushes out of the kitchen, he calls her back, pleased to see that by chance Paris is now appearing on the History channel episode. He points it out to her and Carmela takes a look, and is left in deep unease. In stunningly tone-deaf fashion, Tony is showing her the archival footage of the Germans marching into Paris, and the famous shot of a citizen openly weeping as French soldiers abandoned the city. It's soon Tony's turn to be left uneasy though. Later that day he reads the paper at a mall foodcourt when a voice gets his attention. Turning, he's shocked to see Vito Spatafore standing at his table. Startled, he looks around in a panic, made worse when Vito points out his brother (he survived Mustang's Sally attack after all) is watching from the other side of the food court. Vito quickly assures him he's just there to keep an eye out on Vito's behalf, and asks if he can sit. Tony, understandably, refuses, feeling like he's been ambushed and not liking it one bit. But if Vito knows one thing, it's how to put together a deal. Tony's moral objections to being anywhere near Vito take a sudden dent when he promises to buy his way back in with 200k that will go DIRECTLY to Tony with nobody else needing to know. Further to that, he acknowledges that he can't go back to running the construction side of things BUT he can make Tony money elsewhere. He wants back in, and he has contacts in Atlantic City he could use to get set up and run prostitution or meth rings. He'd be far enough away to not embarrass Tony but close enough to be kept in line and be a continuous source of income. His earlier protests that he wasn't gay but that his blood pressure medication "hosed with my head" held no water for Tony... but the idea of a large cash "gift" and a regular source of income from a guy who always delivered is tempting. But he offers no answer one way or the other, because if nothing else Tony is the Boss and he won't be forced into a response. So he simply stands and walks away, leaving Vito without a yes... but also without a no.   Wisely, Tony nips any chance of stories spreading by immediately telling his Captains what happened. At the back room of the Bada Bing, he's laid out the whole thing to Silvio, Christopher and Paulie. Silvio agrees with Chris that Vito was stalking Tony, opining with great authority that living in the closet makes gay people well practiced at being devious. He notes with utter sincerity that for all his faults, when Richie Aprile found out his son was gay he "did the right thing".... he disowned him! Just in case you needed a reminder, these are NOT good people. Christopher excuses himself to attend an AA meeting, and Paulie comments on how Lucky Luciano would react to the world they live in now: gay mobsters, AA meetings etc. Silvio's mind is on more immediate things though, there are going to be plenty of people who had quieted down but will be fired up again once they learn Vito is back, and Phil will be chief among them. Tony dismisses that, positive that Phil is just making a lot of noise because he's aiming to become the official Boss of the Lupertazzi Family so is trying to craft an image as a tough guy. No, now that Tony has had a chance to think and not be painted into a corner, he's coming around to the idea of Vito in Atlantic City. He wouldn't be one of them anymore, he'd be out-of-sight and out-of-mind but he'd also still be earning and bringing in cash. He's putting the idea out there to see how the others react, and their responses aren't what he'd have been hoping for. Silvio makes no response which is to be expected, but more worrying is Paulie. Because he doesn't say anything, just wipes his hands from lunch and steps out into the bathroom. When Paulie - who is either always falling over his feet to kiss Tony's rear end OR endlessly complaining - doesn't say a drat thing, you know that there is a serious issue with what you're suggesting. At home, Carmela sits on the edge of the bed with her luggage, already second-guessing her decision to go. Tony is read to take her to the airport and when she starts bringing up all the reasons she shouldn't go, he gently helps her to her feet and hands over a gift: a real Louis "Vitoon" bag stuffed full of cash. Taking her by the shoulders, he reminds her how rough her year has been and how she was there for him when he needed her, and now it is time for her to take time to herself. It's a genuine and lovely thought, somewhat undercut when she emotionally asks him if he was aware of her telling him she loved him when he was in the coma and he shrugs and reminds her he was in a coma and thus remembers nothing. Holding back tears, she says out loud what she has said before, that she should tell him this more often. After his lovely gesture of the gift and the kind words that went with it though, he completely misses how deeply she wants him to offer his own,"I love you" back and simply gathers up her luggage, remarking that there is nothing stopping her from saying it more often if she wants. At a restaurant besides the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, Vito has dinner with his family. It's an awkward affair, his brother is there as family AND a bodyguard, while the kids are full of questions and Marie is struggling to keep herself composed. His story to the kids to explain his absence is far-fetched but the kind of thing credulous children would instantly believe: their dad is a CIA Spy who has been in Afghanistan, and might have to go back soon. He promises them that being a spy isn't dangerous so long as NOBODY knows who you are, further hammering home his insistence that they not tell anybody he's back in town. Both of them, desperate to have their father back, assure him they won't tell. He laughs as Vito Jr. tells Francesca to make sure they don't, and takes them both by the hand, telling them happily how much he loves them. The kids go ice-skating, watched by Vito and Marie. The latter is doing her best, asking how long till Vito can return home. If he's mentioned Atlantic City, it doesn't come up at all, but he is sure he'll be back within a few days once things are sorted out with Tony. With that out of the way, she timidly brings up his "problem", hoping he might have gone to see a priest about it. Exhibiting the kind of performative macho control so many of his fellow mobsters do, he kindly but authoritatively reminds her that this part of his life is now over and there is no problem. In fact, he wants to have another kid! How she was going to react to this bombshell we won't know, because they're both distracted by Vito Jr calling to them so he can show off his ice-skating. For the moment at least, they're once again a complete family.   But it's a different story once Vito returns to his motel room. Sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking, unable to sleep, he puts through a call to New Hampshire. Jim is not happy to hear from him, in fact he's outright disgusted. "Vince" left without a word, not even a note, and he doesn't buy for a second his bullshit excuse that he couldn't live without his family. He knows the real reason, it was the life that called Vito back, the gambling and drinking and who knows what else (the closest Jim ever gets to verbalizing Vito's obvious organized crime background). Vito agrees and changes his story to not wanting to drag Jim into the same muck as him, but Jim shits all over this as well, correctly pointing out that other people might be too scared of Vito to not kiss his rear end or pretend to believe him, but he isn't. With utter finality he tells him he never wants to hear from him again and hangs up. Vito lied to Marie about no longer being gay (well, duh, it doesn't work like that) but he was right at least that this part of his life was over: or at least the Jim part. He missed the life too much to stay in New Hampshire, but like so many before him once he turned his back on something he had, he's starting to miss it. Carmela and Rosalie are driven by cab down the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe, but it's not quite as culturally uplifting an experience as Carmela had hoped. Rosalie is miserable, complaining about her bowels jamming up on a long flight, the cabbie is playing loud French rap music, and Carmela herself can't quite seem to lift herself up out of her doldrums as they pass prestigious shopfronts and 1000+ years of culture she has always wanted to see. Like Vito, it feels like the reality never quite matches up to the dream. A restless, bored and emotionally fragile Vito is trying to fill the long hours of the night with something, and he's not quite confident enough (or is still in denial) to head out to any clubs. So he arranges to meet with Terry Doria at a local supermarket, presumably to get a sense of the lay of the land. Doria, no higher than soldier, meets what is technically speaking still a Captain with clear unease. Vito attempts to greet him in the usual warm embrace but Doria quickly slips his hands into his pockets and steps aside. Vito is hurt but lets it slide, this would be a massive insult any other time but here Doria is doing him a favor just by being seen with him. The wisdom of Tony immediately telling everybody about meetin Vito is made clear when Doria comments that word is they met - there is no surprise, no secrecy, no chance for the story to spin out of control. The implication is clear, Vito may be out but there's also a chance he may be back in, which is the only reason Doria has agreed to meet him.... and also because he needs money. He explains that his ex is pushing hard for child support back payments, and he was hoping to borrow 20k at 2 points. Seeing Vito's face fall, he shrugs and says it might not be a good time, and Vito is immediately assuring him it is, not wanting to show even the slightest sense of weakness or that this much (on top of the 200k he already promised Tony) is going to hurt his dwindling financial resources. But he does insist on 2.5 points, and Doria shrugs and agrees, assuring Vito he's good for it. Full of false camaraderie, Vito agrees and gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder. Doria doesn't fully recoil but he does clearly find the gesture distasteful. He will hug and kiss men all day long... but let a gay man pat his shoulder? That's beyond the pale! Tony meets with Phil at the statue of Lou Costello, making small-talk about the traffic only to be derailed when Phil angrily complains about Vito. Pissed off, Tony demands to know why he's STILL going on about this, and Phil explains that he visited Marie and could tell she'd seen him recently. Tony mocks the idea ("You're Carnac the Great now?") but his grumpiness turns to outright anger when Phil makes a veiled threat about the implications if Tony knew Vito was there but said nothing. Tony did let his own Captains know so HIS Family wouldn't get the wrong idea, but he's absolutely in the right to be livid about Phil making ultimatums like this. For one thing, Phil isn't the Boss of the Lupertazzi Family... yet. But even if he was, he'd have no right to be making demands of a fellow Boss like this. Tony does absolutely the right thing and walks away, not letting Phil think for even a second that he's got the freedom to treat them like the glorified crew he's always thought they were.   In Paris, Rosalie is feeling much better following a good night's sleep, a day of shopping and most importantly having the freedom to smoke at the table of the cage they're eating at. Carmela though still feels off, blaming it on the jet lag, saying she should have let herself get accustomed to the time difference first. Rosalie listens to the French voices speaking nearby and sighs in contentment, and Carmela allows herself to do the same before hunting through her guidebook over what to do next... but not before getting in some mothering by reminding a yawning Rosalie she should be trying to get on local time. Smiling to herself at doing this, she returns to her guidebook and is given pause though when she reads an entry on Heloise and Abelard. Momentarily she's lost in the memory of her doomed affair with Robert Wegler, then shakes it off and declares they need to get the Louvre. She asks for the check and Rosalie points out she's speaking English despite taking three years of French in high school. Carmela explains that she just feels uneasy trying to speak another language, noting that Tony is the opposite, on a trip to Miami he barely spoke a word of Spanish but was engaging happily in conversations wtih Spanish speakers like he was Ricardo Montalban. They head out for the Louvre but get hopelessly lost. Standing on a bridge, Rosalie fighting to find a missing glove, Carmela sighs and then looks about... and for the first time it finally hits her. "Oh my God" she says, getting Rosalie's attention, and it hits Rosalie too. They're standing on the Pont Alexandre III bridge, surrounded by art, statues, culture, history that permeates every place they look. Rosalie looks to the sky and drinks in the grey Paris skies, even those are somehow more elegant and inspiring than the same grey they see so often in New Jersey. Walking to the rail, awestruck, they look down at a passing canal boat and a delighted Rosalie points out it's just like the movie Charade. Carmela though is enraptured in the art, asking with pure awe who could have built a city like this. She stands and lets it wash over her, this is the Paris she always dreamed of seeing, it was real after all. "MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THAT poo poo OF HER TIT!" screams Silvio Dante in far-off New Jersey while Carmela is drinking in the culture of Paris (I guess somebody has to clean the poo poo of the statues' tits there too). One of his employees hoses down the gaudy neon Bada Bing sign, as Silvio moves to join Tony who has just returned from his disastrous meeting with Phil. Despite doing the right thing by walking away, he's not ignorant of the vast difference between the Lupertazzi Family and his own, and has come to an angry but necessary decision. There's no way he can keep Vito around even at arm's length, not while Phil is around. He's furious about it, despite Silvio's assurances he's doing the right thing, because he knows that regardless of what face-saving measures he has already taken, he has been effectively bullied into this decision. He'd have been happy just shunting off Vito to Atlantic City and collecting money from somebody whose threat to Tony's own leadership position was now well and truly neutered, but he can't do that. He didn't spend all that time recovering in the hospital just so he could be shot over protecting a homosexual mobster. Bitterly he complains that Vito should have just kept being gay quiet and indulged that lifestyle quietly, and a baffled Silvio makes a rare lapse of judgement and reminds Tony that Vito actually was doing exactly that. Tony fumes on that for a moment, and Silvio grasps it's time to move on and asks who should handle Vito's "retirement". With savage satisfaction Tony decides that since Carlo was the most vocal proponent of tracking him down, he can deal with cleaning up the mess now. Inside the Bada Bing, Silvio heads to the back to let Carlo know what is going on, and to be at the mall when Tony arranges a "meeting" with Vito. Tony meanwhile sits angrily at the bar, knocks back his drinks angrily, and angrily listens to a voice-mail from his loving wife telling him she arrived in Paris safely and asking him to call her back but to be mindful of the time difference. Hanging up, Tony's anger starts to fade at last, or at least the energy gets diverted on a different track, as he ogles one of the strippers dancing... and then the memory of his wife's voice so recently heard makes his face fall slightly. In his mind he must feel so set upon... nobody has things tougher than poor Tony Soprano!   At the Rue du Jour, Carmela and Rosalie stop to take in a plaque commemorating the execution spot of Francois Martine, a member of the French Resistance killed by the Germans in 1944. Rosalie gasps to hear the story, though probably - at the time - the thought of her own son's similar but far from heroic death doesn't cross her mind. Phil Leotardo meanwhile is living a normal domestic life, one of the few times we've seen him doing so up to this point. He's upset at his tailor doing a bad job on the length of his pants, and his wife Patty explains that the tailor is starting to lose his eyesight due to diabetes, but she'll take them to "the Korean" on her way to Church tomorrow for the meeting of Concerned Catholic Mothers. It all seems very straightforward and normal... until Patty starts talking about how embarrassed she is to be showing her face. "Here we go again," sighs Phil, and now we get a much, much different view of Phil and his mindset. Until now he has always been the enraged one, the one flying off the handle, hot-blooded and demanding death and torture for those who have slighted him. He has been the one calling Tony out to meetings, making demands etc. But here, in his house, lying on his bed in his boxers, he's just a tired husband sick of his wife endlessly going on about something. Like Tony trying to sleep while Carmela stressed over AJ and Meadow, Phil just wants a quiet moment relaxing on his bed, but Patty won't let him have it. She's humiliated: a gay in THEIR family? A Protestant Minister is coming to visit soon to do a talk on the subject, as apparently he is an expert. Their own priest has made no bones about homosexuality being a sin worthy of burning in hell. Phil nods along, making the odd sarcastic remark, irritating Patty in turn who clearly doesn't think he's taking it seriously enough (Tony would be gobsmacked). But he takes things seriously when his wife stands in the doorway, looks him right in the eye, and states firmly and with clear meaning that Vito must be made to face his problem squarely. This is a monstrous moment, because it comes not from a mobster but from a wife. Others have been shown to take an interest in their husband/boyfriend's doings, but they are mostly left on the outside. Silvio rarely lets Gabriella in on what he is doing (and she rarely asks), Tony actively fights Carmela's desire to know more, Christopher dismissed or ignored Adriana's efforts, and Janice has been vilified for her active attemps to drive her romantic partners' (and now husband's) forward in their careers. But here Patty is all but outright saying,"You have to kill Vito". Even if she didn't consciously realize that this would be the ultimate end result of her statement, surely Phil's shocked look must have penetrated at least somewhat into any self-denial she might have had. She is demanding a murder - the greatest sin of them all - as punishment for the "sin" of homosexuality, and that really says it all about who she is as a person. Concerned Catholic Mother my rear end, even without her complicity in her husband's murderous criminal lifestyle, she's a monster who likes to lord it up over others and whose "moral" outrage stems entirely from her own social embarrassment.  At the Church of St Estache, Carmela takes in the beautiful statues, the quiet sanctity of the place, staring with pleasure as a priest whispers enthusiastically to a gathered group of quiet, attentive school-children. As she wanders through the place, she spots Rosalie quietly lighting two candles before making her way to a seat to kneel and pray, a look of resigned misery on her face as thoughts of her dead husband and son race through her head. Carmela joins her there, but her mind is taken away from prayer by the statue of Mary and the Baby Jesus, similar artwork which has brought her to tears before. Meanwhile Tony is driving, and he doesn't look wheel. AC/DC is playing on the radio but his face is in a grimace. He's breathing hard, struggling to keep his eyes on the road or the car level. Is it another panic attack? Is he about to faint and crash again? No, he starts laughing as he finds release, and the stripper who he was leering at earlier raises up from her lap wiping off her mouth, having just given her boss a blowjob as "thanks" for him giving her a ride home. She turns down his offer of cash and tells him he's sweat, gives him a kiss on the cheek and heads inside. Tony happily waves goodbye to the first woman he has (completed) cheating on Carmela with since getting out of surgery, but then grimaces for real as his phone rings and he sees who is calling.
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Feb 25, 2020 13:56
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It's Vito, wanting to know if Tony has considered his offer. Betraying no sense of his true plan, Tony angrily complains that he wants to know more about this Atlantic City contacts of his before he makes any final decision. As a result he wants to meet Vito at the mall at 11, and he better not be late. Tony hangs up, satisfied that things are now in motion to remove this returned problem from his life. He's right, but not in the way he was hoping for. Vito returns to his motel and heads inside. Walking through the door, he's smashed across the back of the head by a pool cue by one assailant, then a second. He has just enough time to let out a cry of,"No!" before his mouth and hands are duct-taped, and the lights are turned on to reveal Gerry Torciano and Dominic "Fat Dom" Gamielleo. Eerily (and tellingly) the doors to the wardrobe open and Phil Leotardo literally comes out of the closet. Sensing what is coming, Vito tries to shout out protests or beg for mercy through the duct tape, but Phil ignores it. Instead he just quietly approaches Vito who is on his knees, stands before him a moment, then simply sits down on the edge of the bed and declares that he is a "loving disgrace". He mocks Vito's moaning, cupping one ear, then turns and motions silently to his men that they can begin. He says nothing else, takes no physical part himself, he doesn't even really display anger or even satisfaction at what he is watching.. He simply watches as Gerry and Fat Dom beat on Vito with the pool cues... and beat and beat and beat. The only display of any kind of reaction from Phil is to reach down and quietly squeeze the edge of the mattress, which along with his stepping out of the closet raise all kinds of questions about just what emotions Phil has really been repressing. Was that just a cruel joke of symbolism on his part, or does Phil's disgust in Vito stem from a disgust in himself? There are no answers to that question in this episode, and arguably none in the episodes to come. But the sight of this evil man appearing out of the closet like some kind of monster will stick with me for a long time.  While this brutality happens in America, Carmela is a happy tourist taking photos in France. At Satriale's the next day, Murmur is cracking everybody up with bad jokes when Bobby - still wearing an eyepatch - arrives with the news about Vito's death. He got it from "my cop" up there, Vito was beaten to death in a motel in Fort Lee, a pool cue jammed up his rear end as one final insult for the "sin" (unlike murder?) of being a homosexual. They take this all in with stunned surprise, and finally Christopher breaks the silence to awkwardly suggest a lover's quarrel. But Tony says they all know who must have done this, and Christopher takes this as the cue they don't have to pretend and angrily criticizes Phil for having the balls to do this. Carlo arrives prepared to give the same news, but sees their faces and guess they already know. He also has no doubt it was Phil, but while he also knows that this was a giant step over the boundaries, he can't help but speak in admiration for Phil not just being "all talk". Belatedly he realizes this comes across like an insult towards Tony and quickly qualifies his statement: Phil saved THEM all a lot of trouble (Carlo, after all, was supposed to kill Vito himself). They all look to Tony, waiting for guidance and direction. After all, homosexual or not, Vito was a Made Guy in THEIR crew, and Phil crossed multiple lines to kill Vito himself. Tony quietly considers and then states that Phil was in a tough spot due to the stain on his family honor (being a murdering criminal is fine, making out with another man unforgivable). Tony admits that Phil did it knowing he wouldn't be able to brag about it or admit to anybody he was involved, but claims that he would have done the same to Vito if he'd gotten his hands on him. They all nod eager agreement despite knowing that Tony DID meet with Vito and did nothing of the sort (he did at least give the greenlight for Carlo), and with that Tony makes it clear the matter is at an end and walks away. The others are left to consider the situation, but barely a minute after first hearing the news of their once close friend's brutal torture and murder they are already starting to crack jokes, with Patsy bemoaning that he would have borrowed money from Vito if he'd known he'd be killed so soon. They all laugh, but the one who gets the joke most of all is Terry Doria, beaming happily as he continues cooking for them all, safe in the knowledge that he'll never have to pay any of that 20k back, and certainly not any 2.5 points. Just as an aside, there has sometimes been speculation that Terry might have given Vito up to Phil after getting the cash. While it's possible, I think it more likely that word just got back to Phil from any possible number of sources. After all, Vito's idea of a low profile was to openly go about the city, meet with people, lend cash, take his family out to lunch etc. The protection that being with Tony might have once afforded him was gone even when Tony was considering the Atlantic City deal, and Doria probably just took an educated gamble that Vito wasn't much longer for this world the moment he surfaced in Jersey again.   But while Tony has sold the idea of being willing to look past the open secret of Phil murdering Vito to the other Captains, Silvio knows better. He follows Tony out to the front of Satriale's, where Tony's narcissism is in full force. Phil killing Vito has nothing to do with Vito's homosexuality, it was about sending a message to Tony! He wanted him to know he could kill one of his Captains and Tony couldn't do anything about it. Silvio considers this, thinks about the best response and offers a diplomatic,"It's always been partly about that" which doesn't directly contradict his Boss. As Tony is firing himself up his phone rings and he has to force himself calm again when he sees it is Carmela. He answers and bombards her with pop culture references she admits she doesn't get (or Rosalie's either), but she does speak joyfully of the amazing history of the place, assuring Tony - who loves the History Channel - that he would love it. Talk turns to the kids, Meadow has actually been calling more than he expected, and he laughs about how their perfect daughter is actually a bit of a dunce when it comes to knowledge that comes basic to he and Carmela, like how often to service a car etc. More of a problem is AJ, who Tony is having to fight to get to do anything, considering it a major accomplishment just to get him to hose down the garbage cans. They both assure the other they miss them and Tony hangs up, and though he gets straight back to business, having to force himself to be calm with Carmela has done him a world of good. He knows people will be expecting a response in spite of their eager acceptance of his statement about Phil simply doing what he would have done himself. But he doesn't want a situation like Joe Bananas and Carlo Gambino's Mafia War, because forget all the death that would come with it... if people are going to the mattresses then NOBODY is earning any money. Money, in fact, is the key. Tony knows that Phil only cares about money, forever loving him over on his end in their deals. if he wants to actually hurt Phil without kicking off a war with people getting killed, the best way is to cost him cash. He points out that they're all aware of Phil's Wire Room in Sheepshead Bay: that is where they'll get their "revenge". Later back at home, Tony hears a braying noise coming from his son's room. He enters unnoticed, and looks with utter revulsion as his only son sits in boxer shorts and nothing else howling with laughter as he types away in a Chatroom with his friends. Unable to stand the sight, he leaves in disgust. Carmela and Rosalie continue their tourist activities, though Rosalie is hoping to see a different kind of sight. She's struck up a conversation with a 26-year-old motorcyclist who is happy to practice his English since he lived in Las Vegas for six months. He's also more than happy to give her his number, and as he departs she rejoins Carmela and happily insists that him being so young is a large part of why she IS going to go out on a date with him. They wander through a museum, marveling at gemstones in a necklace from 1350 A.D, then travel to the 3rd Century Gallic-Roman baths - the Thermes de Cluny - where Rosalie cheekily ponders what might have gone on in these all-male establishments... apparently homosexuality is fine to chuckle about 1700 years after the fact, but a deadly sin in the current day. Carmela drinks in the history of it all, physically touching one of the walls as she remarks on the thousand+ years of history at their fingertips. All those generations, all those people who lived and laughed and loved right here and then were gone. Laying herself bare to her friend, she tells her about Tony waking from the coma momentarily to ask who he was and where he was going, and admits that since she came to France that same feeling has been washing over her. Breaking down into tears as Rosalie misses the significance of what she is saying and offers to take a photo, she weeps over how they spend so much of their life worrying but in the end it all just gets washed away. Finally grasping just how intensely Carmela is feeling, Rosalie hugs her tight, humming La Vie En Rose which has the desired effect, making Carmela laugh.   By the way, just in case you needed a redundant reminder of just what an incredible actress Edie Falco is, the incredible performance she delivers here on location in Paris happened when she was suffering a terrible case of flu that was so bad she could barely speak and had to ADR in most of her lines at a later date. One unexpected side-benefit was that Sharon Angela (Rosalie) could barely hear her lines, and as a result the awkward moments of missed connections/understandings between the two characters is actually enhanced. Phil suffers through the awkward experience of a wake for the man he had murdered, sitting with his cousin Marie as she sobs to a somewhat sympathetic Patty over the death of her husband. Somewhat sympathetic in that she commiserates with Marie's sorrow but even now can't bring herself not to badmouth Vito. When Marie explains the police said it might NOT be a gay thing, Patty reminds her that "they" pick up men in truck stops and bars. When Marie is upset that an Aunt hasn't even called to see how she is doing, Patty points out that, well, being gay is a sin after all! She even has the audacity to proudly explain that SHE came because her priest always tells her to hate the sin but love the sinner. Phil listens to all this trying to maintain his composure, only losing it during a rather bizarre moment when one of the other mourners puts a bodybuilding program on the television (what the hell?). But when Marie sobs that she wishes SHE was dead, he's had enough. Keeping his poker-face, he derails Marie from this line of thought by telling her he's going to make all the funeral arrangements, a small private-affair of just the immediate family. Marie, grateful, weepingly asks Phil if Vito was a good man and Phil - practiced at lying - assures her he was, though he makes a point of saying he loved him like a brother....in-law. But while Phil can easily show different faces as the situation requires, Patty is less capable. Listening to Phil smoothly deal with Marie despite knowing - at least on some level - that he killed Vito, Patty breaks down into tears herself. She wails that their tailor is going blind, needing to find some outlet to explain her grief, unwilling (or unable) to face up to the fact that her words lead to the brutal murder of somebody in her family. Phil is unshaken by his wife's sudden explosion of tears, simply telling a dazed Marie that on some level it is actually better for the children that they don't have somebody like Vito as a role model. Tony attends therapy in a foul mood, saying nothing, glaring out the window, Melfi waiting for some crack until she finally offers up something - anything - to try and prompt him to talk. None of the women in his life are at home, Carmela is overseas without him... how does this make him feel? Tony doesn't want to talk about this so she asks him if there is something he WOULD like to discuss before the session ends? He offers nothing so she continues to wait, and finally he lets loose with what is really rankling him: he hates his son. He spits out the words with disgust, his son spends his days on a "chitchat room" in his underwear with some other jerkoff, giggling like a schoolgirl. He's like to smash his own son's face in, and almost triumphantly he asks Melfi what she thinks about that. But of course she's here to find out what HE thinks, and when he retreats back into his old safe-space of lionizing some idealized version of his scumbag father, for once she isn't going to let him get away with it. He insists his father would never have put up with what Tony tolerates with AJ, that if only he'd been able to beat AJ like he was beaten his son might have grown into a real man. But she questions exactly what makes a real man in his (or his father's eyes), and even Tony can see she is talking about him when she points out that AJ might have ended up turning into somebody who takes out his rage towards his father on others around him, to have a desperate need to dominate and control. For a second, just one second Tony seems on the verge of answering when she asks him to tell her what he REALLY wants from his life... but then he falls back again, complaining that he couldn't hit AJ if he wanted to because he's so small, blaming Carmela's side of the family for being tiny. Melfi is disappointed, but before the session can close she asks Tony to consider one more thing: he blames Carmela for stopping him from hitting AJ... but how often did he wish his mother would protect him from his father's physical abuse? He doesn't want it to, but it is clear that this strikes closer to home than he wants to admit. Carmela and Rosalie eat at Le Grand Véfour, drinking in the atmosphere, loving the food and especially the wine. Carmela waxes philosophical, leaving Rosalie a little lost as she ponders the unreality of other people. For her, Paris never truly existed until she was there, and she understands that for the Parisians she herself never really existed until she arrived. It is the same with death, you are here, then you're not. Rosalie isn't quite sure what to make of that, but is happy to let Carmela talk... until she brings up the two candles Rosalie lit at the Church. She assumes they were for Jackie and Jackie Jr, and points out that they never really talked about her son's death. They're mercifully interrupted by the arrival of their meals, and listen with delight as their meals are described in French by the waiter. Rosalie prepares to tuck in and Carmela apologizes for invading... but then continues to do so anyway, asking if she wants to share, noting she has no idea how she'd deal with AJ dying etc... and enough is enough. Infuriated, Rosalie demands to know why she had to bring this up NOW? It's morbid and she doesn't want to talk about it: her son is dead and gone and she can't do anything about it. Carmela apologizes and forces a smile when Rosalie snaps defiantly that she's going out with the 26-year-old tonight... and then sensing she hit out perhaps a little too hard she invites her along. Carmela is quick to thank her but just as quick to decline, saying she intends to walk along the Seine one last time. They go back to their meals, but the spell has been somewhat broken by Carmela forcing the point at the wrong time, and sadly their meal in this magnificent restaurant will probably be forever soured in their minds.   Carlo is making Linguini in the back of Satriale's while Silvio uses a dustbuster to collect up what he suspects might be rat-turds. The others will be coming later but at the moment it's just the two of them, but then they're joined by Fat Dom who is dropping off a cut of cash bilked out of some high rollers Silvio sent their way recently. They ask him to join them for food but he has to go to his daughter's, though he does take a moment to have a quick leaf through the newspaper sports result. Appropriately, he offers a quiet note of sympathy for the recent passing of Vito (they have no way of knowing he was one of the killers) and they thank him... but he can't leave it at that. He cracks jokes about the pool cue jammed up Vito's rear end and even makes a comment about a hankie with Carlo's lipstick being found in Vito's pocket. Everybody takes a moment to compose themselves and Dom seems to sense maybe this was too much, but when Carlo goes back to cooking he can't resist continuing. He references Ramon Novarro and an angry Carlo snaps back with an insult of his own. Silvio senses trouble brewing and decides now is the right time for Dom to leave. Dom, clearly feeling invulnerable thanks to his proximity to Phil Leotardo, smirks and says he did make a mistake, Carlo's lipstick was on Vito's cock... and that does it. It isn't Carlo who attacks but Silvio, smashing the dustbuster over his head in a moment of instant rage. Dom staggers forward into Carlo as Silvio grabs him from behind, and Carlo immediately grabs for his knife. Suddenly Dom isn't arrogant, he isn't even angry about being hit, because he suddenly realizes that he's about to be in the same position that Vito was. He cries out,"No, Carlo!" but it's too late, Carlo stabs him savagely twice, and a screaming Dom tries to slam him against the fridge. Silvio leaps onto his back and he stumbles backwards, and Carlo strikes again, stabbing him multiple times till Carlo crashes back against the table and finally lays motionless. Silvio and Carlo are left winded but unhurt... but with a major problem, they just murdered another Made guy, one who works in close connection with the current Acting Boss of one of the Five Families of New York. Silvio's initial burst of rage was gone in a flash, now he's thinking. He locks the door and tells Carlo to call the others and tell them lunch is off due to a burst pipe. They'll wait for Satriale's to close for the night then get rid of the body, though not by cutting it up as has been done before... he's worried about DNA. They set their plan in motion, Carlo changing out of his bloody clothes, the two playing cards to pass the time. But while they've successfully gotten the others to stay away, nobody thought to tell Tony, and he arrives at the back entrance and hammers at the door, demanding to be let in. Silvio unbolts the door but tries to tell him to just walk away because he doesn't want to see inside, which of course makes Tony determined to see in. He immediately regrets it, looking down at Dom's corpse wrapped in the table cloth. Silvio offers a truncated account of what happens that paints Carlo as the sole perpetrator, causing Carlo to offer a rather pathetic,"Sil hit him first!" response. Tony turns and leaves, Silvio following after agreeing it's for the best he just leave. He starts to point out that Tony was right about revenge murders being the last thing they wanted but Tony shuts him down, loudly telling him to pass on his best to Gab who has the flu. It's for the benefit of his driver Perry Annunziata, the less people who know about this the better. They drive away, leaving behind Silvio to complain angrily about GODDAMN VITO! Tony returns home where he finds AJ hanging out on the couch with Hernan and the still under-age Rhiannon. He's made a call while he was on the way, and comes home where AJ's greeting to his father is a sullen,"I thought you were going out for dinner?" Tony ignores that AND Hernan's oily toast of "respect" towards him (they're all underage - especially Rhiannon! - and openly drinking), asking AJ to join him in the garage. Once in there, he informs a horrified AJ that at 7am tomorrow he's going to be reporting to a construction site where he is going to be working a well-paid Union job. AJ offers every excuse in the world for why he can't do this: it's outside in the Winter! He will have to quit in a few months anyway to go back to school! He's rather keep looking online! Tony listens and nods along, and offers counters every step along the way that all boil down to one thing: he takes this job or else. Or else what? AJ doesn't say it but his disdain is clear for Tony's quiet warning that he will take away his car, clothes, room, Carmela's cooking and eventually put him on the street if he doesn't comply. After all, he's been able to get away with everything without consequence for almost his entire life, why should not be any different? Tony calmly, professionally goes to his toolbench and eyes up the available items, then chooses a a football helmet. He returns to AJ and smashes in the windshield of his SUV with the helmet, getting his desired reaction of fear at last (and fittingly it's the abandoned helmet of a sport that Tony felt real pride in seeing AJ play). Pointing out the disgusting state the car is in, Tony warns him that he will have the car turned into scrap if AJ doesn't drive down to work tomorrow. Taking AJ by the shoulder, he leans in close and very quietly, very calmly warns him not to test him. AJ has seen him rage and vent and hurl things and smash things before, but this eerie calmness is something else entirely. Tony walks away and AJ is left pondering the wreckage of his windshield and the unfairness of getting a highly paid Union job without even having to do anything.   Carmela walks down the deserted rows of trees in the Palais-Royal gardens, the only other person ahead of her a tall woman walking a familiar looking dog. The woman turns, it is Adriana La Cerva, looking elegant and refined: did she come to Paris when she ran out on Christopher? Is this why she hasn't called her mother. She smiles to see Carmela and points out happily that she found Cosette, a dog that Carmela KNOWS is dead. Besides Carmela, a gendarme has appeared. In an American accent he tells her in English that somebody needs to tell her friend she is dead. Carmela wakes in her hotel room with a deep feeling of sadness. In America, Patty sleeps the sleep of the righteous. Phil lays beside her in bed, eyes wide open, unable to sleep. Does he feel guilt? Resentment? Pity? Carmela and Rosalie leave the hotel, their taxi on its way to pick them up. Rosalie remembers she forgot to get her placemats and rushes back inside, and Carmela takes the moment to drink in Paris one last time. Soon she will be gone, and for these people she will cease to exist. For her, they will cease to exist as well. But for now, they exist together. Perry brings her luggage into the house when she arrives back home. Tony greets her with a hug, while Rosalie returns home to her mother where they do the same. Tony and Mama Aprile both ask their loved ones the same question, and the answer is the same, a wide-eyed grin of pure pleasure. Everything that went wrong, every bad feeling or whispered argument has washed away, and for now all that is left are the happy memories. But while Carmela might have been right that eventually with death it all washes away, that takes times. The repercussions of Vito's death are far from over on many levels. One is the slowly dawning realization for Vito Jr as he reads the newspaper article on their father's death to his sister. Their father has been murdered, and the news lays it all out: he was an "alleged" Mafia capo, but there's more. An "anonymous family member" (Patty?) told the news that Vito and Marie had been separated, and that Vito had announced his intention to live an openly gay lifestyle. Poor Francesca can't quite grasp what all this means, and asks if this means their father WASN'T a spy for the CIA? "....no" poor Vito Jr finally manages to get out. In the early morning, Carmela can't sleep due to jetlag and is up doing laundry, greeting a sullen AJ who is bundling up to go work his construction job, which she of course is more than happy about. She heads down into the basement and loads up the washing machine, back already to the humdrum routine of life in New Jersey. Paris is nothing but a memory now. In a photography studio, a photographer is drinking coffee and reading the paper when he sees the story about Vito. He's shocked to recognize the man and to learn he was in the Mafia. Looking through one of his portfolios, he shows it to another photographer: this was somebody he shot for the Thin Club to celebrate their weight loss. They compare the photo to the one in the paper, they're the same person all right. Vito is dead, reduced now to a joke for many who knew and worked with him, an anguished and confusing memory for the family he left behind, and a human curiosity for those who can reflect for a moment in the notoriety of his death.  Vito Spatafore couldn't live free, so he died. Season 6: Members Only | Join the Club | Mayham | The Fleshy Part of the Thigh | Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request... | Live Free or Die | Luxury Lounge | Johnny Cakes | The Ride | Moe n' Joe | Cold Stones | Kaisha Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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Feb 25, 2020 13:57
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Great write-up as always. Just wanted to point out that it's actually AJ's high school football helmet that Tony uses to smash the windshield, I always figured he chose that on purpose.
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Feb 25, 2020 15:59
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This episode definitely makes it clear that Tony B was lucky his cousin got to him first. If Phil would do all that to Vito, imagine what he'd do to the guy who killed his brother.
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Feb 25, 2020 17:43
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The transition between Carmella admiring the statue in Paris and Silvio giving directions to the sign cleaning guy at the Bing thus: MAKE SHOOA YOU CLEAN DAT poo poo OFF HUH TIT 
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Feb 25, 2020 20:38
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I always wondered about that "Yeah, when Anthony walked through the plate glass window" line as sort of ominous. Not that Tony actually put AJ through a window, but there was more to it than that. There's just something about the way he says it, that expression on his face that's usually when he's reciting a "truth"
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Feb 25, 2020 20:44
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gently caress you, DracuLeotardo
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Feb 25, 2020 20:52
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Pope Corky the IX posted:I always wondered about that "Yeah, when Anthony walked through the plate glass window" line as sort of ominous. Not that Tony actually put AJ through a window, but there was more to it than that. There's just something about the way he says it, that expression on his face that's usually when he's reciting a "truth" I always just took it as Tony's ongoing discomfort that he raised an oblivious moron. I thought the gay made man issue was a really interesting one to explore, albeit flawed in the delivery (mainly just Gannascoli is not a skilled enough actor to carry the plotline, nor could the writers take the idea that seriously, apparently). Not just as a challenge to Tony's purported new 'live and let live' attitude and his general series-long arc of mentally casting off every aspect of the old school mob code, but just generally it's sort of horrifically fascinating that having to guard against being perceived to be gay is a relatively new post-gay rights phenomenon, while here are these guys in this very pre-modern secret men-only club where you constantly hug and kiss and avow your love for one another, making it practically impossible to close that door once it's opened. To me Phil is someone who at least fears he might be gay and that there was some deeper reason he had formed a close bond with Vito, but because he's totally psychologically unequipped to deal with it you get the emergence from the closet and the crude mock-consumation with the pool cue (followed by having to order the TV channel changed in case oiled musclemen turn him queer). Tony's biggest foes in the mob world are always men who are hopelessly in the grip of their own insecurities.
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Feb 26, 2020 00:26
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I really am fascinated by Phil, because as noted he's deeply insecure in spite of his hard man persona. In an upcoming episode he makes an incredible speech about how he has spent a lifetime denying himself (which, to be quite frank, is bullshit), and one of the things he mentions is how in prison he wanted sex with a woman but couldn't have it, so he just denied himself of all sex. When coupled with Tony's blase "oh you get a pass if you're in prison" line to Melfi, it makes me wonder if there was a point where Phil was tempted, even if only momentarily, and he's internalized that feeling as self-loathing which he projects onto Vito who dared to be "weak" and indulge in something that Phil hates himself for once considering.
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Feb 26, 2020 00:54
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UNRULY_HOUSEGUEST posted:I always just took it as Tony's ongoing discomfort that he raised an oblivious moron. Prison E: beaten
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Feb 26, 2020 01:12
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Also holy gently caress but gently caress Patty Leotardo. "Hate the sin but love the sinner".... gently caress you! 
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Feb 26, 2020 01:20
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Jerusalem posted:I really am fascinated by Phil, because as noted he's deeply insecure in spite of his hard man persona. He doesn’t say denied himself of all sex. “Twenty years in the can, I wanted manicotti. I compromised. I ate grilled cheese off the radiator instead. I wanted to gently caress a woman. I compromised. I jacked off into a tissue instead. You see where I’m going?” I still think he did some things in prison that he’s ashamed of (for their thing) and I think his wife has some sort of an idea and uses it against him.
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Feb 26, 2020 02:15
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Sorry yes, compromised instead of denied.
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Feb 26, 2020 03:34
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I like how "jack off in a tissue" becomes "didnt make it an issue" in the tv edit.
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Feb 26, 2020 04:43
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banned from Starbucks posted:I like how "jack off in a tissue" becomes "didnt make it an issue" in the tv edit. drat, that's a great edit
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Feb 26, 2020 04:52
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The scene with Phil killing Vito just seems packed with symbolism and hints at more plot, but unfortunately we don't get any more insight into Phil. It's too bad, the best villains are the ones who are more fleshed-out, and it seemed like there was a lot to unpack there that we just didn't get. Also, the scene with Adriana in Paris is so heartbreaking and eerie, it's another amazing dream scene in a show full of them. Also, it shows that Carmela finally understands what happened to Adriana, and in her own mind has come to peace with it (See? She found her dog!), which is subtly horrifying in its own way.
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Feb 26, 2020 04:59
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those poor meatballs...
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Feb 26, 2020 05:55
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Ishamael posted:The scene with Phil killing Vito just seems packed with symbolism and hints at more plot, but unfortunately we don't get any more insight into Phil. It's too bad, the best villains are the ones who are more fleshed-out, and it seemed like there was a lot to unpack there that we just didn't get. Her literally choosing her house project over potentially uncovering the truth about Adriana is also extremely horrifying.
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Feb 26, 2020 08:14
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