Thoughts on Tonight's Sopranos?

I've had a feeling AJ would get more involved in Pop's business . . . and now that he's been turned down by his true love perhaps he'll move from the pizza business to his father's business.

Overall, the show is moving along the (general) lines of what I expected.

Ironically, tonight's episode brought to mind Season 1's excellent John Heard character. Tony ridiculed him for being an addict and Heard replied something along the lines of, "You have the unique ability to sum up a man's life in one sentence." With Tony's gambling addiction worsening, it just goes to show how prescient Justin T is. What goes around does in fact come around.

What do you think happened to Hesh's girlfriend--and if Tony was behind it, how'd they do it?

Interesting q. I checked out TWOP's forums and most seem to think Tony had her whacked just to let Heshie know that he can get his money back . . . at a price. Some thought that since he said she had a headache that maybe she did suffer from migraines etc. and could have had a brain aneurysm. Me, I think T had something to do with it.

Yeah, I'm also leaning toward the idea that Tony had Hesh's girlfriend whacked as a trade-off for paying up. But I can't figure out the how.

As for AJ's girlfriend, I don't think it was AJ, I think it was the "family" that turned her off. I don't think she liked the lifestyle or rule-breaking of the Sopranos et al. The conspicuous consumption, getting out of legal troubles in a snap, sense of entitlement, etc. She didn't appear to enjoy those Sunday dinners.

Whacks have never been in secrete on this show. If Tony had her whacked, we would have seen it. The actually killing of people has never been a mystery, and it isn't even what this show is about. He had no reason to kill her. There are only 5 episodes of this series left, do we really believe that they are going to waste time on a minor player such as her and create a mystery surrounding her death?

The central theme of this episode is that Tony is going under. His gambling ways are starting to catch up to him and his guys aren't earning as much as they once used to. Did any of you catch the fact that games Tony bets he loses, he is becoming a mush. His whole way of life is caving in on him. If he had bet Carmella's money on that Jets/Chargers game, he would have been set with $1.2 million.

We are watching a once powerful man lose everything that he loves. He is slowly fading into the sunset. This season is poetic. I cannot wait to see the Paulie vs Chris feud finally reach its boiling point next week.

But we knew Tony had ordered the hit on Adriana. They found out that she was talking to the FBI. It was no secrete who was behind her killing. This show has never been shy when it comes to revealing who is behind a whack. With 5 episodes to go in the entire series, I doubt that they would change anything. It makes no sense.

If Tony didn't want to pay Hesh, he wouldn't have to. He's the head of the New Jersey family. If he wanted Hesh's girl dead, we would have seen one of Tony's guys do it.

I was wondering if AJ's girlfriend might be an FBI agent.
Everytime I think the storyline is going in one direction, it takes a turn and baffles me.
Can't wait for next week's show, this one felt unfinished to me.

According to hbo.com, Renata died of natural causes (a stroke).

The look of -- what was it exactly -- victory? that swept across Tony's face as he was leaving Hesh's place (after unceremoniously/cruelly dropping off the money he owed) was revelatory in countless ways.

It showed the depth of his jealousy over Hesh's (outwardly) normal/peaceful life. In other words, he was revelling in Hesh's pain. When you consider that Hesh was someone that he once "loved like a father" this shows just how far Tony has sunk. He was "given a second chance at life" in the form of a near death experience, and he is squandering it by sinking deeper and deeper into a hell that is mostly of his own making.

I know some people are not crazy about this final mini-season, but I think David Chase is nothing short of a genius. Making Tony (and many other characters) even less sympathetic and likable to his/their most loyal fans? To me, that's an act of profound screenwriting courage. Everything is falling apart. No one is safe. And their collective desperation/envy/hatred/pettiness/selfishness/emotional ugliness is downright palpable. A "pretty" and/or "happy" ending was never even remotely possible for this group of murdering/thieving/lying characters, so Chase appears to be taking them all down, one by one, and not in a "blaze of glory."

-hopeful

Holy cats. Who here saw last night's episode, "Kennedy and Heidi"?

SPOILER ALERT!!!






























I absolutely didn't see this one coming.

Sure, they were leading up to something like this. But to have Tony be the one to actually do it? And like that? Was he doing him a favor -- that way he wouldn't suffer? Was he doing it because seeing how the baby would have died -- horribly, instantly -- sent him over the edge?

And what was up with him telling Melfi -- twice -- that he's murdered friends before? Doesn't she have an obligation to go to the FBI? I don't know what's covered by doctor/patient confidentiality; maybe it's only crimes ABOUT to happen, as opposed to those in past tense.

And poor AJ. He only thought he was depressed when Blanca left him. Now he's truly fucked up.

Anyone else think this is setting the way for AJ shooting his dad in the series finale, before offing himself?

dragonjax said:

I absolutely didn't see this one coming.

Sure, they were leading up to something like this. But to have Tony be the one to actually do it? And like that? Was he doing him a favor -- that way he wouldn't suffer? Was he doing it because seeing how the baby would have died -- horribly, instantly -- sent him over the edge?

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I didn't expect it either. I figured he'd eventually OD or get shot, but I never saw this one coming.

And what was up with him telling Melfi -- twice -- that he's murdered friends before? Doesn't she have an obligation to go to the FBI? I don't know what's covered by doctor/patient confidentiality; maybe it's only crimes ABOUT to happen, as opposed to those in past tense.

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Well, the first time he was telling her, it was a dream. The second time, he didn't actually SAY he'd killed people, he just alluded to "taking care of things" and "seeing friends die." Tony's pretty cautious when it comes to what he actually says to Melfi.

I'm wondering where the AJ storyline is going. Could be setting him up to kill his father, but I'm not sure that's where it's headed. My money is on Paulie Walnuts doing something drastic in the last three episodes.

I nearly peed my pants when AJ sobbed, "Why can't we all just get along?"

dragonjax said:

And what was up with him telling Melfi -- twice -- that he's murdered friends before? Doesn't she have an obligation to go to the FBI? I don't know what's covered by doctor/patient confidentiality; maybe it's only crimes ABOUT to happen, as opposed to those in past tense.

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The first time he told Dr. Melfi was in a dream sequence; the second time was for real, but he spoke of it as "I've seen friends murdered" and not "I killed so-and-so." NOTE: Cross-post with Patti.

You know, I thought the first Melfi scene ended abruptly, but I didn't realize it was a dream sequence. Very seamless. Thanks for the clarification.

And yeah, I've been waiting since Season 3 for Paulie to get what's coming to him. I have a sinking suspicion that he's going to make it through to the end -- because he's one of the characters I really loathe.

Speaking of loathing, Chase and Crew are doing a terrific job reminding us that these guys are all monsters, aren't they?

Weird how Tony felt that his "nephew's" death (and him killing him) made his bad streak of luck go away when it came to gambling...

From HBO.com:

"Tony admits in a session with Melfi what he hasn't been able to tell anyone: that he's relieved. "The biggest blunder of my career is now gone and I don't have to be confronted by that fact no more," he says. But in fact, this session with Melfi is a dream."

Were BOTH Melfi sessions dreams? Or was this from the first Melfi sequence?

Just the first one was a dream, the way I understood it. In the second, he was actually talking to her.

And I just love the way Dr. Melfi can say so much just by the look on her face. She's awesome.

She is, Patti. She is.

Wow. Only three episodes left. And there still seems like there's so much more to play out.

Does anyone know if the last episode is going to be of normal length? The Oz finale was two hours.

I'm curious if that whole "terrorism" plot is ever going to play out, and if so, how. They've been flirting with it for two seasons, and nothing has really come of it, unless it's all a big metaphor I'm not really grasping.

Oh No! They killed Chris!

Two to go

Who thought AJ would succeed? Not me.

And for the record, Tony's "historically speaking" line to Melfi about AJ was hysterical.