Past Episodes
Pilot
46 Long
Denial, Acceptance, Anger
This is not a great episode. If there's one thing The Sopranos struggles with, it's writing competent characters outside of the world of the Sopranos. This has two different story lines dealing with characters outside of their world.
The first, Massive Genius and his posse, is just downright painful at times. This is the stereotypical idea of what an intellectual gangster rapper is. I'm not going to pretend to know how an extremely rich gangster rapper acts, but I'm pretty positive the portrait of Massive Genius is not it. Also, the name Massive Genius - really?
I really just wish they would have just scrapped that whole story to pieces. It does nothing of value really and I don't think they return to it in the future. It's supposed to give us an greater idea of who Hesh is, but it barely achieves that even. We already knew he was rich and a shrewd businessman.
The other one was of the upper class rich white men that Tony is neighbors with. I have less problems with them as this seems pretty realistic in my mind. They don't really want to be friends with Tony, but want to be friends with Scarface, Michael Corleone, and the idea of a real mob boss.
This is just... boring. I know that I sound like a person who watches The Sopranos for the kills and action, but I'm not. I don't think this episode does much for character beats either. It's just kind of a pointless episode in my mind.
Also, we see Adriana try to get her friend's band to get signed and to make money off it. I think the band is actually the perfect note of not great, yet listenable enough. They sound just ok enough to imagine someone like Adriana liking the band, perhaps because she knows someone in it. Also, bad enough to make it not difficult to imagine the band not getting a deal.
The dinner conversation at the dinner party of Dr. Cusamano kind of touched on the fact that the Sopranos aren't that different from the rest of life, however it was undercut a little by how awkward all the scenes were between Tony and the other rich white men.
The ending was nice though. Giving Dr. Cusamano sand as a gift and telling him to "Hold on to it for a while" is genius. I imagine if I was in that scenario, I'd be freaking the hell out.
Surprise Guest Appearances
Bokeem Woodbine, whose name really doesn't ring a bell, but his face is unique and instantly recognizable as Massive Genius. He really tries with this role, but the writing just isn't there for him.
Deaths
At the beginning of the episode, random guy who was killed and the Sopranos found a lot of money there. Still not sure who he is was or where that money was from, but that wasn't the point.
Quotes (This was one of the weaker episodes for quotes)
"I can't tell if you're old-fashioned, paranoid, or just a fucking asshole." - Carmela about Tony, it's probably the last one
"You know Richie Santini?" "Yeah, you used to fuck him." - Chris, with his wonderful way with words
"My people were the white man's nigger when your people were painting their faces and chasing zebras." - Hesh with the racist comment of the episode
"Sometimes I think the only difference between American business and the mob is fucking wacking somebody." - Dr. Cusamano might not be far off.
"We don't just play, we win." - Wife of rich white guy - Might as well wear a huge neon sign saying "I'm a huge bitch"
"I've recorded... in Denmark" - Douchebag alert from lead singer of band
"How real was The Godfather?" "Did you ever meet John Gotti?" - Rich white men being dumb
Playlist (Just watched 8 mile so that explains two songs)
1. "Lose Yourself" - Eminem
2. "Shook Ones" - Mobb Deep
3. "I Don't Care" - Icona Pop
4. "Name" - Goo Goo Dolls
5. "The Way We Get By" - Spoon
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