Past Episodes
Pilot
46 Long
Denial, Acceptance, Anger
In "Isabella," Tony is depressed, because he thinks Big Pussy is dead. He blames himself for it because he no longer thinks Big Pussy is a rat. So he sleeps in bed all day and creates an imaginary beautiful woman to talk to. Why the hell can't I do something like that?
Anyway, the first assassination attempt goes badly because Christopher parks in the middle of the street because he's worried about Tony committing suicide. Ok, this feels off to me. Chris and Tony sort of, kind of talked about being depressed in a previous episode, and Chris is the type of person to do something stupid like park his car in the middle of the road.
But this doesn't feel natural to me, it feels like the writers needed a way to stall the inevitable. I don't honestly see Chris following Tony and Chris parks in the middle of the street, because? So I have a few problems with that scene.
Meanwhile, Junior is struggling mightily with this decision. He doesn't want to hear about or talk about Tony, he just wants to finish the job so Tony could be dead and he will then be able to move on. We get that hilarious scene after first botched attempt, Junior wants the hit off so Mikey just shoots Donnie. It was funny because it was abrupt and kind of shocking.
The second attempt kind of defied probability. Apparently these guys were good, yet the one guy missed a clear attempt feet away TWICE. The other guy missed Tony and hit his partner in the face and I think Tony's ear, which I guess is slightly more believable but the accuracy of these two guys is unbelievably bad for being supposedly good hit men.
The missed attempt did brighten Tony's mood however. And it gave us a nice moment where Tony was offered a new life and Carmela badly wanted to take it. We know from "College" that she has regrets about entering this life, but can't resist the good lifestyle for her and her children. Also, AJ Soprano doesn't buy the car jacking story further pushing along a previous story line that had him finding out Tony was a mobster.
That's the kind of reason The Sopranos is great though. They don't just dropped story lines, they build on them in some way. So it's good to see actual evidence of it (To be fair, I didn't really pay attention to this the first time around.)
Tony imagines Isabella because of a need for a mother-son relationship. This is reflected in the scene where Isabella is breast-feeding a baby "Antonio." Anyway, I think this show takes these scenes too literally and psychology is not as cut and dry as it makes it out to be. But I don't really feel terribly strongly about it.
Also, an underrated aspect of why shows like this are successful is the humor. The humor is so vital, yet it seems that the copycats of shows like this recently have none, such as Low Winter Sun. (And I mean NO humor). Any scene with Livia usually gets at least one laugh from me and the AJ's date being in the limo with Paulie and Silvio across from them will never not be funny.
Deaths
Donnie, who says the truth, but suffers because Junior feels guilty.
Quotes
"She's telling the truth or she deserves an Academy fucking Award." - Chris
"I don't know nothing no more." - Tony
"Aha, Tony S's own mother wants him popped." - Donnie, unknowingly leading to his death
"What were you thinking about just then?" --- "This gorgeous piece of cooze." - Nice Tony
"You know if I was that young lady, and you used that kind of talk, I'd slap your face!" - Livia, constant source of comedy at that dinner table scene
"This is the last time. I'm never coming back to this house." - Livia, with an ounce of truth in her meaning
"I never threatened to cut your dick off." - Carmela
Playlist
1. "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" - Queens of the Stone Age
2. "One Good Thing" - Jared Evans
3. "Go Outside" - The Cults
4. "Hip Hop Saved My Life" - Lupe Fiasco
5. "Tundra/Desert" - Modest Mouse
1. "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" - Queens of the Stone Age
2. "One Good Thing" - Jared Evans
3. "Go Outside" - The Cults
4. "Hip Hop Saved My Life" - Lupe Fiasco
5. "Tundra/Desert" - Modest Mouse
I think The Sopranos is a comedy first. Everybody is dumb and sarcastic all the time.
ReplyDeletethe psychology and dreams, the interpretations of this shit used to bother me. but, that's just how it works in this universe, dreams and hallucinations DO hold meaning in this world, unlike ours. there's something bigger than them out there, something afterlife-ish.