The Sopranos: Bust Out

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1

Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

Do Not Resuscitate

Toodle Fucking-Doo

Commendatori

Big Girls Don't Cry
Happy Wanderer

D Girl
Full Leather Jacket

"Bust Out" begins with a witness identifying Tony near the scene of Matt's shooting.  It is a smart writing decision even though we know Tony will not get caught.  For one, there's a tension on whether that witness will be killed before the end.  We want to like Tony and killing innocent people tends to make that hard.  For two, it allows us to see Tony scared and genuinely afraid.  Lastly, it forces Tony to want to spend more time with his family while he can.

The killing of Matt does weigh on Tony.  Matt's a dumbass sure, but he's a stupid, naive kid who was in over his head.  Obviously, it's a not a death that will stick with him for very long - shooting at your nephew tends to do that - but it's nice that it affects him from an audience point of view.

The onset of an indeterminate prison sentence forces Tony to look at his relationships with his children.  Tony tries to connect with AJ.  He also has hands down the best scene of the episode with Meadow.  He's sitting alone in the kitchen, drinking when Meadow walks in.  He tells Meadow it's all for her and AJ.  It's really beautifully played by James Gandolfini - no surprise there.

Tony has another fantastic scene earlier in the episode with Dr. Melfi, when he tells her that he may be going away for a while.  It's one of the better acting moments from Lorraine Bracco, who plays that scene with restrained terror.  Those two scenes alone make this episode an easy A for me.

It's sort of horrible that while Tony may be going a way for a while, Carmela gets tempted to cheat on him.  I'm not saying that as an indictment on her character given Tony's misgivings.  Anyway, she's tempted by this impossibly good guy - hard-working, loyal, only single because his wife died.  Clearly, the tandem of Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, and Frank Renzulli were trying to make a situation where it would almost be unbelievable to not cheat.

And fittingly, the resolution doesn't disprove this either: they only don't cheat because Vic finds out what Tony has done to David Scatino.  Scatino provides some depressing laughs with how bad he's treated and how uncaring they seem to be that they are destroying his business.  It's almost a reminder to the audience that while he may care about his kids, he's also a monster who absolutely deserves to go to jail.

Meanwhile, Richie is still being influenced by Janice, who is telling Richie about how much Tony is disrespecting him.  Richie tells Tony he wants more of the garbage business.  This slow trickle of a season-long plot is increasingly making it clear this will not be resolved easily.

Things I would like to have expunged from my brain: Richie pointing at a gun at Janice while having sex with her with her saying "Baby you're the best."  That is one of the most horrifying scenes in the entire run of The Sopranos for me.

Grade - A

Surprise Guest Appearances
Not a surprise, but I've been watching Louis Lombardi (who plays Skip) on the fourth season of 24, and he's a better actor than I originally thought.  Two somewhat similar, but absolutely differently played characters.

Deaths
Surprisingly none

Quotes
"On your way out, you think you can roll the garbage cans down the hill?  Tomorrow's pick-up day." - Tony to the police - The humor is all in the delivery by Gandolfini

"You're a cute prick, Pus, I'll give you that." Skip's underrated

"GET THE FUCK BACK IN YOUR FUCKING HOLE! NOW!" *few seconds of silence "Davey, you're doing a good job!" - Gandolfini is just the best

"Well I knew you had this business here Davey.  It's my nature.  The frog and the scorpion, you know?" - Tony to Davey confirming he intentionally ruined Davey's life

"Sometimes, we're all hypocrites." - Yeah, especially you Meadow in the later seasons

"I can't not notice he's fucking you." - Richie's approach to getting Junior on his side was funny

"Ok so I wanted to fuck her." - Tony getting to the point about how Melfi reminds him of Isabella

Playlist (first two from this episode)
1. "Wheel in the Sky" - Journey
2. "You're Still the One" - Shania Twain
3. "Urban Photograph" - Urban Cone
4. "Cousins" - Vampire Weekend
5. "Mr. Quiche" - Wildcat! Wildcat!

The Sopranos: From Where to Eternity

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1

Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

Do Not Resuscitate

Toodle Fucking-Doo

Commendatori

Big Girls Don't Cry
Happy Wanderer

D Girl
Full Leather Jacket

After a few episodes of good, but ultimately B quality Sopranos episodes, "From Where to Eternity" is an episode that foreshadows, entertains, and questions.  It's a wonderful episode that has all the men with short tempers and little memory pondering life itself and what, if anything, comes after it.

We start where the last episode ended, with Chris in the hospital recovering from his wounds.  Chris is too vital a character, too unfinished a story for him to die yet.  He dies for one minute and apparently goes to hell.  That's... not exactly hard to believe.  His version of hell is appropriately dark and funny at the same time.  He has a message for Tony and Paulie from Mikey: "Three o'clock."  I'm sure if you dissected every episode - and plenty of people have in fact done that - you'd find 3 am or pm is a very important time.  I myself am on my second watch through the series so I cannot confirm that.

Tony mostly shrugs this information off, although he does bring it up in therapy meetings.  Dr. Melfi uses this opportunity to ask if he thinks Chris will go to hell.  Tony says you only go to hell if you're really evil: child molesters, genocidal monsters.  Interestingly enough, given the amount of people Tony's killed, manipulated, or affected, I'd say he's in that category.  No matter, it's definitely an interesting perspective.  I sort of don't believe him though - I think he's more that he doesn't believe in God at all - like he tells Paulie - "none of this matters." (Less interesting: Melfi's guilt at pressing the issue.)

Paulie on the other hand, clearly believes in God.  Paulie, you see, is a simple man.  And when Chris tells him an ominous message from the dead, he believes him.  So that time haunts him throughout the episode.  Did he kill Mikey then?  No, no he didn't.  So he has nightmares over it until his onetime girlfriend - future Scrubs star Judy Reyes - tells him to go see a psychic.  The psychic talks of Paulie's first kill - since is The Sopranos, we can pretty much take it at face value I think that this guy actually has a gift.  Paulie's worries are seemingly solved when Tony tells him "Why would Mikey be the leader of all the heavy hitters you've killed?"

Anyway, that portion of the episode is largely played for laughs, although I have to say it's a little better than your average overtly comic Sopranos stories if only because it involves a character analyzing himself and death itself.  The fact that it's Paulie is why it's hilarious.  This is also, I think, one of the first episodes where it seemed like the supernatural would play a part in The Sopranos.  I don't think there's been an episode yet that has been so blatantly riddled with supernatural elements that suggest what the characters experience really happened.

Meanwhile the Carmela plotline is fascinating in its portrayal of how Carmela functions.  She prays for Chris to live and to have sight if he does live.  She also finds out that Ralph (not Cifaretto who doesn't seem to exist yet) has a well-known gumar who has a baby.  She chastises Tony for it and asks him to get a vasectomy.

Only she softens when he leaves in the middle of the night from a phone call from Big Pussy.  The look on her face as he leaves the house suggest she knows he's killing who was responsible for attempt on Christopher's life.  And... when he comes home, she's completely forgiving of everything Tony did.  I just find her character fascinating in its contradictions.

Lastly, Big Pussy - who's already worried about Tony treating him differently - and Tony go do the hit on Matt.  The hit itself is less interesting than the steak dinner they enjoy afterword.  Pussy looks as comfortable as he will ever be in this entire season.  Tony makes a funny joke and then he asks Pussy if he believes in God - which isn't exactly a conversation you expect two mobsters to talk about.  (This also adds to my belief that Tony doesn't believe or at least is skeptical)  And yet for whatever reason, this scene leaves me a little uncomfortable as there seem to be signs of Pussy's impending death.

This episode was unsurprisingly written by the creator himself, David Chase.  There are implications and themes that resonate throughout the entire series and only the creator could have written such an episode.  It's directed by Henry Bronchtein, his second directorial effort out of four.  It's a bit surprising he directed any Sopranos episodes if only because his last two directed shows were Hostages and The Following, both terrible shows.

Grade - A

Surprise Guest Appearance
Judy Reyes, Carla from Scrubs in other words, is Paulie's girlfriend

Deaths
Dumbass #2 dies this week, Matt

Quotes
"Tell Tony and Paulie, 3:00" - Christopher's message from hell - I'm fairly certain this time is important foreshadowing, but not sure of any specific situation

"We're soldiers.  Soldiers don't go to hell." - Tony's opinion on hell

"Do what you do with a girl you want to fuck.  Make him love you" - Skip with words of advice towards Pussy

"Oh I got balls, and as long as I got balls, they will remain intact." - Tony on getting a vasectomy

Playlist
1. "My Lover's Prayer" - Otis Redding (played throughout episode)
2. "We Move Like the Ocean" - Bad Suns
3. "XXX 88" - MØ feat. Diplo
4. "Wasted Hours" - Arcade Fire
5. "Higher" - Classified feat. B.O.B.

The Sopranos: "Full Leather Jacket"

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1

Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

Do Not Resuscitate

Toodle Fucking-Doo

Commendatori

Big Girls Don't Cry
Happy Wanderer

D Girl

If things were calm between Tony and Richie at the start of the episode - relatively speaking - then by the end, it's clear one of them will have to die.  This is brought about by two dumbasses of the highest order and an extremely convenient coincidence (in writing, that would be called a contrivance.)

Tony tells Richie Aprile that he needs to give Beansie - the man who he ran over with a car - a ramp and make is house handicap-accessible.  He takes offense to this and by the time he does come around to doing it, he has his guys leave in the middle of building the ramp.  But that's pretty much the mindgames Richie and Tony have been playing all season so this wasn't a big deal.

Richie gives Tony a jacket - a jacket that evidently means a lot to Richie since he took it off a guy who was much bigger than him in a fight.  It's not really clear what his true intention is with the jacket at first, but soon it becomes clear it's a genuine gift.  When he sees that Tony gave it to his maid's husband, he gets extremely insulted.  Now, I realize that he needed to find out that Tony gave it away for the purposes of plot, but man the way he found out was ridiculously contrived.  He just so happens to be sitting down in the house and the maid's husband just so happens to walk in at the same time?  I mean how many times does the husband even go into that house?  I can't think of too many times.

Meanwhile, Meadow's applying to college, which the show uses to make Carmela look like a horrible person.  Usually she's just willfully ignorant, but she had to know how it looked when she went into the office of Joan Cusamano.  To make things worse, she even suggest she forget about the poor Dominican kid with a 5.2 GPA.  WOW.  I mean that kid will turn out alright probably anyway, but still.  Also, she is just bad enough to throw a letter from Berkley away claiming the form was incomplete, but not bad enough to go through with.  Meadow's no dummy though and noticed.  (In AJ news, he wants to go to Harvard.  HA!)

Resident dumbasses Sean and Matt steal some safes with Christopher and have to chalk up a percentage to Tony.  Furio comes to collect and takes an extra grand because fuck it he can do what he wants.  Sean and Matt create an excuse to meet Richie Aprile.  Aprile talks shit about Chris and says "if you ever want to do a favor for me." (paraphrased)

Naturally, Sean and Matt somehow take this as a sign that Richie wants to kill Christopher.  I mean he might WANT to, but that's probably just talk.  A clueless Christopher gets shot a few times by them, but not before he kills Sean.  Matt goes back to Richie trying to get protection, but Richie is having none of that.  David Proval plays a pretty hilarious pissed off man.

Lastly, Tony realizes that on some level he had to have given Meadow her friend's car knowing she would know how he came to acquire it.  Dr. Mefli takes this as a sign that Tony did a good thing subconsciously.  I have no idea where she got that.  Either way, Tony should have realized that it was a bad idea and he ignored it.  

That's all I have to say about the episode, it was pretty short at 42 minutes.

Grade - B+

Deaths

Sean

Quotes

"How can I express how little I give a fuck?" - Chris - A question I find myself wanting to ask constantly

"And maybe when I'm over there, I can fuck his wife" - Ever the wordsmith, Richie says sarcastically upon the suggestion he build Beansie a ramp

"I'd like to break my dick off in that ass of hers." - Matt's attempt at casual conversation with Tony

"These two suck each other's cocks." - Furio in Italian about Sean and Matt

"You're going to be going off to a wonderful college.  What right do I have to interfere?" - Seeing how she's acted this whole episode, this line of dialogue takes on a new meaning

"All these years, I've been shielding her and protecting her from certain truths.  And now, what do I want to rub her nose in it?" - Tony about Meadow

Playlist

1. "Paris" - Little Dragon

2. "Soliloquy" - Isaiah Rashad

3. "Graffiti" - Maximo Park

4. "I'm Back" - Eminem

5. "You Get What You Give" - New Radicals

The Sopranos: "D Girl"

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1

Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

Do Not Resuscitate

Toodle Fucking-Doo

Commendatori

Big Girls Don't Cry
Happy Wanderer

D Girl is not a great episode of Sopranos, but it is hilarious.  This is an episode about Chris and Hollywood plus a significant plot about AJ.  Those are traditionally some of the lesser Sopranos episodes - although also some of the more blatantly laugh-out-loud episodes.  And it's definitely the case here as well.

The momentum to start this episode is a bit shaky as it's Chris' cousin's girlfriend who helps get Chris in contact with Hollywood.  So Amy is seeing Chris's cousin - a man we've never seen nor will we ever again - and she just so happens to be in close contact with Jon Favreau who just so happens to be working on a mobster-affiliated movie.  So another contrived plot from Sopranos - that's clearly something David Chase is utterly unconcerned with.

Jon plays his part well and is a good sport if I do say so myself.  He comes across as an asshole, but also seems to represent your typical Hollywood asshole.  He claims the mobster project is "a passion" of his which is clearly bullshit.  He starts randomly cussing in the middle of conversations with Chris, which Amy always looked over at him weirdly for, which was perfect.

Alicia Witt though plays it better.  When Chris whispers to an obnoxious partygoer and he immediately shuts up, the look she gives him is just pure lust.  I don't know how she does that.  And she is charming, but you always get the sense that she's deceiving you - which goes right past Chris of course.  The title of this episode is when she gets offended at being called a "d girl," which strikes me as the ultimate Hollywood satire attempt - I don't think it really comes across like Todd A. Kessler (the writer) wanted it to cause it's not that funny or clever of an insight.

The other storyline is played mostly for laughs with AJ stupidly crashing the right side of his car when another car honked.  He's learned Nietzsche and it kind of loses me in this.  I don't know what fucking school he went to, but I'm thinking it's way too complex of stuff for 8th grade.  Also, the show tries to have its cake and eat it too by trying to make fun of the fact that AJ is smarter than Tony, but also making AJ really dumb.  It works for Meadow, because she's really successful and smart, but for AJ, not so much.

Anyway, the saving grace of the episode is just how funny it is.  While the AJ stuff isn't really that great to me, Tony bewilderingly trying to understand his kid as he spouts existential views is the gift that keeps on giving.  Naturally, Tony's more worried about AJ talking about death and nothingness more than AJ crashing and stealing the car.

Interspersed with this story is Livia Soprano, sort of in the background but ever present.  She's brought up in Tony's therapy - Dr. Melfi tries to push her into the conversation, but Tony ends up deferring the conversation back to AJ.  Also, AJ goes to her for advice and wow that was a bad idea.  She sort of has a point and on some level I agree with her, but it's her fault.  You also should probably not tell a kid that. (Quote below)

Lastly, Skip pushes Big Pussy to talk about some mobster that got blown up.  I don't think Tony had anything to do with that - I could be wrong - but nonetheless Skip ends up pushing Big Pussy to wear a wire.  He's obviously struggling with it, looking at himself in the mirror trying to put it on while his wife knocks on the door.

Lastly, the show uses this overtly comic episode's last five minutes to make the episode all worth it.  Using AJ's confirmation and Big Pussy as a sponsor, it's all seemingly set up for a scene where Big Pussy has to defend Tony in front of AJ.  Of course, he's wearing a wire at the time while he's talking about how Tony's a good guy.  It kills him and he barely avoids breaking down before convincing AJ to go back down to the party.

Between that and Tony giving Christopher an ultimatum on whether to stay at the party or leave forever, I sort of wish those last five minutes were somehow the entire episode.  Oh well, I'm just glad this episode ended on such a strong note.

Grade - B+

Surprise Guest Appearances

Jon Favreau, Janeane Garofalo, and Sandy Bernhard all play themselves

Quotes

"Swingers?  He can suck my dick - that swings too." - Chris 

"When I get confirmed, I'm going to be a man.  So how come I can't drive?" - AJ

"Death just shows the ultimate absurdity of life." - AJ again

"She knows that even if God is dead, you're still going to kiss his ass." - Tony to AJ

"Don't expect happiness.  You won't get it, people let you down, and I'm not naming any names, but in the end you die in your own arms." - Livia

"When you're married, you'll understand the importance of fresh produce" - Tony

"Fucking Walnuts doesn't lie as good as you."' - Chris to Amy

"Be a good Catholic for fifteen fucking minutes.  Is that so much to ask?" - Carmela

Playlist

1. "Rhiannon" - Fleetwood Mac

2. "Fragile" - Tech N9ne feat. Kendrick Lamar, !MAYDAY!, & Kendall Morgan

3. 'Tell U What to Do" - Toftgard

4. "Last Nite" - The Strokes

5. "All Along the Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix

The Sopranos: "Happy Wanderer"

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1

Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

Do Not Resuscitate

Toodle Fucking-Doo

Commendatori

Big Girls Don't Cry

Never get into business with Tony Soprano.  He's like a disease, infecting all people who come into significant contact with him.  David Scatino, charmed by the Tony who he sees at parent-teacher conferences, learned that the hard way.  There's a certain reflective quality in these scenes.  You start to be convinced Tony's not that bad of a guy and is a product of his environment.  And then you see how he earns his money.

Scatino, played by Robert Patrick, is very clearly a compulsive gambler early on.  He finds out Tony took control of the executive game from Junior and wants in.  He's already a regular player in Richie Aprile's games.  He did poorly and borrowed money from someone you shouldn't borrow money with.  Of course, him being a compulsive gambler, he decided the best way to get that money back... is to keep gambling.

Now, I don't know how the Sopranos figured out what he owed them - clearly it's interest of some sort exponentially rising with each passing week.  I like the moment when Richie scoffs at Scatino trying to bullshit his way into another game.  Richie may be impulsive and greedy, but he knows his business.  And really he's right in this episode.  He lent money out, he needs to get it back so he shuts off the receiver, and then another party comes in and Richie won't be getting his money for a while.

Scatino stupidly comes to the executive game and Tony lets him play after little prodding.  He gives him a starting amount of money to be able to play in the executive game.  And he starts off well it sounds like.  But he can't quit while he's ahead and gets even farther in the hole than he was before.  By the end of the episode, he's given up his son's car.

If there's a weakness to this episode, it's Meadow and Eric's sudden friendship.  It's a little difficult to give a shit about Eric.  And he's the one who gets screwed over the most in this episode.  This isn't unusual for Sopranos - they brought one-episode characters a lot that were never seen before or after that episode.  But it still makes the episode suffer slightly.

But this show does use this opportunity to have Meadow reflect on her life of luxury benefiting from the pain of others.  This was still back in the day when Meadow seemingly had a conscience.  It's pretty telling that Carmela simply ignores what Tony is saying and in fact tries to get him to stop when he says that everything he does pays for their life.  So this episode has the dual effect of shining a light on Tony's activities while shining a light on the characters who it benefits.

Meanwhile, Tony and Dr. Mefli are still working out the kinks of what transpired last episode.  Tony kind of wonders why he comes there to bitch and moan when before he would rather be the "Gary Cooper type."  (After having finally seen a Gary Cooper movie, I got to say Tony you're more interesting)  It's a natural extension to them finally getting back to therapy.

Somewhat conveniently, this also happens to be the episode where Junior tells Tony that he has a secret uncle, who was probably developmentally disabled.  If the purpose of that was only for Junior reflexively defending his brother after Tony makes somewhat innocuous comments (for him at least), this storyline was worth it.  Anyway, the episode was a point for nature over nurture - although clearly this show has a multitude of evidence that's it's both.

And that's pretty much all that happens.  Feeble-minded Sean and Matt get to work the executive game.  Silvio hilariously lashes out over Matt because he was sweeping the cheese under his feet.  Chris teaches us how to steal food as well.  Otherwise, not a lot happens, even for Sopranos standards.

Grade - B+

Deaths
None, except Scatino's ability to live a happy life

Surprise Guest Appearances
Frank Sinatra Jr, who I didn't recognize nor would have.

Quotes
"You want to know what I'm thinking?  I'm thinking about smashing your fucking face into a fucking hamburger." - Tony to Melfi in therapy

"I stick motherfucking provolone in my socks at night so they smell like your sister's crotch in the morning." - Silvio's funniest line ever probably

"Serious?  Nah, he had everybody in stitches back then." - Tony on if he uncle was developmentally disabled

"So take that high moral ground and sleep in the fucking bus station if you want."

"That's a lucky break.  I wonder what happened?" - Oh Carmela, your ignorance never ceases to amaze me

Playlist
1."The Happy Wanderer" - Frankie Yankovic (from this episode)
2. "Drowning" - Banks
3. "Sheila" - Jaime T
4. "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" - The Hollies
5. "Suicidal Thoughts" - Notorious BIG

The Sopranos: Big Girls Don't Cry

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1

Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

Do Not Resuscitate

Toodle Fucking-Doo

Commendatori

In a parallel universe, there's a television show centered around Christopher Moltisanti.  He's arguably more complex of a character than Tony is.  Here's probably the only mafia guy who shows any interest in getting out of the mafia.  He has dreams and he has aspirations that exceed what your typical Sopranos character desires.

And yet, I think only Paulie is less talented an individual than Chris is.  I get the sense that this is Chris' highest potential in life.  Not to mention, Chris is an unhinged person, even by Sopranos standards.  He commits heinous acts of violence with little remorse.  He shows a temper that would not be permitted in any other facet of life.  Anytime I start to want Chris to get out of this life, I pull back and remember that he's seriously not a good person.

However in this episode, Chris does show actual talent for once.  I can't remember another episode where this is the case.  He displays pretty good acting at his workshop.  Of course, in order to achieve this, he needs to access a part of him that he simply has no wish to reveal.  He doesn't want to be vulnerable.  He doesn't want to show people a soft side to him.  He thinks of himself as Joe Pesci.

Christopher Moltisanti is a seemingly sympathetic and relatable character on some level.  And for that, I will have to praise Michael Imperioli.  If you simply look at the facts of this character and read a description, it makes very little sense for him to be one of the more tragic characters.  He has no business being as liked as he is by the viewers.  But Imperioli plays him so well that it's impossible not to feel for Chris.  This was the episode that opened my eyes to Imperioli's amazing acting ability.*

*Side note: I can't think of anything much harder than acting in a scene where your character is acting.  You have to somehow show that the character is acting while still remaining the character in the real movie/show.  And most of the time, the fake acting isn't supposed to be that good.  So it's a tricky line.

While Chris loses hope to write a screenplay, Tony and Melfi finish their time apart by having parallel storylines joining them together at the end.  The Melfi stuff works about as well as it could.  Unfortunately, it's way too obvious that they are getting back together since Melfi serves no purpose in this show without Tony.  So her eventual reasoning to take Tony back didn't really resonate.  However, it's semi-plausible that she accepts him through guilt on her own part and certainly the most plausible I can come up without damaging her moral center on this show.

Meanwhile, Tony finds a new therapist in Hesh.  Hesh is not a good therapist.  He's too interested in talking about himself when Tony is spilling out his guts.  Make no mistake, I'm not saying Hesh is in the wrong here.  Tony is a total dick to Hesh, sharing his feelings while completely ignoring Hesh's stories.  He came there to tell Hesh, but he has no interest in reciprocation.

Hesh does reveal one piece of information: Tony's dad also had anxiety attacks.  I kind of feel like this was unnecessary.  We as an audience already had plenty of information to formulate why Tony had panic attacks.  I just don't think knowing this adds anything to the story.  We didn't need to add the genetic component to why he had panic attacks when we already had the environmental aspect.  By the end, Tony notices Hesh isn't really listening as well as Melfi when he goes on one of his rants and this in turn helps motivate Tony to go back to Melfi if he had any doubts before.

On a plot basis, the most vital piece of information - since let's face it, therapy is completely useless on this show - is the integration of Furio and the slow pushing out of Big Pussy.  Tony brings Furio over as per his agreement in "Commendatori."  Big Pussy not only gets passed over by Paulie, but by the newcomer Furio.

There's a sense that Big Pussy has been getting screwed for years and it's certainly possible (This is almost entirely perpetrated by Pussy and Skip to be fair).  But I think it goes back to the season two premiere when Tony looked at Big Pussy with a watchful, distrusting eye.  I think he no longer trusted Big Pussy and at least unconsciously knew intuitively that he was a rat.  So he gave less responsibility to Big Pussy than he may have deserved.   

Big Pussy gets phased out and Furio gets brought to America.  They have a party in his honor and he's charming.  Then Tony tells him to intimidate a whorehouse and Furio kicks fucking ass.  I mean he hits an innocent guy with a bat, punches a woman in the face, and shoots a guy in the leg so I feel slightly bad about saying that, but that scene is undeniably viscerally exciting.

The show also has one short scene showing Tony finding out that Janice and Richie are back together.  He also finds out that Janice took out a loan for the house.  Tony's two separate problems just became fused together and created one huge problem.  Not like he was allowed to kill Richie before, but he's now almost family.  (In hindsight, Janice is probably just as big of a problem with her influence in certain events with Bobby)

Oh yeah and Junior and Bobby go to Furio's party and hilariously get rejected by Carmela.  Those guys literally came in for a 10 second scene.

Deaths

The confidence of the Asian woman at the whorehouse after Furio arrived.  Alas, no actual deaths happened.

Surprise Guest Appearances

Ajay Naidu, best known for Office Space, is one of the acting students

Quotes

"Sunday.  My house.  Box of melomosa on the counter.  Fucking empty.  Think I don't know it was you?" (Paulie shakes head) "I'm kidding you, you fuck."

"You smug cocksucker.  Fuck you." - Melfi to Elliot

"I'm making eggs.  You want some eggs." - Richie - the death knell of this show

"There are men in the can better looking than my sister." - Tony

"You got a problem besides those fucking pants." - Oh Tony

"Just watch your intake of sugar... and sugar substitutes." 

"I want to be in total control." - Tony

Playlist

1. "Ladykiller (Gigamesh Remix)" - White Sea
2. "Deadbeat Summer" - Neon Indian
3. "You're a God" - Vertical Horizon
4. "Low" - Young Fathers
5. "I Saw Her Standing There" - The Beatles

The Sopranos: Commendatori

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes
Season 1
Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office
Do Not Resuscitate
Toodle Fucking-Doo

In an episode where Tony Soprano takes a trip to Italy, the best parts of the episode remain in Jersey.  The Italy parts feel slow, somewhat useless, and repetitive.  The Jersey parts are vintage Sopranos with many of the season-long arcs being pushed forward in addition to extremely compelling television.  It's a bit jarring when they switch back-and-forth since the quality is lopsided.  I don't think the Italy parts are even that bad in a vacuum, but they definitely pale in comparison to the Jersey scenes.

There's a lot of good things in this episode, but ultimately it feels slow even for The Sopranos.  Tony takes a trip to Italy to sell cars and then negotiates for Furio to come to America with him.  Angie Bonpenserio wants to leave Big Pussy, who's obviously affected by being a rat so much that he essentially ignores his wife.  And... that's pretty much it.

The most interesting character in this episode is Carmela, who goes from awful person to sympathetic and trapped.  She gossips about Angie after she said she thought about killing herself at a restaurant.  It's a different culture, clearly, but if someone shared that with me, I would keep that to myself.  Then, she encourages Angie to stay with Big Pussy being a generally unhelpful friend because she doesn't want Angie to escape while she stays with Tony.  Maybe she wants Angie to actually stay because the Church doesn't think highly of divorce, but I think she just wants to make herself feel better about her own situation.  (This is possibly influenced by later seasons where she is clearly jealous of Angie making it on her own.)

However, in that dinner conversation, Angie spoke about how when Big Pussy got home after disappearing, she wanted to vomit.  In that last scene in the episode, Tony comes home from Italy and Edie Falco lets the audience know that exact thing is happening to her.  It's a pretty sad and depressing scene.

Watching this episode now, Angie's story is now inspirational because of where she ends up compared to where she is in this episode.  Holy cow, those are two completely different people.  She is trapped in a life she doesn't want to be in or can escape.  Even the women make fun of her for it and encourage her to not get divorced.  That's a terrible position to be in.  And she escapes about as well as you can on this show.

Big Pussy on the other hand shows just how far he's wiling to go to not get killed.  He gets spotted by an Elvis impersonator at a Party City outside of Jersey.  He freaks out over this even though it'll probably lead to nothing.  But he wants to be sure it won't lead to anything so he goes to his house and beats him to death.  In case ratting on his friends wasn't enough information for us, Big Pussy has no will to either die or go to prison and will do just about anything to make sure that doesn't happen.

The episode opens with Tony and company trying to watch The Godfather II on an apparently broken DVD player that they illegally obtained.  That's an appropriate selection for a couple reasons.  One it helps set-up that this glorified life that they live is not as good as it seems.  These guys will never attain life as it was portrayed in The Godfather.  Also, Paulie mentions that his favorite scene is "I knew it was you Fredo" which parallels Big Pussy's season-long arc in a way.

While the Italy portion was lacking, Paulie never failed to be hilarious.  He is not respected even a little by the Italians.  He is seen as a pig and with little class (rightfully so to be perfectly fair).  Paulie sees an idealized mob that he likes to think he is apart of and that idealized mob looks down on him.  Then Chris talks about having to go visit certain places and then he just stays in his room and gets high the whole time.  These guys are pretty pathetic.  And yet when they get back, they act like they had a great time!

When I say this episode is repetitive, it's mostly because the show has gone to this well many times.  The guys go to a place where they are out-of-place and they stick out like a sore thumb.  Most of these are Chris and Hollywood stories, but this is almost the same.  I've never particularly liked these stories that much, because they are much less interesting than the rest of the show.

Meanwhile, Tony has to deal with a woman boss, something he's not comfortable with.  He's not willing to have sex with a business associate, much as he wants to.  However, she proves savvy and is able to get the better end of a business deal, possibly because she's a woman (in fact it's probable).  Tony may not think a woman boss is a good idea, and yet inadvertently he helps prove that a woman boss could actually use the fact that she's a woman to her advantage.

Strangely (in my opinion at least), this episode was written by David Chase.  It makes a certain amount of sense in that Chase really enjoyed showing how pathetic these guys are and the Italy scenes definitely achieve that.  Not to mention, the Jersey scenes, like I said, are fantastic.  I just wouldn't expect a below average Sopranos episode to be written by the creator.

It was directed by Tim Van Patten, a Sopranos regular.  He directed 20 episodes in this show's run.  When you see these two guys team up, you really would expect a better episode.  However, it makes sense because this is only Van Patten's second episode in the series and it's not clear he had quite became the favorite for big episodes.

This was kind of an unconventional Sopranos episode and it was basically the tale of two cities.  Perhaps the Italy scenes would look a lot better if it wasn't for how good the Jersey scenes were.  I'll never know and can only grade accordingly.

Grade - B+

Deaths
The Elvis impersonater

Quotes
"Fucking nosy!  Eat your manicotti!" -

"Ton, you give this guy a golf club, he'll probably try to fuck it." - Paulie

"And you thought the Germans were classless pieces of shit." - Random Italian guy

"Well I'll be dipped in shit." - Tony

"You know what the Church says about divorce." - Carmela to Angie

"There ya go.  Who said you're not a great conversationalist.  Fuckin twat (mutters under breath)" Ah Paulie

Playlist (First three are from this episode)
1. "Con Te Partiro" - Andrea Bocelli
2. "Blood is Thicker than Water" - Wyclef Jean ft. G&B

3. "Certamente" - Madreblu
4. "The Chain" - Amanda Alexander (I discovered this like an hour ago)
5. "Mind of a Beast" - The Glitch Mob

The Sopranos: Toodle Fucking-Doo

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes

Season 1
Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office
Do Not Resuscitate

Tony Soprano gets a major headache in his life when Richie Aprile is paroled from prison.  He's former boss Jackie's brother, which makes it a little complicated when he gets out since Tony is now boss.  It's even more complicated because Richie does not give a single fuck that Tony is the boss.  He will do what he pleases, when he pleases, and with little regard for anybody but himself.

Richie is played by David Pravol.  Apparently he was considered for the role of Tony Soprano, but he was considered "too perfect."  I am glad they didn't go in that direction.  While's perfectly fine in this role, I cannot even imagine him being able to play Tony half as well as James Gandolfini.

He begins wrecking havoc by going to his old partner in crime, Beansie Gaeta.  He seems to be mostly out of crime and is a pretty good money maker for Tony with his pizzeria business.  Richie is pissed because Beansie never gave him respect and visited him in prison.  He wants his share of the business, which Richie seems to never have been a part of.  So he beats the shit out of Beansie.

Richie hasn't been in the game for 10 years so he feels disrespected that he has to talk with Tony's right-hand man, Silvio, and later in the mall.  Richie basically gets out of prison and wants everything he had before he was in prison NOW.  He also wants his old girlfriend back, Janice.  He seemingly stalks her by doing yoga and later meeting Livia at a very opportune time.  Janice is a fucking idiot so she falls for it.

There is an interesting parallel that's not exactly subtle, but still very evident.  (To be fair, if it was subtle I doubt I'd be able to spot it.  That's not my expertise.)  The show compares the behavior of Meadow and Tony's ability to control what she does to Richie Aprile.  Tony is basically powerless against both because he's restrained in his ability to enact punishments.

Meadow throws a party at her grandmother's house, gets caught, and then plays her parents like a fool.  I didn't like the extra, unnecessary scene of Meadow explaining that she was scamming her parents essentially.  That smile that spread across her face after she manipulates them into taking away her credit card for three weeks was really the only thing necessary.  (Then she gets money whenever she wants as she asks for a CD, which I think was for school maybe, but still she could be lying about that.)

Meanwhile, despite Tony's insistence on backing off, Richie runs over Beansie with a car.  He does this because he once again feels disrespected Beansie didn't come to his welcome home party thrown by Tony.  That was a pretty stupid thing to do.  If that's the custom, might as well go, contribute your money, and hope being around friends will save you.  Instead, he avoided the party and almost asked for Richie's beating.  (Surely he's aware Richie's a bit of a loose cannon.  Tony can only do so much.)

Janice at first supports Meadow as just a little teen rebellion as we get the sense that she's done her fair share of that.  But then she finds out she destroyed her little pet project.  We also find out she's getting money from disability checks I think meant for Livia.  After finding out that Meadow's actions affected her, she got righteous and questioned the parenting style of Tony and Carmela.  The scene where Tony flips his bowl and gets in her face is a masterclass in acting by Gandolfini.

It's pretty clear that Janice is deluding herself into believing she's better than the other Sopranos, because she got out.  When she tells Richie that she's a different person, she sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than she actually believes it.  Richie most certainly knows he's full of shit at least.  A constant theme in The Sopranos is that people never change and the conversation the two have at the hospital cafeteria is one of the best examples.  Two people saying they are different, but they are the exact same as before.

Then there's a little necessary plot for Melfi trying to show why she'll come back to Tony.  It's a bit forced, but there's certainly worse directions than having Melfi feel guilty Tony will kill himself.  She first meets Tony in the same restaurant and then frets about saying toodle doo to him as a goodbye.  She makes waaaay too big of a deal of it and it drags the episode down.

Then she dreams Tony crashed his car to "Optimistic Voices" from The Wizard of Oz.  I'm sure there's a symbolic reasoning for that decision, but I don't know what it is.  So if anybody knows that meaning, I encourage you to tell me.

This episode was written Sopranos veteran Frank Renzulli.  Interestingly enough, he was nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Writing for two episodes on The Sopranos, but neither was in this second season.  The episode was directed by Lee Tamahori.  He had one visually cool shot that I noticed which was when the camera panned across the room when Janice and Richie did yoga.  Tamahori's career as a director went to shit after he directed this episode.  Before he directed three basically respectable films and afterwards he directed Along Came a Spider, Die Another Day, and xXx: State of Union, all of which were critically panned.  He was an interesting guest director at the time though.

Deaths
Nobody I believe

Quotes
"Let's not overplay our hand here, because if she finds out we're powerless, we're fucked." - Tony on parenting

"You want to raise your hand, you give her your last name." - Interesting philosophy from Richie Aprile on hitting women

"You come into town acting like the concerned daughter.  Who the fuck are you kidding?  You're just here to pick the friggin' bones." - slightly paraphrased, but you get the gist - Tony telling Janice off basically

"There's a lot that I could say right now that I am not gonna say." - This is practically Janice's catchphrase

"Oh, I wish the Lord would take me." - Livia's catchphrase

"Here's a rule you might remember: I'm the motherfucking fucking one who calls the shots." - Tony's threat to Richie

Playlist (First three are from this episode)
1. "No Scrubs" - TLC
2. "Optimistic Voices" - The Wizard of Oz
3. "Viking" - Los Lobos
4. "Leader" - Del Funky the Homosapien
5. "Cavalier" - James Vincent Morrow

The Sopranos: Do Not Resuscitate

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes
Season 1
Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office

I may make this point every episode, but I want to reiterate how much re-watching these episodes have helped me.  As strange as it may sound, the first time I watched these episodes I didn't really understand what was going on.  Whether that's a natural thing for a first-time viewer or if I am just paying really close attention on second viewing, I'm not sure.  But the important part is that I understand what's going on now.

There are three main plots in this episode, one that explores the awful business dealings of the mafioso life, one that explores how to be a rat, and the other played mostly for comedic effect.  A construction company owned by Junior is being protested by an all-black rally led by father and son reverends.  The workers are obviously unhappy and seek a way to stop this so they go to Tony.

At the end of the episode it's revealed that Tony paid the son for his services.  Now I'm not exactly sure if he's paying him to stop or if he's paying him for starting the rally and then stopping it.  I don't know if Tony is this smart, but there's a chance he paid for the rally to happen at all so he could seize Junior's business dealings.  It's either that or he's seized on the opportunity.

Usually, The Sopranos' attempts to portray African Americans is pretty bad especially in comparison to another HBO show The Wire.  However, in this episode, it's not that bad with the experienced actors Bill Cobbs playing the father and Gregory Alan Williams playing the son.  The protest scene itself I could give or take, but portraying individual characters are more important anyway and the scenes with Tony talking with the father and then the son are good.

Then, previously somewhat unknown, it's revealed that Big Pussy is actually talking with the feds.  From last episode, it was clear that Tony was suspicious of Big Pussy despite his story checking out.  Now, that suspicion is valid.  In this episode, we meet Skip, the likable detective.  We also find out why.  For one, the feds caught him on something and he will get to stay out of prison in return.  For two, he gets free rides and I think free care to repair his unfixable back.  Also, there's a sense that he has a bit of a resentment towards Tony that makes him feel ok with betraying his friend, or at least makes it easier.

The second story takes the most time. (The Big Pussy part is a really minor part of the episode)  A generous judge allows Junior to stay at home on house arrest because of a health condition that is clearly bullshit.  Ironically, he soon actually develops a health condition that makes the ruling valid. (Karma?)  But the judge is not generous enough to let him go home without an electronic monitoring device.  And for the next five seasons, Dominic Chianese had a pretty easy job going back to the same location every single episode.

This part of the story is almost entirely played for laughs.  Whether it's Attorney Melvoin's bullshitting, anything involving Bobby, or Junior's fall in the shower, I think each scene is meant to be funny (or pathetically funny).  This marks the first appearance of Bobby Baccalieri, who is pretty much the nicest guy ever so Tony's vitriol towards him seems meaner than the first time.  (For instance, when Bobby says he always liked Tony, I actually believe him because he doesn't seem to have an ounce of dislike in his body.)  I also liked Bobby saying what he wanted to say when he gives Tony the money but after Tony had left.

Lastly, Janice attempts to connive her way towards having the house that Tony wants to sell.  One problem: Janice is trying to play a game Livia practically invented.  So she doesn't fall for her shit.  She visits Livia the first time and realizes how bad she is.  So the second time she comes prepared, playing a song that she knows she likes (with the help of Meadow) and trying to play the good daughter card.  It works for a while (maybe) but then AJ does the one good thing he's ever done and tells Livia that Janice is planning to DNR her.

It's pretty funny when Janice suggest to Livia that she live in the old house with her.  Then Livia does something I'm sure Janice doesn't expect and says she wants to live in Green Grove. (because clean towels everyday!)  Then I'm sure Livia  thought about the idea of living with Janice and ended up having a coughing fit for about a minute.  I understand your pain Livia.  On second viewing, Janice is a pretty awful person from the start, but she's at least a realistic portrait.  She thinks she's above the Sopranos, but it's clear early on that she's about the same as the rest of them (except Tony's other sister who actually gets away from the mob life.)

This episode is written by three people, all of them with impressive resumes for this show.  The team of Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green, who later co-created Blue Boods, have been nominated 4 times for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and won two in that same category at the Emmy's.  They were nominated every season except the last season, but they wrote only a single episode in that season.  The other person, Frank Renzulli, has two nominations for Outstanding Writing (one he co-wrote with Chase, the other he wrote solo) which is impressive since he was only a member of The Sopranos writing team for two seasons.  This episode doesn't quite live up to that resume as none of those nominations were due to this episode.

Behind the chair of this episode was Martin Bruestle.  Interestingly enough, he was a producer for all six seasons of The Sopranos.  This was the only episode he directed.  I didn't notice anything particularly bad or good about this episode, but I guess he was satisfied with only directing one thing ever.

All in all, another solid episode of The Sopranos.  It's nothing special, but business as usual for The Sopranos.  And business as usual for The Sopranos is going to be the same grade every time.

Grade - A-

Surprise Guest Appearances
Gregory Alan Williams, most well-known for playing an assistant coach to Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) in Remember the Titans, plays a reverend protesting

Bill Cobbs plays his father - also a reverend.  Cobbs is probably best known for playing an old security guard in Night at the Museum, but he's has 168 credits on IMDB.

Deaths
Reverend James Sr, played by Cobbs, dies after a nice and peaceful conversation with Tony, of old age.

Quotes
"My nephew's visiting his uncle..... who loves him." - Gandolfini's delivery on this line makes this funny

"To the victor belongs the spoils" - Bobby makes a strong impression in his first scene on The Sopranos


"Sounds like Nazi Germany to me" - Junior's attempt to not wear an ankle bracelet

"You got something to say, little girl who's about to get her license might want to use one of those cars in the driveway in the next 100 years?" - That would shut any teenager up, Tony

"You were on TV?  Which show?" - Bobby really made a strong impression

"I mean get off my car before you flip it over you fat fuck" - Tony to Bobby

"Be careful with Janice.  She's a real snake in the grass" - Livia with words of wisdom for Carmela

"Anthony, don't let me go to the grave with this guilt." - I'm not sure if this is Junior's pride not allowing himself to be carried or about Tony's (justifiable) abandonment of his mother

Playlist (First two are from this episode)
1. "Mother and Child Reunion" - Paul Simon
2. "Goodnight My Love" - Ella Fitzgerald
3. "Pretender" - Miike Snow
4. "Counting" - Autre Ne Veut
5. "School Days" - Ryan Lewis & Symmetry

The Sopranos: Guy Walks...

This is a returning weekly feature.  I cover each individual episode going from the beginning.  I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.

Past Episodes
Season 1

With the first episode of season two, I have realized how great these posts are for me to fully enjoy The Sopranos.  Not only does this show get better on multiple viewings, but it allows me to grasp every plot point and where it's headed.  That's something I'd argue that's near impossible to do the first time.

This season begins with my very favorite music montage on The Sopranos up to the point where I'm at (Season 5) and I don't think it will be beat.  Set to "This Was a Very Good Year" by Frank Sinatra, they pretty much set up the series long conflicts, ones that won't really even be truly addressed this season.  Everything is going good.  The men are spending money on wealthy excesses that they don't need.  Chris is doing drugs and trying to get elevated in the business without really doing the work.  It also does a nice job updating us for the future season by showing Junior in jail, Livia in the hospital, and Dr. Melfi holding therapy sessions in a hotel.

It also ends it on a sad note as Tony cheats on his wife, makes sure he doesn't smell like he cheated, and then gets into bed.  Carmela turns in bed, sees Tony, and then turns back around.  Then Tony turns around too seeing Carmela almost change her position because she saw Tony.  It was a good way to show that their marriage isn't really going good even if it appears good on the surface.  Then of course the immediate conclusion is when Tony is eating leftovers and Carmela checks the mail.  They sit in silence not communicating.  It's a very understated way to show the Sopranos' marriage is not working, but neither will do anything about it.

Then the shuffling for the season storylines begin.  Big Pussy comes by the house to make good with Tony.  He has a flimsy excuse for leaving although he appears to convince Tony.  I didn't notice this for the first time somehow, but Tony is not truly convinced, but he's lying to himself.  At the barbecue later, he looks at Big Pussy with a look that could only mean he knows he ratted.  This explains how Big Pussy is slowly phased out of the main operations.  Oddly enough, they don't yet reveal that Big Pussy will spend the rest of this season talking with the feds, but I think Tony's silent stare was supposed to say all that we needed to know.  (Although it could be argued Chase wanted us to know Tony wasn't buying Big Pussy's story, but the question of him ratting was still in doubt)

The fallout from last season is seen in this episode.  Tony told Dr. Melfi to leave and naturally when Tony tells her she can come back, she doesn't take it so well.  He then sees her in person which she really doesn't take very well.  They needed to slowly integrate her back into Tony's life in order to keep the character consistent.  But still this part of the story is a bit of a drag, because it was just a matter of time before she came back.  But so far, so good, it's the next few episodes that are repetitive.

How dumb is Philly Parisi?  He's just chatting away talking shit about Tony willy nilly.  By the way I loved how Gigi walks out of the car, grabs a suitcase, and then gets picked up by Philly.  They did cut it a little close, but frankly the sight gag of that was worth it.  But anyway, the takeaway from this scene is that Tony makes sure that people aren't going to be talking shit about him.  He also lies to Dr. Melfi when he swears no one is dying because of her.

Livia Soprano is in a hospital and really taking advantage of appearing weak.  She easily manipulates Meadow by playing the victim of her showdown with Tony.  It's really too bad Nancy Merchand died before the end of her run on the show was supposed to come.

And the introduction of the most hated character in a show about mobsters, Janice.  She appears innocent enough at first.  But it becomes clear really early on - earlier than I remember - that she just comes to get money and the house from Livia.  She is the one character I don't really think they even tried for the audience to sympathize with.

Lastly, we are introduced to bumbling morons, Matt and Sean.  They are incompetent fools who worship the ground Tony walks on and are way too desperate to get in Tony's inner circle.  The problem is they have no patience and are idiots.  Here they beat the shit out of a poor guy for being helpful to a customer (and not so helpful for the business).  That's kind of out of line.  Anyway, it's clear from that scene and the later one in a club with Christopher and Adriana that they are both stupid and eager to be involved.  That's not a great combination.  Their deaths were inevitable.  The fact that they were unlikable pricks certainly made their impending doom enjoyable.

Fun fact: The actor who plays Matt was Lillo Brancato.  He's famous for playing the lead opposite Robert Deniro in A Bronx Tale.  "The saddest thing in life is wasted talent" turned out to be prophetic.  He was convicted of armed burglary in 2005 to 10 years in prison.  The other guy who plays Sean, Chris Tardio, has led a decent if unimpressive career with 43 credits including a part in Analyze That, a sequel to Analyze This which was referenced in this episode.  Weird how that worked out.

This episode was written by Jason Cahill, which isn't a name you should know or anything, but his career is strange.  He wrote three episodes for ER, one episode for NYPD Blue, and four episodes of a show called Profiler (ran for four seasons) before becoming a Sopranos writer.  He wrote two episodes in the first season and one episode this season and then didn't write anything for five years.  He wrote a single episode of unsuccessful TV show called Surface, disappeared for three years, and then wrote two episodes of Fringe.  He hasn't written anything since.

The episode is directed by Allen Coulter, who you should know.  He directed "College," which is considered one of the best episodes in the Sopranos series.  This is his third directorial effort for the show and he does a pretty good job.  I have to give him a lot of credit for the opening music montage because no words are said and the scenes flow pretty seamlessly from scene to scene.

This was a shorter episode at 49 minutes, but honestly I kind of like how some of the episodes are fit to what's necessary and not.  An extra 10 minutes of useless crap would have been excessive.  This episode has only vital scenes and sets up the season and the rest of the series well.  This was a very good premiere episode.

Deaths
Philly Parisi, for having a big mouth

Quotes (Low on quotes today)
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" - Always appreciate Silvio imitating Pacino in The Godfather

"Dad, how do you stay so hip?" - Hilarious line by Meadow when Tony says not to bring any grunge from Seattle

"I watch the news.  I know who you are.  I saw Analyze This." - Tony attempts a new psychiatrist

"I hate you, you fucking pig, get off of me."
"You fucking whore" - the loving relationship of Chris and Adriana

"I swear to Jesus Christ nobody got killed because of you." - That's not exactly true Tony

Grade - A-

Playlist (First three are from this episode - good episode soundtrack wise)
1. "It was a Very Good Year" - Frank Sinatra
2. "Smoke on the Water" - Deep Purple
3. "Time is on My Side" - Irma Thomas
4. "Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)" - Miike Snow
5. "Dreams" - Fleetwood Mac

The Sopranos: Season 1

Confession: I'm writing this review having seen the first season of The Sopranos sporadically at best for the past five or so months.  But if I don't write it now, it won't get written and I do want to get my thoughts on this season out there.

Looking back, The Sopranos had a surprisingly clear run of episodes that I find easy to clump together as separate parts of the season.  The first six are universally great, fantastic in execution with some interesting ideas raised in each.  The next six episodes I find uniformly mediocre (with one exception), raised only by the fact that each episode advances the plot in a major way usually.  The finale of the first season rivals some of the best episodes of this series finishing out the season on a high note.

I'm not sure any other season (I'm only through four) has that sort of hit or miss impact that this season has.  Saying the episodes are hit-or-miss isn't exactly correct in the sense that the "mediocre" episodes don't miss so much as disappoint in one way or the other.  But I wonder if that run of mediocre episodes would be a record for The Sopranos - as arbitrary as it would be.

"Down Neck" prominently features Anthony, "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" features an awkward and somewhat out-of-place analysis of Italian Americans as portrayed in the media, "Boca" has large sections of its episodes on a soccer coach who we never meet again, "A Hit is a Hit" has some pretty weak representations of African Americans, and "Isabella" features what I consider to be a sorry excuse for an attempted murder.  (To clarify that last point, two professional hit men miss Tony who is literally feet away from them.  I know Tony needed to live, but you could have made it more plausible.)

The one exception in that run of episodes is "Nobody Knows Anything," the episode where Tony is told that Big Pussy is wearing a wire.  This episode is elevated for me in hindsight seeing that Tony is given every indication that Big Pussy is a rat, and yet he refuses to believe it.  Also, Livia Soprano makes her move convincing Junior to murder her son.  Tony's struggle with dealing with possibly having to kill Big Pussy definitely is the highlight of the episode for me.

I find the pilot of The Sopranos to be one of the best it ever did.  I really like its unconventional nature from the rest of the series.  In a way, it reminds me of "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" (another one of my favorites) in how different the structure of the episode is from the rest of the series.

Then there's "College," commonly regarded as the best episode The Sopranos ever did.  I'm not sure I'd go that far - I mean I have an incomplete list at best right now - but it certainly changed the landscape of television.  A lot of important things happen in this episode.  Edie Falco expresses her acting chops and reveals herself to be more than just your stereotypical mob wife.  Tony brutally murders another man in harsh detail that's rough to watch.  Also, one minute Tony is making progress, connecting with his daughter and the next minute he's forced to lie to her and somewhat sabotage that relationship for the future.

In my personal opinion, The Sopranos first season ages a bit badly.  There's a few story lines here where we are introduced to a character we've never met and then never meet again and it's the A story in the episode!  They severely cut down on that in future seasons (and when it did do that, it was more effective to me - "University" for instance).  The problem isn't so much that we just met the character, but that's its random and there's little reason why they only show up once in the series.  Typically, these people live in the same mob world as Tony so you'd expect they'd cross paths a few times.

My typical complaint that some of the plots on this show are contrived doesn't really fit in this season.  They put the most plot they ever did in this season (through four seasons at least) and it's by far.  They didn't have as much room for contrived standalone episodes.  The one standalone episode in this season is College (which isn't contrived at all!) - I think every other episode is vital to the plot.

The Sopranos were experts at two things in my opinion: just about every main character was as well-written as they come and the acting of the cast.  Rarely if ever did any character do something that made you question the character you've come to know.  Sure, they did bad things, but they were usually perfectly in character.  And of course, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, and the rest of the cast brought their "A" game every week.  That kind of consistent production makes even bad episodes of The Sopranos enjoyable to watch.  The plot wasn't always up to par with the rest of the show and it didn't really even matter.  (In fact, relying on plot tends to make episodes either great or terrible if the characterization isn't there.)

Overall, The Sopranos doesn't quite live up to its reputation in this season.  It comes really close though.  But still.... this season had in my mind four classic episodes.  That happened in a season that didn't live up to my enormous expectations.  I'm also unfairly watching this season having seen many of the shows it influenced, but my theory is that if the show is to be considered one of the best of all time, it needs to hold up.  This show does hold up to be clear.  I do, however, think age has slightly diminished this season - something I don't think about any other season by the way.

Grade: A-

Playlist
1. This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) - The Isley Brothers
2. The World I Know - Collective Soul
3. Goodbye - Slaugherhouse
4. Percussion Gun - White Rabbits (If you must only listen to one song, pick this one)
5. Trapped - Tupac