Sopranos - 5/13

HOW MUCH BETTER CAN IT GET?

 

GREATEST EPISODE EVER. SHOCKER!

 

You just saw it and how great was that?

 

Yes, this was the one in which the secrets all were told, IMO. The reason that Tony is in therapy and why AJ is there now. The eternal struggle between dark and light in their soul.

It was as if Tony was saying for all of us at the end: "I get it now!"

I don't know what the last 3 episodes hold but this was the one for me. Put it to bed, David Chase, you've earned your rest.

 

I wish that Christopher had more obviously been in condition to survive that wreck and T did that if they wanted to show how cold-blooded he is.

I felt like it was a mercy kill, but it was painted much darker than that.

 

That's my question Simon. This might be dumb, but I was a bit confused. Are we to believe that he was putting Chris out of his misery and Chris was going to die anyway? Or are we to believe that Chris had a chance to survive and Tony truly wanted to put him down?

Either way, an amazing episode and a tour de force from Gandolfini. He should get an Emmy based on this ep alone. Found it fascinating that Tony decided in the days after Chris' death that he would go to Vegas and see how Christopher lived by banging his old girl, doing drugs, etc.

And the light theme with the I get it at the end leads me to believe he will certainly be bailing on the life at the end, maybe witness protection, maybe something else. My head is swimming with possibilities right now. Gonna watch it again later tonight and try to pick up on more.

 

If I hadn't seen the trailers, I would have speculated that he had died in that bathroom, with some Elvis parallels.... Vegas... pill popping.... obesity.... pop icon in the art sense

 

That's the fun part, we're not supposed to know Tony's motives. It continues the whole "Tony doesn't always seem like a bad guy when he's really a bad guy" thing.

 

Yeah, that was a mercy kill. But only because Tony was granting mercy upon himself, not on Christopher. And Tony knew it, too. That's why in his dream, he told Melfi, "I've murdered friends before."

The parallels with Finnerty were great. But the best subtle touch, for me, was the quick scene with Tony throwing out the "Cleaver" mug. He could have just tossed it in the trash. But instead, it sailed over and away from the backyard pool, never to be seen again, like, oh, I don't know, a duck, maybe?

 

I thought that was out of character and odd.

 

This episode sets up the rest of the season nicely.