Sopranos 6/3 - Second to final episode

Wanted to throw something else out there:

Thought it was great touch that Phil wants Tony dead in part because he's not real mafia -- doesn't have his crew do the finger prick, etc.

Given that the whole point of the show is that the mob is just like us, not like you see 'em in the movies, this was a lovely touch by Chase.

 

Didn't Christopher do the finger prick when he got made? Isn't Phil just making stuff up because he's really just pissed about his brother. ...

I love the old school-new school approach to the show. It goes back to when Richie Aprile got out of the joint in season 2. He was all about the jacket he gave Tony, the jacket that proved he was the toughest guy in Essex County. Tony didn't care When Fiche (sp?) got out he was calling Tony "Don Soprano." Phil is all about old-school revenge and not caring if it leads to war. But Tony was more about business and about making money (ie: Vito), as was Johnny Sac and Carmine (remember the story Sac told in prison about Carmine not whacking a guy until he no longer earned). But old-school mafia stuff apparently is going to win out in the end.

 

I liked that scene also because there was no big, phony dramatic build-up to it. You've got arguably the most important moment of the show -- the New York boss ordering an execution of the whole Jersey crew -- and Phil just kind of throws it out there matter-of-factly.

 

If Bobby takes 3 seconds longer to get out of his vehicle, or if he takes his phone with him, is he still alive? I don't know that it would have mattered, really, but the phone ringing as soon as the door shut made it more chilling, because you knew he was history.

 

Was that a priest in the middle of all the Bing girls and customers outside during and after the shooting??

 

Update this morning on Sepinwall's blog:

-Where on earth is Tony hiding out? Parts of the house resembled Junior's, but not all of it, and what would Junior be doing with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Silvio in his living room? Frankly, what would anyone? (EDITED TO ADD: I've been told by one of the writers that this wasn't Junior's house, or Livia's, or any place we've seen before; just an anonymous safehouse.)

 

Why is everyone so convinced there's someone in Tony's crew helping Phil?
Helping him do what?
It's not like Phil's boys found Bobby and Sil at odd locations.
Now if Phil's boys show up at the hide-out, I could see it.
But we've been given no indication that there's a rat.

Carm's not going to the feds. Mob boss wives don't do that.

I like the asbestos thing taking down Phil. And the above poster is right, Chase loves to put away guys with stuff like that.

 

This is an interesting take in the comments section below Sepinwall's blog:

Am I the only one who thinks that Dr. Melfi missed the point? Kupferberg's research most probably involves patients being treated to end their criminal actions, as would frequently be part of a court ordered treatment or under family pressure. Most of these patients don't really want to change and do the treatment because they are forced to. Their main intent is to scam the therapist to get "cured" and end their involvement.The difference with Tony is that he sought treatment voluntarily for personal problems, and never hid the fact that his criminal activities were continuing. The point of the dinner party is that Melfi was too embarassed to continue treating Tony, not that she thought she was helping him to be a better criminal.

http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/sopranos_rewind_the_blue_comet.html

 

OK, does anyone know what was the music at the end? that haunting piano piece.

Some other food for thought:

- the series ends with the whole family being wiped out, as Phil has planned
- if so, then Paulie survives and gets his old wish of working for NY
- Patsy as the double-agent seems very plausible but considering his son's interest in Meadow, that angle has issues

 

No way Tony dies. No way the whole crew dies. Chase will not end the show with Phil getting over on Tony Soprano.

I'm starting to think the story won't have a final conclusion. It's just gonna be Tony looking over the Hudson, smoking a cigar, thinking "this is the life I've cut out for myself; I have to accept it." Meadow will go to law school. AJ will snap out of his funk, Carm will continue with her houses and they'll all move back into the house until the next crisis surfaces.


Paulie working for New York?
This is the mafia. Loyalty is everything.
It's not like you trade someone or take another job with another family because if offers better benefits. He stays in the Soprano family or he dies.

 

I'm with TigerVols on the guy ordering the pizza (can't remember his name) being the one to call Phil.

The thing that has stuck with me this season is the evolution not of Tony himself but the way he is portrayed by Chase. He began as this semi-comic antihero, but this year they've really stripped away all the "humanity" that he may have portrayed and shown him for what he is: a sociopathic a-hole.

I think the viewers have been put in the role of Melffi for the entire run, trying to figure out what motivates him, finding the center of his problems, which gave the viewer a kind of Florence Nightengale effect, "awww, sure he fucks other women, kills people and lies at every turn, but he's a really nice guy, I'm sure."
He's not. He's selfish, narcissistic and totally amoral. I think Melfi is finally seeing that and so am I.
To be honest, I hope he gets shot.

 

I don't know if Melfi is having a realization about Tony as much as she's being honest with herself that as much as treating him is "fascinating work," she's not really helping him because he's a sociopath. In fact, she's helping him become more of one.

Plus, once Kupferburg (?) let the cat out of the bag, she really didn't have much of a choice than to drop him as a patient.