the Sopranos- Page 3

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 10:41pm

I was thinking that Vito's gun might surface while the woman from the Bed and Breakfast was cleaning his room. But the last scene in the antique store changed my mind. I think they are going to let him settle in up in New Hampshire a little more before they come back to a major focus on this story line. I think they are also going to have to allow Tony an episode or two to really stew over his ambivalent reactions.

I thought that the way they portrayed Vito noticing the 'gayness' in the NH surroundings was nicely done. It's unlikely that the NH town was any more gay than NY/NJ, but once away from the repression of "the family", he was able to see the same things in a different light... notice same sex couples doing normal everyday things like going to breakfast in a diner, and just indulging in simple interests like looking at antiques, that he never would have noticed or done in his home environment.

Updated On: 4/16/06 at 10:41 PM

Posted: 4/16/06 at 11:00pm

What about the scene where Tony gave the construction business to another one of his captains? The captain is saying that it will be very difficult for Vito to assimilate back into the family, and that he'll have to be taken care of, and Tony says, "...it's not like he was the first [to be gay].

I think Vito liked the guy in the diner making the johnny cakes.

Posted: 4/16/06 at 11:03pm

As for storyline...it took about a season and a half for Vito's sexuality to come to the forefront of the plotlines...this being a soap, they left Vito in NH, and he may be there for a long while before we find out whether he finds happiness, or...?

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 11:11pm

"...it's not like he was the first [to be gay]."

I noticed that, too. I assume that was seeding and will come back up in a future episode. I'm really interested in where they are going to take this story line.

It's also interesting watching Meadow start to struggle with family loyalty vs her socio-political beliefs. And it's obvious we haven't seen the last of the tension between the wives and Angie, the 'businesswoman'. "She used to be one of us. Now she's one of them."

This was an interesting episode. It laid a lot of foundations for future story lines.

[Luscious]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 12:06am

Sorry, but I think the show is way off course. While the Vito storyline is amusing, I can't believe they devoted nearly an entire episode to it. It's as if, this being the final season, the writers are trying to give all of the peripheral characters their moment in the spotlight, and by so doing they've lost their focus. Maybe they'll be a pay off somewhere down the line, but most loyal fans of the show that I know are getting impatient and fed up with the seeming directionless-ness of it all. Thus far, it's been a very uneven, scattered and mostly unsatisfying season.

Updated On: 4/17/06 at 12:06 AM

[wexy]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 6:58am

I can see Tony winning a GLAAD award for his new outlook in a future episode.

[steveshack]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 10:14am

I think this is a terrific season. If you think back, every season of this show has "set-up" episodes and "pay-off" episodes. It's not all just pow pow pow. This was one of the best episodes of the entire series, IMO, because of how they went back and forth between the outright homo-hate of the gang to the really gentle touches like the guys haviing breakfast and the license plate "Live Free or Die." So many nice touches. And the actor playing Vito is so good. You can see frustration, pain, desire and yearning all over him.
Living In The Bonus Round

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 12:00pm

Okay - so no one is going to mention Carm's new desire for power? lol. Especially at the table when Angie was calling the shots. Carm was totally peeved. Then when Ro said "She's one of them now". Makes me think again about the woman in Italy who was the mob boss when the family went to do some business.

[steveshack]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 3:02pm

Hmmm. An intriguing notion. Carm does suddenly seem very comfortable with all that's going on, and very much sounding like she's tired of waiting for others to do the work for her.

Posted: 4/17/06 at 3:57pm

Not to mention Carm being pissed for having to rely on her dad for the spec house she is building, and for Tony to insure that she would get the building permits that she needed. Both of the two most important men in her life have failed her on this, and she is p-i-s-s-e-d. Don't be surprised if she starts taking over the reigns. Oh yes, remember when Tony was in ICU, and Paulie and Vito came to deliver some cash to her...with a backward glance she noticed their look as they stood in the elevator as it was about to descend. What did she say to Tony when his health had improved? "Keep an eye on them." This lady will be making her play for power soon.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 4:12pm

Didn't Carmella hide cash in the air conditioning unit? Or she took some? I am trying to remember.

It seems to me that as the story is winding down to the conclusion everyone is going to resolve their conflicted personalities in some way. I think that is why they took so much time with Vito. Tony's scene with Melfi, and Carmella's realizations and Meadow's obvious conflicted conscience. All the characters seem to be headed for a huge change either in their lives or beliefs.
This last episode was fascinating in it's simplicity. The sweet way Vito left his family, the peacefulness of the yard interrupted by the clanging of the A/C unit, the way Carmella applied the vitamin e oil to Tony's scar. Just great images that say so much.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 4:34pm

Love this season! Every episode has been well done and thought provoking. Bravo to HBO again!

See you all for good on Thurs night! I'm in Kinko's in Florida renting a computer, lol!

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 4:38pm

Sueleen - Carm found Tony's money in the bird food bin and took $10,000. I believe she put it in an account at the bank if my mind serves me correctly.

Jose' - that look in the elevator still baffles me. I was not sure how to read it.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 4:54pm

Thanks Cheeze. I knew she had something to do with the hidden money in the yard but I couldn't quite remember.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 6:05pm

I, too, thought last night's episode was startling for its simplicity and eloquence. No violence, just character-driven plotting, and many small "wins" for individual characters, which is what good soap writing is theoretically based on: the audience returns to see beloved people grapple with crisis, and "win" through solving or at least handling problems.

The Vito story is actually an extraordinary way of looking at homophobia's insideous tentacles, no?. Even in this extreme sub-culture, the feelings voiced reflect the thinking of many people in this society. I thought the use of freighted irony -- these killers talking about gay sex as "sin" -- worked powerfully.

Posted: 4/17/06 at 8:56pm

On the mark, Auggie. I thought it especially telling how in the closed world the characters inhabit homosexual behavior is somewhat accepted, according to Tony's reasoning, in some limited social situations (i.e., prison), but never discussed or acknowledged outside of that particular environment of incarceration. "Der's no women there." So, homosexuality is accepted to certain degrees ("He's not the first." and "Der's no women there."), but not ever discussed openly. Also not mentioned are the children and other family members who are gay and who inhabit that world. It happens in families like the Sopranos, and their world, all the time, and is accepted when it hits that close to home....as long as the family isn't embarrassed.

One thing I take exception to is the nonchalant way Tony and Carm, and the others in their circle, take Meadow's decision to become a lawyer. I know Michael Corleone did it, but in the real world, people like Tony and Carm, and their extended family, would not be so open to a family member, especially a female, going into the legal profession, unless the ultimate goal was for him or her, to handle the family's legal interests. Real family members recognize the personal and ethical conflicts that ensue when a family member becomes an upholder of the societal laws.

Carm did hide cash in the air conditioner several seasons ago. But I think it was found by Tony. I'll admit that I did think the rattling was due to the money stashed there.

Vito's personal mental anguish was evocatively portrayed. What is especially sad about his storyline is that even in the gay world for which he feels an affinity, there are some false, but very prevalent physical standards that would make him an outsider. His weight is not where certain metopolitan homosexuals would consider acceptable in their world. Hence his stiving to lose weight. Vito is going through tremendouse personal pain, and it is sad to see. I'm concerned for his character because I want him to find happiness but the odds appear against him on so many levels.

[JACKSON]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 11:07pm

Last nights episode was just lovely. I was afraid this show had lost its touch after the second episode and on of this season. But last nights was for me.. one of their best.

[Glebb]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:42pm

"I had a heart murmur as a kid."

[Glebb]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:46pm

LOL! Lauren Bacall - this is the best episode ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updated On: 4/23/06 at 09:46 PM

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:06pm

Well, you know something really big is going to happen with Artie...it could be any one of a dozen things, all of them VERY bad.

[fflagg]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:18pm

Ben Kingsley was brilliant and deserves an Emmy. Bacall had the best line: "My f**king arm!" Considering how nasty she can be, I am sure many on Broadway would have loved to have delivered the blow, and not with lips. :)

PREDICTIONS

1. the gay guy on the run gets offed
2. Artie gets offed OR his restaurant burns down
3. Anthony Jr. gets offed
4. the Feds go after Finn to be a stoolie
5. Carmella goes nuts after AJ gets killed and suffers a breakdown
6. Chris died from an overdose

Liza Minnelli takes over the Bada Bing! and turns it into a cabaret and hires David Gest to manage it. Opening act: Clay Aiken to sing and then pole dance after hours.

[wexy]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:19pm

Artie could wind up in a stew. I got to meet Ben Kingsley once at some film thing. He's a pretty regal guy.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:26pm

flagg, I think Artie's restaurant already was burned down a few seasons ago.

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 4/24/06 at 5:15pm

An entire episode about Artie? Last night's episode spend most of its attention on the one charcter who historically gets less respect than Bobby Bacala. It was fairly slow and quiet and it did not move any of the seasons's major storylines forward much, at all. It put it in Artie's language, the first six episodes were like the buffet at Da Giovanni; one amazing dish after another, always something to savor and chew on.

Spoilers------------

Artie gets a crush on the sexy new Vesuvio hostess, she winds up costng him lots of money and he tries to play tough guy to get revenge. This episode worked because it took Tony's oldest friend seriously. For the first time since the season one finale, (which got referenced both with Artie's hunting rifle and Tony's story about Vesuvio being his port in that storm) Artie was not just the clown good for nothing but making antipasto. He was the honest man in the dirty town, the guy who struggles trying to do things the right way while his pal Tony is rolling in crooked cash. By the way, I cannot stand Charmaine. Artie is no saint, as evidenced by his yearning for first, Adriana, and now Martina and then the way he dogged her when he realized she was with Benny. But in that scene in bed with Charmaine, the one at the Bing with Tony, you saw a man who had gone past midlife crisis (remember the earring?) and into real despair. When he beat up the French con man a few seasons back, he embarrassed hmself, but he was able to smack around Benny because he was really mad. The episode worked becuase it is fitting in with the big themes of the season; characters bumping up against the rstrictions of the lifestyles they have c chosen. Last week, it was Vito fleeing to New Hampshire to find the happiness he could not get as a capo. Last night, it was Artie finally making peace with his fate as the law-abiding grunt in the wise-guy world letting go of all the complaining and attempted shortcuts and getting back to his love of cooking. (Yes, I could have done without the scene of him shooting the rabbit).

The scenes with Christopher in Hollywood trying to woo Ben Kingsley were boring to me. Basically Ben Kingsley is to Christopher as Tony is to Artie. Christopher has alwasy viewed himself as a top of the food chain kinda guy but when he got a look at all the bling available to movie stars, he was a guppy not a shark. So as to the two characters this week, only Artie seemed to have picked direction. We thought his big dream was over after the John Favreau episode. But, like the booze and drugs, it is an itch he seems to constantly have to scratch.

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 4/24/06 at 5:16pm

An entire episode about Artie? Last night's episode spend most of its attention on the one charcter who historically gets less respect than Bobby Bacala. It was fairly slow and quiet and it did not move any of the seasons's major storylines forward much, at all. It put it in Artie's language, the first six episodes were like the buffet at Da Giovanni; one amazing dish after another, always something to savor and chew on.

Spoilers------------

Artie gets a crush on the sexy new Vesuvio hostess, she winds up costng him lots of money and he tries to play tough guy to get revenge. This episode worked because it took Tony's oldest friend seriously. For the first time since the season one finale, (which got referenced both with Artie's hunting rifle and Tony's story about Vesuvio being his port in that storm) Artie was not just the clown good for nothing but making antipasto. He was the honest man in the dirty town, the guy who struggles trying to do things the right way while his pal Tony is rolling in crooked cash. By the way, I cannot stand Charmaine. Artie is no saint, as evidenced by his yearning for first, Adriana, and now Martina and then the way he dogged her when he realized she was with Benny. But in that scene in bed with Charmaine, the one at the Bing with Tony, you saw a man who had gone past midlife crisis (remember the earring?) and into real despair. When he beat up the French con man a few seasons back, he embarrassed hmself, but he was able to smack around Benny because he was really mad. The episode worked because it is fitting in with the big themes of the season; characters bumping up against the rstrictions of the lifestyles they have c chosen. Last week, it was Vito fleeing to New Hampshire to find the happiness he could not get as a capo. Last night, it was Artie finally making peace with his fate as the law-abiding grunt in the wise-guy world letting go of all the complaining and attempted shortcuts and getting back to his love of cooking. (Yes, I could have done without the scene of him shooting the rabbit).

The scenes with Christopher in Hollywood trying to woo Ben Kingsley were boring to me. Basically, Ben Kingsley is to Christopher as Tony is to Artie. Christopher has alwasy viewed himself as a top of the food chain kinda guy but when he got a look at all the bling available to movie stars, he was a guppy not a shark. So as to the two characters this week, only Artie seemed to have picked direction. We thought his big dream was over after the John Favreau episode. But, like the booze and drugs, it is an itch he seems to constantly have to scratch.

Updated On: 4/24/06 at 05:16 PM