the Sopranos- Page 6

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 4:50pm

Well, when you put it that way Jane, he does not deserve the cookie! Ha!

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:01pm

Jane, Paulie wouldn't care about his being responsible for lots of people being hurt and unhappy. He only cared because it made him look bad to Tony and the boys. He the old woman in the nursing home and took her money. He doesn't have much of conscience.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:04pm

No, but maybe he's beginning to get a conscience. Maybe he sees that bad things might happen to him (cancer) and maybe he believes he'd better shape up. I don't know, to me he's having an epiphany.

[Luscious]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:19pm

If he's having an epiphany, it will be completely self-serving and last approximately one or two episodes, just as Tony and Christopher's epiphanies have. I'll say it again, this season more than any other is showing these characters for the loathsome, greedy low-lives they really are. Redeeming qualities are in short supply.

Updated On: 5/8/06 at 05:19 PM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:25pm

I disagree. This season is making the characters face the effects of their actions. Yes, these people are murderous criminals, but the brilliance of the writing is that we CARE about them. All great tragedy is based on the flaws of the characters, no matter what horrible things they do we must be able to relate to them and see them as fully dimensional individuals.If you don't, why watch?
Paulie is a tragic figure. Never got the respect he thought he deserved, tried to make his own way only to have it backfire. He is the lowest man in the tribe and he is starting to regret it. I find him fascinating. That is one reason I watch. Why do YOU watch?

[Glebb]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:28pm

I adore when they have old women cursing.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:29pm

the writing is indeed brilliant. Especially this season. Each episode has been a gem. I may even have to buy the dvd when it comes out.

[Luscious]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:30pm

"Why do YOU watch?"

Intelligent writing. Excellent acting. Interesting characters and storylines. And they remind me of my family.

Updated On: 5/8/06 at 05:30 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:39pm

Back to the ankle thing for a second -- I was wondering about that at first too - I thought maybe Gandolfini actually hurt himself during filming or something and they had to work it in, but I realized it had a point. The whole thing - stealing the wine, the way they joked about it - was just like when they were younger. Tony couldn't even do a simple heist like this any more, and it was all so childish. The entire episode was about reverting to a previous - Tony/Chris to when they were starting, Paulie to his mother, Chris to his addiction - we even had a reversion in terms of the first ever (that I remember) flashback in the series (well, not counting those weird dreams with Big Pussy as a fish). After spending the season backing Tony up, Carm reverted to her distrust of him again with the Ade thing. The entire season seems to be about letting go of the past and being able to move on - this episode was a neat little microcosm of that.

Other than Lost, best show on TV (sorry, I know it's a Sopranos thread, but at the rate it's going, these two shows will be duking it out for a top spot in all-time best dramas soon enough)

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:44pm

Interesting point about the ankle, Jason.

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 10:11pm

No one made mention of the way Phil Leotardo and Tony made a deal and conveniently left out Johnny Sack. Phil is going to be a big problem in the future. All these story lines are leading up to, I think, the demise of all the characters in some way or another. It will be jail or violence of some sort. Carm constantly bringing up Ade is a thought to be reckoned with. When she met Ade's mother etc. I think Ade is alive (no one saw the actual shooting) and is going to testify against Tony and the family. We shall see.

[Glebb]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 9:58pm

Fabulous episode.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 10:00pm

Verrrry interesting!

[wexy]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 10:02pm

Did anyone notice that when Johnny made the move on Vito in bed, the next shot is train going through the tunnel?
Priceless.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 10:57pm

So what is he doing? He felt so guilty for falling in love with a man that he decided to go home? or is he killing himself? What?

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 11:51pm

After realizing he couldn't tell the time by the angle of the sun, Vito headed back reclaim his life.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 12:20am

No, there was some reason he couldn't wait for the day to be over. He kept wondering how many hours had passed and was disappointed that it was only 9:45.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 2:37am

Vito's leaving has nothing to do with guilt over having fallen in love with a man. What Vito can't stand is making an "honest" living. All the hard work that goes with it. You know, the "Goodfellas" syndrome.

Great episode. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[Peter]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 4:05am

This season seems to be about people being given second chances in life, then screwing it up. Tony, Christopher..now Vito, even Carmella all had some kind of awakening and could have taken a different route in life, but decided to go down the same bad paths. No doubt this is going to build towards a very tragic ending.

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 3:18pm

Now the end is near for Vito, becaue he wants to die. The man is driving back to NJ where all his old friends want to kill him, guzzling gin and listening to "My Way". Why did Vito kill that stubborn New Englander who wanted to call the cops, I think it is because he is ready to die but wants to do it his way. Preferably, eating. The scene with him cooking dinner for "Johnny Cakes" and playing Dean Martin in tbe background shows how nostalgic he was getting for his old life. He does nto like to or want to work. No wiseguys work. Vito is not the only one facing the end. In one hour, Johnny Sack plead guilty, Tony crushed Carmela's dream of independence, Paulie revealed that he is battling cancer, Meadow edging closer to dumping Finn, always thought he was ugly, and Tony finally making peace with Janice's role in his life. (Poor Ginny Sack) I think all these characters are getting center stage before the final curtain. Artie, A.J. and now Johnny Sack. Johnny has smarts, a temper and a love of family, but also what Tony aspires to be. Hes the archetypal gangster, dressed to the nines, always clutching his cigarette, calculating and ruthless in a way that Tony can occasionally be. I heard actor Vincent Curatola who plays Johnny Sack has only started acting. He is doing a great acting job. He has become an essential part of the show and it was painful to watch him portray how completely the feds broke Johnny. Years ago, he would go nuclear if someone tried to change the terms a deal the way Tony kept doing. Now he just shrugs it off. He was always one of my favorite characters on the show. Another favorite, Janice, she is one of the characters who has changed the most and the least since she was introduced. She is not doing yoga and calling herself Parvati anymore, but she is still out for herself every second of the day. Because Janice is only capable of performing "acts of Janice" the story line had to be less about her and more about Tony's feelings towards her. Janice annoys everyone but Tony has the real reason to hate her as exposed in his therapy session. She left the house and left him with the devil incarnate of the mother. Of all his sessions with Dr. Melfi, his resigned acceptance of Janice and all her diva nonsense was another step forward for him. But he is still selfish enough to sabtoage Carm's business. Carm has rolled over for now, blaming the inspector instead of seeing though Tony's lies, but her ambitions are not going to disappear. Did you notice how fixated she was on Angie during Ginny's party?

Side question, can Paulie beat cancer the way his hair has beaten chemo. We shall see.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 3:40pm

I'm applauding you for that well thought out synopsis, bwaylady!

My question is still-what was the deal with Vito counting the hours? Until he got into his car and left? Why couldn't he get into the car whatever time he wanted?

[blueroses]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 3:45pm

"Vito's leaving has nothing to do with guilt over having fallen in love with a man. What Vito can't stand is making an "honest" living. All the hard work that goes with it. You know, the "Goodfellas" syndrome."

Yup. Vito is screwed either way. He thought he could "Live or Die Free" (the title of the first New Hampshire episode) in a gay relationship, but that would mean he'd actually have to earn money by working (not sitting on his ass in front of the construction site or at the pork store). He's gay, but he misses the power, excitement, and all of the perks that come with being being a capo. The downside...he can't live openly in that life. The dichotomy is that Vito is a gay mobster, and the reality is that he can't have it both ways. There is no place for him.

I thought he was going to commit suicide "his way", what with the Sinatra song blasting in the car, etc. Now I have no doubt he'll get whacked. The question is when.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 4:47pm

"My question is still-what was the deal with Vito counting the hours?"

Do you remember what it was like being in school? And you would just be incredibly bored, and thought to yourself "Ok..it's probably 11 am now...almost recess".

That's what it is. He hadn't made the decision to leave yet. He was just really, really REALLY bored with his job. The tediousness of having to earn an honest living. His counting down the time was there to show just how frustrated Vito is at actually having to WORK, when he's used to making a good living by sitting on his ass at the construction site.

It's exactly as blueroses said: the dichotomy of being a gay mobster, who CAN'T have it both ways. Either live the life of a gay man, but do the hard work to make a living. Or just...die. Because he can't be a mobster again (and he knows it). But to actually have to WORK every day of his life...it's just not the life Vito wants. Like I said, the "Goodfellas" syndrome.
Updated On: 5/15/06 at 04:47 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 4:54pm

Thanks, Chica, that's probably it! I didn't know that the hammering he was doing was at a job. I was thinking he was working around the house. oy, I should pay more attention.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 6:15pm

This is an extraordinary storyline, no? Daring in profound ways. Vito's crisis has unfolded in totally unpredictable ways, that managed to avoid all the usual TV tropes and deux ex machina twists. I early on expected an obligatory scene of someone from Tony's stable showing up to confront him in his idyllic new life. But the story is far too rich, and character-specific, to resort to those kinds of externals.

Paradoxically, Vito is both master of his own fate, and held hostage to it -- brilliant, provocative storytelling. Wherever it goes next, we surely will feel this is a unique ride, unlike any other.