Sopranos

**Walter Sobchak** · 03-20-2006, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by SkiEvil

My take on the dream sequence is that it is Tony's vision of Hell.

I think it's alternate world/bizarro world Tony -- say he stayed in school, rejected the family business, went into sales, lost the Jersey accent, and never had his behaviour and temper shaped by being the most powerful guy in the room all the time for years and years. That's some incredible acting by Gandolfini. He's Tony, but ... he's not Tony.

**slim** · 03-20-2006, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Walter Sobchak

I think it's alternate world/bizarro world Tony -- say he stayed in school, rejected the family business, went into sales, lost the Jersey accent, and never had his behaviour and temper shaped by being the most powerful guy in the room all the time for years and years. That's some incredible acting by Gandolfini. He's Tony, but ... he's not Tony.

Mrs. Slim and I were both commenting about how good the acting has been. Last nights episode was tops.

**tuffy109** · 03-20-2006, 04:08 PM

it was funny hearing Tony talk like James Gandolfini, and that answering machine message was awesome.

**yogachik** · 03-20-2006, 09:03 PM

DON'T READ THIS UNTIL YOU SEE EPISODE TWO - David Chase insight into last night's (dream) episode:

Tony checks into the Hotel California
Monday, March 20, 2006
WARNING: This column contains major plot spoilers for last night's "Sopranos" episode. If you're waiting until later in the week to watch, read on at extreme peril.

IT'S NOT a dream. It's Purgatory.

When I had my annual summit with "Sopranos" creator David Chase a few weeks ago, I complimented him on having the onions to put a major dream sequence like this so early in the season, considering how many fans complain about the dreams.

"I, frankly, would not call those (episode two scenes) dreams," he said, which sent me scurrying back to watch my DVD over and over again, until (with some help from my wife) I got it.

Here Tony's stuck in Orange County, quite possibly the most personality-free corner of the world, with no way to leave (a k a Purgatory). On one end of town is a shining beacon (Heaven), on the other, a raging forest fire (Hell). Over and over, he stops to assess the worth of his own life, asking, "Who am I? Where am I going?"

Then he steals the identity (sin) of Kevin Finnerty -- a heating salesman who lives in one of the hottest states of the union (Arizona) -- checks into another hotel, and falls down a red staircase, at which point he learns he has Alzheimer's (eternal damnation). And while Carmela's busy in the real world telling him he's not going to Hell, Tony's in Purgatory debating whether to tell his wife this is exactly the fate he has in store.

It may be hair-splitting to call this something other than a dream, but Tony's misadventures in Costa Mesa were much more linear and coherent than his regular dreams have ever been. There were important details scribbled in the margins (the bartender joking, "Around here, it's dead," or the "Are sin, disease and death real?" commercial on the TV), but there was an actual story here instead of Tony bouncing from one surreal tableau to another.

Still, Chase followed last week's watercooler cliffhanger with an 11-minute opening sequence set in a world that's not our own, with a Tony who wasn't quite right (it's startling to hear James Gandolfini's natural speaking voice), and only one split-second nod to the shooting (the brief flash of the doctor shining a light in Tony's eye mixed in with the chopper spotlight).

For years, most of "Sopranos" fandom has been divided into two intersecting sets: those who watch for the whacking and crude humor, and those who watch for the psychiatry and art-house storytelling. By putting the shooting right next to Tony's afterlife business trip, Chase is pushing his chips to the center of the table and telling the audience they had better go all in -- murder and therapy, flatulence jokes and metaphysics -- if they intend to stay at the table for this final season.

So will Tony ever get to check out of this hotel, and, if so, where will he end up? Again, I can't say, but if this season is going to be about a moral accounting for all of Tony's sins, then there's no better place to start.

Back in the physical world, give Edie Falco the Emmy right now. Just give it to her. Seriously. Do not pass Go, do not collect other nominations, just ship the statuette to her apartment today. There is no way any other actress on television is going to have two better scenes this year than Carmela's hallway breakdown and her monologue to Tony, scored perfectly to Tom Petty's "American Girl."

And is there an Emmy category for Best Silent Hug? Because Michael Imperioli was pretty great when he put his arm around Carmela in the hallway. I know scenes where characters sob or give long speeches are stock award-show bait, but these performances went so far past showing off that I actually had to look away a few times out of a feeling I was spying on a private moment between real people.

Some other random notes:

The song played at the end was Moby's "When It's Cold I'd Like To Die," with vocals by Mimi Goese.

The voice of Purgatory Tony's wife wasn't played by Annabella Sciorra, or any other actress who's been on the show before; she's just a generic non-Carmela female voice.

Boy, Janice's gift for making every moment of every day be all about her survives even her brother's shooting, huh? She shows up at the hospital, pretending she's there to help comfort Carmela, then immediately spazzes out so she's the center of attention. If I didn't know Janice so well from the last four seasons, I might have found her freak-out genuine, but this is Livia Soprano's daughter, people. And speaking of which...

Did you catch AJ throwing Livia's "Poor you!" at Meadow during their hybrid car argument? That's at least three other characters who've now used the old bat's pet insult (Tony and Gloria were the others), and it shows just how rotten and contagious the Soprano genes are.

Meanwhile, you have AJ trying to have his Michael Corleone moment with his plan to murder Junior, but the kid's still too dumb and weak to even pass for Fredo. Loved that he chose to waste all the good will from Carmela by telling her he flunked out of school. (If those other two scenes don't get Falco a drama actress Emmy, maybe she can win the comedy award for her delivery of "With your father in a coma!"

The overall mood was grim, but Vito had the line of the night, if not the season, when he speculated about Eugene's suicide, "Maybe he was a homo, felt there was no one he could talk to about it. That happens, too." Oh, Vito, project much?

In the days after the premiere, many people floated the theory that it was really the finale and the rest of the series would be flashbacks leading up to Tony's shooting. Obviously, that's not the way things are going, and it wouldn't have worked, since not enough of interest had happened to the characters since we saw them last. Yes, Janice and Bacala have spawned, and AJ's hair is longer, but it's not like we came back from hiatus with Silvio missing and Chris wearing an eyepatch. The premiere established that Tony's life had been profitable but uneventful since his jog through the woods.

Now, is Agent Harris really that in love with Satriale's veal parm, or he is baiting a hook to turn Christopher into a cooperator? Nothing on this show is a coincidence, and a few scenes after Harris mentioned Matush, the terrorist-supporting drug dealer, we saw a couple of Middle Eastern men chatting up Chrissie at the Bing. Hmm...

© 2006 The Star Ledger© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

**Shaggy** · 03-21-2006, 10:22 AM

I think there's something to be said about Tony loosing his identity.

I also hope this coma stuff doesn't go past the next episode, or this season is going to be weak.

**Woodsy** · 03-21-2006, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I think there's something to be said about Tony loosing his identity.

I also hope this coma stuff doesn't go past the next episode, or this season is going to be weak.

a power vacum imploding a mob family in Jersey and New york and a real family itself weak?!?
you are a fucking moron,

**Shaggy** · 03-21-2006, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Woodsy

a power vacum imploding a mob family in Jersey and New york and a real family itself weak?!?
you are a fucking moron,

The show has always revolved around Tony, I can't see that Chase would change that in the last season.

And when I said weak, I was refering more to a whole season of dream-sequences being weak.

**Woodsy** · 03-21-2006, 12:07 PM

nextweeks preview didnt look like a dreamsequence nordid it appear like its gonna suck.

**Shaggy** · 03-21-2006, 01:04 PM

I havn't seen the preview for the next episode, what enlightenments does it provide?

**Woodsy** · 03-21-2006, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by Woodsy

a power vacum imploding a mob family in Jersey and New york and a real family itself ,

somehting like that.

**tuffy109** · 03-21-2006, 01:18 PM

are you really a cat?

**Woodsy** · 03-21-2006, 01:26 PM

Dont be cunty
http://cf.wftv.com/orlc/sh/videoplay...994&owner=orlc

**Shaggy** · 03-21-2006, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by tuffy109

are you really a cat?

Do I sleep all day, puke on the carpet, and lick my own ass? No, although I did puke on the carpet last weekend..

**Aldo** · 03-22-2006, 06:09 PM

Van Helsing! ahahahahahaha

bye bye vito!

**Cornholio** · 03-23-2006, 09:01 AM

I think the "Uncle Junior is faking it" thing has some merit, but right after he shot Tony he went and hid in the closet with this terrified look on his face.

**tuffy109** · 03-23-2006, 11:48 AM

those dudes were drinking pacifico at the bar. i had never heard of the beer until i moved out here.

**Woodsy** · 03-23-2006, 11:56 AM

I had always thought of it as a SoCal or more often a "case for $7 plus deposit" baja beer, but it is pretty big out here now.
Must have changed distributers

**Aldo** · 03-23-2006, 12:33 PM

Hey O!

Pacifica is so last season....

**Cornholio** · 03-23-2006, 03:11 PM

Pacifico was our post-skiing beer for years in Aspen, Matty! For some reason I always thought everyone in town was drinking it, too.

**Woodsy** · 03-23-2006, 03:14 PM

yeah it was around,but one of many mex beers.
that was after SoCal for me.
plus I lump all of the southwest together in the Mexican sphere of influence.
and it was still fairly cheap there compared to here.
motherfakkers are paying $4-5 A BOTTLE.
FOR PACIFICO......

**Anxious Mo-Fo** · 03-27-2006, 05:50 AM

Praise Allah, Tony's out of the coma... one more dead-end Kevin Finnerty segment and we were going to switch to a Green Acres rerun.

**runethechamp** · 03-27-2006, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by Anxious Mo-Fo

Praise Allah, Tony's out of the coma... one more dead-end Kevin Finnerty segment and we were going to switch to a Green Acres rerun.

Oh, come on, don't be so negative.

And yesterday's episode was intense. Good shit for sure.

**Katie4** · 03-27-2006, 07:45 PM

I don't think Junior's faking it....there are a thousand other ways he could have had Tony wacked....and what was up with paulie????

**Benny Profane** · 03-27-2006, 10:10 PM

well, it seems that he's not getting it up for a while, but otherwise, same old Paulie. Gotta love that hair.

**Walter Sobchak** · 03-27-2006, 11:26 PM

Was that Livia at the doorway of the Finnerty family reunion?

Anyways, Junior has got to go, and soon. Whether or not Tony wants him dead for revenge, and whether or not AJ gets a shot at putting a "bullet in his fucking mummy head" (ha!), that old coot, knowing what he knows, in custody, with alzheimer's-loosened lips ... not good for the family. The feds could offer up Angie Dickinson and he'd tell them everything.

If it weren't for next week's clips, I'd still be wondering if Tony was left with broccoli for brains.

Paulie's gonna be fine. Nut trauma's a bitch for sure, but it shouldn't stop anyone from getting it up.

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