Official Big Soccer Sopranos Thread

"I have an IQ of 136...it's been tested."

 

This season, the writers seem to have resolved critical situations in overly simple ways. Instead of having an all out war between NY and NJ, now we have an apparent power vacuum. Instead of Carmela being more inquisitive about Adriana's "breakup" with Christopher, we have bland acceptance. Instead of Tony B. struggling between a clean life and a mob life, we have him going off on his Korean business partner in the blink of an eye.

 

Guess I'm in the minority, but I loved this season - except the Dream episode. Yes, the ending was too neat, but this is TV after all. Tony's run through the woods back home at the end was perfect.

And I know y'all wanted a war, but a shotgun blast across the porch was plenty violent. Right?

 

Great post of why this was a disappointing season. The Sopranos jumped the shark.

 

Sure for any drama on after 8pm.
But i expected more from a "mob" show.

 

One other question: How the hell can a swarm of FBI agents not catch a fat guy running through the snow wearing Italian loafers?

 

I was kinda disappointed that Tony knuckled under (though not entirely) to Johnny Sack and ended up killing his cousin. I guess he had no choice with the Brooklyn mob leaning on his men however. What's interesting is that with Johnny Sack getting picked up by the Feds and with some of his Brooklyn crew under indictment, killing Tony B. probably wasn't even necessary. At the end when Tony saw the Feds coming I initially thought those guys were Johnny Sack's shooters and that Tony had been set up for a hit.

When Tony was running away I thought to myself that that was what the famous raid on the mob gathering at Apalachin N.Y. in 1957 must have been like (though on a much larger scale). All those mobsters running away from the state troopers through the woods in upstate N.Y. must have been some sight LOL.

 

I've gone back and forth on a subset of this point --

Yes, Tony/Buscemi went way over the line and by all rights should have been killed.

But, he was Tony's cousin and they did grow up together. And, even though we never, ever, ever heard of this guy before this season, we've been led to believe they were extremely close.

I was left with the sense that, had Tony waited just one day (?) longer, he could have sent Tony/Buscemi off to Italy and not had to personally blow his beloved cousin's face off. Because I think Philly must have been pinched in this huge NY sting as well.

So, yes, there was the guilt thing; but there's also the family blood thing. But if it was all just guilt, that's just stupid.


Anyway:
I'm still annoyed at that let down of a finale. If I wanted to see a battle royale like Johnny Sac v. Tony Soprano end with a Feds ex Machina, I'd read Euripides*.



(*What one says to an overly aggressive tailor:
"Yo! Watch de pants. Euripides, you gonna fix-a dese!"
Thank you and good night)

 

Guilt may have been a part of it but I think intially Tony just didn't like Johnny Sack telling him what to do and arrogantly saying that Phil Leotardo would take care of Tony B. "his way". As Silvio said in that scene, Tony "has a problem with authority" and was out of line in telling Johnny Sack to "go f--k" himself. Tony just didn't like being ordered around especially when it came to giving up his own blood and enduring the loss of face that that would entail.

But as the Johnny Sack's guys turned up the screws (fracturing one of Tony's guys skull) and a possible war loomed I think Tony saw that it was selfish and irresponsible to stay on the present course and possibly endanger his crew's lives and financial well-being all for the sake of his cousin. I think he had a bit of an epiphany when he threw out the picture that Paulie Walnuts had of him and the horse. He saw himself as a general and a leader in that picture and realized he had to swallow his pride a little and do what was right for his men. So he found somewhat of a personal compromise. He killed his cousin by his own hand (thus, knuckling under to J. Sack and resolving the issue) but he didn't let Leotardo have him (thus, saving some face).


P.S. Does anyone know why the Leotardos took out that old guy that Tony B. was so close to? I completely missed that whole thing.

 

I forget the character's name -- let's just call him Tony B's friend (TBF).

--TBF was part of Little Carmine's crew.

--Little Carmine and Johnny Sac were fighting over control of NY after Carmine Senior kicked.

--In the course of that, Johnny's boys wanted that woman who was collecting for Little Carmine to kick up to Johnny instead. They pulled a fake execution on her.

-- She didn't comply, and Leotardo's crew finished the job, shooting her while she tried to crawl away on all fours -- much like Adrianna.

-- As payback, TBF asked Tony B. to whack the trigger man in that job, who was part of Philly Leotardo's crew. Tony B. did that job.

-- TBF was whacked by Philly as payback for that.

-- Tony B. tried to whack Philly Leotardo as (personal) payback for that but only managed to kill Philly's son and injure Phil.

 

I loved the way they played Van Morrison's "Glad Tidings" during the episode and at the end...great song:

 

Here's what I don't understand. Doesn't Tony meet Tony Sack in his NY home? How the hell does he walk back to his home in Jersey? Does Tony live in Alpine or Upper Saddle River? Everything was to convenient to tidy up and end this season. The arrest of the NY boys seemed to contrived.

 

Prior to meeting Sack when they spoke I thought Sack told him to meet him in New York. It was funny seeing Sack imitating Frosty the snowman.

 

I'm just glad that Doogie Houser's buddy got beat...

Now I'll just hold my breath for the next couple of years while I wait for the next season to start.

 

Oh, you do not like Vinnie Delpino? He may still be back next season since he did not die.

I would not suggest holding your breath. Yeah, that's the one thing I hate about being a Sopranos fan: the loooooooong break between seasons. Production on the sixth season won't start until early 2005 so we might have to wait a year or longer for new episodes.