Letters to the Editor
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loss of humanity
I saw this as Tony completely losing his humanity, or as Heather said, heading for Hell.
One point worth remembering, in all of David Chase's interviews, he has far less sympathy for Tony, than we all do. If anything he seems surprised, and even chagrined by the affection the general public has for someone he sees as conflicted, but ultimately evil.
This may a step towards settling that account.
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correction
Didn't Tony yell out "I did it" at the end...not "I get it"?
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it appeared to me that tony was on his back on the casino floor, laughing & happy re: christopher's death
i wouldn't say that tony couldn't be happy at chris's death--in fact, it appeared that tony (on peyote) had an epiphany while at the casino that his luck had now finally changed for the better--all b/c chris is now dead. (tony said "he's dead" & then fell on his back on the floor laughing & smiling)
also, i think tony yelled "i did it"--not "i get it"--when he & chris's lady friend were watching the sunrise. (also, are we sure she was a hooker? tony said she was "stripping her way thru college".) & i think tony yelled "i did it" b/c he desperately wanted to confess this murder (& possibly others) --incl to dr melfi in his dream
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I get it or I did it?
I had a completely different impression of that episode. I didn't think he was in denial as much as showing how completely narcissistic he is. Or maybe I am getting my mental illnesses wrong. But it seems like I remember that getting mad at people for expecting you to feel grief over something like that is a clear symptom of something.
Mr. Chase also seemed to be hitting us over the head with the concept of son's. I kept thinking of Jesus. God loves man so much that he was willing to sacrifice his own son for us. In this situation though, Tony doesn't sacrifice his only son for anything more than himself.
I really thought he was saying "I did it" at the end of the show. I also thought that was what he said at the roulette table. At the table I thought he was saying that he was able to turn his luck around just (from his perspective) by sacrificing Christopher. "I did it!", I was able to turn my luck around. (And focusing on the picture of the devil on the slot machine? Making a deal with the devil?). At the same time, it was like "I did it" seemed like he felt as though he was controlling the random action of the roulette ball. Then, I thought he fell down giddy with power (and peyote of course) and the realization (peyote again of course) that he was all powerful.
Then, at the end it seemed like the sun was setting, then there was a flash, and the sun was still up. I thought he was yelling I did it! I stopped the sun from setting. I am all powerful.
Where Ms.Havrilesky saw the sort of transcendent epiphany that is romantically linked to peyote, with Tony it was like instead of finding God or good at the center of himself, the universe and all that is, Tony found his own grandiosity and the source of pure evil. (There was also something about materialism juxtaposed on his Vegas trip).
Either way, I think Mr. Chase is definitely delivering the goods here.
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How did you miss that?
Tony was euphoric in that casino scene, seeing his luck change now that Chris was gone. Seems like a major plot theme to completely miss?
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Buh-Bye Christafur
I thought this episode followed the general trajectory of disintegration and deterioration set in place with the fight with Bobby in the first episode. Tony, as the centre of his family and la famiglia, is spinning out of control - the centres cannot hold.
Tony's kitchen scene with Carmella was classic projection, to articulate for the viewer Tony's inner thoughts. James G. is such a fine actor - you could see on the hopeful expression of his face that he was wishing Carmella would say "Yeah, *I* am relieved that he's dead", in order to ease his own conscience.
Tony is loyal to no one. It used to be that he was loyal, in his own deeply flawed way, to his family. Or that he was loyal to the Mafia Code. But he betrays even these two areas in which he can be "good", or be "moral" (according to the warped Mob sense of Morality". He murdered, MURDERED, Christopher, his son of the mob, a made man who hadn't yet ratted him out. He seriously contemplated whacking Paulie, his stand-in uncle. His brother-in-law beat the bejesus out of him, and won. Tony is coming to the sickening conclusion that he is rotten to the core. He gets it. There is nothing good about him.
Tony is utterly alone. His cohorts are going to abandon him to Phil, or Phil is going to slaughter all of them. Because if Tony is rotten to the core, Phil is pure murderous rage wrapped in flesh. What man in their right mind would be a soldier when you know that your leader has seriously considered feeding you to the fishes?
My predictions are that AJ will not survive. He'll kill himself. His new-found delight in violence stems from his deep sadness, his vulnerability to depression, his self-knowledge that he's an insignificant person without real wisdom. AJ might be turned on by violence, but he'll never be detached enough to make the transition from living in the straight world to joining the mob. When he was with Blanca, he tasted what a noble beautiful life could be like. He did love her, and with a juvenile hope that he could work hard and provide a life for her, and one day he'll be day manager of the pizzeria. Now what does AJ have to look forward to? A life of depraved indifference? Problem is, even though AJ wants to be indifferent, he'll never be able to detach completely.
Things will come apart for Tony and Carmella too. There will be a vicious scene in which Carmella finds out what really happened to Adrianna. Her willful blindness at how Tony really earns his money will be torn away and she's going to have to acknowledge who she really married. Think about the scene at the cottage with Janet "Tony's a good man!", "There has never been any violence in our house!", "My husband is NOT a vengeful man!". Her denial and facilitation in Tony's work is just as evil as Tony's acts. Her role is to make Tony seem human, but at heart, Carmella is just as conniving as base as Tony. The scene where she was crying to Tony that there "is a piano over your head" every moment showed just how little she cared about what happens to Tony, and how very very concerned she was with her material well-being. God forbid she should end up like Ginny Sack.
I can't believe there are only, what, 3 episodes left.