Letters to the Editor
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I get it!
No, no, no. Tony did not win big, he did not see the sun. He was peyote high...from the time he began by seeing the bathroom light until he imagines himself "getting it" and who knows how long beyond. The clinging of the girl, her physical attachment give it partly away--that he is still in bed with her and imagines triumph at the wheel, that he "gets it" imagining the
extremely intensified color of the imagined landscape.
Very disturbing episode. Yes, descending into hell, oh not from the drug particularly, just his awful murder of Christopher. It's emphasized in his dissolute appearance, his desertion to Vegas, It's getting tougher to watch, but I'm there to the end.
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devil in the details
When Tony first put his hand over Christopher's mouth and nose, after deciding not to call 911, it seemed like it might be a mercy killing. But the look on Tony's face left no doubt that he is Lucifer - charming, intelligent, and thoroughly amoral.
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then hee
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.
- Paradise Lost
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I was hoping
That everyone would die in a fire at the end. But this is close enough.
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@ bender
"Also, from a few seasons back, I never quite understood why Tony tricked Christopher into killing that cop. I've watched the series closely, but I've never been able to figure this one out. Any answers?"
You mean the cop who (supposedly, according to Tony) killed Christopher's father?
Dickie Moltisanti was Tony's mentor, much in the way Tony was Christopher's. Wouldn't surprise me if it really was Tony who did him in instead.
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ericg51 at 7:02 am says:
"It seemed pointless and irrelevant to me."
Precisely!
This is what Tony now 'gets.' This is a fascinating chapter in which Tony comes to understand - by way of the peyote, the roulette wheel, and the sunset - what sort of animal he truly is, in contrast to the sort of animal that most of the rest of us (represented by Dr. Melfi?) are. He is what he is: A Force of Nature in an ultimately pointless and irrelevant life. This is a nihilist twist in what would otherwise be a classical/Shakespearean tragedy, but which is rendered - by virtue of the nihilistic cosmic joke - as comedy instead.
Gordon Ginsberg
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When you never had any ideas
Then randomly toss in new characters and random plot artifacts ala Heroes. If you used to have some ideas but the well's been dry for a while just kill off some characters. And if you really are stupid, wrap it up with a 'this whole thing was a dream' like Dallas. I've never seen an episode but I think we could wrap up everything by making him a secret FBI informer all these years.
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If you've never seen an episode
On what basis do you think it's "stupid"?
And why do you bother to comment?
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my take
Tony killed Chris because Chris told him he was on drugs. When Tony was in bed surrounded by the guys he said "If I knew he was on drugs I'd have strangled him myself". I think AJ is going to turn away from his violent friends. He doesn't really seem into it.
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Numerology?
Is there any significance to the numbers Tony plays at roulette?
Does he play 24 three times? (666) I thought it was only twice.
Seems probable that the numbers aren't just random since the show is ending on episode 86 (86'd).
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Tony is completely consistent, and this episode is only shocking, not surprising . .
Look three years ago when Tony found out Michael's smack habit and confronted him, Tony held Michael's head gently in his big hand and said, "If you wasn't my nephew, I'd a whacked you already."
Tony killing Christopher is completely consistent with his previous character, actions, and statements. Christopher admitting he is high and holding was a death sentence, in Tony's mind, quite reasonably so. His instincts and his experience tell him a junkie is inherently unreliable and will always be capable of being turned. Christopher was already on the point of ratting; in the screwed-up world of the Mafia, Christopher left Tony no choice.
Others have expressed surprise at Tony's killing Michael instead of letting him die naturally, or calling the ambulance. Look, Tony is the CEO of his own little operation, and he won his place at CEO by being able to synthesize many facts quickly and making executive decisions under pressure, and very fast. His murder of Tony was expeditious, once he had made the decision, because any waiting left him (Tony) open to danger from Michael.
I don't think Chase is telling the audience that we're scum; I think he is simply following the inevitabilities written into the story long since -- the inevitabilities mediated, of course, by the unpredictabilities of life (car crashes, illnesses, infatuations, and similar arbitrary whimsicalities which affect the determinism of our characters and past lives).
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What a great discussion!
...I only wish my students would be as engaged in a discussion of Things Fall Apart!
I agree with the posters who have mentioned that this series is on par with great classical literature. I had posted something early this morning, and now that I'm scanning more letters, I'm questioning that first insight and finding myself in agreement with so many people here. Maybe it is dismissive of us to name Tony a sociopath/psychopath in order to separate ourselves from him, but I think we are limited by the words we have to describe a literary figure who is so much larger than life.
Yes, cynics, there is a war in Iraq, but I believe that even the citizens of Baghdad find ways to occupy their time with stories...it's a heavy burden to spend one's time solely concentrated on war, death, and disease. Let us have this moment to discuss phenomenal literature in action.