Letters to the Editor
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Further, though...
I've now listened to Tony in the canyon several times. While he's rising from his seated position, he mutters, "I get...[no "it" that I can hear]." Then, as he rises, he announces (as the HBO Ep Guide correctly says), "I get it." BUT: the phrase "I get it" next echoes in the canyon, and those echoes sound distinctly like, "I DID it."
I interpret that he claims revelation ("I get it") but the hidden meaning of that shout (hidden even to himself) is his need to confess ("I did it"). Underlying the loud cry of achievement is the confession that he's got to get out one way or another. His eyes in that final scene are amazing: weeping and happy--maybe happy TO BE WEEPING, to have got out his dirty secret.
And he raises his arms: a gesture of acquiescence in the majesty of the universe, but also, involuntarily, "grabbing sky," as they said in the old cowboy movies--putting your hands up, as if to say, "I'll go quietly" after hang confessed.
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As a Las Vegan I can say that if the sun was supposed to be rising at the end of the show
It's an error in geography, because Tony and that hottie are at Red Rock Canyon, which is on the west side of Las Vegas, and the sun sets over those beautiful cliffs. A shot of the rising sun would have to have been shot over the much-less-impressive Frenchman Mountain.
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Sopranos as Comedy
Recently, I was watching the episode where Janice, Tony's sister, shot and killed her husband. And I laughed. I thought it was genuinely funny. It made me start looking at the show in a different way. Is Chase intentionally writing comedy? Am I the only one that sees the Sopranos in this way?
Oh yeah, when Tony killed Chris the other night, I viewed it as Tony "firing" Chris for becoming more trouble than he was worth. How else would you get fired from the mob?
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Some thoughts about AJ . . . .
Some AJ thoughts to bolster my previous predictions that he will kill Tony and be the new boss. AJ is on drugs that suppress his emotions—remember “comfortably numb.’’ Look how quickly he forgot the love of his life. I don’t understand why people have written he is repulsed by the college friends behavior. He embraces it. He did his bit with the toe searing. Didn’t he throw the bike in the way of the SUV. He is non-communicative with his shrink, a little like Tony in the beginning with Melfi. His college friends are his future crew, the captains of the crew that will replace Silvio, Paulie and the rest of the dinosaurs. They are just waiting for the strong and silent Anthony Soprano Jr to make his move. He appears strong and silent because of his use of anti-depressants and therapy, like Tony, but to his peers that is normal, unlike Tony. Maybe he and his crew will kill Phil, that will certainly cement his place as the next in line. AJ is simply going to embrace his destiny—remember John Gotti Jr. AJ is young, restless, full of energy, disenchanted and the heir to two generations of sociopaths. He is also a blank slate with currently a complete disconnect with his humanity and emotions.
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the little things
Admittedly I haven't read ALL the letters, but people seem to be missing the significance of the "little things" in the episode, the throwaway details/scenes that are actually anything but.
1.) The asbestos. A perfect analogy for what's been happening to Tony -- the toxic stuff he's been using to insulate himself is being torn out, and he's running out of out-of-the-way places to put it. The dumping of asbestos in the water signifies that this toxic stuff is finally starting to pollute Tony in a meaningful way (water being a universal symbol for life).
2.) The scene where AJ is sitting in a college classroom and the professor asks something about why a particular writer "has such harsh words for material reality," followed immediately by a shot of Tony in Vegas. The clear insinuation seems to be that AJ is discovering that his father's life is morally bankrupt and empty, the gap between them is widening. AJ is starting to feed his head while Tony sinks into a morass of the senses.
3.) AJ and the shrink. The fact that AJ seems so depressed/emotionally devastated after the attack on the black student, when compared with his seeming enjoyment of the attack on the rich white student, is telling. The rich white student seems to serve as a reflection of AJ -- his pleasure in the attack is a sort of self-loathing. The violence and bigotry directed at Others (in this case represented by the black student), on the other hand, repulse him once he has had the time to step back and look at what happened.
Based on where things seem to be headed, here's my predicted ending: Tony is arrested on RICO charges, and AJ is forced to step up to defend family interests (remember Vito's son and how they kept telling him to "act like a man"?). Forced to commit violence against someone he doesn't think deserves it, AJ grows despondent and commits suicide, while at the same time the case against Tony is dropped on a technicality. Carmella leaves and Maedow becomes distant. Tony is left to continue running his aging gang family alone and miserable, with the demons of his past coming home to roost. Trapped in a life he has come to despise, with a Pyrrhic victory over the feds. Seems fitting, I think.
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the circles
I just wanted to point out, since I mentioned the reoccurance of the circles earlier, there were MANY more circles I missed, as I re-watched the show last night.
After taking the peyote...
The light in the bathroom
the circles on the towels in the bathroom
Down into the casino - circles all over the floor pattern in the lobby.
The ceiling over the entire playing area where they entered was a shallow dome.
The Devil sign - a circle. Also another blue light circle there too that is blurred.
When Tony gets to that Pompei slot - there are circles blurred on other machines.
The Pompei - the "O" is right in the middle - although I don't know if they meant to give the word meaning or the letter or neither.
Then the roulette table.
then the floor at the roullet table - LOTS of circles
Then finally of course the son.
I like when people reference AJ when Tony was looking into the sun (son).
I also think AJ is going to kill himself, instead of getting into the life. He has no other choice.