Letters to the Editor
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Does anyone else notice...
that episodes not written and/or directed by Terence Winter, such as last night's, aren't as good? Don't get me wrong. Last night's episode was fine, but it wasn't quite as good as last week's.
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Mixed Messages
Interesting that with last night's episode seared into our minds, the day after there are already wildly divergent opinions about Tony's state of mind -- a tribute to the complexity of the writing and the Gandolfini's acting.
I fall somewhere in between DOCTORRICK and Glen Keenan. I agree with Glen that Tony's collapse on the floor of the casino seemed more like a hideously gleeful ROTFLMFAO moment than any cathartic paroxysm of grief. I felt sure that Tony was deluding himself into rationalizing that finally a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders and his luck had miraculously changed. Gandolfini's performance is so deeply layered that many things can be read into his expressions, but this sense of Tony trying to convince himself that by killing Christopher he was ridding himself of a burden was the overriding message I got last night.
So in this sense I think your interpretation is right on target, Glen Keenan.
However, I think the same self-delusional reasoning pervaded the entire episode, up to an including the final sunset moment. Tony staring at the sun, and he perceives a hallucinatory flash -- almost like a cosmic wink. Tony saw this as a sign from the universe (remember he already compared the roulette wheel to the solar system) and the wink of the setting sun was like a mystic conspiratorial nudge to him. Like, "yeah, I have godlike powers and even the Sun can see that, acknowledging and justifying my behavior with a wink."
So there was no question in my mind that Tony yelled, "I get it." No way in hell did he say, "I did it." Tony can't even admit to himself what a monster he is, so why would he have any confessional epiphany now?
One of the striking things about The Sopranos from the beginning has been the presence of Dr. Melfi and the persistent reminder that this man is seriously unbalanced. What we're seeing in these final episodes is Tony Soprano's ultimate unhinging, as he slips deeper into sociopathic madness.
Chills me to the bone. Do not give Tony an ounce of credit for any grief or remorse. He's incapable.
Heather, I clicked on Salon this morning hoping you'd already have your thoughts to share, and your column never ever disappoints. I'm not trying argue with your analysis of roulette table scene, but only explaining how I see the episode as much, much darker and scarier. That wasn't a sobbing grief-stricken man on the floor. That was a raging maniac unravelling.
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"I get it" indeed.
According to closed captioning, Tony S. indeed said, "I get it." I tend to watch the Sopranos w/ cc enabled because, in an odd way, it gives you a better appreciation of Chase's dialogue, as well as little hints about the characters' incorrect word usage that you may miss w/out the benefit of captioning.
On an entirely different note, does anyone else feel a little awkward everytime we see Tony wheezing away in bed with some gorgeous donnina? I realize these women dig power and money, but that scene in last night's episode when Tony is doing the nasty with that hooker/stripper was just too much of a disconnect, especially when they engaged in sweet pillow-talk afterwards. Yeah, James G is the man, but c'mon!
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What I Heard
You say Tony screamed out "I get it!" while on peyote. But I thought he said "I did it!" while watching the sunrise, indicating that it was he who killed Christopher. "I get it" would have indicated a window of reality that Tony momentarily leaned out of. But to say "I did it" while he's tripping on peyote in front of the tripped-out hooker (who doesn't understand what the heck he's talking about anyway) shows that even in his most whacked-out state, Tony is capable of spinning his web of lies no matter what state he's in.
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Geez, am I the only one who felt this was a lazy, worthless piece?
I'm a big Havrilesky fan, but WTF, why bother writing a column that is almost entirely a synopsis? Did anyone need a synopsis? What I want is an analysis. All we get of that is a lone paragraph at the bottom of the page. Unusual for Havrilesky. And lazy, lazy, lazy.
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IMHO, Tony's epiphany was that "God" approved of his ruthless, taking-care-of-business, it's-not-personal transformation
After the accident, for a moment there, Tony reminded me of Oliver Hardy, "well, that's another fine mess you've gotten me into," with Christofuh obsessing about how Tony needs to pretend HE was driving, to take the rap for the accident, because, Chrissy's using again. Always about Chrissy and what Chrissy needs ... no apology, no nuttin, just more "what Chrissy wants." And this just after Chrissy's givinge Tony ADVICE to hand over the 25%, to stop and smell the roses, to cherish every day, yada yada yada ... what a sorry excuse for a human being Chrissy really is ... and we won't even mention the "abandoment" of Tony to make that knife-in-the-back (Cleaver to the Head) movie.
I think the defection and alienation of Christofuh is -- largly -- what has turned Tony's world to dust. Before, Tony could live vicariously through Chrissy and with Chrissy as his posse, getting a taste now and then ... but then Chrissy was a suck-up wannabe heir-apparent ... who temporariliy abandoned the possition. [Dissatisfaction with the heir is an important theme -- Christofuh earned his spot, AJ hasn't a chance or a clue, yet, socially he's Tony Soprano, JUNIOR, and that has weight.)
Were there drugs in the infant car seat? That's what I thought ... but others say different. Anyhow, I think Tony killed Christopher after having one of those, "If only he'd died" moments of anger realizing variously that Chrissy was stoned, had talked out-of-turn at the meeting, was jonesing for a fix, was driving Tony around (at high speed) in a vehicle while holding... and that as long as he lived, Tony was going to be cleaning up after Chrissy (as he had had to do with Ade)... and Chrissy would always be a liability wrt turning state's witness with the feds with no stomach for hard time ... the solution was obvious.
Unfortunately for Tony, NO ONE ELSE would/could admit to understanding or condoning the act.
Anyhow, I've felt for the story arc that Tony's gambling was very much a "looking for a sign of God's love" kinda thing ... as I think it is for many people (though they bridle at the suggestion). When Tony tossed his heart and humanity out the window in the name of business, god smiled on him .... or that's how he took it. Stay tuned.
Who'd have guessed that those days of Tony, Ade, and Chrissy really were gonna be the "good old days"?
(FWIW, I suspect that Crissy really believed that Ade and Tony had hooked up at some point, as represented in Cleaver ... as he said about Tony, "He thinks it all belongs to him." Ade, the Juliana Margolis character and now the stripper/hooker in Vegas and Tony's leering appreciation of the new widow ...uglee)