Letters to the Editor
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Crissy, I get it!
Tony couldn't tell anyone that he killed Chris, because according to Mafia rules he killed Chris out of turn. So he continues to mention the possible dead baby to tell people, uh, Chris was high and could have killed his own kid, stop feeling so bad!
Tony has many conflicting emotions regarding Chris, basically he wanted Chris's life and Chris's love. He wanted Chris's dad, he's almost always sleeping with the same women Chris does and he was very resentful that he always has to be in control while Chris goes around getting high, making movies and fucking shit up for him, basically all of the freedom and perks without the responsibility. Plus he was really angry about that Cleaver movie, in Tony's mind, all this shit I do for you, I do what you can't, I give you work and protect your ass and you pretend gratitude while all the time you hate me deep down and wish I would die. Well ha ha motherfucker, I'm no longer cleaning up after you.
So he's relieved while everyone else is whining and crying so he takes off for egomania land Vegas and what does he do, look up some girl Chris used to sleep with. So now that Chris is gone, he feels like, I'm going to take a part of his life because I deserve it. I deserve a little "me" time. He sleeps with the girl, he takes buttons and then revels with glee at the good fortune bestowed on him. I think the statement of "I get it" was that all of his therapy was distracting him from what he really needs to do to get things done. He needs to stop being "weak" and become the selfish asshole he's been trying to escape for so long. Phil Leotardo thinks Tony's ripe for the picking, Tony's gonna show him different and he believes he now has the universe on his side.
I don't believe there was ever supposed to be redemption for Tony, I think the therapy, the dreams of a different life, trying to tell himself he is who he is because of his mother, his father, his uncle, have all been his attempt at denial to forget who he is, a narcissistic sociopath and that he chose this life. He's been playing "what if" for too long. We the audience have been Carmella for way too long and Chase is screaming, wake the hell up, stop pretending Tony's a good guy just because once in a while he does something nice or because he likes animals and kids. Of course he likes animals and little kids, they are easy to love, they don't rat on you or demand much from you and they give you unconditional love and acceptance no matter how big a prick you are.
Regarding AJ, his story is interesting, he's too moral to become a thug but he's too self loathing and depressed to make anything out of his life so he's stuck in limbo. Perhaps he will kill himself or what I hope is that someone will tell Carmella what really happended to Adrianna(as Tony seemed tempted to do) and she'll flee with AJ to the south of France or something.
I'm curious as to what's going on with Meadow, is she the rat that Tony doesn't suspect? Will she take over the family? When the shit goes down will she just take off knowing she can take care of herself? What is going on with her? I really hope that she just hasn't been ignored because there's nothing really to do with her.
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I get it!
Tony said "I get it!" Check the HBO website's episode guide for confirmation. (Thank God - I almost had a heart attack when I read that so many people thought he said "I did it," which didn't make sense to me.)
As for complaints that this piece was too much of a play-by-play of last night's episode: That's probably true. I just couldn't get past that first car-wreck sequence without writing it down. Next time I'll try to focus more on analysis. To be clear, these very short "Sopranos" pieces are aimed at opening up a discussion of the episode with readers. We initially talked about just throwing together a bunch of questions and then turning it over to you.
Either way, the discussion here has been fascinating so far. I agree, it does seem like Tony felt his luck was changing at the roulette table. But didn't you think his face reflected some unhinged mix of ecstasy and grief? I thought that, by feeling elated over his win, other feelings were creeping in as well - sadness, loss, guilt. Hence the manic laughing/crying fit. Is Tony really screwed up enough to only be feeling a rush of pure happiness in that scene, and in the scene in the desert? He seems more complicated and morally conflicted to me than that. Plus, I thought this was one of the saddest episodes to date. Even when Tony's gazing out at the pool, it looked to me as if the weight of what he'd done was finally starting to sink in. That didn't mean he'd ever take responsibility for it, of course, but he looked like a man who was trying to escape himself, but couldn't manage it entirely.
Anyway, you have to love a show that, like a great song, allows you to project your own mix of emotions onto it. Regardless of whether Tony is seen by Chase as a monster, a sociopath or simply a flawed human who's made shitty choices, the work here is artful enough and provocative enough to make viewers struggle with their own passionate responses.
I guess we'll see in the next episode if Tony is showing any residual emotional effects of his murder of Christopher. I expect a maniac - energized but deeply disturbed. He's more alone than ever, and less likely than ever to find his own happiness and peace. Like someone else said, screw smelling the roses. Tony is about to become the person that he claims Phil Leotardo is: Shove those roses up their asses, thorns and all.