The Happy Wanderer is one of those thesis episodes of The Sopranos, an episode that lays bare the show's deepest themes. Tony laments at the beginning of the episode people with 'clear heads' and expresses his desire to subject them to physical assault. It's just his luck to come across one of these people in this episode - not only is Davey Scattino a Happy Wanderer, more importantly, he's not afraid of Tony Soprano. They were childhood friends, but he seems to harbor some illusions about what Tony does for a living, or that he won't be subject to what Tony does. After he loses his ass at poker in the Executive Game, Tony gets to rough him up in his own office for his tribute.
That said, his loathing of the Happy Wanderer manifests itself in an even darker form when he gets his daughter's friend's car from Davey as collateral. Tony may express to Melfi in a future episode why he does this, but it's deliberate - Meadow's singing did wake him up the afternoon following the Executive Game. This results in a supposed lucky break as Meadow's duet at Cabaret becomes a solo.
We'll see more of Davey Scattino in future episodes so I'll save some of my reflections for that time.
Random Observations
Writing for the Sopranos must've been quite a dark exercise at times, but getting to write a line like 'He was handsome, like George Raft' must've taken some of the sting out of it.
I can't remember the names of both of Christopher's underlings, but I do enjoy how they immediately go from saying things like 'we'll wash Tony Soprano's car' in a previous episode to being chastened at the fact that they're basically waiters and busboys at the Executive Game.
The Executive Game appears to be some sort of 300/600/1200 stud game. So much for the 1990s.
We see Vito Spatafore for the first time here as a player at Richie Aprile's game.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
The Sopranos Season 2, Episode 5 - Big Girls Don't Cry
After last week's foray into what women mean in the Sopranos world, it makes sense that this week's episode is a look at masculinity. Tony's struggling with rage issues, and he tries talking to Hesh as though he were his therapist, with disappointing results - either Hesh is deliberately not listening to him, or is too lost in his own world to consider what Tony is saying. Christopher is the sensitive artist-type - when going to menace a whorehouse owner derelict on payment, he merely shoves a paintbrush up his nose and threatens him with more violence. He's also attending 'Acting for Writers', a workshop class Adrianna signed him up for. Pussy laments the fact that there's no honor in the Mafia business anymore to the FBI agent assigned to his case; neither one acknowledges the deep irony here. Furio arrives in America - our first few scenes with him, he's playing with babies and making cheese, but as an enforcer he is terrifying.
Meanwhile Melfi invites Tony back to therapy after some deliberation with her therapist. She says that she does not have a sexual attraction to Tony, but that he can 'be such a little boy sometimes'. Still, she calls him from home, glass of wine nearby, in a flirtatious way. If there's a sign one way or another in this episode if she is attracted to him sexually, I didn't see it - certainly there is some vicarious thrill in her treatment of him, which she acknowledges. Plus there's the 'toodle-oo' scene from a previous episode. We'll monitor this situation as it develops.
Tony kind of states the thesis of this episode when he tells Melfi that his goal in therapy is to focus his rage on the people in his life that deserve it. Christopher realizes this as well when he trashes his screenplay - the world of felt emotions is simply not for him. It's too vivid. He can't handle those frustrations. The rage will find its supposedly deserving targets.
Random Observations:
Love the scene where Tony pulls the phone out of the wall in front of Anthony Jr., then apologizes to him with a joke. When he doesn't respond to the joke, Tony merely leaves the room. This episode drives home how much Tony uses humor both as a weapon - with Richie Aprile and Paulie in his business - and as a defense, here.
Furio becomes a true American when Tony hands him a baseball bat to smash up the whorehouse.
Everything at the acting class is great - the writers are really on solid ground here. 'I'm from Hartsdale, but don't hold that against me'
Christopher is late twice in this episode.
Tony's Russian girlfriend is smoking hot. That's it.
"Did you ever think that's why he's the Gentleman Caller?"
I didn't catch any malapropisms in this episode, but I suspect they're there and I'm not catching them.
Meanwhile Melfi invites Tony back to therapy after some deliberation with her therapist. She says that she does not have a sexual attraction to Tony, but that he can 'be such a little boy sometimes'. Still, she calls him from home, glass of wine nearby, in a flirtatious way. If there's a sign one way or another in this episode if she is attracted to him sexually, I didn't see it - certainly there is some vicarious thrill in her treatment of him, which she acknowledges. Plus there's the 'toodle-oo' scene from a previous episode. We'll monitor this situation as it develops.
Tony kind of states the thesis of this episode when he tells Melfi that his goal in therapy is to focus his rage on the people in his life that deserve it. Christopher realizes this as well when he trashes his screenplay - the world of felt emotions is simply not for him. It's too vivid. He can't handle those frustrations. The rage will find its supposedly deserving targets.
Random Observations:
Love the scene where Tony pulls the phone out of the wall in front of Anthony Jr., then apologizes to him with a joke. When he doesn't respond to the joke, Tony merely leaves the room. This episode drives home how much Tony uses humor both as a weapon - with Richie Aprile and Paulie in his business - and as a defense, here.
Furio becomes a true American when Tony hands him a baseball bat to smash up the whorehouse.
Everything at the acting class is great - the writers are really on solid ground here. 'I'm from Hartsdale, but don't hold that against me'
Christopher is late twice in this episode.
Tony's Russian girlfriend is smoking hot. That's it.
"Did you ever think that's why he's the Gentleman Caller?"
I didn't catch any malapropisms in this episode, but I suspect they're there and I'm not catching them.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
The Sopranos Season 2, Episode 4 - Commendatori
What sort of power do women have in the world of The Sopranos? Is it merely potential control of the home and hearth or is it something more? We've seen Livia's lengthy tendrils more than once so far, but Carmela appeared powerless in the previous episode - she did have the magnanimity to apologize to Janice without being passive-aggressive, but ultimately Tony's notion of punishment won the day.
We see female power manifest itself in several different ways here - in Italy, Tony has to negotiate with a female boss. All throughout he is shown as more powerful than her - he has a dream about having sex with her where he is a Roman centurion; when he stays at the family villa, he overlooks her. Finally when she brings him to a historic site, she manages to gain the upper hand in the negotiation using her sexuality as a weapon. Meanwhile back in Jersey, Angie Bonpensiero has had enough of her husband's loutish ways. She tells Carmela and Rosalie Aprile that she's going to file for divorce. Carmela tries to talk her out of it, citing the fact that marriage is a sacrament, but in reality she's fighting for her own marriage - Angie divorcing reflects poorly on her own union. Janice also confronts Carmela about her choices, wondering if she's content to ask so little from life.
Meanwhile we get a trip to Italy by Tony, Christopher, and Paulie - all of them have an unsuccessful journey. Tony gets outnegotiated, Christopher swears he's going to see Mount Vesuvius but instead he gets sidetracked by heroin, and Paulie tries to relate to the locals, with hilarious results. They may have Italian roots, but they will never fit in outside New Jersey.
Random observations -
Pussy's lying to the FBI and also killing people to keep his informing a secret. Also this is one of those spots in the series where suspension of disbelief breaks down - he claims to have driven 'all the way the fuck out here', but in reality, the Party Box is right next to where the Bada Bing is located.
Are we to read anything into the fact that the old man is fixated on street names when Tony is selling cars?
I wonder what the audition was like for the guy who gets carjacked. I also love their quotidian struggles before they get robbed. And that their dog is named Churchill and runs away.
I think I had this graffiti pointed out to me before, but on one of the panels explaining the history of the oracle site, it says 'FUCK NATO'. Did the production crew put that there?
Love the prostitute idly scratching her foot as Paulie explains that his relatives come from the same part of Naples as she does.
I don't remember any malapropisms in this episode though there must've been some in Italian.
We see female power manifest itself in several different ways here - in Italy, Tony has to negotiate with a female boss. All throughout he is shown as more powerful than her - he has a dream about having sex with her where he is a Roman centurion; when he stays at the family villa, he overlooks her. Finally when she brings him to a historic site, she manages to gain the upper hand in the negotiation using her sexuality as a weapon. Meanwhile back in Jersey, Angie Bonpensiero has had enough of her husband's loutish ways. She tells Carmela and Rosalie Aprile that she's going to file for divorce. Carmela tries to talk her out of it, citing the fact that marriage is a sacrament, but in reality she's fighting for her own marriage - Angie divorcing reflects poorly on her own union. Janice also confronts Carmela about her choices, wondering if she's content to ask so little from life.
Meanwhile we get a trip to Italy by Tony, Christopher, and Paulie - all of them have an unsuccessful journey. Tony gets outnegotiated, Christopher swears he's going to see Mount Vesuvius but instead he gets sidetracked by heroin, and Paulie tries to relate to the locals, with hilarious results. They may have Italian roots, but they will never fit in outside New Jersey.
Random observations -
Pussy's lying to the FBI and also killing people to keep his informing a secret. Also this is one of those spots in the series where suspension of disbelief breaks down - he claims to have driven 'all the way the fuck out here', but in reality, the Party Box is right next to where the Bada Bing is located.
Are we to read anything into the fact that the old man is fixated on street names when Tony is selling cars?
I wonder what the audition was like for the guy who gets carjacked. I also love their quotidian struggles before they get robbed. And that their dog is named Churchill and runs away.
I think I had this graffiti pointed out to me before, but on one of the panels explaining the history of the oracle site, it says 'FUCK NATO'. Did the production crew put that there?
Love the prostitute idly scratching her foot as Paulie explains that his relatives come from the same part of Naples as she does.
I don't remember any malapropisms in this episode though there must've been some in Italian.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The Sopranos Season 2, Episode 3 - Toodle-Fucking-Oo
The past comes out in fits and starts on The Sopranos. Seldom do the writers resort to flashbacks to tell the story of these characters' pasts - it just all comes out the way it does in life; in arguments, in drunkenness, in good times and in bad.
We get reams of the past in this episode - it begins with Richie Aprile's release from prison. The Sopranos would do this several times over the course of the show and it would feel forced except that Aprile fits so seamlessly into the preexisting world. He once dated Janice and he's a loyal member of Junior's crew. He's immediately a huge thorn in Tony's side.
Meanwhile Meadow hosts a party that wrecks her grandmother's now-vacant house. Tony pretends to be upset, but for some reason he's not - maybe because he knows what kind of agita it will cause his sister and mother. Maybe because he's aware of his own teenage misdeeds. It's not really explained, but either way Meadow manages to manipulate her parents into barely punishing her. Janice helps with this lenient stance until she actually sees what Meadow did, then she reverses her position - this disagreement nearly leads to her expulsion from the Soprano home. Meadow overhears all of this. Still, when Hunter asks what her parents did about this transgression, she gloats that they gave her the punishment she suggested. Hunter says her parents did nothing; they're too worried about her becoming bulimic again. She suggests to Meadow that she 'start purging'. In the final shot of the episode, we see Meadow on her hands and knees cleaning up the mess she helped make in her grandmother's home. Tony seems to have no idea what to make of this, and I as the viewer didn't really know either - I didn't remember this scene. Meadow's pangs of conscience appear to come from nowhere. Then I thought about the scene with Hunter -
They're making hot chocolate and singing 'No Scrubs' by TLC. I don't know the lyrics exactly, but the song's main thesis is that these women are tired of men who act like children and have the finances to boot. It's about men who don't take responsibility. That's generally what we see in this episode - adults not taking responsibility. Tony and Janice argue, but no one talks about who's going to scrub away the mess. Carmela and Tony discuss how punishing children essentially means punishing themselves - to make sure the child stays home, they have to stay home. They're unwilling to do the ostensibly hard work of trying to set a good example. Meadow is perceptive and after some off-screen reflection, she's trying to be different. She does indeed start purging, but only (voluntarily) in the Christian sense.
Random Observations -
I didn't even talk about Beansie and Richie and that stuff - but that's kind of Sopranos by rote. I do love the phrase 'good earner'.
James Gandolfini is so good at bad acting. It's something I used to talk a lot about on here was when actors have to add another layer of acting in a scene, and he's brilliant at it. We usually know Tony's real thoughts even if he's trying to conceal them, and we have to ask - is he really trying to conceal them, or does he know what he's doing?
Is this the first scene with Elliot Kupferberg, Melfi's therapist? Probably not. I know he exists as a device for Melfi to express her thoughts, but he's also imperious and smug.
Christopher's late again.
One thing I love in the dramatic arts is when a character appears to have values we would agree with, but it's quickly revealed that he doesn't - like when Richie Aprile remonstrates Christopher for hitting his girlfriend. But he quickly adds that if Christopher were married, it would be 'none of his business'. Old school, indeed.
This episode is the first one where Janice's estranged son is brought up. Tony is not (yet) heartless enough to use him as an example of Janice's poor parenting.
I didn't catch a malapropism in this episode.
We get reams of the past in this episode - it begins with Richie Aprile's release from prison. The Sopranos would do this several times over the course of the show and it would feel forced except that Aprile fits so seamlessly into the preexisting world. He once dated Janice and he's a loyal member of Junior's crew. He's immediately a huge thorn in Tony's side.
Meanwhile Meadow hosts a party that wrecks her grandmother's now-vacant house. Tony pretends to be upset, but for some reason he's not - maybe because he knows what kind of agita it will cause his sister and mother. Maybe because he's aware of his own teenage misdeeds. It's not really explained, but either way Meadow manages to manipulate her parents into barely punishing her. Janice helps with this lenient stance until she actually sees what Meadow did, then she reverses her position - this disagreement nearly leads to her expulsion from the Soprano home. Meadow overhears all of this. Still, when Hunter asks what her parents did about this transgression, she gloats that they gave her the punishment she suggested. Hunter says her parents did nothing; they're too worried about her becoming bulimic again. She suggests to Meadow that she 'start purging'. In the final shot of the episode, we see Meadow on her hands and knees cleaning up the mess she helped make in her grandmother's home. Tony seems to have no idea what to make of this, and I as the viewer didn't really know either - I didn't remember this scene. Meadow's pangs of conscience appear to come from nowhere. Then I thought about the scene with Hunter -
They're making hot chocolate and singing 'No Scrubs' by TLC. I don't know the lyrics exactly, but the song's main thesis is that these women are tired of men who act like children and have the finances to boot. It's about men who don't take responsibility. That's generally what we see in this episode - adults not taking responsibility. Tony and Janice argue, but no one talks about who's going to scrub away the mess. Carmela and Tony discuss how punishing children essentially means punishing themselves - to make sure the child stays home, they have to stay home. They're unwilling to do the ostensibly hard work of trying to set a good example. Meadow is perceptive and after some off-screen reflection, she's trying to be different. She does indeed start purging, but only (voluntarily) in the Christian sense.
Random Observations -
I didn't even talk about Beansie and Richie and that stuff - but that's kind of Sopranos by rote. I do love the phrase 'good earner'.
James Gandolfini is so good at bad acting. It's something I used to talk a lot about on here was when actors have to add another layer of acting in a scene, and he's brilliant at it. We usually know Tony's real thoughts even if he's trying to conceal them, and we have to ask - is he really trying to conceal them, or does he know what he's doing?
Is this the first scene with Elliot Kupferberg, Melfi's therapist? Probably not. I know he exists as a device for Melfi to express her thoughts, but he's also imperious and smug.
Christopher's late again.
One thing I love in the dramatic arts is when a character appears to have values we would agree with, but it's quickly revealed that he doesn't - like when Richie Aprile remonstrates Christopher for hitting his girlfriend. But he quickly adds that if Christopher were married, it would be 'none of his business'. Old school, indeed.
This episode is the first one where Janice's estranged son is brought up. Tony is not (yet) heartless enough to use him as an example of Janice's poor parenting.
I didn't catch a malapropism in this episode.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
The Sopranos Season 2, Episode 2 - Do Not Resuscitate
Corruption is pervasive. With corruption comes twofacedness - showing one face to one person and a different face to others. Janice is trying to persuade her mother to return to the house she's lived in for most of her adult life, Tony's trying to resolve a union dispute, and Pussy is revealed to also be an FBI informant. Even Meadow is scheming to see her friend at the hospital instead of her grandmother, and she lies to her mother and her little brother to get her way. The FBI agent assigned to Pussy tells him a jaundiced view of his boss's situation.
Overarching this theme of double dealing is a lot of talk about the World War II generation - the African American organizer's father lived through World War II as a soldier; Tony watches the war on TV. Junior compares a house arrest bracelet to Nazi Germany which gets him a scolding from a Jewish judge. Livia's constantly calling everyone by the wrong name, seemingly transported back to the 1960s in her hospital room, complete with Mario Lanza and the DeCastro Sisters. It's implied that this generation is honest and Tony's is not, but that's not exactly what we see on screen.
Meanwhile through a rather large contrivance, Anthony manages to tell his grandmother about Janice discussing her Do Not Resuscitate; Livia begins to see the worst of Janice's intentions immediately. It could very well be her dream to be in a coma while the rest of her family has to support her financially (and ostensibly emotionally) without the pain of living, but more obvious is the fact that Janice doesn't really want to spend time with her mother and would likely welcome her demise.
At the episode's conclusion, Junior slips in the shower and needs to go to the hospital - he insists that Tony end his grudge with his mother, as a kind of dying wish. I have a suspicion this is partly because they know the show thrives on the tension between the two and they can't keep them apart all season.
Random observations -
We're introduced to Bobby Baccala in front of the sign at Satriale's that says 'SUCKLING PIGS - ANY SIZE' - was this deliberate? He takes Tony's abuse for the entire episode.
I looked for it in my previous posts and I swear there's a mention of it last season - maybe it was in an episode I didn't cover. But this is either the first or second mention of the New Jersey Devils in the series - Anthony is wearing a Devils hat. He acts as a kind of accidental tempter to his grandmother, plus he's probably rude to be wearing a hat indoors - it all works, as it almost always does in this show.
The elder African American offers Tony Coca-Cola when they meet at his house - is this to imply he's a teetotaler?
I didn't even discuss Tony's double-cross of his uncle vis a vis the pipefitters union but I find the mob stuff to be a driver of the rest of the action of the show.
"What did one prick say to the other prick?" We don't get the punchline to this joke. Shame on you, David Chase.
I didn't catch a deliberate malapropism in this episode - the best I can come up with is Mario Lasagna instead of Mario Lanza.
Overarching this theme of double dealing is a lot of talk about the World War II generation - the African American organizer's father lived through World War II as a soldier; Tony watches the war on TV. Junior compares a house arrest bracelet to Nazi Germany which gets him a scolding from a Jewish judge. Livia's constantly calling everyone by the wrong name, seemingly transported back to the 1960s in her hospital room, complete with Mario Lanza and the DeCastro Sisters. It's implied that this generation is honest and Tony's is not, but that's not exactly what we see on screen.
Meanwhile through a rather large contrivance, Anthony manages to tell his grandmother about Janice discussing her Do Not Resuscitate; Livia begins to see the worst of Janice's intentions immediately. It could very well be her dream to be in a coma while the rest of her family has to support her financially (and ostensibly emotionally) without the pain of living, but more obvious is the fact that Janice doesn't really want to spend time with her mother and would likely welcome her demise.
At the episode's conclusion, Junior slips in the shower and needs to go to the hospital - he insists that Tony end his grudge with his mother, as a kind of dying wish. I have a suspicion this is partly because they know the show thrives on the tension between the two and they can't keep them apart all season.
Random observations -
We're introduced to Bobby Baccala in front of the sign at Satriale's that says 'SUCKLING PIGS - ANY SIZE' - was this deliberate? He takes Tony's abuse for the entire episode.
I looked for it in my previous posts and I swear there's a mention of it last season - maybe it was in an episode I didn't cover. But this is either the first or second mention of the New Jersey Devils in the series - Anthony is wearing a Devils hat. He acts as a kind of accidental tempter to his grandmother, plus he's probably rude to be wearing a hat indoors - it all works, as it almost always does in this show.
The elder African American offers Tony Coca-Cola when they meet at his house - is this to imply he's a teetotaler?
I didn't even discuss Tony's double-cross of his uncle vis a vis the pipefitters union but I find the mob stuff to be a driver of the rest of the action of the show.
"What did one prick say to the other prick?" We don't get the punchline to this joke. Shame on you, David Chase.
I didn't catch a deliberate malapropism in this episode - the best I can come up with is Mario Lasagna instead of Mario Lanza.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
The Sopranos Season 2, Episode 1 - Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office
We're back! It was high time for me to continue on this journey of Sopranos viewing and writing.
Season 2 begins with a Tony-focused episode - Pussy Bonpensiero returns to North Jersey, and specifically to Tony's house, with a tale about a love affair with an acupuncturist and time spent in Puerto Rico to fix his ailing back. He's welcomed back into the fold albeit with some suspicion. Tony is no longer seeing Dr. Melfi - scared for her safety, she is continuing to see patients at a local motel. He is, however, having panic attacks, and so he tries to convince her to see him again. He fails.
Most importantly, his sister Janice returns from Seattle - she had changed her name and distanced herself from the family, but with her mother in the hospital she decides to come back to ingratiate herself into the family affairs.
I suspect we're meant to compare and contrast these two returns - Janice (aka Parvati) purporting to care about her mother's convalescence but being more interested in her home's pending sale and Pussy needing to return because of his family's finances. Pussy is told in no uncertain terms that his return is contingent on Tony's approval and he accepts the fact that his 'pickups' were garnished by the men who made them. Moreover, at the impromptu reunion party, Pussy accepts Tony's insult without getting offended. He knows being insulted is part of his life as an underling of Tony Soprano. Janice refuses to accept what Tony wants and he knows she's not going to go away until she does - she's a Soprano.
- Aida Turturro does an excellent job of establishing Janice as a character right away. The little scene with her and Tony sharing a cigarette on his patio - it's a great moment to establish their sibling chemistry.
- I didn't mention the subplot with Christopher getting his Series 7 and running a pump and dump scam with Webistics and the two goon underlings he has working for them. It's so good, though. 'We'll do wet work, wash his car, whatever'. There's a certain kind of idiocy that this show nails and a show like Breaking Bad overdoes.
- This is the first episode we see Tony's in-laws, but there's not a lot established about them. I do think we're meant to observe that her mother is similar to Tony's mother - she repeats the awful (but true) thing Livia said to them on her wedding day. Perhaps that's just elder blitheness.
- I feel like I missed some of the dramatic import of the series the first time around because I was too gobsmacked at the location choices. Melfi and Tony's diner confrontation happened at a diner I've been to. It's called the Six Brothers Diner but this wasn't revealed in the show nor do I think it has any thematic import.
- Malapropism alert - 'Duane' for 'deign'
Season 2 begins with a Tony-focused episode - Pussy Bonpensiero returns to North Jersey, and specifically to Tony's house, with a tale about a love affair with an acupuncturist and time spent in Puerto Rico to fix his ailing back. He's welcomed back into the fold albeit with some suspicion. Tony is no longer seeing Dr. Melfi - scared for her safety, she is continuing to see patients at a local motel. He is, however, having panic attacks, and so he tries to convince her to see him again. He fails.
Most importantly, his sister Janice returns from Seattle - she had changed her name and distanced herself from the family, but with her mother in the hospital she decides to come back to ingratiate herself into the family affairs.
I suspect we're meant to compare and contrast these two returns - Janice (aka Parvati) purporting to care about her mother's convalescence but being more interested in her home's pending sale and Pussy needing to return because of his family's finances. Pussy is told in no uncertain terms that his return is contingent on Tony's approval and he accepts the fact that his 'pickups' were garnished by the men who made them. Moreover, at the impromptu reunion party, Pussy accepts Tony's insult without getting offended. He knows being insulted is part of his life as an underling of Tony Soprano. Janice refuses to accept what Tony wants and he knows she's not going to go away until she does - she's a Soprano.
- Aida Turturro does an excellent job of establishing Janice as a character right away. The little scene with her and Tony sharing a cigarette on his patio - it's a great moment to establish their sibling chemistry.
- I didn't mention the subplot with Christopher getting his Series 7 and running a pump and dump scam with Webistics and the two goon underlings he has working for them. It's so good, though. 'We'll do wet work, wash his car, whatever'. There's a certain kind of idiocy that this show nails and a show like Breaking Bad overdoes.
- This is the first episode we see Tony's in-laws, but there's not a lot established about them. I do think we're meant to observe that her mother is similar to Tony's mother - she repeats the awful (but true) thing Livia said to them on her wedding day. Perhaps that's just elder blitheness.
- I feel like I missed some of the dramatic import of the series the first time around because I was too gobsmacked at the location choices. Melfi and Tony's diner confrontation happened at a diner I've been to. It's called the Six Brothers Diner but this wasn't revealed in the show nor do I think it has any thematic import.
- Malapropism alert - 'Duane' for 'deign'
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