How do we justify the choices we make in life? I suppose that's our own individual cross to bear, but many of us are never truly called on to justify them. Then again, most of us are not involved in a crime syndicate. From Where To Eternity explains all of the ways in which people in the Soprano orbit justify themselves. Tony claims that the Mafia are merely 'soldiers' and that soldiers only kill other soldiers. He maintains that Italians who didn't want to slave away for the robber barons started 'this thing' and that he is simply upholding that tradition. Melfi challenges these notions because she can't help herself from seeing the bullshit inside - it's a strange choice particularly because her raison d'etre professionally speaking seems to be to give patients the ability to justify their actions, in part to make better ones.
Tony comes at his justification for his actions intellectually - unlike apparently everyone else in this world, he does not believe in God, or at least that is deeply suggested by his actions during this episode. Paulie does, but his God is both easily bribed and fooled - Paulie figures he'll end up in Purgatory, but he'll serve almost no time there because time passes quickly in Purgatory. After he sees a medium, he's upset that all his donations to the church didn't protect him from what he discovered there. He decides he will no longer donate to this particular protection racket.
Meanwhile Carmela prays to Jesus that Christopher should be shown the light, and ironically perhaps he was. Her moral journey is a little more difficult to comprehend - she begins the episode insisting that Tony get a vasectomy and ends it by wanting to perhaps have a child with him. I'm not sure how all of this happened, but Carmela is a woman who has to choose what to believe - she has to choose not to guess at why Tony would leave and come back as he did that night.
I don't think we've seen Tony kill anyone in cold blood before now. Earlier he says to Melfi that he's not one of these sick fucks who takes pleasure in killing, but he most certainly does take pleasure in murdering Matthew Bevilaqua. It's certainly justified as much as any revenge is, but there's a very clear cat-and-mouse aspect to Tony's insincerity with the captive Matthew. Afterwards, he and Pussy go out for a big celebratory steak and then Tony has sex with Carmela. His conscience is, as ever, the clearest.
Random Observations:
I love that the medium might actually be legitimate in the world of The Sopranos.
'I had [my mistress] tested for AIDS, what do you think I am?'
Someone gives up Matthew's location for $20.
Christopher's vision of Hell is really something - an Irish bar where it's St. Patrick's Day all the time.
Hey, a malapropism! But not really - it's just that the doctor calls Christopher 'Mr. Moltosanto'.
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